TSR 002: SOA Academy Day #6 Special
08/01/17 • 56 min
Jumping ahead one year, this session takes us to SOA Academy Day #6. On this session I talked with Peter Guthrie and Henry Goss from The Boundary, David Bullock, John Hodgkins and Luis Inciarte from Hyas Davidson, John Sellings and Silvia Tossici from Squint Opera, Victor Bonafonte and Eva Bonafonte from Beauty and The Bit, and Johannes König and Christian Zöllner from Bloom Images. If you’ve ever wondered how to land a job with one of these incredible companies, or what to expect from their office culture, listen on to this special session of The SpectRoom.
The Boundary
Sharing an update on the first year of their new business, Peter and Henry call their first year “an incredible one.” They cover how they’re keeping updated on new technology, including Unreal Engine, the plans for their new shop, and what they’re looking for from potential employees. Their morning routine starts with sleeping in, and their motivation comes from learning new things and having fun, but I’ll let Peter and Henry explain how that works for them.
Hyas Davidson
Hyas Davidson pioneered architectural visualization with 25 years behind them. They have produced over 20,000 CGI images in those years, and it was a real pleasure to sit down with David, John, and Luis, at SOA Academy Day #6. From planning to marketing, those years of experience give them an edge over their competitors, that they detail in our conversation. When looking for new employees, the first thing they want is someone with a good eye, and possibly someone who is exceptional at a game of squash.
Squint Opera
Squint Opera is a creative studio and production house based in London that produces extraordinary work in everything from video content and animation, branding, websites, design, games, and strategy. I chatted with Silvia, who is an intern-turned-3D artist, and John, music- producer-turned-technical editor. They share some of the technology tools they’re using, what they’re looking for in new hires, how they train their employees to meet the Squint standards, and one major perk that’s located just downstairs from their main office.
Beauty and The Bit
Victor and Eva are the husband-wife team at Beauty and The Bit, which is based out of Madrid. They specialize in architectural illustrations and visual creation. In our conversation, they share their approach to testing out new technologies, what they’re looking for in new employees, and what they love to do in their spare time — provided they happen to find some.
Bloom Images
Bloom Images splits their efforts between two offices — one in Hamburg and one in Berlin. We chat about how they manage multiple locations, the ideal team size, and how they use people leaders to develop their whole team. They give a glimpse into their newest venue — set design, creating surroundings for advertisements for games, movies, and more, and again, share what they’re looking for from anyone that is looking to join their team.
Key Takeaways
[:54] First up — an update from The Boundary partners Peter Guthrie and Henry Goss.
[3:00] Potential employees have to bring this to a successful company like The Boundary.
[8:20] The morning routine and the motivation at The Boundary.
[13:10] What an employee ownership company looks like at Hyas Davidson.
[14:28] 25 years of experience, and model of London, are just two of the HD secret weapons.
[18:45] Hyas Davidson wants raw talent — and they know how to spot it.
[20:10] What team building fun looks like to David, John, and Luis.
[22:47] Projects for the company can also be personal projects.
[29:18] Passion and solid new ideas are must-haves for new hires at Squint Opera.
[33:05] The training process comes from multiple sources, and it works perfectly.
[38:12] A look at the current projects at Sq
Jumping ahead one year, this session takes us to SOA Academy Day #6. On this session I talked with Peter Guthrie and Henry Goss from The Boundary, David Bullock, John Hodgkins and Luis Inciarte from Hyas Davidson, John Sellings and Silvia Tossici from Squint Opera, Victor Bonafonte and Eva Bonafonte from Beauty and The Bit, and Johannes König and Christian Zöllner from Bloom Images. If you’ve ever wondered how to land a job with one of these incredible companies, or what to expect from their office culture, listen on to this special session of The SpectRoom.
The Boundary
Sharing an update on the first year of their new business, Peter and Henry call their first year “an incredible one.” They cover how they’re keeping updated on new technology, including Unreal Engine, the plans for their new shop, and what they’re looking for from potential employees. Their morning routine starts with sleeping in, and their motivation comes from learning new things and having fun, but I’ll let Peter and Henry explain how that works for them.
Hyas Davidson
Hyas Davidson pioneered architectural visualization with 25 years behind them. They have produced over 20,000 CGI images in those years, and it was a real pleasure to sit down with David, John, and Luis, at SOA Academy Day #6. From planning to marketing, those years of experience give them an edge over their competitors, that they detail in our conversation. When looking for new employees, the first thing they want is someone with a good eye, and possibly someone who is exceptional at a game of squash.
Squint Opera
Squint Opera is a creative studio and production house based in London that produces extraordinary work in everything from video content and animation, branding, websites, design, games, and strategy. I chatted with Silvia, who is an intern-turned-3D artist, and John, music- producer-turned-technical editor. They share some of the technology tools they’re using, what they’re looking for in new hires, how they train their employees to meet the Squint standards, and one major perk that’s located just downstairs from their main office.
Beauty and The Bit
Victor and Eva are the husband-wife team at Beauty and The Bit, which is based out of Madrid. They specialize in architectural illustrations and visual creation. In our conversation, they share their approach to testing out new technologies, what they’re looking for in new employees, and what they love to do in their spare time — provided they happen to find some.
Bloom Images
Bloom Images splits their efforts between two offices — one in Hamburg and one in Berlin. We chat about how they manage multiple locations, the ideal team size, and how they use people leaders to develop their whole team. They give a glimpse into their newest venue — set design, creating surroundings for advertisements for games, movies, and more, and again, share what they’re looking for from anyone that is looking to join their team.
Key Takeaways
[:54] First up — an update from The Boundary partners Peter Guthrie and Henry Goss.
[3:00] Potential employees have to bring this to a successful company like The Boundary.
[8:20] The morning routine and the motivation at The Boundary.
[13:10] What an employee ownership company looks like at Hyas Davidson.
[14:28] 25 years of experience, and model of London, are just two of the HD secret weapons.
[18:45] Hyas Davidson wants raw talent — and they know how to spot it.
[20:10] What team building fun looks like to David, John, and Luis.
[22:47] Projects for the company can also be personal projects.
[29:18] Passion and solid new ideas are must-haves for new hires at Squint Opera.
[33:05] The training process comes from multiple sources, and it works perfectly.
[38:12] A look at the current projects at Sq
Previous Episode
TSR 001: SOA Academy Day #5 Special
This session represents the inception point of this podcast. Nearly three years ago I interviewed a host of inspirational people at SOA Academy Day #5. On this session you’ll hear from Mats and Trond from MIR in Norway, Adam Hotovỳ and Juraj Talcik regarding Corona Renderer, Peter Guthrie, Christiaan Klaassen from DBOX, and Pedro Fernandes from Arqui9. Here’s a bit about each of the guests I talked to on this session.
MIR
Located in Norway, MIR is a big source of inspiration to me in many aspects, not just in their visuals but in the way they go about doing their work. They dedicate one week to each of their projects, which allows them to remain focused and undistracted, and to deliver a high-quality product on-time. In my conversation with them, Trons and Mats describe this process, as well as their disciplined approach to their art, how they plan to develop their visualizations in the future, and what hopeful potential employees should do - and not do- to gain their attention.
Corona Renderer
Corona is a high-performance photorealistic renderer software program based in Prague. I talked with Adam Hotovỳ about some of the milestones Corona was working to meet at the time of SOA Academy Day #5- back in 2014. Juraj Talcik also had plenty of great things to say about why he and Veronika Demovicova prefer to use Corona over other rendering programs.
Peter Guthrie
At the time of this conversation, Peter Guthrie and Henry Goss were two days into their adventure at The Boundary. The incredible success of their company is a topic that will be featured in a future session of The SpectRoom.
DBOX
DBOX is a complete agency full service company, taking their clients from branding all the way to the publication of a project. I’m talking here with Christiaan Klaassen about CGI, how synchronization happens with the whole team, and the incredibly detailed work they put into each project.
Arqui9
Based in the UK, Arqui9’s Pedro Fernandes stresses simplifying your portfolio and specializing in your greatest area of strength. He also has some great tips for artists that are looking into going out on their own that you’ll definitely want to hear.
Key Takeaways
[:50] Mats and Trons from MIR describe their dedicated week-long creative process.
[5:40] The fundamentals of MIR- not the latest techniques- are what contributes most to their success.
[9:56] A glimpse at what makes Mats and Trons’ partnership work.
[12:30] What should potential employees focus on to gain attention at MIR?
[17:15] Juraj Talcik explains why he made the switch from VRay to Corona.
[20:50] Adam Hotovỳ calls his transition to Corona as a natural and necessary one.
[25:15] Peter Guthrie announces the inception of The Boundary.
[29:13] Christiaan Klaassen talks about his favorite projects at DBOX.
[34:50] Pedro Fernandes shares tips for artists that are looking into going their own way.
[39:20] Does being an architect give you an advantage in visualization? Pedro explains why definitely does.
Main Quotes
“Quality before quantity in a portfolio submission.” — Mats Andersen
“You just press render and that’s it. You’re there.” — Juraj Talcik
“The most important thing for our image is a narrative, it’s telling a story.” — Christiaan Klaassen
“Simplify (your portfolio) and choose only the best pieces.” — Pedro Fernandes
“Never, never, never feel down. Just get knocked down, get back up.” — Pedro Fernandes
Software Mentions
Name Dropping
Next Episode
TSR 003: SOA Academy Day #7 Special
On this last SOA Academy Day special, I’m joined with a host of talented individuals, including Teddy Bergsman from Quixel, Paul Nichols from Factory Fifteen, Frederick and Nicholas from Allegorithmic, Andreas Landgren from Tomorrow, Timothy Hoffman from Double Negative, Ondřej Karlík, Adam Hotovỳ, and Jaroslav Křivánek from Corona Renderer, and Panos Ioannou and Gamma Basra from Foster and Partners for KS Group. These companies have a distinct view and role in architectural visualization that you’ll definitely want to hear, but first, a little bit about each.
Quixel
The Scanmaster creator of Quixel, Teddy Bergsman, has also generated Megascans, a massive online scan library. His team is now pushing 50 people, and his work has been used all over the world, including in the recent film The Jungle Book. His vision was clear from the beginning, and his intense dedication to achieving his goal has definitely paid off.
Factory Fifteen
Joining me from Factory Fifteen is Paul Nichols. This company has both a design-led approach to filmmaking and a narrative-led approach to architectural visualization. They consistently work on two very different projects — one in film and one in architectural visualization — and they have managed to have great success with both.
Allegorithmic
This software company started with gaming, and has grown to the architecture and design industries. They also develop reference tools for next-generation PBR material content. Frederick and Nicholas share their thoughts on the future of archviz and the benefit of using their architectural library, which contains all of the materials an artist needs for their renderings.
Tomorrow Visualization
Tomorrow Visualization focuses on creating change. They’re not just making images, they’re part of a design process, and that is the reason that they go to work every day. The structural process they follow is based on reality, and that is what people either love or hate about their images. We talk about what is included in their standard work and their competition work, and why a prospective employee needs to be a “really nice person.”
Double Negative
Double Negative joined us at SOA Day #7 to demonstrate methods from television and film using software such as Mari, Maya, and V-Ray. In our conversation, Tim Hoffman shares his opinion on the most important things that archviz masters can learn from the film industry.
Corona Renderer
Corona has established itself firmly in the industry, being used in many studios, including my own. They share what improvements can be expected from the newly released version of their software, news about user training through Corona Academy, and future plans for other platforms and solutions. They talk about how they plan to divide their time between development of new features and building new advanced technologies into their algorithms, and time has shown that their efforts have certainly paid off.
Foster and Partners
Panos Ioannou and Gamma Basra join me to discuss how they have grown from a small company of 7, to a major production house that can no longer produce all of their work themselves. Fosters focuses on design follow-up rather than the marketing process itself, and they’ve got a clear vision for the future of their company. Looking to work at Fosters? Listen on to hear what they require from potential team members.
Key Takeaways
[1:08] Teddy Bergsman’s vision of the future of Megascans was clear from the beginning.
[6:33] Megascans is destined to affect archviz in very good ways.
[12:28] Any future work by Teddy Bergsman is undoubtedly going to be successful.
[14:50] The team at Factory Fifteen specializes in animation and films as well as archviz.
[21:27] Paul Nichols muses on the future of VR.
[24:43] Teach
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