Special thanks

N-Sided is a very important and great partner to me. Before discovering Quidam by N-Sided, I tried many software allowing me to create and to manipulate easily characters for my illustrations, but they were all clumsy and inefficient. I really think that Quidam is the best software that I know for the creation of 3D characters. I cannot live without it anymore!

N-Sided

Created in 2003 by Pierre Bretagnolle and Sébastien Berthet around the software QUIDAM, N-Sided is a young French software research and development company specializing in 3D technologies.
N-Sided is composed of a team of passionate experts. The main office is located in a suburb of Paris (Val de Marne).

VISION
The needs of 3D content will not stop growing.
Stimulated by the desires of the public and the increased graphic performance of computers, N-Sided is committed to making software for video games, the web, multimedia production, video, animation, cinema and illustration.
N-Sided has the ambitious goal of giving 3D back to the professionals of creation: the artists. QUIDAM is the first step in this direction. The first because other technologies are ready, which promise to open 3D to new creative horizons.

HISTORY
Animated by the same passion for 3D, long time friends, Pierre Bretagnolle and Sébastien Berthet decided in July 2002 to experiment with a new approach to 3D modeling via a first prototype of QUIDAM.
Encouraged by the enthusiasm of artists and testers, they developed new technology in a difficult domain, but one that is close to their hearts: 3D characters.
In 2006, QUIDAM is finally ready to be on the market. Immediately, it is hailed by the professional press for its innovations, its power and its unique ergonomics.

AWARDS
N-Sided won the ANVAR contest from the French Research Minister in 2003 and in 2004, the French Entrepreneur's Network “Réseau Entreprendre” contest, the Est Val de Marne Initiative contest in 2004 and the Scientipole Initiative contest in 2005.
N-Sided is member of the French IMVN Pole Cap Digital.

Extract of a Case study for CGSociety about Quidam.

Who are your main clients?

C.M: Regarding illustration, I work for Pour la Science magazine, the Science & Vie and Science & Vie Junior magazines as well as Quo, a Spanish magazine. Also, I have worked for the Atlas publishing house, the European Space Agency, Playbac, and many advertising agencies.
As for programming, I developed the software that manages the inventory of cultural heritage (EICP) for CNES, and I created an application which describes the progress of the European module of the International Space Station for the European Space Agency. I designed tools for ActivDesign (the Anaglyph 3D generator). I also conceived and developed the entire ‘Image Dynamics’ software suite.

What are your favorite tools, the ones you use everyday?

C.M: I no longer chase after the latest-and-greatest cutting edge, high tech software. It is costly and doesn’t usually add much benefit to my illustrations. I use what I believe is the most advanced software in terms of functionality at this moment: Photoshop, Illustrator for textures, 3ds Max for modeling and staging, Quidam for the characters, and Terragen for background landscapes. That’s all… and I have to admit some of these are very old versions.

What, in your opinion, do creation tools lack? What are you dreaming of?

C.M: Computers must disappear. Computing should be directly embedded into everyday objects without having to wonder how it works.
I dream of a day when I can draw on a sheet of paper that is the processor, the memory, and the software. Being forced to tinker with a machine that injects millions of twists and turns doesn’t allow that now. We all wish our boxes would finally explode and transform themselves into easier to control “virgin” systems with none of the baggage of legacy software.
If I can find partners crazy enough to carry out this dream with me, I will build a new kind of digital drawing tablet which does nothing else but DRAW WELL so that it never crashes! In my opinion, the digital-object is the future of computing. The software will fit the physical interface perfectly, nothing more or less. Why should artists accept anything less than we have in our automobiles? Can you imagine if the computing technology embedded in cars mirrored what we have for graphics – as you are driving your car around a sharp bend, your dashboard callously announces, ‘Sorry, a system error has occurred’?
We also need to revive our value as professionals with skills. There is a general feeling that computers do all the work. That’s why, when someone asks, ‘What is his occupation?’ the accepted answer is ‘He works on a computer.’ I want to stop hearing this widespread nonsense! It is the artists who do the work, not the computers.

Tell us a little about your working method.

C.M: Most often I begin to draw with a pencil and paper. I use my sketches to discuss the project with my clients before I execute them digitally. Then I focus on creating textures but not necessarily to make them be as realistic as possible. Since I chose to use a documentary style, I must find the essence of reality to highlight the subject or the message. It is a balance between realism and schematization.

You often use Quidam. What attracts you to it, and what would you like to see in future versions?

C.M: Quidam is the tool for staging characters I was seeking for a long time. It is undoubtedly ergonomic, fast and simple. It has the spirit all professional tools should have: it does only a few things but does them better and faster than any other tool.
It was designed by graphics professionals. You can feel it immediately. Its modeling tools are a breeze to use; texturing is very intuitive. The export tools keep all the information (textures and skeleton) when the model is imported into other 3D software. This is invaluable for productivity. The most awaited improvement for me would be the ability to enrich libraries myself for the basic models as well as the library of poses, etc.

A few words to conclude?

C.M: To make a marketable, one hundred percent digital illustration, there are four things you need to master first. No, they are not the latest four trendy pieces of software! They are drawing, concept (the story to be told), color and light! What other concerns should we have? N-Sided has realized this with Quidam. It helps me forget the machine. Its workspace respects the spirit in which artists work. Quidam is not just software, it has a little something more that makes it almost... human?

Quidam is a best solution for characters animation.
Bones and Skin are perfectly exportable.

All informations about Quidam and N-Sided here :www.n-sided.com

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