David Baylis
Jesse: A key part of a strong architectural visualization is how an artist uses light. At what point in the process do you determine the lighting that best serves the space? Is it something you tend to establish from the onset or something you experiment with as you create?
David Baylis: I think the beauty of real time rendering is being able to change the lighting dynamically. Although I do use reference images to set the brightness and exposure of my scene to match reality as closely as possible, sometimes it’s interesting to add extra lights and experiment on the fly to enhance your scene. With the latest Lumen technology in Unreal Engine 5, your scene can be completely dynamic, allowing artists to visualize their environments in a more realistic way with dynamic global illumination. You can easily add more lights and instantly see the results, allowing some extra freedom and for a moodier artwork.
J: How do you know when an architectural visualization is complete? Do you use a metric to decide when you’ve achieved a certain degree of photorealism?
DB: There will always be improvements to be made, even when you think you are done, but you have to keep a good balance between being technical and telling a story. The best way to decide whether your artwork is ready to be published is to be your client and think to yourself if you would be satisfied if you had paid for this. Sometimes I go up to 10 revisions on my own because I know the first iteration of render is never flawless (as much as I would like it to be).
J: People are spending more and more time in virtual spaces. How does this impact the role of the 3D designer? Do you see it bringing about new collaborations with architects, interior designers, and professionals in other verticals?
DB: With today’s technology, it is becoming easier to visualize space not only in a faster way than before, but also more realistically. As 3D artists, we have such a great power to be able to help people visualize their dreams. This has been shown multiple times in the architecture world with VR/AR showcases, helping future home buyers with their new spaces, and more and more in a virtual way. You don’t even need to be on-site anymore.
“As 3D artists, we have such a great power to be able to help people visualize their dreams.”
J: What role does Substance play in your 3D workflow?
DB: Substance is such a must have tool for the artist. It allows you to go the extra mile by really finessing your art and crafting your object so it shines in your favourite renderer. The Substance Source library and Substance Painter provide me with a huge variety of possibilities to customize what I need to create. It gives your scene an added touch of realism by adding some imperfection.
J: What’s a mistake folks who are new to 3D make when they first set out to design architectural spaces?
DB: I would say “Scaling, or sense of scale” of the scene is pretty common when you start. It’s good to know the physically accurate measuring of objects, such as door heights or wall heights. Setting your Units correctly in your 3D program to make sure everything is consistent and avoid having to scale objects one by one.
