A Day in the Life of a CGI Artist
At Floorplanz we use CGI artists to create architectural visuals in order to bring a property or new development to life. Marketing a home can be difficult, especially when there are so many options available; using innovative design gives a viable alternative to traditional photography, especially in the representation of new build homes. CGI artists can also produce a fly-round or walk-through of a property in order to increase its selling potential. We spent a day shadowing Sabrina Spellman, one of our in-house CGI artists, to get a feel for what really goes on in a typical day.
Hi Sabrina, thank you for agreeing to give us an insight into your daily routine as a CGI artist. Can you give us a brief introduction about yourself what you do at Floorplanz?
I create architectural visualisations images, predominantly for marketing purposes and planning permission. The main process of creating CGIs is to create the geometry of the 3D model using 2D plans. I then set up the lighting, so it looks realistic, apply any textures like grass, wood grain or reflective surfaces, and insert any furniture and scenery.
How do you keep motivated and what inspires you to create these fantastic visuals?
It’s really satisfying to see the end result, especially when the client is thrilled with it.
How do you see CGI evolving over the next few years and what impact do you think technology will have on how your work style develops?
As technology improves computer generated images are looking more and more realistic, soon we will get to a stage where we can’t tell if an image is real or computer generated.
“The main process of creating CGIs is to create the geometry of the 3D model using 2D plans.”
“The main process of creating CGIs is to create the geometry of the 3D model using 2D plans.”
With so many techniques and tools to choose from, what is your holy grail?
YouTube is a vital resource. I use so many tutorials to help me learn new tips and tricks to ensure my drawings look as realistic and seamless as possible, I wouldn’t know half the things I do at the moment without it.
As technology is always progressing and the methods for creating CGI visuals changing, what are your views on ‘proptech’, in particular video and 3D virtual walkthroughs?
I think virtual walkthroughs are going to be a useful tool in the future, however I think it still needs some work to make it easily accessible. Creating a virtual walkthrough requires modelling an entire property which is time consuming and therefore money. However, it will have its benefits, for example in the planning stages it can help when deciding where electricals go, how doors swing, the best location or size for a window… the benefits of foresight are endless and it can avoid the comment of “if only I’d done that…”.
What did you study at University? Did you always know what career path you wanted to take or did this line of work choose you?
It chose me! I studied architectural engineering at university and in my final year I designed a library. We had to create a 3D model to sell our design and I thoroughly enjoyed the creative aspect of CGIs.
Being busy and producing high quality CGI can be an arduous task, we know how important it is to have breaks and down time in order to keep those creative juices flowing. What interests do you have outside of work?
Running, skiing, walking… being outside! I do love a nice glass of wine (and) or a G&T.
In order to effectively market a property, we use the fantastic skills of CGI artists like Sabrina to give you the best chance of gaining that coveted sale. If you are interested in using our CGI services or have a project we could help with, please call us on 0203 905 60 99 or email [email protected] to find out more.
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