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The CGarchitect 3D Awards celebrates outstanding talent and creativity in the field of 3D architectural visualization. These awards recognize the incredible efforts of artists and studios who push the technical and creative boundaries to transform architectural concepts into breathtaking visual narratives.This year's award categories include Best Professional Image, Best Professional Film, and Best Student Image, among others. A special highlight is the "Viz Pro of the Year" award, which recognizes the best work posted on the CGarchitect's community gallery. The new "Best A.I. Image" category also showcases stunning images created using state-of-the-art A.I. technology.As a leading cloud rendering service provider and render farm in the CG industry, Fox Renderfarm is honored to be one of the sponsors of this competition and witnessed the birth of many brilliant works!Image via CGarchitectYou can check out the announcement of the winners in the video below, or on the Awards website.Congratulations to all the winners and nominees and let's look forward to the next competition!

Exclusive interview about 2019 ARCHITECTURAL 3D AWARDSThe CGarchitect Architectural 3D Awards, sponsored by Fox Renderfarm, is the largest and most prestigious awards event for the architectural visualization industry, attracting entries from top studios, freelancers and students from around the world.Fox Renderfarm is honored to introduce the winner of the Film/Animation(Student) category, Mr.Cheng Lei and his team from China who love animation.Cheng Lei3D InstructorFrom: ChinaSchool: SAN WEI KONG JIAN (3D Space)TRAVEL CREDITS:Artistic Director: Gang LiuProducer: Huifang LiInstructor: Cheng Lei, Xiaoting Qin, Hua Chen3D Artist: Xinhe Wang, Na Ding, Xudong Wang, Shuxin Yan, Zhiyu Wang, Zekun Feng, Feifei Chen, Xiaojiao Wang, Danyang Jin, Zesen Liu, Yumeng Wang, Yangjun Wang, Yinxu Niu, Yuxin Yang, Dan Xiong, Sipei Sheng, Siqing DuanThe winner team comes from SAN WEI KONG JIAN (3D Space), an educational institution teaching UI design, game design, film, and television advertising animation, architectural parade animation and more than 20 categories of courses.With the passion of animation, the students spent a total of two months discussing creative details, storyboards, models, material and light rendering, and post-production editing. Finally, they finished the original 3D architectural animation, which received international recognition.Behind the scenes of TRAVEL It’s the second time for SAN WEI KONG JIAN to win the CGarchitect Architectural 3D Awards. The students from SAN WEI KONG JIAN won the award last year for their excellent work About Y Chair, which is the first CGarchitect Architectural 3D Awards for Chinese student team. About Y ChairHere’s the interview between Fox Renderfarm and Cheng Lei, one of the instructors of the winning work.Fox Renderfarm: Hi, Cheng, would you please give a brief introduction about yourself and your team?Cheng: Hi, Fox Renderfarm, my name is Cheng Lei, I am an animation teacher. I come from Xi 'an, the ancient capital of 13 dynasties in China. All my team members are college students are from different universities in Xi 'an. Fox Renderfarm: How do you feel about winning this award? How do you feel about the D2 Conferences this year?Cheng: Of course, I am very surprised to win this award. I am very happy that my students can be recognized by the internationally renowned competition. It is their honor. This year's D2 conference was a great success and everything was arranged in perfect order. Thanks to the organizers and sponsors, it allowed me to see the wonderful works of different artists and promoted the mutual communication between the industry, which was a good learning opportunity. Fox Renderfarm: What’s your inspiration for this amazing project of Travel? Why did you select this project to participate in the competition?Cheng: My inspiration came from a sentence on the Internet a few years ago: "the world is so big, I want to see it." It was a resignation letter from an employee that went viral because of its unusual content. I asked my students if they wanted to make a film about travel, and they were all interested. Students in the animation class can only make two animations a year. They (can only) use the time of winter vacation and summer vacation (to create animation). Usually, they have a lot of courses to learn, there is no time to make animation. So there were only two animations, and we chose the one that is better. Fox Renderfarm: The whole film is led by different kinds of animals transformed from a resignation letter, any ideas behind that?Cheng: That letter of resignation actually represents the dream (in sleep) and dream (wish) of the Protagonist, taking the Protagonist to travel around the mountains and rivers, who gives up work to find the most authentic self. Fox Renderfarm: The scenery sites shown in the video are designed to illustrate the word “TRAVEL”, any ideas behind that?Cheng: Before the production, we asked the students to make the animation as delicate as possible. Because we wanted to take the animation to participate in the architectural 3D Awards which is about architecture, we chose to illustrate every character of the word “TRAVEL” in the form of architecture. About the shown architecture made, we did refer to many different architectural styles around the world, and then made up our mind about which to use and how to use them. And we tried to use mountains and rivers to demonstrate the idea of traveling around. Fox Renderfarm: What’s the most unforgettable and interesting part of the creation process?Cheng: The thing that’s unforgettable in the whole process is the adjustment of these animals because the students were not very good at character animation. Have you ever seen a cow walk on two feet, the deer flapped its front feet like a bird?Fox Renderfarm: Did you meet any difficulties when creating this work? And how did you solve it?Cheng: The most difficult part is the paper crumpling animation. At last, we chose real shooting. We shot photos while folding once at a time, which was a bit like stop-motion animation, and finally synthesized into 3d scene through post-production. Fox Renderfarm: SAN WEI KONG JIAN devotes to the education of CG creation in China, how do you feel about the integration of Chinese culture and CG creation?Cheng: 3D Space (SAN WEI KONG JIAN) is an educational institution specialized in art design training. We welcome all of you to exchange ideas and learn from each other. Culture is diverse, and cultures from all over the world bloom together. It is because of regional cultural differences that a hundred schools of thought of artists' works contend. The national culture is the world culture, can combine their own national culture and modern computer animation to present to the world, is very meaningful.Fox Renderfarm: How long have you been in the 3D instruction field? And how did you make the decision to step into this industry?Cheng: I've been in CG for 8 years, just because I love it.Fox Renderfarm: Who or what project inspires you most in this industry?Cheng: From the moment I saw Up, I fell in love with animation, but somehow I got into the architectural animation industry. The two people who influenced me most were Alex Roman and Bohong Deng.Alex Roman and his work Bohong Deng and his work Fox Renderfarm: Have you ever used Fox Renderfarm cloud rendering services previously? If yes, how do you feel about it?Cheng: I have used render farm in China before, but never Fox Renderfarm, but I will use Fox Renderfarm in the future, thank the sponsors, I think it will make our rendering work better.Fox Renderfarm: Any other things you want to share with CG enthusiasts?Cheng: Don't give up your pursuit and love of works because of others' malice and incomprehension. Good works take time and endeavour. Thanks.

Exclusive interview about 2019 ARCHITECTURAL 3D AWARDSIt is always said that “seeing is believing”, while sometimes you will somehow be confused or fooled by your eyes. Spanish ArchViz artist Adrian Rubio Vasco takes us in front of and inside The Longbranch Cabin made by Olson Kundig with his extraordinary ArchViz artworks. Each photorealistic ArchViz illustration features perfect perspective, lighting, and texture, making it hard to believe they’re ArchViz at all. Fox Renderfarm is delighted to interview with him, and you can have a closer look at the comparison images with real photographs in the interview to see if your eyes will fool you again this time.Adrian Rubio VascoFrom: SpainArchitectural VisualizerSchool: 24studio VIZThe Longbranch Cabin: Nominated work in Student (Image) Category of CGarchitect 2019 ARCHITECTURAL 3D AWARDSCREDITS:Student: Adrian Rubio Vasco.Teachers: Jesus Manuel Jimenez and Sandra Ferminnan.School: 24studio VIZ.Project designed by Olson Kundig.Fox Renderfarm: Hi, Adrián, would you please give a brief introduction about yourself?Adrian: Hi, I’m from a small city in Spain, Zamora, where I did my career in Interior Design at the EASD. Later I moved to Madrid where I studied visualization at 24studio LAB. I’ve always been passionate about photography and almost every visual media so I’m very happy to be where I am right now.Fox Renderfarm: How do you feel about being nominated in The CGarchitect Architectural 3D Awards?Adrian: I wasn’t expecting to be nominated so it was a big surprise.Fox Renderfarm: What’s your inspiration for this amazing project? Why did you select this artwork to participate in the competition?Adrian: As a student at 24studio LAB, we were asked to choose a real project and try to recreate the whole images, which is a great way to learn how light and materials work in real life. I didn’t had the intention to submit the work to any contest, but it ended looking so good that the people at the school encouraged me to do it anyway.The Longbranch Cabin it’s really different from the architecture we used to see nowadays, also the photographers did a terrific good job, the pictures are spectacular and have very complex light and a lot of rich materials to practice and learn.Left: Longbranch Cabin’s photo by Benjamin Benschneider; Right: ArchViz by AdrianFox Renderfarm: Could you introduce the light design and the composition of this project?Adrian: I just focused on the details, the bounces, reflections, and tried to understand everything that was going on and make it on Max. For the direct lighting, I used a VraySun, a Vraysky and a blueish big sphere for the ambient light and a sunset HDRi for the reflections.Fox Renderfarm: How long did it take you to finish the work?Adrian: It was a total of six images and we had 4 months to make them all, but I wasn’t working full time nor every day, so I can’t tell exactly the time.Fox Renderfarm: What’s the most unforgettable and interesting part of the creation process?Adrian: I asked the architects for more detailed plans, but they didn’t answer, so I ended modeling the Cabin from the references perspective for each image, and I think that it gave the images a nice little touch of realism. Left: Photographs by Kevin Scott, Benjamin Benschneider; Right: ArchViz by AdrianFox Renderfarm: Did you meet any difficulties when creating this work? And how did you solve it?Adrian: Aside from the modeling methodology, I remember struggling with my old computer to get the renders done without crashes, which made me learn a lot about how to optimize the scene and render settings.Fox Renderfarm: How long have you been in the architectural visualization career? And how did you make the decision to step into this career?Adrian: Once I finished my education at 24studio LAB they offered me an internship at their marketing and visualization agency 24studio. I’ve been there for 9 months now.Fox Renderfarm: Who or what project inspires you most in this industry?Adrian: If I have to choose only one, the Third and the Seventh by Alex Roman. It's beautiful, I remember watching it and think to myself... I want to be able to do this one day.The Third & The Seventh by Alex RomanFox Renderfarm: As an outstanding architectural visualization artist, what do you think are the qualities that will make a great artist greater? And what do you do to enhance your professional skills?Adrian: I’m still learning and improving, but I think experience and resources are very important for time-saving. At the end is all about finding the balance between how far can you push your images into realism and the time you have to make it possible.Fox Renderfarm: What’s your next step?Adrian: In my spare time, I’m learning and working on my own script for Max and also learning 360 photography to make virtual tours and my own HDRis. The next step would be learning how to photograph PBR materials or UE engine for real-time rendering, there’s a lot of interesting things to do and learn in this job.Fox Renderfarm: Have you ever used Fox Renderfarm cloud rendering services previously? If yes, how do you feel about it?Adrian: I haven’t used any render farm yet, but I will definitely look into it for future projects.Fox Renderfarm: Any other things you want to share with CG enthusiasts?Adrian: It’s great to be part of such a nice and talented community and I hope that someday I could contribute to it as much as it has contributed to me.For more Adrian’s artworks:ins: https://www.instagram.com/adrianrubio.pro/web: https://www.adrianrubio.pro/

Exclusive interview about 2019 ARCHITECTURAL 3D AWARDSHey, friends! Thank you so much for keeping up with our CGarchitect 2019 Awards interview! After seeing numbers of the well-made artworks, from images to short films, students to professional ArchViz creators, personal works to company projects, Fox Renderfarm is excited to introduce you a novel form of ArchViz: the Master Bedroom created by Jesús Gómez San Emeterio, nominee for the Interactive Category.Can’t wait to see the interactive artwork? Read our interview below, Jesús reveals how he finally made it possible with months of “trials and errors” in UE!Jesús Gómez San EmeterioFrom: Spain3D ArtistMaster Bedroom by Jesús Gómez San EmeterioFox Renderfarm: Hi, Jesús, would you please give a brief introduction about yourself?Jesús: Sure! I'm Jesús Gómez San Emeterio, an Architect and 3D artist from Spain dedicated mainly to Architectural visualization and to narrate what is in my head with CGI in my free time.Fox Renderfarm: How do you feel about being nominated in The CGarchitect Architectural 3D Awards?Jesús: I feel really proud and recognized, it was the first year that I participated and it was really emotional when I saw my name with the best studios around the world.Fox Renderfarm: What’s your inspiration for this amazing interactive artwork? And why did you create the work in an interactive way instead of just still imagery? How do you feel about the differences between still imagery/video and interactive Archviz creation?Jesús: I think that interactivity is a new way of experimenting unbuilt Architecture. When I do a still image, for example, I always try to express something, to make the viewer see through my eyes for a moment… And there is a beauty in that. Interactivity is more related to exploration, it allows the viewer to experiment the space with freedom and I'm sure that every person will do it differently.Also, from a technical point of view, you can add much more information, like to see where are you located with the planimetry in real time or change materials, lights... and see how the space changes with your decisions for example.I like both ways of communicating architecture, they are very different and unique.Fox Renderfarm: Why did you select this interactive artwork to participate in the competition? Which part of the artwork do you like the most?Jesús: Through last years I did a few little demos, testing and learning Unreal Engine. I thought that this work shows what I learned in a bit more professional way, so it was the only one that I presented.The part I liked the most was when I could make changes of materials and see how the space turned into something different in the blink of an eye with photoreal quality, it is like magic!Fox Renderfarm: Could you introduce the layout and lighting of this master bedroom?Jesús: Sure. All is bake lighting. It is composed by a stationary directional light (sun) visible at the bed and an atmospheric fog + HDRI captured by a Sky Light.I share the lightmass values used in this project, as you can see the static lighting level scale is really low and gives high precision in the light calculation over the meshes.Post Process Volume has a big impact on Unreal Engine as you can see in the picture. The cool thing about it is that all changes in real time, so it gives you the opportunity to be focused on the art direction.Post Process VolumeFox Renderfarm: We discovered the decoration and the furniture are beautiful and coherent, did you refer to any style or artist?Jesús: Thank you! I think that everyone can appreciate the interior design when you put some effort into it and use it as another tool for communicating ideas. In this case was a personal design.Fox Renderfarm: How long did it take you to finish the work?Jesús: That's a tricky one as I did it in my free time, maybe this master bedroom could take some weeks, but behind it, there are months of “trials and errors”, researches, frustrations and small successes that I can't even count.Fox Renderfarm: What’s the most unforgettable and interesting part of the creation process?Jesús: The best part I think was to be able to see the same scene with a very different perspective with a successful migration from offline rendering to Unreal with interactivity.Fox Renderfarm: Did you meet any difficulties when creating this work? And how did you solve it?Jesús: Of course, I met any possible difficulties, I think, fixing textures, dealing with lightmap errors, when everything works, be unable to compile the project due to unknown Unreal memory things...Through one way or another, every issue has a solution. In my case, I had to research a lot, hours of YouTube tutorials that maybe not solve it directly, but it is related to the problems and so on, it is a hard way to learn things.. but somehow it works and I learned a lot during the process.Fox Renderfarm: How long have you been in the architectural visualization career? And how did you make the decision to step into this career?Jesús: I finished my studies as Architect when I was 23, then I directly started to work in an interior design company in a 3D team where I learned a lot and months later I moved to a studio of architecture being in charge of the whole visualization process for 3 years until now.I know that 3 and a half years doesn't sound like much… But hey! They were intense!Artwork by JesúsFox Renderfarm: Who or what project inspires you most in this industry?Jesús: A friend showed me the Third and the Seventh (by Alex Roman) in the university, that was a mind-blowing moment and it look impossible to me, it was really inspiring.The Third and the Seventh by Alex RomanNowadays, I follow the work of all the top studios and artists around the world in the architectural field: Mike Golden, Cornelius Dämmrich, Quixel artist... and from Spain like the Beauty and THE BIT, Play-Time… But also from other fields like cinema or video games like Jama Jurabaev or Nick Hiatt.ArchViz works by Beauty and THE BITArchViz works by Play-TimeI said some names that can be useful for the reader, but actually, there are hundreds of amazing not so renowned artists that I can see everyday at Artstation and they worth the time to learn from their work as much as from the biggest company.Fox Renderfarm: As an outstanding architectural visualization artist, what do you think are the qualities that will make a great artist greater? And what do you do to enhance your professional skills?Jesús: Oh wow, thank you! I think that not only as an artist, but in life, a good attitude, being constant, kind and humble with people around you is really important because you can probably learn something from everyone and it is the only way to do it.What I do is never stop learning and trying new workflows or software that can be useful, and transform that new knowledge into something as a little personal quest. For example, if I try Substance Painter: okay, let's create an asset and paint it to the end as a final product, or if I try a new render engine: well, let's create a good illustration or a little animation clip! I don't know if it sounds stupid, but it helps me during the process and later to look back and see what I could do with that tool or whatever.Artwork by Jesús Gómez San EmeterioFox Renderfarm: What’s your next step?Jesús: Well, I don't know much about steps, but in my experience, if you work hard to do what you like most, things happen one way or another, so that's my plan! Keep working and learning to become a better Architect and CG Artist every day.Fox Renderfarm: Have you ever used Fox Renderfarm cloud rendering services previously? If yes, how do you feel about it?Jesús: I had the opportunity to meet Fox Renderfarm at the CG Architect 3DAwards for the first time. I think that is a good option for 3D artists like me who work with one computer for rendering videos with the best quality and be able to keep working on other things. The communication with them is really nice too!Fox Renderfarm: Any other things you want to share with CG enthusiasts?Jesús: Have fun and do what you love to do!Artworks by Jesús Gómez San EmeterioMore Personal web page: https://www.jesusgomezarq.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/jg_architectArtstation: https://www.artstation.com/jesusarq

Exclusive interview about 2019 ARCHITECTURAL 3D AWARDSAfter reading 2 interviews with the winner and nominee for the 2019 Architectural 3D Awards, you must have been amazed by their great ideas and persistence in their ArchViz career. Today, we go on our exploration in the creation of ArchViz by talking to Mr. Alvaro Arroyo, nominee for Student Image category.Alvaro ArroyoFrom: Spain3D ArtistSchool: School-ingCREDITS:School-ingAdán MartínEduardo RodríguezAll of the School-ing students3D CollectiveAlvaro’s work delivers a sense of melancholic atmosphere while the composition is with coherent layers. The moment he created this artwork, he was still a student, however, he has already stepped into the ArchViz industry and put his whole heart in it currently. Let’s read the interview to know more about the creation of the nominated work, and how he sees the shift in his life.Fox Renderfarm: Hi, Alvaro, would you please give a brief introduction about yourself?Alvaro: Hi, my name is Alvaro Arroyo Cerdá, a 27-year-old 3D Artist from Valencia (Spain). I´m an architect from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and now I´m working full time in the architectural visualization industry.Polytechnic University of Valencia Fox Renderfarm: How do you feel about being nominated in The CGarchitect Architectural 3D Awards?Alvaro: It is definitely a great honour. Just the fact of having my work recognised in the world's most important awards of the industry is an amazing feeling. A few months ago I couldn't imagine all these things were going to happen.Fox Renderfarm: What’s your inspiration for this amazing project? Why did you select this artwork to participate in the competition?Alvaro: This image is part of a project that I was working on in the school, so besides this one, more images have been made. Each one has the architecture as the base, and then I tried to experiment (with) different moods for all of them, creating atmospheres that fit my purpose.Other 2 pictures for the same project In this artwork, I had the idea of creating a melancholic atmosphere where nature and modern architecture might get together. I added some women playing music inside the house just to emphasize that idea.Fox Renderfarm: Could you introduce the light design and the composition of this project?Alvaro: The light design is just based on a foggy HDRI, and I used the Vray environmental fog to mitigate the light and exposure of that HDRI. In terms of composition, I had a clear idea of having the house entry in the center of the image, and for that, the shape of the building was so helpful. I had the forest and nature on the foreground, just playing with its colours and wildness, and introduced those broken branches on the right to avoid a flat image. The road on the left was a great element to avoid it as well. Finally, I placed some forest on the background to make them disappear in the foggy day.Fox Renderfarm: How long did it take you to finish the work?Alvaro: Probably it took between two and three weeks to do that image, but it's hard to tell because it was part of a bigger project, so modeling the architecture and texturing were the longer parts.Clay render Fox Renderfarm: What’s the most unforgettable and interesting part of the creation process?Alvaro: Maybe the most interesting part was when I was trying to achieve the mood that I had in my head for this image. As I saw the first results, my idea was to place myself inside that environment to keep improving all the details and have a humid atmosphere like the one we have when just stopped raining.Fox Renderfarm: Did you meet any difficulties when creating this work? And how did you solve it?Alvaro: Of course, I think is part of the process and in my case as a beginner, I had much more difficulties. The hardest part was to recreate a realistic wild forest because it was so close to the camera, and I solved it working a lot in the vegetation materials and placing the nature elements very carefully in the scene.Fox Renderfarm: How long have you been in the architectural visualization career? And how did you make the decision to step into this career?Alvaro: I have been actively learning from January of this current year, so just ten months. They have been really intense months as you can imagine. I made the decision when I realized that the part of the architectural work that made me happier was to visualize unbuilt architecture and where I can use more of my creativity.Fox Renderfarm: Who or what project inspires you most in this industry?Alvaro: Well, Adán Martín has been the real inspiration for me in this industry. In fact, studying and learning from him in School-ing has been the best decision I could have made to start in Archviz. Maybe Csaba Banati, Karim Moussa or Thomas Dubois are artists that inspire and motivate me because their creative mindset of facing new challenges representing the unbuilt is just awesome.Fox Renderfarm: As an outstanding architectural visualization artist, what do you think are the qualities that will make a great artist greater? And what do you do to enhance your professional skills?Alvaro: I think that in an industry like this, always changing, is so important to have a learning attitude towards everything. Use our creativity to solve our working problems will make an artist much better. In my short experience, I have been trying to make works where I can always learn some new things, to have my mind active.Fox Renderfarm: What’s your next step?Alvaro: As I said before, keep learning every day new techniques, new software and the best visualizer I can be to fulfill all my expectations that are coming. Now, I am focused on my new job as a Junior 3D Artist at Kilograph and that is where my mind is.Fox Renderfarm: Have you ever used Fox Renderfarm cloud rendering services previously? If yes, how do you feel about it?Alvaro: Not really because I didn't have the chance to use them because my short career in the Archviz industry, but definitely I´m going to do it from now on.Fox Renderfarm: Any other things you want to share with CG enthusiasts?Alvaro: Well, just encourage people that are starting in the industry, like me, to work with passion and determination to create great illustrations. I will be happy to keep meeting people of this industry because is always a pleasure for me to meet such talented people, so feel free to contact me on social media to share thoughts about our works. And finally, I hope you saw the rabbit in my image, did you?Alvaro’s Instagram @arc.alvaro

Exclusive interview about 2019 ARCHITECTURAL 3D AWARDSWhat happens, if the ecosystem is going to collapse? How will architecture save the last few bits of nature? Patrick Vogel, a multidimensional designer and creative director, told us his answer through a futuristic 3D architectural work.Patrick VogelFrom: GermanyMultidimensional DesignerCompany: ALT/SHIFTThe Prophecy: Nominated work in Image (Non-commissioned) of CGarchitect 2019 ARCHITECTURAL 3D AWARDS Patrick Vogel spent 4-5 weeks to finish the creative work The Prophecy, which contrasts the world of the extinct to the world of the living through an architectural Utopia. By creating the image, he wants to point out that architectural visualization can be used for more than selling buildings. It rather can be a tool for portraying political, social and ecological problems, to gain attention and publicity.Patrick’s Work Patrick is a 3D designer in the field of visualization, animation, VR, and design &x26; art. With the background of the architect, he found his own 3D/Design studio ALT/SHIFT, an interdisciplinary design studio in Hamburg in 2016. Patrick and his team create high-end visualization, animation and high immersive VR-experiences, and keep their own unique style in creation. Their vision is to be the digital architects who create digital realities.ALT/SHIFT’s Work Here’s the interview between Patrick and Fox Renderfarm.Fox Renderfarm: Hi, Patrick, would you please give a brief introduction about yourself and your company?Patrick Vogel: My name is Patrick, I’m a 31-year-old dude from Hamburg City and the founder of ALT/SHIFT. I used to be an architect but hated that boring job. So the decision was clear in 2016: I have to start a 3D/Design Studio. We’re basically doing whatever we want. It just has to be creative. We’re mostly doing ArchViz, Motion Design, Branding and other weird stuff. We do what we love and we love what we do. Ah, I forgot the most important thing. I’m having ALT/SHIFT with my amazing wife Tanja.ALT/SHIFT’s WorkFox Renderfarm: How do you feel about being nominated in The CGarchitect Architectural 3D Awards?Patrick Vogel: I’m super blown away! Just amazing! I really didn’t expect that. Feels unreal.Fox Renderfarm: What’s your inspiration for this amazing project of The Prophecy? Why did you select this artwork to participate in the competition?Patrick Vogel: In general, I’m really interested in the whole climate change discussion and wanted to portray a sinister future scenario about this topic. As I’m doing a lot of ArchViz for commercial projects I am always asking myself if this kind of job is the right thing for contributing to society. The answer is no. We basically selling images that sell houses to people who can afford it. Don’t get me wrong, I love this job, but I was asking myself if it would be a cool idea to use the ArchViz-medium as something that communicates a modern problem. That was also the reason why I participated with that work: I wanted to tell a real story through ArchViz. Not a customer journey.Other 3D architectural works of PatrickFox Renderfarm: Could you introduce the lighting design of the project?Patrick Vogel: That was actually a tough one. I tested like hundreds of lighting setups and HDRIs to get the right “poisoned-world”-look. I didn’t know, what I was searching for and it literally took days to find the right mood.Fox Renderfarm: We discovered that this artwork is different than the commercial architectural visualization, why do you illustrate the future architecture in this way? Any ideas behind that?Patrick Vogel: Yes, like I said in one of the answers above: I tried to create something that communicates the climate change problem and shows a possible future, where there is no real nature anymore. Something that can happen. A world that we created for our children. Sounds really dramatic and emo, haha. But basically, that’s it.Fox Renderfarm: What’s the most unforgettable and interesting part of the creation process?Patrick Vogel: Staring for hours at the screen and being amazed and scared at the same time… And then realizing that this dystopian piece comes out of my head.Fox Renderfarm: Did you meet any difficulties when creating this work? And how did you solve it?Patrick Vogel: I had huge trouble with finding the right light setup and I hope I solved it.Fox Renderfarm: ALT/SHIFT not only devotes to high-end architectural visualization but also dedicates to multidimensional visual communication like animation and VR, what’s your inspiration for this integration?Patrick Vogel: Oh yes, we’re doing a lot of different stuff. That’s what keeps us moving forward. We tend to always say YES. Because YES usually leads to way more fun then MAYBE or no. From branding to motion, fashion, cover art – we see ourselves as multidimensional designers with a strong foundation in 3D and CGI.ALT/SHIFT’s WorkFox Renderfarm: What’s the development vision for your company?Patrick Vogel: We want to create. It’s that simple. At the moment we realize, that we will be forced to grow a little bit – but we want to stay a weird and fancy boutique studio. MY nightmare would be, that I’m not creating stuff on my own anymore – instead just caring about employees, client needs and new business. If that means, that we will stay small and will never have a Lamborghini – I’m happy to pay that price. So the answer in general: We want to become one of the most creative boutique-agencies in the world.ALT/SHIFT’s WorkFox Renderfarm: Have you ever used Fox Renderfarm cloud rendering services previously? If yes, how do you feel about it?Patrick Vogel: Honestly, I never ever used a render farm in my whole career. But I guess, that will change now. And I also guess that Fox Renderfarm would be an amazing partner! So be prepared to welcome us as new customers!Fox Renderfarm: Any other things you want to share with CG enthusiasts?Patrick Vogel: Like Nike said: JUST DO IT. Don’t overthink things. Don’t overthink light, composition and so on. Just create CGI more based on how it feels. Not how it’s supposed to look – because somebody set some standards in look and feel.

LIU XinDesigner/DirectorLIU Xin is a Designer and Director who works between architecture and time-based media. His practice centers around the influence of digital and physical on shifting the boundaries of the design of spaces and objects.He is currently freelancing. And in the beginning of March, 2021, he received admission to Harvard Graduate School of Design’s Master in Design Studies degree program. His collaborators include Burberry, Wallpaper*, NYLON, and Microsoft. He holds a Master of Architecture degree from Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) where he also worked as the teaching assistant for graduate and undergraduate courses, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture with Honors from the University of Liverpool where his graduation project was awarded the Sheppard Robson Jicwood Prize. Previously, he has worked at Testa &x26; Weiser in the U.S., Sheppard Robson in the U.K., and Tianhua in China.Burberry x Victor Ma x Microsoft AI - Runway 2.0 (Music Video)He is traveling around the world examining the notion of both natural and built environments, individual experiences, and emerging techniques.Phygital Shopping Cart © LIU Xin & Yuting ZhuWon the 2021 CGarchitect AwardsCaption:Phygital = Physical × DigitalPhygital Shopping Cart is the second episode of the Phygital Supermarket Trilogy.Shopping Cart Miniature ScenariosThe main character of the story is a shopping cart (or a trolley). In a shopping cart in a supermarket, we designed six miniature model scenarios, which can be organically combined in a shopping cart. Each miniature scene contains a miniature version shopping cart to tell a short story, and each scene embodies a technology or design method which we explored with Cinema 4D and Redshift Renderer. We selected the most familiar, unremarkable, and most overlooked object in life (that is, common daily necessities in supermarkets), and explored these familiar objects through a unique workflow we developed with Cinema 4D and Redshift rendering technology. Things were explored on the playful side, either enlarge the size or manipulate it with Effectors in order to take a look at what magical effects will burst out. Therefore, in each mini-model scene, in addition to the narrative of the story, a technique is also expressed. As we used the title sequence design as a format of the film, so we can use the text on the screen to introduce the story and design techniques of each scene.Phygital Shopping Cart is the second episode of the Phygital Supermarket Trilogy, the other 2 episodes are Three Supermarkets and Phygital Supermarket Worlds. Phygital Supermarket Trilogy explores multiple techniques and mediums, discovering the possibility of shopping space forms in urban life.Three Supermarkets© LIU Xin, Yuting Zhu, Jui-Cheng Hung, Fateme JalaliPhygital Supermarket Worlds© LIU Xin, Yuting ZhuLIU established his connection with CGarchitect Awards in 2019 for his nomination in the Student (Film) category. In the nominated artwork Augmented Library Aggregation, he selected objects like flowers and showerheads, and volume bashed them to depict a futuristic library space in the video.Augmented Library AggregationAugmented Library Aggregation© Xin Liu, Nero Hevolume bashingAfter experiencing all these fusions of physical and virtual space, you may wonder how LIU made his artworks, what’s more pivotal, how he has formed his design methodology and design language. In our interview with LIU, he reveals his workflow, techniques and design mindset, and explains his playful experiments in the creation process. Last but not least, his suggestion to CG enthusiasts that -- we should not only upgrade our technical skills with 3D software, and also improve our sense of art and aesthetic value -- resonates with what Fox Renderfarm has always insisted on -- Art Challenges Technology, whereas Technology Inspires Art.For detailed interview:Shifting the Boundary of Physical and Virtual Worlds in 3D Art: Introducing Designer &x26; Director, LIU Xin(2)

Csaba BanatiFreelance IllustratorFrom: AustriaFox Renderfarm: Hi Csaba, could you give us a brief introduction about yourself?Csaba: Hi all, I'm Csaba Banati - working as a freelance illustrator currently from the city of Vienna, Austria.I've been working in the industry for about 8-9 years now. Originally I have a degree in architecture but never worked as an architect. Instead I focused on architectural illustrations and jumped right into it after getting my diploma.Save Energy! © Csaba BanatiFox Renderfarm: Congratulations on being nominated in the 2020 CGarchitect Architectural 3D Awards, how do you feel about it?Csaba: I'm feeling proud and lucky! I got nominated despite the fact that the non-commissioned category is super-duper tough every single year. People are getting better and better so it's a tough competition.Also I'm super proud of the fact that this was my 3rd nomination in a row. I hope one day I'll win :)Fox Renderfarm: What's your inspiration for the amazing work “Garden of Damocles”? Why did you select this artwork to participate in the competition?Csaba: Everything started with a simple idea to investigate my feelings about courtyards. I've always found these spaces intriguing but I never really figured out why.During the process, I contemplated this idea and one thing led to another and this happened.For me, it was obvious to choose this image. It's a bit special to me for the above-mentioned reason and also I pushed myself hard on this project. Was curious how it would end up against this tough competition.Fox Renderfarm: The work shows like an allegory of the future world, what do you want to express through the work?Csaba: For me, it is always just mildly interesting what the artist wants to say. The beauty of art is that it can and will mean different things to different people based on their past experiences.I truly believe that as soon as an art piece is out it's not up to the artist to decide what it is about. People will judge and interpret before you could even say a word.But that's the beauty of it and I find it amazing.Fox Renderfarm: The sculptures and nuclear bombs in the picture are very realistic and attractive. Could you tell me how you made them (including the model and textures)?Csaba: This is probably disappointing but it's basic box modelling. :)I looked up real-life references to model them from scratch and in some cases used free 3D models as a base to further modify them.For texturing I'm really lazy so I usually try to avoid unwrapping at any cost. :)So every model got procedural or simple plane projected material.Final scene and bomb model Empty courtyard model Final iteration of cover model Fox Renderfarm: How long did it take you to finish the project? Did you meet any difficulties?Csaba: I believe it was about 2 months but to be fair I didn't work on it every single day. At times I didn't even touch it for days. I like to let projects mature a bit so that I can have a bit more objective view on them.The main difficulty was that I tried to push my boundaries in terms of 3D details. To embrace this fact I wanted to finish it in super high resolution but my PC was not really happy with it, so I had to settle at 7000x5600.Fox Renderfarm: How long have you been in the visualization field? Who inspires you most in this industry?Csaba: About 8-9 years now. There are a few companies that I can truly appreciate for their high rate of good consistency they can produce. But for inspiration I like to look outside from the ArchViz box and keep an eye on other creative fields. Such as photography, cinematography, music industry, etc.Fox Renderfarm: As an outstanding CG artist and Illustrator, what do you do to enhance your professional skills?Csaba: For me, it's extremely important to do various things outside of ArchViz. It's easy to immerse yourself in the awesome world of 3D and architecture but the circle closes fast and you can find yourself running the same lap over and over again.It's good to step back a bit and learn new skills in other areas then go back to ArchViz and try to apply them there.It's also useful to prevent burnout and stay fresh and motivated.Echo Lake © Csaba Banati Windy Meadows © Csaba Banati ArtstationLinkedIn

SketchFox Renderfarm: How long did it take you to finish the work?Christian: For the final work, it took me about 3 weeks from the moment I started to recompile references until I finished, working in the free time between class and class.Fox Renderfarm: The isolated bunkers in your work are very industrial and futuristic, any reference? Could you tell us how you built them?Christian: The reference images were the oil platforms that are in the sea, these impressive structures in the middle of nowhere have always caught my attention and how lonely it can be to live there, that helps to create many stories.ReferenceModel CaptureFox Renderfarm: The gloomy weather and the dropping man make people feeling sad and thought-provoking, what do you want to express through this work?Christian: It's the story of a man who tries to escape from a desolate place, cannot endure the idea of being in that place and looks for a way out no matter how risky it may be.Fox Renderfarm: Did you meet any difficulties when creating this work? And how did you solve it?Christian: At the beginning it was difficult to generate the idea of the structures, I made some previous models but they did not convince me at all, sometimes it is difficult to conclude a personal project because you do not know when to stop, you always want to put more and more details but the registration deadline to the 3D Awards helped me define the final proposal.Fox Renderfarm: Who or what project inspires you most in this industry?Christian: There are several CG artists that I like whose works among them are Jaime Jasso, Jama Jurabaev, Tamas Medve and the list is very long.Lost Temple City © Jaime JassoWild West Unreal engine pack © Jama JurabaevGallery in Warsaw © Tamas MedveFox Renderfarm: Have you ever heard of or used Fox Renderfarm cloud rendering services previously? If yes, how do you feel about it?Christian: I had heard about Fox Renderfarm from some friends who had recommended it to me, I think it is a good service and I have heard good comments about the way of working and the platform.Fox Renderfarm: Any other things you want to share with the CG enthusiasts?Christian: I would tell them that they participate in the contest, it is a good way to show your ideas and put yourself to the test with your skills and continue learning from the other participants.© Christian Paul EspinozaInstagram

When lockdown ends © Nicola ScognamiglioThe artwork “When lockdown ends” shows the end of quarantine, when we can see children playing, tourists crowding the Naples alley, and people finally living without social distancing. Nicola spent less than 3 weeks to finish the work, which was made with 3ds Max, V-Ray, Substance and Photoshop.Now, let’s learn about Nicola’s creation process and his CG experience through our exclusive interview.Nicola ScognamiglioArchitect/ 3D ArtistFrom: ItalyFox Renderfarm: Hi Nicola, could you give us a brief introduction about yourself?Nicola: I’m Nicola Scognamiglio, 26 years old and I come from Napoli, Italy where I graduated as an architect. Then I worked a bit as an architect in Milan, before moving again to Venice to attend the classes at MADI, Master in Digital Architecture at IUAV. At the moment I am in the Netherlands working as a junior artist at Proloog.tv.Panopticon © Nicola ScognamiglioFox Renderfarm: How do you feel about winning the best student image in the 2020 CGarchitect Architectural 3D Awards?Nicola: it's cool! wasn't in the plans, it was a big surprise already when I found out I was among the nominees. I was pleased to receive such a kind review of my work from an experienced jury, and I hope to do well again this year!Fox Renderfarm: What’s your inspiration for this amazing work “When lockdown ends”? Why did you select this artwork to participate in the competition?Nicola: The image was initially born for another competition held at MADI, hosted by Cityscape Digital. The aim of that competition was to present a scene from life after COVID-19 in Italy, insisting on how this emergency has made us rediscover family values, made us more compassionate and strengthened our national spirit. So when I learned about the 3D Awards held by Cgarchitect.com, I chose the image that was my best at the time, and it turned out well!Fox Renderfarm: The work shows a harmonious and beautiful life without pandemic, what do you want to express through the work?Nicola: The image tries to represent the exact moment when you get the news that the pandemic is over and people are looking out on balconies to celebrate the event. Naples’ historical center has always fascinated me. Only walking through the alleys you can understand what It means living together: you live on the street with your clothes hanging high like flags. The population density, the proximity of the apartments makes everyone part of a large cohesive community.SketchesFox Renderfarm: The Naples alley and buildings are so realistic and lovely, could you introduce how you make the model and texture?Nicola: I started modeling the buildings, trying to keep as few polygons as possible. Then I moved for other architectural elements such as: balconies, external fixtures, railings. Later was the turn of all the various types of installations and elements at street level.The texturing phase deserved special attention due to the nature of the environments. I decided to proceed with Substance Painter to have the largest compositional freedom in the creation of the materials.Fox Renderfarm: There are so many details in the scene, such as the hanging clothes, potted plants and even the doves, could you tell us how you made all these lovely details?Nicola: Most of all those elements are 3d assets I had in my library, while in particular the hanging clothes are put in the post production phase.Fox Renderfarm: Did you meet any difficulties when creating this work? And how did you solve it?Nicola: More than technical difficulties, at the beginning of the process I was very hesitant about the camera to choose. I didn’t know how much it should look like as an aerial view or how “natural” it could seem. At the end, moving around the scene, I found the right position: as if you were looking out from one of those balconies.Fox Renderfarm: How long have you been in the architectural visualization career? And who or what project inspires you most in this industry?Nicola: I would say this is the beginning of my career in architectural visualization, now it’s just about one year since I first opened 3ds Max. I’m curious about what’s next!What could inspire my eventual personal projects is not so much what I see in this industry. I like to get influenced by a movie I’ve seen, a TV series or a book I’ve read. Even taking photographs helps me picture a certain scene or environment!Fox Renderfarm: Any other things you want to share with the CG enthusiasts?Nicola: Nothing but wishing everyone to keep pushing through with amazing artworks!Teshima Art Museum © Nicola ScognamiglioInstagramLinkedInArtstationBehance

Reinaldo HandayaCEO at 2G StudioFrom: IndonesiaArtwork Caption: This project is for our internal challenge to challenge our artist to work together as a team and as a family. We call it a pressure challenge, they have to finish the still image and animation in just 1 week, the building also needs to be modeled from scratch and have to design by themselves.This pressure challenge is also to help the artists to be creative as they want, because most of the commissioned projects are boring and for the team that wins the challenge will be rewarded with a bonus.BORN NEO © 2G StudioBORN NEO ANIMATION © 2G StudioFox Renderfarm: Hi Reinaldo! Congratulations on being nominated in the 2020 CGarchitect Architectural 3D Awards, how do you feel about it?Reinaldo: First of all, I want to thank you for having us here. We never thought, not even once, that we would get the nomination, especially in the non-commissioned category. Having been one of the judges in 2014, and I know there are thousands of images submitted to the 3D awards, and there are tons of talented artists in this world, and I feel blessed that one of our team’s works got nominated.Fox Renderfarm: What’s your inspiration for this amazing project Born Neo? Any idea behind this name?Reinaldo: I can’t take full credit for this project, me and Evan (Co-Founder of 2G Studio) only help our team to give some space to express themselves and be creative. We give them direction, how to think, how to create the storytelling, the rest is theirs. However, this is also teamwork, not just a single-artist work. The inspiration for this building came from The Heydar Aliyev Center by Zaha Hadid, and the Harbin Opera House by MAD Architect. The rendering look and feel was heavily inspired by our own friend, Arqui9.ArchViz by Arqui9The idea behind this name is because our president decided to move the capital from Jakarta to Kalimantan. Kalimantan’s International name is BORNEO ISLAND. And moving to a new place is kinda like being born new, and the team comes up with BORN NEO, matching the island name. And in fact, there was a competition to design the new capital city, but we didn’t join the competition since it was a design competition, not rendering.Fox Renderfarm: The building is so terrific, could you introduce the function of the building?Reinaldo: The building is a convention center, which is a meeting place and also a place for all large-scale activities such as concerts, shows, seminars, as well as national and international level meetings which will certainly be held in the new capital city.Fox Renderfarm: As you introduced, this is a project from your team’s pressure challenge, so why did you hold this challenge and how long did it take to finish the work?Reinaldo: There are several reasons why we held this challenge and they only had 7 days to finish 1 still image and a 60 sec animation. Because if there are more than 7 days, chances are, they will never finish.The first one is to let the team express their creativity, and as you know, our field is filled with people who love architecture, and we challenge our team to do the concept, and the story about why they come up with the concept.The second reason is to challenge them working overtime. Because we cannot deny that sometimes we’ve got tons of work that we need to work overtime. We just don’t want our team to get spoiled.The third reason is to give more pressure by asking them to finish in 7 days and should not disturb the real project schedule.But the ultimate reason is to train them to work as a team. So we split our team into 4 small teams and they have to deliver different concepts, so we got 4 different renderings.Fox Renderfarm: What’s the most unforgettable and interesting part of the creation process?Reinaldo: The team is actually enjoying this challenge although they work till 4 am. And it shows that they really love to do some designs and do the render, completely different than working on a real project. Just make sure not to let them do this all the time, or they will hate me for sure hahaha.The unforgettable moment is that working as a team is not as beautiful as we think, working as a team requires a lot of sacrifice. As you know, people will easily point a finger to others when under pressure. Actually the rule is when one of the team members points a finger to others, the team will be disqualified. We always believe when we point a finger to others, we need to know that the other 4 fingers are pointing to ourselves.One of the teams was actually unable to deliver the animation, only able to deliver 1 image. And of course they would have lost, but this is the most interesting part, the team still continued to work on the project, and finally created another 1 image and 1 animation. And this team is the one that created this BORN NEO. Here we can learn that it's ok to fail, but it shouldn’t stop you to keep doing what you love. The challenge only stops when you said so and they didn’t stop before they delivered 1 image and 1 animation.Well, you know how proud I am with my team.Fox Renderfarm: How long have you been in the visualization field? Who inspires you most in this industry? Could you briefly introduce your career story?Reinaldo: On November 3, 2004, my family factory was razed by fire and left me with $100, 000 debt. And then I built my furniture workshop, then in 2008 I learned 3D to present my design to my client. And I deeply fell in love with 3D ever since.My career started when I got my first award, Visualization Pro of the Week from CGarchitect, and that was in January 2011. And in March I established 2G Studio with my business partner Evan Mandala. Somehow we got lots of exposure, in 2012 one of my renderings got awarded by Ronen Bekerman, the reinterpretation render of Starbuck by Kengo Kuma and that work skyrocketed my name in this industry. And Evan’s work got Visualization Pro of the Week from CGarchitect. One of our works was also selected to be in the 3D World magazine. And in 2013-2014, CHAOS group chose me to be guest speaker for their Asia Pacific V-Ray Community Meetings and Siggraph Asia in Hongkong. In 2014, Jeff asked me to be one of the 3D awards judges.Master Bedroom PIK © Reinaldo Handaya(Won Visualization Pro of the Week from CGArchitect, January 2011)Reinterpretation render of Starbucks by Kengo Kuma © Reinaldo Handaya(Awarded by Ronen Bekerman, 2012)House La Invernada © Evan Mandala(Won Visualization Pro of the Week from CGArchitect, 2012)Most of my clients both direct clients and other 3D studios were coming from CGarchitect, and that is why I strongly believe that CGarchitect is the place where talents meet the clients.I was inspired by lots of people, not just one. But the one person that gives me a lot of influence is Jeff Mottle. It's not because CGarchitect Visualization Pro of the Week started my debut in this industry, but I can see that Jeff built CGarchitect not for himself, but to help others in this industry. Somehow it resonates with me a lot, since I also love to help others to learn 3D. And I established 2G Academy in 2013 with the spirit “helping others”. In 2017, I learned from Simon Sinek, why you do what you do is the most important thing, and I learned money is only a result from what you do.Jeff MottlePresident/Founder, CGArchitect2G Academy: https://www.2gacademy.com/Simon SinekAuthor/Motivational SpeakerFox Renderfarm: What is the development vision for 2G Studio? Any new projects or plans that you can share with us?Reinaldo: The development vision for 2G Studio itself is definitely to provide the best marketing tools for our clients both developers and other 3D companies that work with us shoulder to shoulder. However we also have other developments outside the production, which give back to the community. We have our educational platform, 2G Academy and we want to give back to the community. We started a new movement in Indonesia when the lockdown happened in March 2020, we call this movement AVIS ID, meaning ArchViz Indonesia. We are aware the lockdown will affect lots of Indonesian 3D artists. Since Indonesian ArchViz artists' quality is pretty stuck, it is the time to focus on improving the rendering skills when the world stops spinning. We share free tutorials on our YouTube channel, do free portfolio reviews for Indonesian 3D artists. And we also did business and mindset talks and open for the public, we did this consistently till now.We also follow our government program “Bali Kembali” meaning Bali is back, since Bali is a tourism island. We live in Bali and we love Bali so much. And we want to promote Bali through ArchViz. We are still working on this project and we choose 3ds Max and V-Ray to do this project, and we are also going to work on this project with our students. It is going to be epic, lots of still images and animations. And this is not for our personal benefit, but for a greater cause, we also want this industry to be aware about Indonesia as one of the best in this ArchViz world, and also want to break the stereotype that outsourcing to Asia is low cost.The upcoming movement is following the CGarchitect movement, Women in ArchViz. Our version is Kartini in ArchViz, as you know there are lots of women that are not exposed in this industry. Why we call it Kartini is because Raden Adjeng Kartini is an Indonesian heroine and she is a symbol of women's right movement in Indonesia. This project is all about women in ArchViz in Indonesia, and we are also surprised that around 40% of our students are women.Sanctum © 2G StudioFox Renderfarm: As the founder of 2G Studio, you established the leading 3D ArchViz Company in Indonesia, so do you have any views and prospects for the development of this industry in Indonesia?Reinaldo: It is very challenging, having been in this industry for years, we’ve only worked with 1 local client. The reason why it is challenging is because in Indonesia we don’t have any belief in products labeled “Made in Indonesia” and this is happening in every sector not just ArchViz. Most big developers in Indonesia send inquiries to other 3D companies outside Indonesia, because they don’t believe there is a company in Indonesia that can produce high quality images. So definitely more time is needed to build the trust. As 2G Studio itself never tried to work with locals, we know the problem, that is why we always aim to work with international clients. All the movements that we build, and all the architectural talks we did every Saturday by inviting architects in Indonesia to share their thoughts, is also to build a strong community. Definitely it's not a quick result that we are chasing after, it is a journey, and for a good cause.Fox Renderfarm: As an outstanding 3D Artist and architect, do you have any advice for the young artists in ArchViz Industry?Reinaldo: We can say that this industry is easy to make money while we are doing what we love. Most people in this industry are artists, either architects or interior designers, and most of us here is because we are introverted people that enjoy our time when we do what we love. But this comes with a cost, and what happened in Indonesia is that most people don’t know anything about business and the art of negotiation, don’t know how to add value and end up slashing the price and racing to the bottom. Racing to the bottom will always happen in any kind of industry, Arch viz is not exceptional. The only way to get out from the red ocean is learning about business and marketing. Business and marketing are the art itself with a different form. It is also the same when we learn about rendering, rendering is a journey, it needs time, business and marketing also need time, and learning about these 2 things will help us overcome our own fear.2G Studio: www.2gs.coInstagramFacebookYoutube2G Academy: www.2gacademy.comInstagramFacebook

Ocean is not only the origin of countless natural resources that raise and nourish all humankind, the underwater world has always been a root of curiosity and inspiration for many artists, from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea in literature, to Jaws in movie creation. In the Film (Commissioned) Category of CGarchitect 3D Architectural Awards, the nominated artwork J1 L'Odyssée, Naissance d'une Cité Subaquatique (hereinafter J1 L'Odyssée) is a breathtakingly beautiful ArchViz short film featured the underwater world as its theme.Fox Renderfarm, as the leading cloud rendering service provider and render farm in the CG industry, is so glad to have a talk with Uros Vukovic, General Manager for DIORAMA, in which he revealed how the team had made the ambiental underwater scenes and the calm architecture views into reality in Cinema 4D. And he also shared with us the inspiration behind the name of the studio - DIORAMA, and their development vision for the future.Company: DIORAMAFrom: FranceJ1 L'Odyssée, Naissance d'une Cité SubaquatiqueCredits:Produced by DIORAMAMusic by Iz SvemiraSound design by Odiseja studioThe nominated short film depicts the Mediterranean atmosphere that exists only in Marseille, combining architecture and nature. The breakdown video below gives us a closer look at the creation process of the amazing short film. Let’s enjoy the video and interview.Breakdown videoFox Renderfarm: Hi, Uros, would you please give a brief introduction about yourself and your company?Uros: Interested in the visual presentation of architectural projects, I started with DIORAMA in 2016 working on physical models and artistic installations. Meanwhile, I've been practicing architectural visualization through different media that brought me to the position of Animation Director and General Manager in the motion department of DIORAMA. DIORAMA is a studio based in Milan and Paris founded in 2016, currently counting around 30 artists. From the very beginning, we were heading toward different aspects of production always testing new media and trying new approaches, still rendering, motion, VR, and physical space.ArchViz work by DIORAMAFox Renderfarm: How do you feel about being nominated in The CGarchitect Architectural 3D Awards?Uros: 3D Awards is a great example of how fast the CG industry develops in architectural presentation and clear description that architects are capable of using media and transforming them according to their necessities but in their own, general perception. Therefore being nominated was a huge honor for us, meaning that our style is acceptable in such a community.ArchViz work by DIORAMAFox Renderfarm: Why did you select this artwork to participate in the competition? Which part of the film do you like the most?Uros: Selection of J1 L’Odyssée for 3D Awards comes from an intention to present our style and achievements we made in past years but still keeping in mind that the competition was merely for architectural visualization, therefore the selection of our work was an easy job. We have decided to compete in commissioned selection as the best way to express who we are and what we do, especially in relation to the client-based projects. This year we have selected J1 L’Odyssée, calm and very Ambiental film allowing us to technically try this specific way of production, therefore the part of the film starting with dusk mood brings additional calmness and culmination on the aerial view of the city, when the music stops and all attention goes to the Mediterranean atmosphere that exists only in Marseille, combining such an architecture and nature.J1 L’Odyssée by DIORAMAFox Renderfarm: What's your inspiration for this amazing film?Uros: Inspiration for this film comes from reading Christopher Booker explanation based on Jungian analysis, also David Lynch's workflow for creating personalities, the Seven Basic Plots, and Enneagrams combined together. We have been deeply inspired to bring personality in a technical film. In certain scenes, one should find himself almost hypnotized by watching the environment, architecture, and nature. Even though the mere existence of architectural films is for the sake of demonstrating artificial appearance, we tried to say that the public has the right to enjoy its visual sensation. At the same time, the task became ambiguous as we still had to consider one-sided technical requests by the client.Left: Christopher Booker; Right: The Seven Basic Plots by Christopher BookerEnneagram of Personality (Image from Google)Fox Renderfarm: About the breathtaking scenes of the ocean and underwater city in the film, did you refer to any specific books or movies?Uros: Speaking about the ocean the inspiration comes from the film Le Mépris, directed by Jean-Luc Godard, especially the scene with the vast sea and villa showing the fight of natural and artificial crashing one into another. This had an influence on thinking of different worlds, which ended as natural above and artificial under. Considering underwater scenes there were not so many inspiring references as just imagination of an underwater life was already enough abstract to be very inspiring, therefore that part was well defined from the very beginning.Le MéprisFox Renderfarm: The incredible project demonstrates a harmonious integration of the sea and the sky, of the history and the future, and of the nature and humankind. What special elements in the film or techniques did you use to illustrate that?Uros: Understanding what elements are merging together brought a middle relation as a solution. Speaking about scenes such as the ending one, the sea and the sky, sometimes have a middle link as of water, either rain or clouds or fog, the substance is the same. As the project contained two parts, one old warehouse which had to be restored and the other connecting part, the aquarium, we proceeded with lights and colors, this scientific cobalt glowing blue and desaturated yellow was the relation of future and past, nature and humankind. There were two parts of the film, one in the aquarium, which was obviously blue, defining at the same time nature, while entering into the warehouse was defined by that desaturated yellow and at the same time livable light color presenting the life.The ending scene @ J1 L’Odyssée by DIORAMAThe aquarium @ J1 L’Odyssée by DIORAMAThe warehouse @ J1 L’Odyssée by DIORAMAFox Renderfarm: How long did it take to finish the work?Uros: This was one of the fastest films we have ever produced, considering the number of people working on the project and the deadline we had. The preproduction phase, building the storyboard, mood board and going forth and back with previz and client took at all one week, while the production phase took 15 days.The storyboardFox Renderfarm: What software, renderers, plugins did you use in this work?Uros: The whole animation was rendered with Cinema 4D and Redshift, additionally, we used Agisoft 3D Scanning for the island at the beginning. People were animated with AXYZ anima and Mixamo, we used Marvelous Designer for cloth simulation, After Effects and Premiere Pro for compositing and post-production.Fox Renderfarm: What's the most unforgettable and interesting part of the creation process?Uros: The most interesting part of the production was definitely building the story and finally putting all together with the music composed especially for this purpose by the great artist Iz Svemira. In 3D it was making an underwater world, modeling and rigging fishes.J1 L’Odyssée by DIORAMAFox Renderfarm: Did you meet any difficulties when creating this work? And how did you solve it?Uros: The most difficult part of the production was the fluid simulation, which at the end was not in the film due to a very short deadline. Probably, we will show it once in the future through the breakdown. As a substitute, we had to make 3D displaced surfaces with an amazing free plugin called HOT4D and additional work in post-production.Fox Renderfarm: Could you briefly introduce the inspiration behind the company name - DIORAMA?Uros: DIORAMA is named this way from the original invention of Daguerre, today disappeared, working as a mental space to be reactivated running researches, experiments and collaborations.Fox Renderfarm: What's the development vision of your company?Uros: As we started not so long ago Diorama is growing very fast and the idea is to keep this exponential line as much as possible. Our main goal is to keep exploring and experimenting that will bring new ideas and possibilities to soon establish new ways of conceptual architectural films, and maybe try some other directions of visual presentation.ArchViz works by DIORAMAFox Renderfarm: Have you ever used Fox Renderfarm cloud rendering services previously? If yes, how do you feel about it?Uros: We have tried Fox Renderfarm recently, rendered a coupe of animations and the scene from J1 with Cinema 4d and Redshift in the resolution of 17,000px as a billboard poster. Even though we have been very skeptical as we had the experience from the other render farms especially with such high resolution, we were surprised that the image was successfully rendered without any problems on GPU based platform. The website seems very well organized, and the farm quite affordable.Fox Renderfarm: Any other things you want to share with CG enthusiasts?Uros: Keep exploring, and be productive!