We caught up with the winner of Dota 2 Short Film Contest to speak about his impressions and feelings after winning the contest as well as the way he discovered video production as a hobby.

— Congrats on winning the contest! What are your impressions?

— Thanks! I haven't placed first before, so, naturally, the feelings are a bit bizarre, but I'm very happy for sure.

— Many viewers want to find out more about the creator of the video, could you tell us a little about yourself?

— I don't even know... I'm a 24-year-old living in Kyiv and an avid fan of Dota 2, the one looking for inspiration for new animation videos at all times.

— You've been making videos for 7 years. How did you discover this hobby?

— It all started with Team Fortress 2. I really liked its machinima and short clips. Also, Valve's "Meet The" videos. But I've never thought I would be able to reach this level until the Source Film Maker was released, Valve's tool for animations and movies.

— What was the format of your content – highlights, fan videos or something else? What format would work best for beginners, in your opinion?

— I started with Garry's Mod. I really liked making stop motion animations, changing characters' positions and taking screenshots. It all looked like a puppet animation. After SFM was released, I stopped using Gmod.

— What software do you use most often and why?

— I use Source Filmmaker for animations and would really recommend it for beginners. However, this tool seems a bit outdated to me personally, so I'm moving on to some cooler things, like Maya, Max, Blender. I'm now learning Unreal Engine and Autodesk Maya. I use After Effects and Premiere Pro for compositing and editing. But you can also use Sony Vegas.

— Who do you look at for inspiration? Whose works do you consider as guidelines?

— I'd like to give credit to Slava "Portman" Alekseev – we won the prize in the first Dota Short Film contest together. I learned a lot from him. Also, Roman Maltsev – he taught me how to do motion capture for SFM and gave me some great technical tips. Both of them squeeze the most out of the SFM engine and can create a very beautiful, realistic picture.

— In your opinion, do we have many worthy moviemakers in CIS? What can you say about the quality of Russian-language content?

— Actually, I don't follow any bloggers and the Russian content in general.

— What do you need to improve as an animator?

— Practice and desire.

— Let's get back to the contest. If you would be given a chance to pick the winner, who would it be?

— I like my entry, of course, but I also enjoyed the Ballad of Lovelace.

— You've participated in Valve's contests before. How many attempts did it take to win?

— I finished in the top 3 in 3 out of 4 competitions.

— Have you always enjoyed creating humorous content or tried some other genres, too?

— I love drama. We did well in the first contest with it. But jokes are easier to come up with and implement in general.

— Why do you think you won this year?

— I don't even know... People admired the baby Viper. Probably because of him :)

— You took the second place last year, how did finishing one step away from victory feel like?

— I was happy to finish second.

— Where does the idea of Ability Madness 2017 stem from? Why did you opt for a humorous story?

— It's easier to communicate with the audience through comedy. And why the Ability Draft... I really wanted to make something unusual.

— How does the whole process of video production look like? Do you get any help or do that alone? How do you decide on a subject?

— I make short videos myself. When the competition time arrives, I meet with a team of talented animators, composers etc. Those are all my friends.

— How long does it take to make the project of this scope become a reality?

— It depends. It took me a month to create this video.

— Which one of your works is your favorite? Why?

— I can't choose the best one; each one is good in its own way.

— Have you ever gone through a creative crisis? How do you regain inspiration?

— I've never had a creative crisis, I think...

— Your Dota Short Film Contest projects are well known to the public. What else do you do as a content creator?

— I make custom videos. Commercials and small animations.

— Your mascot is a Vengeful Spirit. Why?

— She's cute. She's probably the prettiest out of all Dota 2 female characters.

— We can't miss the subject of The International 2018, how do you like it so far?

— I love TI. It's the only Dota 2 event which I enjoy watching.

— Who's your personal favorite? How did you like the games of CIS teams?

— I usually support CIS teams, but I do not follow it all especially.

— What's your favorite team and why?

— NAVI is the first team I cheered for. I support it to this day.

— What player do you consider the strongest skill-wise?

— An OpenAI 3 bot.

— Do you have any ideas for the Dota 2 Short Film Contest 2019?

— Yes, I've come up with quite a few punchlines :)

— You've reached the goal which you have been pursuing for several years. What is your next milestone?

— I'd love to learn to animate professionally, like Disney does, and keep communicating my ideas through videos.