Interview with Digital Artist Rene Falk Thomasius, a.k.a Safari FX
January 2006 - by William “Proton” Vaughan

German artist Rene Falk Thomasius has become quite popular in the online cg communities with his brilliant use of surfacing and lighting to create stunning visuals for product design and more. We caught up with Rene and talked with him about his work, inspiration, and what the future holds for this talented artist.


CGF - Can you tell us a little bit about your experience with creating on a computer?

My mother bought an Amiga 2000 in 1987 for work on her fashion collection after having used a Timex Sinclair and C64 for a while. I was 16 and as we were living in the GDR (East Germany) the computer cost the equivalent of a car, so I wasn't allowed to use it. But seeing what it could do and not being able to use it made it all the more interesting. You know forbidden fruit is the tastiest for a teenager ;) lol.

In 1991, after the fall of the Berlin wall, I bought my own Amiga 500 with 1MB RAM, but I didn't use it for graphics at first. I made music using programs such as Bars&Pipes, Octamed, Protracker, etc. Only at the end of 1996 did a friend (and my first LightWave mentor) ,Olaf Krüger alias "Traffer", show me LightWave version 5.5.

I had just bought my first PC with 266Mhz and 128MB RAM, an absolute monster machine at the time :), and had released my first tracks as an Drum&Bass artist. So now when I didn't have inspiration for music I started turning to 3D. As you know ear and eye are very close to each other so it felt natural to branch out into the visual. I found quickly that I have a good eye and memory for detail. So I went from trained ears and sound waves to training my eyes in lightwave's. :)

CGF - Any other awards that you are proud of?

I'm the only official Skateboard Champion of the GDR (East Germany) and will always be as it doesn't exist anymore, not even Tony Hawk can say that ..LOL I think I'm also the first german Drum&Bass artist with an official release in its birth place on a UK label called Smokers Inc. although I speak hardly any english :)

I'm proud of all the awards I have received but I'm especially proud that I got 2nd place in the Animago Awards in the category of Professional/Stills/ 3D Illustration in 2002/2003/2004.

Another thing I'm proud of is that I'm actually still using LW and that is largely thanks to my family, friends and the LW community who have always kept me going with their support. The thing is, LW is not very well represented in Germany and it is hard to convince people that it is not the name of the software but the artist who makes a good image. Other 3D software's are marketed so much that if its not on the resume HR won't even look at the renders and I think that is a terrible attitude.