FAST & SECURE RENDER FARM SERVICES

LITH: A Decentralized Publicly Owned Platform to Solve Housing Problems in Gentrification Neighborhood: Introducing Young But Talented Architect, Razan Jawad

Have you ever thought about what ArchViz can do other than illustrating buildings built or unbuilt? Razan Jaward, a graduate from The Bartlett School of Architecture, ULC, created her graduation project -- LITH. LITH © Razan Jawad LITH is a decentralized publicly owned platform for space sharing enabled by a localized fused deposition modelling printing farm, it is aimed towards decommodification of gentrified neighborhoods and to provide affordable long-term homes for at-risk members of the community and to provide a platform to artists and artisan being displaced due to gentrification. It’s more than a regular ArchViz artwork, but a solution towards housing problems that bother numerous artists and people in many communities, showing the social conscience of the creator. The explanation of LITH Razan, with LITH, was also nominated in the Student (FILM) category of the 2020 CGarchitect 3D Awards, which was sponsored by Fox Renderfarm, a top-notch cloud rendering solution provider. For more creative details and ideas behind, please enjoy our interview. - Razan Jawad - Architect - From: Republic of Lebanon Fox Renderfarm: Could you give us a brief introduction about yourself? Razan: My name is Razan Jawad, I’m originally Lebanese, born and raised in Antwerp, Belgium. I’ve been passionate about architecture from the age of 15 and it has only increased as I have grown. I have worked in Lebanon and Belgium as an Intern and an Assistant Architect. At the age of 19, I had just finished from the Architectural High school in Antwerp and thus, my life as an architect began, designing stores within the new center that was being built in Centro Ovale Chiasso, at the Swiss Italian border. 70% of my proposed design integration for the H&M and Apple stores were adopted by the clients. Centro Ovale Chiasso After moving to Lebanon, my determination, learnings and previous work experience landed me on several job opportunities as an Assistant Architect which was done in parallel to my university education. In June 2018 I graduated from ALBA with a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture and to further enhance my studies I attended UCL in London where I completed my master’s degree in architectural design. Being a freelance architect, I’m currently working on three different projects that are based in Sierra Leone, Lebanon and Congo which led me to open up a startup studio. The project in Lebanon is a residential villa for a private client and the 2 projects in Africa are huge commercial projects. Fox Renderfarm: How do you feel about being nominated for the CGarchitect Architectural 3D Awards? Razan: It feels great to get recognition for the amount of hard work that goes into realizing any architectural project academic or otherwise. Fox Renderfarm: What inspired you to create the amazing project? Any ideas behind the name “LITH”? Razan: LITH is the culmination of a year of architectural research, It is a amalgamation of philosophies of discrete architecture (a digital combinatorial design theory by Gilles Retsin), a mix of neo-Brutalism and gothic inspirations backed with social theories for cohousing communities. Gilles Retsin Director at Gilles Retsin Architecture Former Lecturer, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL Discrete: Reappraising the Digital in Architecture by Gilles Retsin Fox Renderfarm: Could you introduce the core idea of the film and what kind of concepts do you want to convey through it? The building you design in the film is unique and futuristic, could you introduce the function of it and how you create it? Razan: The buildings in the film are actually a system of buildings rather than an individual building. It is a platform enabled co-housing community. Key concept: LITH stems from the idea that housing is a fundamental human right, while ownership of property is not. Along with the housing crisis, Gentrification adversely affects at-risk communities in neighborhoods. In Hackney, which hosts one of the largest artistic communities in the United Kingdom, artists and residents now face the same issues as many of the flats, and warehouse studios they inhabit have become too expensive for them, to continue to live and work there. Hackney Main functions: LITH is a decentralized publicly owned platform for space sharing enabled by a localized fused deposition modelling printing farm, it is aimed towards decommodification of gentrified neighborhoods and to provide affordable long-term homes for at-risk members of the community and to provide a platform to artists and artisan being displaced due to gentrification. The automated LITH printing farm works tirelessly around the clock for the production of serialized 3D printed formworks which can be cast incrementally to generate architectural structures. The printing factory continues to be an integral part of the LITH ecosystem after the construction process, and residents and artists can access the 3D printing farm to produce furniture, goods and art. The LITH platform can respond to a variety of typologies depending upon the urban conditions, user requirements and varying design briefs. The same localized LITH printing farm can generate various housing communities within a neighborhood. Each housing can have an entirely different underlying functional program and spatial configuration. The generations also respond flexibly to any 3-dimensional boundary constraints. Within LITH, spaces are divided as shared, semi-shared and private. Where semi-shared spaces are shared by residents of the housing, while shared spaces can be utilized by other members of the community as well. Residents and artists can access these shared spaces by booking them through the LITH space sharing platform. Light-based visual cues let the users know if a space is available, being utilized or can be shared. Large public lofts function as shared spaces, which can be utilized by local artists as studio spaces and workshops. The artist can either purchase a subscription to these spaces or occupy them by booking them through the LITH platform. Fox Renderfarm: How long did it take you to finish the film? Razan: The whole project was a culmination of a year long research into 3D Printing, platform based generative architecture, algorithmic design and discrete architecture. The movie itself took over 2 months to make from the initial storyboard to the modelling of the actual building and then the final render. Fox Renderfarm: In this project, what software and plugins did you use? And do you use any new creative approaches to make the project better? Razan: The generation of the building geometry is a combination of rhino3d + grasshopper and Unity + C algorithms. The animation was carried out entirely on 3ds Max and rendered with V-Ray. Fox Renderfarm: How long have you been in the architectural visualization career? Could you share with us your education and career experience? Razan: Being at UCL was a life changer especially having conducted a bachelor’s degree in the Middle East to the “Western Content” from constant learning of new software to fabrication. During my whole architecture degree using 3d visualization was always part of my academic work, but my experience at The Bartlett encouraged me to explore newer software, whereby I was fortunate enough to have an amazing instructor who encouraged me to apply to the 3D Awards at CGarchitects. Fox Renderfarm: As an outstanding young architect, what do you do to enhance your professional skills? Razan: I make sure I’m up to date with the digital world by watching lectures and documentaries about new architectural technologies.

Two Important Things Zync Render Users Need to Know

We are sorry that Zync Render has to officially shut down on June 1, 2021, the cloud rendering services provided by Google Cloud. Since the chaos that has a huge impact on the 3D industry worldwide caused by the pandemic, Fox Renderfarm strongly believes that every contributor in the industry matters, and we never see other cloud render farms as competitors but teammates to make this industry robust and vigorous. What Should Zync Render users do to avoid losses as much as possible and continue their cloud rendering easily after the change? Here are 2 pieces of advice. 1. Be aware of 2 special dates Zync has stopped accepting new users and halted new development since June 21, 2020, which means the software and plugins support and maintenance provided by the render farm cannot be up to date. Below are software versions supported by Zync Render. If you cannot find the versions of your software and plugins, we recommend you could find an alternative choice, and Fox Renderfarm is deeply committed to supporting CG Artists and making cloud rendering accessible to everyone around the world. We support a huge number of main 3D software and renderers. 3ds Max Arnold Standalone Cinema 4D Houdini Maya Nuke V-Ray Standalone The official shutdown date is on June 1, 2021. Before that, you’d better log in to your Zync Render account to check your projects left and do the backup just in case of asset losses. 2. Choose Zync Render Alternatives We sincerely advise you to try Fox Renderfarm. Besides the wide-range software and plugins support, 24/7 customer service, dedicated TD and customer support, and flexible pricing scheme which we’ve always been insisting on, recently Fox Renderfarm has initiated a program called Evergreen Program especially for new users. Accomplish your first top-up and you could get a free render coupon and even a Gold Membership for three months. The more you recharge, the more you save. *New User: User registered in 2021 who is ready to accomplish the first top-up. Plus the $25 free trial for new users, it is really worth trying to see if Fox Renderfarm is the right choice for you. Happy render and keep creating, because in creating, we are each other’s inspirations and support.

Interview with Alejandro Creo Rodríguez, Our Beloved Client and Founder of the3DCube

Mr. Alejandro Creo Rodríguez is a freelance 3D designer and the founder of the3DCube ArchViz studio. He has managed to work for important national and international interior designers and collaborated in many furniture catalogs and in the Casa Decor Madrid 2017 exhibition. - Alejandro Creo Rodriguez - Freelance 3D Designer - Founder of the3DCube Fox Renderfarm is dedicated to providing fast and secure cloud rendering services for our clients around the world. We have over 200,000 happy customers from 50+ countries and regions. And Alejandro is one of them! We are glad and thankful that Alejandro has chosen Fox Renderfarm. ArchViz © Alejandro Creo Rodríguez, rendered with Fox Renderfarm With his strong love and passion for art, Alejandro learned 3D design with 3ds Max in his course. And after that, he just fell in love with 3D creations. For the ups and downs in life, he decided to specialize in ArchViz and constantly improved his techniques by getting the 2013 Autodesk Professional Certificate. After completing the degree and seeing the difficulty of finding a job in an architecture studio, He plucked up the courage to found his own 3D infographic business focused on architecture and interior design, combining it at the same time with 2 years as a 3D infoarchitecture instructor for students of the University of Architecture of Donostia / San Sebastián. With about 15 years’ experience in the 3D world and with a lot of study, research, work, time and money invested, he keeps his pursuit in the ArchViz world and explores more possibilities with interactive technology. © Alejandro Creo Rodriguez Fox Renderfarm: Hi Alejandro, thank you so much for accepting our interview, could you please introduce yourself? Mr. Alejandro Creo Rodríguez: Hi, pleased to talk with you. Well, my name is Alejandro. I'm from Donostia - San Sebastian. It is a beautiful coastal city from Vasque Country in the north of Spain. I’m 40 years old and I’ve been a CG artist for about 15 years. © Alejandro Creo Rodriguez Fox Renderfarm: How did you encounter CG and get started in the CG industry? Please briefly tell us the story of your career path and how you set up the3DCube. Mr. Alejandro Creo Rodríguez: Well...in my family, almost all members have a good hand to draw and a good taste for the design. It is a family thing. Since I was studying at an institute, I was drawing graffiti letters all the time in different study books, and on the walls of the city ;). I finished the institute and I didn’t want to go to the university to study, and I decided to learn graphic design software to continue drawing. There I met 3ds Max. I fell in love with it at the moment. When I finished studying it, I made one special project with Softimage the XSI version. One year later, one architect school from San Sebastian contacted me to work in their office with 3ds Max software making a 3D modeling work for an architecture project. 6 years later, I went to Madrid to study for a Master’s certificate in advanced architectural visualization (ArchVIZ). There I learned all matters to make a base of a good render image. Then, with a lot of hours studying, reading books, watching tutorials and working, I learned to use a lot of tips, plugins, and scripts to make my photorealistic render images. © Alejandro Creo Rodriguez Fox Renderfarm: What movies/ tv shows/ games are your favorites respectively? Mr. Alejandro Creo Rodríguez: I like sports very much. I think that it is very necessary because I spent a lot of hours sitting in front of a computer. I like CrossFit very much. I don’t watch tv, but I’m addicted to Netflix shows like thrillers movies. For me, one of the best tv shows is “el conquistador del caribe”. It is a local survival tv show. The best. I like skateboarding and surfing. el conquistador del caribe Fox Renderfarm: Any artists or artworks inspired you most? Mr. Alejandro Creo Rodríguez: I follow The works of Filip Hodas (INS @hoodas) and Ronen Bekerman. I like their style very much. For Spanish artists, I like the works of Lemons Bucket so much. Another reference is the artist Juan Siquier. For studios, there are Lemons Bucket Studio and Berga & González. Cartoon Fossils © Filip Hodas Ronen BekermanCo-founder/Manager The Craft Mad hatter © Juan Siquier © Lemons Bucket © Berga & González Fox Renderfarm: As a freelancer, how do you keep yourself motivated and productive? And what do you do to enhance your artistic sense and professional skills constantly? Mr. Alejandro Creo Rodríguez: I love my work and lifestyle, and that is my main motivation. Life and work without a boss and restricted timetables are the best. Daily, I check 3D forums (from Facebook ) where other artists are talking about new features of software and plugins, and showing their works, and asking questions…..that is my form to stay always on the way ;) © Alejandro Creo Rodriguez Fox Renderfarm: Could you share with us your creative workflow? Mr. Alejandro Creo Rodríguez: It is simple…. I only need to study the project to know what is more important to show in the rooms or zones in the renders. Then, I need to know the materials and I look for reference images from google or magazines, to have an example of materials, illuminations and perspectives. After all the work is tested, I will adapt the camera and the lights and configure the materials. Fox Renderfarm: What’s your proudest or most unforgettable work? Any difficulty you met when making it? Mr. Alejandro Creo Rodríguez: Wow...it is difficult to choose..I think that a reform restaurant from the center of Madrid. It was one of the first jobs that I’ve done, and the responsibility was big for me. Finding the best lighting for space was a big difficulty on that project. Finally, the result was very satisfactory. In fact, I have the comparative images from reality vs render ;) Comparative render We can always find fine-balanced lighting, colors and details in your photorealistic artworks. Could you use an example to elaborate on the details about how you made them well? Having reference images from google is always necessary (for example) to see the materials and the details. I never make the materials from memory, always seeing reference images. © Alejandro Creo Rodriguez Fox Renderfarm: You’ve also integrated interactive methods, such as VR, with ArchViz, how do you feel about it? Any future plans to adopt them more in your projects? Mr. Alejandro Creo Rodríguez: Yes, I think interactive methods are the future for the ArchViz jobs. The clients want interaction and dynamism. At this time, clients sometimes don't want to visit the projects personally, they prefer to make a virtual visit from their homes. Now I’m making static images, virtual visits on 360 images and video animation, but I would like to make Unreal Engine works in the future, that they have a lot of dynamism on the projects. Loft 3d 360 VR Virtual Tour © Alejandro Creo Rodriguez Fox Renderfarm: Could you tell us how you got involved in the Casa Decor Madrid 2017 exhibition? Mr. Alejandro Creo Rodríguez: Yes, it was a very proud work, because to know that your renders were shown at an exhibition is very motivating. An interior artist from Madrid contacted me (she was the same artist that contacted me on Madrid´s reform restaurant project) and she said to me what she wanted to do, and showed me the photographs from the room. © Alejandro Creo Rodriguez Fox Renderfarm: How do you feel about the ArchViz industry in Spain? Mr. Alejandro Creo Rodríguez: Things are more complicated in the last year. because now the economy is not at its best moment. Another thing is now we have more artists than some years ago, and now with the news configurations from the render engines that are very easy, all the artists have good jobs. Fox Renderfarm: How do you like Fox Renderfarm’s rendering services? Mr. Alejandro Creo Rodríguez: For me, Fox Renderfarm is a very important tool for my job. Without working with Fox Renderfarm, I need a home render farm to have the final renders prepared to send on time, and it will cost a lot of money on computers and hardware. Fox Renderfarm: Any other things you want to share with CG enthusiasts? Mr. Alejandro Creo Rodríguez: Thank you for the interview. Thanks to the people who are making video tutorials and tips because they make my life easier :) If you want, you can follow my works on Instagram @_the3dcube. And finally…….LONG LIVE ARCHVIZ!!! Love, peace and rock n roll. © Alejandro Creo Rodriguez Instagram