Who are you?
I’m Nicola Gastaldi, a 37 year old motion graphics designer. I used to freelance around the world, working mainly on big scale events and projection mappings but I’ve settled down at Smoke & Mirrors in London since 2012—loving every minute out of it.
Tell us about your GastaLoops project. How’d you decide to launch it, and what’s your process?
GastaLoops is a daily looping gif series that I wanted to have as a personal challenge. I’ve set some hard limits to force (or help?) me be more creative. The real struggle is to find something interesting everyday.
Usually I spend 30 to 60 minutes on each one everyday.
I’m using every possible tool to do them, mainly C4D and After Effects, something hand drawn in Photoshop, but I’m trying to do something in Houdini as well.
What else are you working on?
At Smoke & Mirrors I’m involved in a wide array of different projects, from music videos to commercials, from flat design motion graphics to photorealistic CG. In my spare time I love spending my time with my 4 month old baby and trying to push my personal creative boundaries.
Choose a favorite shot of yours from the project. Tell us why it’s a favorite.
This one has been a game changer. I did it really quickly, really late at night, but I feel that this one has a real “style.” The style issue is a real fight—trying to set a personal style is something that I would love to achieve. Maybe, after few hundreds of my loops, who knows?
Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch)?
Nicola (in the corner) with other teammates.
I work in Cinema4d, After Effects, Photoshop, and I’m currently learning Houdini.
Choose a favorite shot from another player. Tell us why you dig it.
I really love what my two friends are doing.
Nicola is currently exploring the mind with these loops. This is the first one and I really love its style!
Chris is simply brilliant. His superhero animation went viral few months ago and, well, he truly deserves it!
Find Nicola on Dribbble, on Twitter, and at www.gasta.org.
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