Today we’d like to introduce you to Draco Day.
Hi Draco, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I have always looked to create my own worlds and narrative. From an extremely young age to the point I am unsure of what initially inspired me. Maybe it is because my mom and dad are incredibly creative and artistic. They never pushed me to be an artist, though. Around the age of six, I found myself grabbing printer paper to draw and write my own comics and books with complete universes and interconnecting stories. I always felt this unexplainable drive to want to create my own narratives. I would also practice my voice acting skills (Which were little to zero) when I would finish a book and read it to my mom.
Eventually, I have perfected my storytelling and art, or at least as much as I could as a ten-year-old. I wanted to learn to bring my stories to life! My friend has similar interests at the time, and he introduced me to a website that unfortunately no longer is with us. RIP Doink.com. I would go on here, use the in-browser animation software, and spent 3 hours working on a 12-second animation and I fell in love. It was so cool to see the finished product running around in the most choppy and garbage quality. But I evolved over time. Spending multiple hours a day grinding in front of the computer animating and uploading to YouTube. This was the extremely early days of YouTube, back in 2008 when Smosh was still relevant! I did this for around five years until the Doink developers made the switch to mobile-only. No more animating on the website. I no longer had an easy way to animate 2D, so I switched to 3D.
However, this was no ordinary style of 3D. I have been a fan of the Half-Life series for as long as I can remember. There is a game called Garry’s Mod, which takes the Half-Life 2 engine, characters, models, props, etc., and you can use them to create your own worlds and machines! I was infatuated with this game growing up, not only for my love of Half-Life but for the love of creating, and toying with physics and posing the characters in funny ways. A few creators on YouTube started creating stop motion animations with this game. A few of my favorite early creators who used this technique were “ICTON,” “DasBoSchitt,” and “Kitty0706”. They inspired this spark to ignite in me, and I immediately got to learning and creating some of my own animations.
Since it is in-game and live, it is a little different creating animations from traditional 3D. You have to spawn a Camera using a tool gun and pose objects and characters with this laser beam that can pick up, and freeze objects dubbed the “physgun”. I created an insane amount of animated growing up, all animated, edited, and voice acted by me. I had to learn every angle of production, which I wanted to do. Except music, I would use music from shows and movies I liked (shhh, but keep it on the down-low 😉 ). I grew a decent following on YouTube after switching from 2D doink animations to 3D Garry’s Mod animations. I put out a series with four parts called “Police Cookies” And spammed it to everyone I knew in the community in desperate hopes of gaining more views. A silly attempt as a 13-year-old. That didn’t really help, it just gave me more haters, haha.
Around 2012, Valve, the creators of Half-Life, released this software on Steam called “Source Film Maker.” This was a special tool that allowed you to professionally animate with ALL the models in Garry’s Mod and Half-Life. This was a dream come true to me. I didn’t have the patience to learn it until 2014, and once I started, I could not stop! I created so many short films, and this is when I truly learned the art of 3D animation. It was no longer throwing ragdolls across the screen and making silly choppy animations. This is when I truly took every concept I learned from Doink 2D animation, with keyframes, timelines, etc. And Garry’s Mod, understanding the 3D environment, how to light scenes with dramatic cinematic lighting, and animation, to then formulating all I learned into this 3D software. I created a few really popular animations on YouTube that got some good exposure from PRO CS: GO E-sports player “Olofmeister”. Someone linked my video on his twitch stream and he watched it for all his viewers. My video gained 150,000 views within 3 Days, and my subscriber count 6x’d. (This next part is relevant later) – This video was a trailer for a 15-20 minute Counter-Strike: Global Offensive animation. I titled it “The AWP is coming,” which was extremely anticipated by my new fans. However, this video was put on hiatus after hiatus for the various obstacles I was going through mentally. More to come on that one.
With all this great stuff happening to me in my animation interest, I was not as successful in school. I had zero interest in messing around with all these algebraic equations, science and history were at least interesting to me, but I felt my time was best spent working on my art and gaining experience. I would spend a decent amount of time after school with some friends, then go home and start animating / editing videos. I didn’t have time to write essays and remember what year Greece was invaded. Was Greece even invaded?! Maybe it mattered to someone but not me. My dad didn’t make my efforts easy, though. He would take away my computer when he saw a bad report card. I didn’t have my computer, but I still wouldn’t do my homework ha.
He really did see potential in what I was doing, though, but school was important to him. I realized after I graduated in 2016, it really isn’t that hard, and it was kind of a joke to me. But now I was out of Highschool, now I had to become a decent human being of society, and not this little kid is messing around and animating as a hobby making living rent-free.
I had to learn to translate my hobbies into a career. My dad didn’t have money for me to go to college, so I knew that route wouldn’t work. I was a little depressed at the time, partly because that’s a normal feeling after high school (I think), and I had to work at a Taco Bell for my first job and be miserable. I wasn’t liking it. I would still animate, the only difference is I’d just animate while thinking how much everything sucks, but if I make a funny video, I’d be laughing through it. Around four months after, high school I got into contact with a well-known YouTuber under the name “Dexter Manning,” creator of “Sanity Not Included” and “If Undertale were realistic.” He had me animate one of his videos, “Overwatch’s New Character (Overwatch SFM Animation)” He liked my style and wanted to continue working with me, so he brought me over to work at Smash Bits as an animator for his series “If Undertale Were realistic”.
I was now creating animations for other people for a really decent price, making some good money for being right out of high school. I did this for about a year. Grinding hours and hours out of the day to make these animations I didn’t really think were that funny was very tedious and waring down on me over time. Mentally I didn’t have the drive to create any of my own original stuff because I was too worn out from creating other people’s animations. It was a lot of work. I couldn’t even work on my video “The AWP is coming” I had around 15 minutes of it done and edited, but it wasn’t finished to completion. I was trying to make it perfect, and nothing felt right with it. Eventually, Smash Bits CEO came to me all worried and freaking out because we had a promoter want to pay us to advertise their product on one of our videos this week, but we didn’t have anything planned to put out for a month. So I offered “The AWP is Coming” to be released on his channel. He liked the idea, so I had to quickly edit it up to near perfection to show him and send it over. He hired new voice actors because my microphone at the time sucked, and I did all the voice acting. We changed a few things around and got it up on YouTube and saved the day, basically. He was super happy. I technically sold out, but “The AWP is Coming” somewhat got released after two years of hiatus, and I got a decent amount of money to buy my first car!
I parted ways with Smash Bits, feeling like a sell-out, and had no drive to create. I was resulting to hanging out with friends and wasting my time hanging out all day and not doing anything creative. I felt like I needed a creative break, but I also felt bad because I was taking a break. Nothing felt right. Later one of my animator friends in the Source Film Maker community offered me a position that he wasn’t interested in. A decision that would change my life drastically. He introduced me to who we’ll just call Frank. An interesting Turkish fellow with a drive to create video games. He was creating a Half-Life game of his own, with permission from Valve. Me being a Half-Life fan, and a desire to animate and maybe get my foot into the video game industry, I said yes! I got into a few meetings with this good sir, and I only did a minute amount of animation, practically nothing.
The game came out in February 2018 under the name “Hunt Down the Freeman”, and the Half-Life and gaming community hated it! A few famous YouTubers such as “Keemstar”, and “Pyrocynical”. It was a huge meme in the gaming world, and it felt surreal to be a part of that project. Which at the time, I thought wasn’t going to be that well known at all or even come out. Everyone who worked on the project turned against Frank, and I felt really bad, he just wanted to make a game for one of his favorite series. I kept in good contact with him and messaged him on Instagram from time to time, which would prove to be beneficial later. Feeling desperate, working garbage minimum wage jobs, tired of my environment and mental space. I needed a change of scenery, and I needed it NOW.
My dad was living down in San Diego, and I asked him if I could come to live down there. I packed everything I needed into my car and threw the rest away. One trip was all I needed to get my stuff from Modesto, CA, to San Diego. I finally had my own space, no distractions, and a new environment to explore. I finally felt actually happy again. It was a really nice change of feeling. Not only was I more happy, but I felt more creative and funny actually. I started forcing myself to work on my own projects again now that I had peace of mind. Eventually, it didn’t feel forced anymore. I also tried to push myself to the next level and Z-Brush, and Cinema 4D. I was taking the time to do something I’ve been wanting to do for seven years!
I always really wanted to learn professional top-tier software and it was time to do it. I also was working at “Fry’s Electronics” at the time. The most boring damn job I’ve ever had, surprisingly, because it’s all about computers and electronics, something I love. While I was there, I met a good sir under the name “Daniel Eues”. He was buying a 3,000$ computer, and I was infatuated. I asked him why he was buying such an expensive PC. He told me it was for his animation job, and after I heard that, I had to dig deeper and ask more! I had to ask what he does, what software he uses, general advice, etc. He told me he uses Blender, a 3D animation software. One that I have known of for a while but always thought it wasn’t professional and was too difficult to use. He told me it recently got a new update and really recommended it. I somehow got his name and saved it for months until I scavenged Facebook for his profile to ask him more questions. He has a nature for teaching and was very accepting to give me advice. He taught me a lot from different techniques, shading, texturing, general industry tips, etc. I stuck to learning Blender for two years. Starting with simple modeling and then building a decent portfolio.
My friend, Frank, the creator of Hunt Down the Freeman from 2018, messaged me asking me if I liked “Call of Duty.” I said, “hell yeah, I grew up with it.” He got a job at Activision at the time and really wanted to hire me up. He told me to learn the Unreal engine, build an Artstation portfolio, and then come back to him. So I did exactly that while still learning Blender like crazy. A few months and a lockdown later, I was hit up by him around October of 2020. He asked if I learned Unreal and made an Artstation portfolio. I sent him my Artstation portfolio and he sent that straight to his boss. I genuinely didn’t believe what was happening, like my thought process was, “well, this would be cool if I got it, but that’s unlikely. I’ll just stick to editing and learning Blender more. I’m fine with that.” He then messaged me later, “okay, the paperwork is being E-mailed to you.” I then thought, “Hmmm this is interesting.” I filled everything out and send it, but still couldn’t believe it. He told me my start date, I got my laptop delivered to my front door the same day, and then the next thing I know I was introducing myself to the whole team on a meeting. I think that’s when it finally hit, and I was like, “Oh shit, I work for Activision now.”
November 16th, 2020, my first day at Activision, and I’ve been with them ever since, and I could not be happier. I worked my entire life to create and be a part of something I genuinely love, and now I am finally here. Not an ounce of college, all just pure talent and skill. Connections are obviously huge, so I say never burn bridges. I have had great mentors come into my life to get me to where I am. Dan is a great example of that, we share a similar vision and interest, and I cannot thank him enough. I am still using Blender and learner more to this day. I am sure Activision is not my last stop on this journey. I have some personal plans I am giving energy to. However, for now, we will just have to wait and see until that moment arises.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Not going to college and still trying to make it into the industry. Gaining enough experience and skill without college. Trying to work on animations while in high school and trying not to get bad grades so my dad doesn’t take away my computer. Getting through my creative dry spell, where I had no drive or motivation to create anything. When I tried, I could only do it for moments at a time till I had to get off.
Creating animations for other people than myself. Animations I didn’t necessarily like. Meeting and finding other creatives down in San Diego after moving here. Trusting the process, knowing, and believing I am destined to be successful, no matter how I get there, even if in the moment things seem grim.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My work started as YouTube animation videos/gaming videos. Progressed to more serious animation, and then I learned professional 3D software such as Z-Brush and Blender. Blender has been a great experience for me. I genuinely love this software. It really allows me to free my creativity onto a digital canvas. I have done 3D modeling, animation, particle effect animations, rigging, hair physics, lighting, rendering, compositing, etc. my work is honestly a collection of my subconscious. I say that because although I may be consciously using the software, I am subconsciously creating something, sometimes I don’t even know what it’s going to be. Things also change during the process too. Sometimes I’ll be sculpting a face, and I’ll have a guy’s nose all flat, and then I get bored of seeing that, so I stretch it out and do some wacky stuff with it to make it more interesting for me as I’m creating it. My current work I am now creating and designing Call of Duty mobile weapons.
What matters most to you? Why?
You have to genuinely love whatever you’re doing. Maybe you hate it at times, but it’s always that love-hate relationship that makes your work special. Maintaining connections are super important as well. I’m not saying it should be parasitic to where you only message them or talk to them for your own benefit. I mean, really message them, get to know them, build genuine connections. Know their strengths, weaknesses, etc. Always keep everyone in contact. It doesn’t matter if they’re “higher up” or “lesser” in your own egotistical mind. Not saying that’s how I think, but it is a problem some people suffer from. See everyone not just as equals, but people with their own unique strengths.
Contact Info:
- Email: Dracoday23@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/corningt0n/?hl=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/cornflakes23/featured
- Other: https://www.artstation.com/corningt0n
