V.M. : Hi Eric. Thanks for talking to me. For the benefit of any readers who may not be familiar with Zygote, can you briefly tell me exactly it is that you do?
Eric : We create hard-to-build 3D models, specializing in character models and 3D anatomy.

V.M. : You are known in the industry as a small company with a big reputation. How large is Zygote?
Eric : We have eleven total employees. Seven of these are fulltime modelers.

V.M. : What products do you have available at this time?
Eric : Well, in addition to individual models which can be purchased individually and custom models which we are contracted to make, we also have several CDs available. The Mix N Match CD consists of a variety of clothing models which can be used on our human models. The Zygote Sampler 1 and 2 contain over 100 miscellaneous models, including various heads and hairstyles. Probably our most familiar products, however, are our 18 Zygote People CDs.

Many people remember the 18 Perfect People CD that was marketed by Acuris in the past. Those models were actually created here at Zygote. Acuris is no longer marketing that product so we created a successor of sorts, these CDs contain improved models and each actually contains 18 individual humans, as opposed to 2 versions of 9 different people. There are 3 versions of18 Zygote People; the basic versionas well as LE, and Pro versions.

18 Zygote People comes with 18 jointed human models and 18 one-piece skinned models. The LE version contains only the 18 jointed models. The Pro version contains the jointed ans skinned models in addition to nude versions of the models.

V.M. : In addition to selling models directly to the consumer, I know that Zygote is involved in providing models for feature films and video games. Can you tell us a few places where we can see your work on the big screen or our computer screen?
Eric : Well, I can’t talk about everything we are doing yet, but I can tell you about some of our past projects. We provided models for the movies Independence Day, and a skeleton seen in the Fifth element. We have also done work on the upcoming Godzilla movie and the sequel to Dennis the Menace. we also worked on Sinbad a full length animated feature that is due to be released soon.

We are becoming more and more active in the game industry, having worked on; the Titanic game, Red Jack’s revenge, Deadlock, Hunter-Hunted , Mini Golf from Sierra, Rama, Pandemonium II and the Jurassic Park game.

Zygote is also active in television, having worked with the Discovery Channel’s World of Discovery . look for our wireframes on their specials on bears and conjoined twins. You can also see our work on several commercials for Coca Cola, Hoover, Roundup Herbicide, Kellogg’s Rice Crispies, and Disney’s World Fun Cruise.

V.M. : So what can we look forward to from Zygote? Can you tell us about any upcoming or future projects?
Eric : As I said, there are some projects that I am not at liberty to discuss, but one thing we are excited about is the impending release of the newest version of Poser. The models in the new Poser were all created here at Zygote. We think that you will find that this upgrade is a significant improvement.

V.M. : What hardware do you use to create these realistic models?
Eric : We use SGI machines.

V.M. : What software are you running?
Eric : We use Alias Wavefront, SoftImage, and a special program that is not very well known called Nichimen Graphics. We have several other packages, of course, for special tasks, but these are the programs we use the most.

V.M. : Zygote is obviously a successful company. What is the biggest challenge you face in keeping things running smoothly?
Eric : (Laughing) That’s easy. Keeping the client happy and still making a profit. Finding the right price for a new product is always a challenge.

V. M. : I only have one more question Eric. As you know, there is a lot of turmoil in the industry right now and it seems asif things are changing every day. How does Zygote see the future of 3D graphics and animation?
Eric : We are hoping that soon the low-end market will catch up and provide more demand for our products. With the falling cost of high speed machines and rapidly improving low-end software, we are hoping that it will open up the market to a whole new group of consumers.

V.M. : Thanks for talking with me today, Eric. It was very informative and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Keep up the great work.
Eric : Thank you. It was my pleasure.


Darris Dobbs is a regualar contributor to Visual Magic. He is a professional 3D modeler, animator and writer and the co-owner of HieroglyFX Design in Wichita Kansas.