SEBASTIAN CAINE

We focus more on artistic, than on technological aspect. When people say ‘wow’, no-one really cares which plugins you used.

Name: Sebastian Caine
Country: Turkey
Age: 28
Job: Architect / Visualisation Artist
Website/portfolio: www.quark-studio.com

3DA: Why have you decided to work in 3d-field and when have you started? Where you studied?
SC: I studied architecture in Istanbul which is the biggest city of Turkey and also one of the biggest markets for construction nowadays. I need to say that creating something was always very exciting for me since childhood. And I remember very good the time when some people were already using renderings to present their project in the school. Of course they were very basic but the idea of visualizing your design, your ideas, was amazing for me (and still it is) and that’s how the idea came first. One important point is that the time when I saw some great artists bringing renderings to another level by mixing them with art, adding a unique emotion to each image rather than processing them simply as additional visual material, I really understood that it is what I want to do. To create something which will address to the peoples emotions and getting paid in the same time is a privilege that not many has opportunity to do. I can’t say that I seriously started until I met my two partners (which are also the co-founders of QUARK Studio.) We are brought together by some strange twists of fate in an architectural office in Istanbul and then I saw that these two great guys (one italian and one syrian) inspire me and I found the necessary self-confidence to start our own business.

3DA: Which software you usually use for your projects?
SC: Our workflow is rather simple. We are generally trying not to get too much involved in technology. Of course it doesn’t mean that we are working or we love to work in slow computers, no :) What I am trying to say is that we are focusing more on artistic aspect rather than technological aspect. After all when you got a deeply emotional image with correct color tones and atmosphere to make people say ‘wow’ no one really cares which plugins you used to achieve that. I see a lot of awarded images which are really very simple in technological aspect but very rich as artistic. That’s basically what we care and what we try to do. We follow this simple method of modeling and rendering in max as a base and then creating the image in photoshop. Because photoshop is a great tool which gives you a lot of freedom, its exactly like painting a picture. I personally like to enhance or change lights in PS since I believe that strictly realistic is not eye catching since our eyes are used to see realistic scenes every minute in daily life.

3DA: What was most difficult for you when you just started working in 3D? And what is now?
SC: The most difficult for me was to figure out where I should start from but with the help of my great partners we overcame this difficulty. I didn’t need to learn all in the beginning because three of us we all had different skills and we were using them to create any image we want. One of my friends is very talented in modeling things, the other one was really innovative when it comes to texturing and rendering and I was doing the post production in PS. Anyway I really think that visualization is a team practice.

3DA: What you can advise to the students who are just starting their way in CG?
SC: I can advise to look around and get the inspiration from the surroundings and nature because that’s where true beauty lies.

3DA: What forecast you can make about the future of 3d-world in general?
SC: Its not very hard to see that 3D visualization techniques are getting stronger day by day. They will be the main presentation material not only in architecture but also many other industries who can benefit from it. Personally I think that computers are getting stronger everyday and it will allow us to focus more on animations than stills in future, since its also more explanatory. But I think I’ll always prefer a good image to a movie because it provokes emotions and make you think.