Author:AXYZ DESIGN
Date:2019-02-20
INTERVIEW WITH NMACHINE
This time, our special guest is Nmachine,
a creative studio focused in the creation of
photorealistic visualizations for magnificent
buildings and architectural designs.
1. Welcome Rafal Dawlud and Karolina Chełstowska. What can you tell us about your professional background and Nmachine creative studio?
Hello Diego First of all, we would like to thank you for thinking about us for this interview.
We have been professionally involved in 3d visualizations for over six years. We consider ourselves 3d graphic artists, however, our work is influenced by our personal interests and professional experiences acquired over the years. We kept busy with the CG graphics at the university and have been studying this subject with a relentless passion.
We greatly cherish our business background when we worked in architecture companies, brand agencies and graphic bureaus. It allows us to see the projects that we take care of in a balanced and complex way.
2. Your studio is specialized in photo-realistic visualizations. What are the fundamentals to create your awesome work and distinguish from other artists?
We always try to render the reality as accurately as possible while paying attention to the tiniest details. In our opinion, even the elements which do not appear in the camera have a significant influence on the final image, since they cause alterations in the lighting. We give great importance to the previous work and study of visual references, because due to it our works can be patterned on really existing light and conditions.
The new retail base of the Willis Tower designed by the architectural firm Gensler.
3. What are the most important characteristics to become a recognized artist according to you?
K: Keep doing your business and do the best you can.
A: Passion is essential. You have to really like what you are doing and feel satisfied with your work. If you don’t, you can only aspire to be an average graphic designer. Very often we get involved in a project so deeply that we hardly see how much time we have been working on it without rest. At the end, the best images appear.
4. Where do you seek inspiration?
Everywhere!
The worst thing you can do with yourself both in business and in your private life is to remain blind and stop observing the world around you. Curiosity and willingness to discover new phenomena allow you to open up to new sources of inspiration, which often seem not to be obvious. Sometimes talking or painting can be a source of inspiration, and even a good read can be. We like very much the films in which the pictures that are shown during a few seconds cause a strong impression in our senses. Filmmakers are geniuses when it comes to composing pictures.
I am inspired above all in my previous creations. Very often I go back to my visualizations to study what could have been done better, what I would do to improve them or what mistakes I made. Of course, I try to avoid the same mistakes in the next project.
Curiosity and willingness to discover new phenomena allow you to open up to new sources of inspiration!
5. Do you have any tips for someone who might be interested in starting archviz?
Keep curiosity,
Do not be afraid of criticism,
Keep up with the people who are inspirational,
And remember ... there are many ways to achieve your goal!
6. In most of the architectural photography we can find in magazines and books, spaces are usually empty. When you consider adding human figures is important for your images? Why?
We have always had the feeling that people should appear in the photos. People are an additional element of the image, an element that cannot be controlled, unpredictable. They are a crucial part of the composition which makes it extremely difficult to capture a perfect frame in the real world, although it is not impossible.
As 3d graphic designers, we have the great possibility to control the location and positions of 3d people, which impacts on the overall perception of the image.
Designed by: Renzo Piano Building Workshop + FXFOWLE Architects.
7. How does a high quality asset, like a 3d people, impact the visualization?
First of all, the high quality 3d models influence the reduction of production time and offer a fantastic ability to play a little with the frames in search of interesting camera angles. Also, they are very helpful if the visualization demands the use of a large number of 3d people or crowds and if the angle of the camera is not standard and using people in 2D would be very difficult.
When using 3d people, there is no way that a person does not fit or be put in the wrong perspective.
8. In which images did 3d people take a fundamental role? Please share some.
“Taikoo Place” is one of our favorite projects that we have worked on last year and it is still going on today as we prepare the next shots. It was an opportunity to work on a large-scale project and it's something we really enjoy. In addition, we had to use a lot of 3d people to recreate the environment and give the right character of a Hong Kong business center. We were able to choose the shots that allowed us to take our creativity to the fullest.
One of the biggest challenges was the vegetation, in which we spent a lot of time and obtained very satisfactory results. The tropical garden between skyscrapers and office buildings is really impressive.
Project: Taikoo Place, Hong Kong / Client: NBBJ and Swire Properties / Facade Engineer: Eckersley O'Calaghan.
9. Archviz used to be very static. Do you see more architects producing dynamic archviz projects? How useful have our products and especially anima be to create 3d people crowds for your projects?
3d people are very helpful in projects that demands representing a crowd or street life. It gives us the possibility to change the angle of the camera with a lot of freedom and elaborate all the additional shots with all the different lightings that we want. We also save a lot of time on superfluous things by using it better in important aspects of the project.
10. What other tools would you consider indispensable for your work?
The most important "tool" is to keep a keen eye and aesthetic feeling. If the initial idea for the image is good and we know clearly what to transmit and achieve, other tools are not important at all. It is one as person and artist who creates the image, not the tools.
Today we have virtually unlimited possibilities in terms of technical aspects and we can get awesome results in many different ways.
11. What is your fear, of any, and the biggest excitement about architectural visualization?
It is really exciting to be able to observe how this discipline is creating its history and how one, as an artist, can influence and be part of this story.
We can see how the evolution of 3d and the associated technologies are influencing our daily life. It is very encouraging to see clearly that there is a long way ahead. It does not give us any reason to fear.
12. What major trends do you see in archviz?
We see many renderings with different LUT, a considerable increase in animations and more dynamic shots. We observe a huge increase of artists interested in the use of graphics cards for rendering and the fact that currently the range of available programs, applications and scripts has grown exponentially.
13. Are there any future projects you can tell us about?
Recently, we have been working on the development of a new branch of our creative activity. We want to be able to help our clients in their daily business by offering a wider range of services.
P.S: It was great to see AXYZ design Team during D2 conference 2018.
You did a great presentation and have a fantastic product!
It was one of the most technical and useful speeches. Thanks again Diego!
These images have been done using metropoly® Ready-Posed 3d people models