While I have taken various art classes in my school days, my 3d skills are completely self-taught. The main drive behind learning to do 3d graphics was that I wanted to do my own space movie. I started out by building some real models - the old fashioned way. However I quickly learned how expensive it is to scratch build your own models. Then there is the whole problem of how do you make your very heavy model move with out the million dollar motion control set up. Which brought me to 3d! It's really amazing what one person can do these days on their computers. So began my long voyage into the land of 3d rendering.

Can you give some background on how you got involved in the Battlestar Galactica Second Coming Trailer.?

The short version of that story is that I found out Richard Hatch was putting together a trailer for his proposed idea for bringing Battlestar back. I basically put up a web page with my work and posted that Richard should contact me. Well I think I ended up emailing him after getting the right email, and I believe the 1st response was that they were going to use real models. That seemed like that... but not too soon after that I was contacted again - apparently they changed their minds about using the real models.

Is it just me, or does your Galactica model look a hell of a lot better now than it does in the trailer?

We were trying to rush the Second Coming effects along and the Battlestar was pretty much used as is (meaning pretty much in the state I had it in at the time) and there wasn't any time to test things out. However since the trailer was only meant to give an "IDEA" of what the new show could be like, it wasn't important that everything be perfect. Had there been a full fledge second coming trailer and had I been the one working on the effects in any manner, the Galactica would have been re-done top to bottom. - That being said, YES - The current Galactica model I have is indeed better than the Second Coming trailer. There was a time when I was about to start doing "Galactica" comic books. I took about a week to fix a lot of the problems with the ship. This resulted in a much better looking Battlestar.

	3 Classic Vipers From Galactica. The Classic Viper formation in another 3d rendering from Mike. (Click to enlarge.)

Of course I'd love to build a final super duper version of the Galactica using some very detailed reference pictures. Maybe one day I will for fun. However, right now I'm working on other projects - including my own space project - that keeps me pretty busy. For now I'm happy with the current model - it gets the job done.

Some of your artwork says its from the S.E. Trailer? Special Edition? What's that all about?

I had talked to Richard (Hatch) about doing an updated version of the trailer with some nicer effect shots. I had upgraded a lot of the models since the original trailer and thought it would be really cool to go back and spend the time to make all the shots look closer to what they would have looked like in a real production. I did do several shots - I can't say any of them were final versions or first versions. However the idea sorta died. Battlestar was clearly heading another way at Universal. I think in the end Richard decided to leave the trailer as is for now and re-focus his attention to his own sci-fi project.

Let's just say I left the door open for the idea. Personally I still think it would be great fun to do. We will just have to leave it at... never say never.

What is The Great War of Magellan production?

GWOM is the personal project of Richard Hatch. It's a big space adventure that he has been cooking up for some time. I worked with Richard on the effects to get his "proposal" trailer done. Hopefully we will see his show on a t.v. near you soon!.

With the NEW Battlestar Galactica now on SCI-Fi, do you plan on modeling any of the new ships?

	A Viper. is about to get behind a Cylon Raider to set up the kill shot. (Click to enlarge.)

No. Well, not unless someone pays me 1st! (ha!) It's a lot of very hard work to recreate sci-fi models and you need the time to do it. I've been spending more time focused on some original properties and hope to be able to show them off soon.

As far as the new show, we totally support it here at www.battlestargalactica.com! -and if we can , we'd love to have some of their current artists drop us a line and perhaps share some of their great work!

Do have any advice for those just starting 3d modeling/animation?

Be prepared for a lot of hard work. The better you get at it, the more work it becomes. I'd say the best way to start out is to create a project for yourself and then work to complete it. This way you will have focus and will try new things you might normally avoid doing otherwise. - Lastly , keep at it. Your stuff won't look good at first, its impossible to start out being good. Just keep working and you will eventually figure everything out.

Back to Battlestar, Do you have a favorite episode (or episodes) from the original series?

My mind always jumps to "The Return Of Starbuck", which was actually a GALACTICA 1980 episode. The reason I have to pick that one is because it was the last true original Battlestar episode. After suffering through the 1980 show (which went in a weird direction) it was nice to finally get back to the feel of the original run of the show. I think that is why a lot of fans also would pick that one. It gave us hope for more shows like that. However, it was not to be.

How can you be reached?

My personal web page is www.tfxart.com , or you can just contact me via the contact section on this web page - currently (as of this post) I am the webmaster for www.battlestargalactica.com .