Interview with Nick Hower of Kitchen Sink Studios

Interview with Nick Hower of Kitchen Sink Studios

Kitchen Sink Studios is a full service architectural rendering firm based out of Phoenix, Arizona. Founded by Nick Hower and Kory Kapfer, Kitchen Sink Studios has grown to become one of the top firms in Phoenix in only a few short years.


CGA: Could you introduce yourself, tell us about your background and how you originally became involved with computer graphics and the architectural industry?

NH: My name is Nick Hower…..and my business partner's name is Kory Kapfer. After graduating from the University of Arizona (Bachelor's of Landscape Architecture, '93) I headed up the computer animation studio at the largest architecture firm in Arizona (Cornoyer-Hedrick, Inc.). Kory and I quickly cultivated the studio before branching out on our own in 1999

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CGA: Can you tell us how Kitchen Sink Studios was started?

We always feel that the best presentations are created from strong design concepts. There was always a conflict of interest for us to be involved with any other design teams besides the one firm we worked at. We wanted to take our product to the next level. We were able to make a seamless transition from our existing jobs into a new business through a high-interest loan (local investor/client). The most important challenge during the first year was to stay focused on adding to our client base and getting paid in a timely fashion. We were able to pay off the loan on our one-year anniversary of being in business!

CGA: What is the primary focus Kitchen Sink Studios?

While we got our start creating animation and still imagery for the architectural and development community, we see ourselves expanding into other markets that we feel could really use the services of our company. The legal and educational industries are the two largest markets we are currently getting into.

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CGA: What sets Kitchen Sink Studios apart from the rest, and how are you pushing the architectural visualization envelope?

We feel it is our job to always be researching, testing, and exploring new technologies that could help us help our clients. Sometimes it comes in the form of and entirely new service we can provide or something that streamlines our production process. In either event, our clients benefit. We also feel that we provide more than just a computer generated image or animation. All of us here have backgrounds in design, architecture, and marketing as well as the digital arts and that allows us to put together complete and useful productions for our clients. A picture is "worth a thousand words" so being able to clearly demonstrate the design through multiple senses such as physical interaction, audio, and video brings the presentation tools full-circle. We also see the value of contracting with specialized talent. We have great contacts with talented designers for specific projects so that if need be, we can bring them on to add more value yet!

CGA: Could you tell us a little but about your team?

Our studio is comprised of several key members. Kirsten Lewis has a strong background in marketing strategies and networking. She heads the business development side of things and keeps the team focused on new target markets. Sean Looper has a background in Architecture (Arizona State University) with a concentration in animation, audio production and video-post production. He is indispensable for research and development as well as contributing to multiple projects artistically. Mike Heuschele specializes in texturing, lighting and modeling with interest in rendering technologies, gaming and architecture. Kwok Ke Or is artistically talented, while specializing in complex modeling and interactive media. Marc Cattapan received his training for interactive media from Sheraton in Toronto in addition to a Bachelor's Degree in Film and also has great talent in writing music.

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CGA: What type of timelines do you normally have to deal with?

Although we've delivered images within hours, our average turn-around time for a project that has animation, still imagery, and an interactive CD-ROM/DVD is around 4-6weeks. Everything we do is totally customized to the clients specific needs so there really is no 'off the shelf timeframe/price'.

CGA: How do you typically divide a project up when you go into production?

It's in layers according to an in-house schedule: Modeling, texturing, lighting, rendering, compositing, audio recording and mixing, and creation of interactive environment. We break up the stages and workload depending on who is available and who may specialize in a particular area. It seems to work best like that as opposed to having a formula that is never to be broken.

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CGA: Can you walk us through a typical day at your firm?

Hectic! Ever changing. We love it that way. We don't want to do the same thing everyday for the rest of our lives. It is by our philosophy of pushing ourselves to do better then we were yesterday that we attribute our lack of rest. If we are comfortable then eventually the work we do will suffer. Aside from that, we like to have fun with our work. Our studio is an open environment and it operates more like a small family than anything else.

CGA: I have heard some tell me that architectural computer graphics is a dying fad and that architecture will cease to be marketed with CG imagery. What is your reaction to this?

I suppose that anything is possible but I can't image it in my lifetime. The use of the computer simply offers too many possibilities for it to just go away.

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CGA: What software and hardware are you using, and why have you made those choices?

As I'm sure with most studios we use a multitude of products. In terms of hardware we are primarily a PC based company but we do also utilize the Mac. All of our workstations are dual processors with 1 to 2 gigs of memory and high quality graphics cards. We also have audio recording and mixing hardware for voice as well as music. CDROM and DVD burning in small quantity is also done in house as well as a render farm. Software is pretty much the same story. Our primary packages are 3D Studio Max, Photoshop, After Effects, Director, Flash, and DVD Studio Pro. We use many other packages for various tasks but those would be the essentials.

CGA: What do you feel has contributed the most to your studio's success?

The fact that we are our own worst critics and truly want to do the best work we can is our cornerstone. We also want to give our clients the best value for their money. Animation of every room in the house 'so to speak' isn't always necessary. Showing and doing enough to do the job perfectly is the optimal scenario.

CGA: Which project(s) are you most proud of and why?

As a studio, we are always most proud of the projects that were the most challenging and had the most hurdles to jump. We created an interactive DVD for The American Heart Association that covered the gamut on everything we do. It was in conjunction with the Arizona campaign "tumor causing, teeth staining, smelly puking habit" in the fight against the use of tobacco. We created many DVD quality animations that were medical in nature, narration in English and Spanish, and sound effects and music in 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. It was quite the rewarding project. There are others we're proud of but I don't want to bore everyone.

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CGA: What were some of the challenges that you ran into while working on the project?

Render time was an enormous challenge. Our scenes became so complicated with volume lights, raytraced materials and geometry that a 30 minute frame time was commonplace. Its not bad if are only doing a still but we had close to 54,000 frames by the time it was done! Currently, we are in the first stages of assembling a compact render farm to alleviate some of the computing pressures.

CGA: What do you find most rewarding about the work you do?

The most rewarding aspect of what we do is that we truly love our jobs. We work in an open and creative environment and most importantly, our clients appreciate what we do for them and they are great to work with as well.

CGA: Who has influenced your rendering style or techniques the most?

Our style has sort of developed on its own from day one. Techniques change weekly. Recently, we have been pursuing methods of rendering and treatments that help to 'soften' the look of our work. We find that architects specifically enjoy seeing computer-generated imagery that feels hand-drawn or at least appears organic in nature. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we also have pushed ourselves to explore the possibilities out there for photo-realistic rendering, lighting, and texturing. There is a growing appreciation for the appearance of reality in renderings and we feel this experience also aids in our broadcast and potential film work where realism is often crucial. I really can't name people or companies but there are a growing number of websites that showcase some pretty incredible work.

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CGA: Where do you see the future of architectural rendering, and how will new rendering technologies affect the future of Kitchen Sink Studios or the industry for that matter?

I see it getting better and better and I see better and better software being created at very reasonable prices. This will raise the bar on a general level so a company like ours will have to continue to adapt and grow as well. Technology moves too quickly to get comfortable in what you are doing. When your next door neighbors kid shows you animation he did at home and it rivals yours, it's too late to decide you better upgrade your software! As a whole I think it strengthens our industry. It might push us harder than we like sometimes but it also ensures the acceptance and demand for better, faster, and more innovative work. Eventually, the only differentiating factor between most companies will be the creativity and artistic talent. The software and hardware will make everything else child's play. As long as we stay on top of things and do our jobs, we will come out ahead.

CGA: What do you feel are the limitations of current rendering technology?

Horsepower. The software always seems to be ahead of the hardware. Every time we get a new machine we think nothing could choke it but we always do. Getting new hardware makes us bolder in the creation of our scenes so we produce better looking work but it still takes just as long if not longer!

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CGA: What tip(s) can you give our readers to improve their architectural renderings?

Lighting has always been something in my eyes that can give the biggest boost to the final product. If you don't know how to use light and shadow well it will always hurt you. Textures are also a big sign of an inexperienced animator or a rushed job. If it tiles its not good enough! Repetition must always be avoided. Plants, people, cars; should all be modified in some way if used repeatedly in an image. We have a tutorial section on our website with a few more in-depth discussions. We try to put more up as often as possible.

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CGA: What do you not like to see in computer generated architectural work?

Lack of good shadow and poorly masked landscape.

CGA: What is in the future for Kitchen Sink Studios?

Longevity hopefully! I love the idea of an additional studio somewhere in the world. We shall see!

CGA: What is your favorite link to visit on the web?

www.cgarchitect.com of course!

I visit most of the main software package website on a regular basis. Discreet, Adobe, etc. Some of the rendering sites are great too like highend3d, CG Channel and Illumenal. There are tons of sites like this but they are good for keeping you humble and inspired.

CGA: Which/What web based resources that you have found the most informative?

http://www.illumenal.com/
http://www.steinberg.net
http://www.3dcafe.com
http://www.trinity3d.com
http://www.deathfall.com
http://www.highend3d.com