Nomeradona SketchUp VR: Q and A with Arch. Jeffrey Farainal "ARCHITHEKTHURA"

Jeffrey Farainal aka "ARCHITHEKTHURA" originated from the Philippines. He is now based in Bahrain working as architect, designer and visualizer. We have known Jeffrey through Filipino Forum www.cgpinoy.org. He is also a regular contributor with CG society and Evermotion Forums. Jeffrey also won many competitions and one of this was his First Place at- AAndres Interior Rendering Competition @ EVERMOTION.

Jeffrey's attention to details and excellent camera composition are very evident with his work. His mastery with photography composition could perhaps be attributed with this phenomenal skills. We do know Jeffrey had participated too in Photography Exhibitions. Anyone who does professional visualization in the Philippines knows this man. He is truly a fine example of Filipino Excellence.

SVR. Please tell us a bit about yourself.

JF: My interest in the world of design and architecture has become distinct in my high school days. For me, it’s a passion where you can have your own unique interpretations of things. It is a constant exploration of options and incessant learning and challenging yourself.

After completing my Architecture degree in the Philippines, I did not immediately have involved in any work, rather I spent some time to have a rest for the long and strenuous five-years of studies.

So, when the time comes to finally step into the real world of employment - it is an intimidating assignment certainly, but I should be more than up to the task.

I had my first formal professional practice at Home Ideas-Philippines, where in, I have been trained to do more traditional approach in drawing presentation – hand sketching per se. During this time, most of my colleagues have already engaged in 3D visualization, where I totally feel archaic..

After a couple of years, I have finally decided to endeavor my luck working abroad. However, it was not been an easy months for me. Those are the times, where I have been rejected in almost all the companies I have tried to, just because I don’t have even a single CG knowledge.

Finally, dwp (design worldwide partnership) a small interior and architecture design firm has opened their doors despite my lack in any CG experience. My initial involvement in 3D visualization happens when one of the fast track projects needed a presentation which we have to do in-house. A daunting task but I just needed to do. With that, I have started doing research, practice, more research and more practice.

In this CG world, it teaches me only two things – RESEARCH and PRACTICE and more of it!

SVR What workflow do you use in your visualization?

JF: Firstly, I believed that quality is more important than quantity, that a patient process yields better results and that a hard work can translate to a master piece. I am a slow starter, the mid-to-last part of my workflow is the more time-consuming but always most rewarding.

I honestly, don’t do so many sketches when I am starting a project. I have just set a simple CAD for main periphery, then will be imported to SketchUp with basic massing and then finally to 3D Studio Max. Not to mention, this is always on a case-to-case basis depending on the project status, availability of information and the like.

Almost 90 percentile of my whole workflow-process was done in 3D Studio Max, as it works for me in so many ways – such as manipulating cameras, doing any revisions and animation.

To firm up the final output, I keep composite software in-hand to do tweaks and refinement.

SVR Please tell us how you incorporate SketchUp in your work?

JF. I’m not so much of SketchUp dependent; currently, I just used it for basic massing-architectural in specific. Though, I believed that SketchUp is a very powerful tool and has so much to offer, which I will be inclined to learn more.

SVR. What or Who inspires you in your work? Why?

JF. In actual fact, there are too many renowned international CG artists that have possibly been my inspiration. Though, during my first attempt on visualization industry, I have come across to some of the Filipino CG artists who have been my inspiration like, Paul Tamin(Vitamins),Eldy Tendero(Tribal Tuesday),Sherwin Boston(Kurdapya),Bryan Jumarang(Enigma),William Reyes(Boyskan),Gel Ocampo (Chromdome) , to name a few. For me, they are the people who have perfected the art of doing things well through their own talents and through their appreciation of quality and beauty. Those are the days where it was a constant gazed on their work that I even set them as a goal for me to achieve on.

SVR: You have won many visualization awards before. Do you have any piece of advise to others in terms of visualization.

JF. Always keep in mind that “in life, as in art, there are often no second chances”, so we must always try to do and exceed our best. You should learn to criticize your own work and continually look for improvement. Seek for more learning opportunities, be consistently inconsistent, and always try something new.

CG is a broad and fun world – there will always something new to grasp. Don’t stop – consistently carry out RESEARCH and formulate one to PRACTICE.