Juan Carlos ramosjuancarlosramos.me

interview with

042014

Artistspotlight

one of my favorite hobbies from an early age is video games and chess. Chess gave me values, taught me to respect others and learn from them. Video games and good Architectural Visualization are part of the same Cgi family, so they have an amazing relationship because when i work i feel like playing 8 or 12 hours successively and combining it with music (chiptunes 8 bits), it is pretty cool!

tell us A bit About yourself. WhAt eVents plAyed A defining role in your life? i am an architect originally from Michoacán, Mexico. since childhood i wanted to be an architect because i thought it had a direct relationship with my drawing ability but when i started my Architecture education i found out it was not so; architecture is very complicated and you can be a great designer without having any drawing ability. so, in the years of study i had to find myself and redefine what i wanted to do in my life, i even thought of leaving the university. fortunately, i found the Vanguards in Architecture where it was experimented with new materials and some broke radically with historicism, all these concepts changed my artistic perception and encouraged me to continue in architectural design.

JuAn CArlos rAMos

Artistspotlight 04

2014

interview with Juan Carlos ramos

When did you first stArt tAking interest in 3d Art? did this interest eVolVe froM drAWing or Any other CreAtiVe hobby of yours?

during my second year of studies i started working in an architectural design firm and this move helped me combine theory with practice. shortly after, i began to study postmodern architecture. i was fascinated by how frank ghery developed his projects from sketch and then transferred them to tridimensional models. this inspired me to go into the world of Cgi and helped me with many decisions during my professional development.

hoW did you leArn 3d? did you tAke Any speCiAl Courses? WhAt is your Work experienCe in this AreA And hoW did it help you beCoMe A good Artist?

i have started learning 3d in the early 2000s; at that time in Mexico there was very little information. in the faculty of Architecture, i had an animation class and it was quite useful to see the history of Cgi animation; the photograms, the animation frame by frame, the matte painting, etc.

My interest was in coming up with creative concepts and ideas and i think the best way to represent ideas in architecture is to sketch. then you can turn these sketches into tridimensional models and concept images. Combining internet research with work was also a key part of my learning process.

JuAn CArlos rAMos

Artistspotlight 04

2014

JuAn CArlos rAMos

Artistspotlight 04

2014

you Are Also Very ACtiVe in the MexiCAn Cg ArenA. you pArtiCipAte As A Judge in CoMpetitions And orgAnize WebinArs And trAinings. is MexiCo A Country With high potentiAl in the 3d field? hoW Are young Artists eduCAted And trAined in MexiCo?

i firmly believe that Mexico and latin America have great potential in the 3d field. We are people with great artistic capacity, innate in many cases. i think that the social problems in latin America mark our lives from birth. if we manage to transform this fact into something positive it can charge us with artistic inspiration and give us an irresistible thirst to succeed compared to people from developed markets who have a very different view about labor and daily life.

unfortunately there are still very few ways to learn 3d in Mexico. but there are several artists including me that are contributing to a better development of Cgi in Mexico and latin America.

JuAn CArlos rAMos

Artistspotlight 04

2014

your proJeCts CreAte A bridge betWeen reAlity And AbstrACt Art. Where do you drAW inspirAtion froM? My biggest inspiration is Mexican tradition, the villages of the plateau purépecha of Michoacán, pátzcuaro and its aromas of freshly baked bread, the home-made chocolate, the forest and its neighboring village tzintzuntan with ceremonial pyramids facing lake Janitzio. the people, their music, food and crafts of clay, wood and quarry. the purple pátzcuaro sunset reflected in lake Janitzio is something unique in the world and will always be in my heart like an engine that inspires me to keep going.

there are also the great Mexican artists such as frida khalo, diego rivera and rufino tamayo; although they were opposing ideological currents, they enriched Mexican culture with concepts, colors and textures.

JuAn CArlos rAMos

Artistspotlight 04

2014

WhAt is your AdViCe for Anyone stArting A CAreer in Cg?

study and investigate on your own, Cgi constantly develops and there are still not enough specialized schools out there! even professionals must learn theory and experiment at the same time, follow their inspiration and be able to decide how far they can contribute artistically to the concept of the customer and make good decisions in the final visualization.

Are you Working on Any neW proJeCts Currently? Any interesting plAns Worth shAring?

i have many projects on the way; i’m about to start a webinar in spanish based on the workflow process of 3d and Matte painting in my project the pyramid house. in this way, i will promote the development of Cgi in spanish-speaking countries. i’m also in talks to collaborate with one of the most important companies in the field of Architectural Visualization.

JuAn CArlos rAMos

Artistspotlight 04

2014

JuAn CArlos rAMos

Artistspotlight 04

2014

CAn you briefly desCribe your WorkfloW? WhAt softWAre tools do you use And Why?

i use mainly 3ds Max, V-ray, itoo forest, photoshop and After effects. over time i have developed a workflow based on taking every effort for 3d and add the greatest possible amount of matte painting to the final composition. this process was developed as a necessity because my old computer had very low hardware parameters, but now when i have resolved the hardware part, i extended my workflow to the magical realistic painting details, lights and shades that enhance the quality of the image.

JuAn CArlos rAMos

Artistspotlight 04

2014

your pyrAMid house beCAMe Widely knoWn in the ArChiteCturAl CoMMunity And WAs one of the hottest ArCh Viz proJeCts lAst yeAr. hoW did you CoMe up With this ideA?

the project is inspired by the landscapes of lake zirahuen and lake los Azufres in my native Michoacán, Mexico. it is a forested area with very wet and rainy weather, so my first thought was to make a cottage and then i found out that there were formal precedents for a pyramidal housing. so i tried to redefine the use of a stunning geometric form so little used in contemporary architecture. the approach was not easy, so i tried to base the project on the logic of a contemporary home in which you can even work and be creative.

the pyramid house was created with the intention of improving the experience of living in a house as a reflection of the human being through the beauty of architecture. i think that creating comfortable and beautiful spaces with natural illumination where the user can improve their quality of life is a great approach.

JuAn CArlos rAMos

Artistspotlight 04

2014

CAn you shAre More About the el MeMoriAl proJeCt – A proJeCt dediCAted to the ViCtiMs of ViolenCe in MexiCo?

it was a project i worked on in the office of architect fernando romero in Mexico City in 2012. We made it for an architectural competition and were awarded with an honorable recognition. i tried to offer a very expressive, emotional image, full of mysticism and spirituality that represents each of the families affected by the violence in Mexico.

the modeling process, ambience and materials were something very standard. the work was done in three days, something very typical for an architectural competition where you work under high pressure, so i dedicated more time to the postproduction part painting the image resulting with a lot of personal emotion for the competition.

for suCh lArge sCAle sCenes With so MuCh enVironMent to be seen, hoW did V-rAy sun & sky help you?

i use V-ray sun & V-ray sky usually in animation shots for atmosphere, it’s very easy to configure it and within minutes have the necessary lighting - for example for atmospheric shots where you do not need special reflection, just the gamma of colors offered by this combination.

JuAn CArlos rAMos

Artistspotlight 04

2014

JuAn CArlos rAMos

Artistspotlight 04

2014

Adding A CertAin look And feel is AlWAys A ChAllenge. in WhAt WAy did V-rAy’s doMelight help you AChieVe thAt? CAn you shAre With us A bit About your WorkfloW When using V-rAy doMelight?

i like experimenting with V-ray sun + V-ray sky, V-ray sun + V-ray domelight and V-ray sun + ibl. Although i have no preferences, i use V-ray domelight when i have a good hdri that would bathe the scene with illuminating colors and nice reflections. in addition, i usually work with photoshop for background images and combine them using V-ray Map with V- ray sky connected to V-ray sun, then add this result to V-ray domelight in order to regulate the amount of light. i like this technique because it allows me to place reflections and refractions where i need them.

Working With so MAny trees And grAss it Must be A relief hAVing V-rAy proxies. hoW MuCh did using proxies AffeCt your oVerAll Work And ApproACh to the sCenes?

the use of proxies has significantly improved the outcome of the work for Architectural Visualization. i am very adept at scenes with lots of vegetation. before i had to work with opacities but they were a big problem to recreate in a natural scene and all this complicated the final result. now the big problem has become a daily job being able to generate huge natural scenes in just a few minutes!

JuAn CArlos rAMos

Artistspotlight 04

2014

CoMpositing is pArt of the 3d Content CreAtion And V-rAy’s render eleMents Are Widely regArded As one of the Most flexible. WhAt is your typiCAl WorkfloW When using render eleMents And hoW MuCh do they AffeCt your finAl iMAge?

i always use the render elements without exception. i think they have become an essential part of the workflow for every 3d artist today. based on my experience, i have changed my workflow to be able to devote more time to the postproduction (Compositing) because i think the introduction of render elements has created a way to be more dynamic and responsive to the daily needs of the Architectural Visualization job.

JuAn CArlos rAMos

Artistspotlight 04

2014

CAn you shAre soMe rendering tips With our CoMMunity?

My biggest advice is not to forget the great predecessors of Cgi. in my case, i admire the work of helmut Jacoby who was doing architecture illustration in the 70’s, visualization with pencil, charcoal or ink but with great handling of composition and architectural surrounding. his images are full of vegetation, human scales and details that enrich the entire work.

in photography i admire the work of Julius schulman, especially his work in black and white that represents in an exceptional way the lighting in architecture.

so we should not forget, we have amazing tools but we shall not limit ourselves within only the learning and usage of software, there is a long way to go beyond that.

the biggest challenge we have at the end of the day is to represent an ethereal world in a two-dimensional image, adding a tridimensional depth as large as our feelings and with limitations as extensive as our imagination.

JuAn CArlos rAMos

Artistspotlight 04

2014

Juan Carlos ramos

042014

Artistspotlight

back to top

see more V-ray customer success stories

juancarlosramos.me