Artist Spotlight: Ahmed Khelladi

Paris-based CG generalist and environment artist Ahmed Khelladi works as a freelancer, after starting his career working for various French studios.

Most recently, he created the striking splash screen artwork for our Katana 9.0 release. In our latest Artist Spotlight, Ahmed talks about what inspired him to go into VFX, his creative process for the Katana splash screen environment artwork, and his advice for new artists.

Is there a particular film/scene/effect that inspired your career in VFX?

Yes, Avatar. This movie absolutely blew my mind the first time I saw it. I was also inspired by visual development artist Steven Cormann’s work in Environment/DMP/Concept. He’s probably the reason I chose to be a CG Environment Generalist.

What do you enjoy most about working in VFX?

Creating procedural setups for my environments is something I especially enjoy. The lighting and comp stage is also great fun. I’m really in love with the whole process. The one thing that I don’t like doing that much is traditional hard surface modeling. This is a very time-consuming task, focusing on only one asset. I prefer working on the full image of a shot, which is why I chose to be a generalist.

Can you outline your path to your current role?

I studied CG from 2020 to 2022 at Futurae. At the end of my studies, I started working for various French studios, such as Stim Studio and Mathematic Studio. By the end of 2023, I started working more as a freelancer and I really enjoy this path now. I would consider going back to a full-time role in a major studio, particularly Wētā FX. That’s pretty much one of my dreams!

What project/s are you most proud of and why?

Professionally, I’m most proud of an establishing shot I did for the Apple TV+ show Constellation. It was at Mathematic in 2023 when I’d just entered the industry. I’ll never forget how my supervisor (Martin Trepreau, such a nice human) gave me his trust. I was just a comper and I told him that I wanted to work on environments. He immediately gave me a big establishing shot that felt impossible for me at that time, but with a lot of work and dedication I delivered something that I’m still proud of today, so thanks again to Martin.

Personally, I’m most proud of my Avatar Landscape FanArt shot. This one gave me a lot of freelancing opportunities, and that’s probably the personal project where I’ve put the most effort in, and getting the rewards for it felt amazing.

What were your main inspirations for the Katana 9.0 artwork?

I didn’t have one main inspiration, but I took references from different places. I took a lot of inspiration from the Scottish Highlands for the environment, though the main tree was mainly inspired by the acacia tree (which doesn’t grow in that location). I wanted to make an image that felt powerful, as that was the brief.

As an environment artist, I knew for sure I would create an environment, and I thought about what in nature could be a powerful source of light. I had two ideas: an erupting volcano, and a lightning bolt. Initially, I couldn’t decide but after seeing a reference from a beautiful looking tree, I saw the opportunity of creating a mirror effect between the tree’s branches and the lightning branches, so I went with the lightning.

How did you find learning Katana compared with other lighting software?

Katana, which I hadn’t used before this project, is pretty straightforward: once you get the basics you can go quickly to the render stage, even with complex scenes, which is really nice. I also like the fact that the software is very well optimized, with no crashes or errors. When I struggled with something the issue was often myself!

Were there any specific challenges in this project that Katana helped you to overcome?

Yes, my scene organization. Katana feels so incredibly smooth compared to a lot of other software. The node network is great — I could instantly tweak what I needed to without having to search for hours.

How does it feel to know that you’ll see your own artwork when you open up the software?

Incredible. If you’d told me in 2020 that my work would be used in Katana, I would never have believed it.

What features or characteristics of Katana do you particularly like, and why?

As well as the simplicity of the scene organization, I also like the lighting tools. I did a couple of tests and it was great to use. Although for this particular artwork, I only used an HDRI, and a second one to adjust specular values only. Compared to other software, Katana is efficient, reliable, stable, and quick.

What advice would you give to people hoping to break into the VFX industry?

Don’t believe everything you read on LinkedIn and online. Breaking into the VFX industry is harder than it was 10–15 years ago. But like many other fields, if you’re good enough, you’ll find a job, though it might take some time. Just take a look at the showreels of artists you admire and you’ll know how good you have to be.

The only question you have to ask yourself is this: am I willing to put in the work and dedication necessary to get good enough to be noticed by recruiters and supervisors? If the answer is yes, you know what to do.

Check out more of Ahmed’s work on ArtStation.

Explore our library of Foundry Learn tutorials to help you get more out of Katana. And if you’re a student, head over to our Education page.