Put your 3D glasses on: Obi-John-Kenobi is here

Greetings and salutations! After 7 months of being part of the team, allow me to finally introduce myself to everyone. My name is John Ruiz, and this is Yuki! *Whoof!*

I’m the 3D artist for Not Suspicious. I’ve had the privilege of working with Guillaume and Rafael on multiple projects since the beginning of our graduate careers. So I was thrilled to finally go full time on Tablecraft this past January.

I started playing games like Starcraft and Super Star Wars as a kid before I knew I wanted to make them. Back then, I wanted to be a professional baseball player, but an injury prevented me from following that path. I still am very active – I love playing sports, which provides a good balance from working in front of a screen all day.

My career as a 3D artist started during my time as an undergraduate in a multimedia program. During that program, I created 2 small prototype games out of sheer curiosity and loved it. It’s a pleasure seeing my work in games, especially in VR.

A lot of my inspiration comes from Star Wars (maybe too much).

Anyway, let’s now get extra personal with these questions below. 😉

Have you ever tried to bake a cake? How did it go? Got any pics to support your claims?

I have! I made a cheesecake with the goal being to make an excellent graham cracker crust. It came out excellent for a first time, however the cheesecake came out a little tart. The crust was exactly what I wanted; I baked the crust first to avoid getting soggy from cheesecake filling during baking. Unfortunately no pictures. I ate all evidence.

Please help us put an end to the most debated issue in science. Once and for all, which Periodic Element has the coolest sounding name?

Titanium, obviously.

What was the piece of work in your portfolio that you’ve had the most fun producing? Tell us about it – maybe show it to us if you can!

My Kylo Ren 3D Lightsaber for sure! It was my first time in Fusion 360 and the outcome was just more than I had ever imagined.

See more by clicking here!

If you were not working in the field that you work now, what kind of work would you see yourself doing? 

I was very close to getting paperwork to sign to teach english abroad in Japan! But then my dog Yuki happened and I stayed and went to Grad School.

What’s a recent book you’ve read, movie you’ve watched or game you’ve played that has had an impact on your work or life? Tell us about it!

This dates back to last year, but once I finished the game Persona 5, I was reminded how much I enjoy Japanese culture and that I desperately wanted to travel there. I eventually did and loved it! Now I’ve begun a journey into learning the Japanese language. 

The other answer is anything Star Wars impacting my work!

What’s your favorite YouTube channel right now? What’s it about?

I love watching/listening to Joe Rogan’s channel. His long conversation based podcast with a plethora of different people covers topics in just about anything in our world. 

I also watch Collider and Screenjunkies channels for up to date movie industry info and analysis.

Very well… welcome!

I’m happy to finally be introduced!

May the force be with you.