This week The Render Guy meets Jost Hauer of loomn in Germany an Arch-viz artist I have been following for a while now since he also is a VRAYforC4D user.
I have met Jost in Vienna many times during the d2 Conference and he also uses Cinema 4d and Vray, let’s see what he has to say.
I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did.
1. Hi Jost, thanks for taking the time; tell us please who you are and what you do.
Hi Render Guy, thank you very much for the opportunity to share my thoughts. My name is Jost and I am running a studio called loomn based in Gütersloh, Germany. Like many others I studied architecture in college and realized pretty soon that I was interested in portraying and communicating concepts rather than in establishing a building in reality. I have always been passionate about architecture, technology, CG, VFX, concept art and photography. I consider myself pretty lucky that I found a way to combine all these interests.
2. How did you get in the field of Archviz?
Since playing with legos as a little boy I have known that architecture is the field for me. It was it fascinating to draw something out of the blue that might become reality in the end. The first time I encountered perspective drawing in art classes at school, got me addicted. Eventually I realized that you could construct complete universes in computer games instead of just playing these games, it opened up a whole new world to me. Well, this was in the 90’s and the games looked rather lousy compared to those of today, but they allowed for creating space that you could experience and this was very rewarding to me. So I enrolled at university and got my degree in architecture. I luckily ended up as a project manager for an archviz company in Zürich. That was the moment when I realized this is the way I want to set out on.
3.Can you tell us a bit more about your work, how do you approach it, what do you try to achieve, what do you like about it and when do your consider a project ready?
At loomn we mostly do images for competitions. As we are all architects here, we are always very curious about new designs, new ideas and a wide range of different tasks. The setting is quite beneficial for us. The challenge to distill the very essence of a project into just one image drives us forward. There is so much more to a project than just the CAD drawings. You have to consider the purpose of a project, the location, your client‘s perception and focus, the audience that is addressed to.
Our main goal is to provide our client with an image that exactly reflects the intention of the design, he/she may be aware of it or not. Sometimes we have to read between the lines to get a sense of what is necessary. After a first rough composition in wireframe our clients give us total freedom to show the building in the best possible light and mood. But we also get a lot of useful criticism on our images and we try to take that into account as we work on the next draft. These images are always teamwork between our clients and us.
Each of us at loomn has a unique way of looking at an image; there is no right or wrong. And it is great if your own vision of a building is overlapping with your client’s imagination or even goes beyond it.
The project is done when our client needs to print it. This inevitable deadline is what I really like about competitions. You are forced to structure, plan ahead and think about necessities. However we do have an economic responsibility for our client and for ourselves. The effort you put in and the output you generate have to be in the right proportion. Otherwise you are tweaking a project beyond its purpose.
4. who is your biggest influence when it comes to finding inspiration?
Reality! Well, you can learn a lot from other artists. You can study their work and use it to refresh your own eyes. But in the end it all comes down to your own experience. Go outside, study the real world, try to get a sense of a situation, take photos and make drawings.
It is all there, right before your doorstep, you just have to open your eyes.
5. You are obviously a VRAYforC4D user, what pushed you towards this software?
Cinema was the first 3d software I ever installed, about 20 years ago. Until now it never let me down. And it is just fun to work with V-Ray. It gives you great freedom to achieve what you have in mind as an artist.
Ultimately, these are only tools and as artists we have to remind ourselves that it all comes down to our own imagination; no matter whether you use high-end rendering engines or draw by hand. If someone is good at photography or drawing, he will find a way to realize his vision in any software. If someone applies for a job at loomn, I do not ask them how they did their images, I rather ask the why.
6. Can you tell us one of the funniest things that happened during your career as a 3d artist?
We have a lot of fun at the office. Actually I do not think we could do a good job without any fun at all. An image will never be good if you have to do it under too much pressure or without being relaxed when doing it. I can’t point out a single situation to you, but a day without laughter actually is a wasted day!
7. How do you think the industry will change in the near future?
That’s a tough one. But actually I do not think it will change that much. Our tools will change that’s for sure. I see ourselves as photographers in a virtual reality. There will always be some kind of camera and and some kind of subject, no matter whether you work on paper or on a holodesk.
8. If you were to mentor someone about this career, what would you suggest or recommend? Or if you could go back in time to 10 years ago, what would you say to your younger self?
I do not want to mess with the space-time continuum (LOL), I have watched too many episodes on TV where this went terribly wrong.
Also it is hard to give any advice because everything I could possibly say is based on my own personal experience. And that’s what it all boils down to: Just trust your personal experience. If you love what you are doing, you are doing it right.
9.Now on the geek side, what is you do to give your image that final magic touch?
If I wasn’t afraid to be sued by Eric and Trond, I would say lens flares, blur and fog. But even more important from my point of view is the initial touch, I would say. If you have a good composition, it is very hard to mess it up big time.
10. Thanks a lot for doing this Jost! If people wanted to contact you where can they find you?
Thank you Render Guy, you can for sure find us on our website: www.loomn.de and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loomn.visualisierung/
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