Interview with Nils Norgren of Neoscape

Interview with Nils Norgren of Neoscape

Neoscape is the premiere provider of 3D modeling, rendering, and animation services for the real estate and architectural industries. Founded in 1995, Neoscape employs 16 full-time artists with diverse backgrounds in architecture, animation, computer technology, graphic design, music, and A/V production.


CGA: Could you introduce yourself?
My name is Nils Norgren, 30 yr. old, married, 2 kids (20 months old and 7 months old).

CGA: Tell us about your background and how you originally became involved with computer graphics and the architectural industry?

I started using computers when my father went against my mother's wishes and bought the first Mac to hit the market (with 512 k of ram). I remember using MacPaint on it for hours. In high school I was heavily into both visual art and stagecraft. It was a natural progression that in college I ended up in the architecture department. I took my first formZ class there and have been hooked ever since. After college I worked at an engineering firm (Parsons Brinkerhoff) in the advanced visualization group in Denver.

	Robert Morrissey 1 Lincoln Tower Shot Click to enlarge	Robert Morrissey 1 Lincoln Lobby Shot Click to enlarge	Evan Buxton 33 Arch Night View Click to enlarge

CGA: Can you tell us how Neoscape was started?

I first got my job at Parsons Brinkerhoff through Rob and Rod MacLeod. When I started at PB they had worked there for a few years. After some time we just discussed leaving, and things snowballed from there. We left Denver (Rob was already in NYC) and moved to Boston, Rob and Rod were from here and I was from Connecticut. We decided to go out on our own doing what we had done for PB and perhaps get into more architecture.

CGA: What is the primary focus Neoscape?

The primary focus of Neoscape is architectural visualization; it accounts for about 70% of our work. We also do broadcast animation and interactive work.

CGA: What sets Neoscape apart from the rest; and how are you pushing the envelope?

Neoscape is unique in many ways, but the thing that comes to mind first is the atmosphere, we try to keep the studio fun, a place that is innovative, open to new ideas, clients like to come to our shop for working sessions. The crew is all great people with unique personalities and views. We stress teamwork and the attitude that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

	Jeremy Siew Environmental Science Atrium, Princeton U. Click to enlarge	Rod MacLeod, Bob Quinn Battery Wharf Night View Click to enlarge	MacLeod, Bob Quinn Battery Wharf Pier End Click to enlarge

CGA: Neoscape has won quite a few awards; can you tell us a little bit about them?

Our first award was a New Media Invision award from New Media Magazine in 95' for an interactive project we started at our previous employer. We won two more of the same for other interactive projects, (one about recycling and one about solar cars). We were chosen for the cover of AEC magazine in 99', Last year we won two Caddie awards (Lon Grohs won best of show), recently we found out that some covers we worked on for Houghton Mifflin won a local publication award of excellence. Just recently we discovered that we have been chosen to be included in the Architecture in Perspective 16 show and book.

CGA: Can you tell us a little about the team at Neoscape and how projects are split amongst everyone?

About half of the artist have a background in architecture, the others have art related backgrounds, many are also musicians. Most artists take a "whole-project" approach to each project, the work is somewhat dictated by talent but everyone understands all parts of the process. That being said there are members of the group who specialize in specific tasks (finishing or animating as examples). We consider the team the reason that Neoscape is where it is and our strength as we move into the future. The fact that we have a dozen expert 3d artists in the same room makes is so that we can solve just about any problem quickly.

CGA: What type of time frames are you typically given to complete a project?

It is all over the board, now that we have many projects that have multiple parts (stills, animation, interactive, video) every schedule is unique. One general rule that we try to stick to is that we keep the modeling to no more than 50% of the schedule, this leaves us enough time to do the polish, tweaking, editing etc. that is necessary.

	Bob Quinn, Robert Morrissey, Evan Buxton Whitewater Venue, NYC 2012 Click to enlarge	Jeremy Siew Sycamore Networks Admin Desk Click to enlarge	Lon Grohs, Robert Morrissey, Mike Vanderhoff, Jeremy Siew Interior Shot, AOL Time Warner Click to enlarge

CGA: Can you give a brief "day in the life" of a Neoscape team member?

Work, Work, Work, (just kidding) Much of what happens at Neoscape is the same on a day to day basis, there are many projects going on at the same time. The people working on a long-term project are focusing on a piece of their puzzle for that day; others of us that are helping out on multiple projects are jumping around from piece to piece. We do have things that we try to have happen regularly like a weekly staff meeting, pizza on Wednesday for and breakfast on Friday, these are things people look forward to and times they can discuss things with the group.

CGA: Neoscape has produced some very impressive works, what contributes the most to the overall realistic look of your images?

What! And give away our secret sauce! Just kidding again, I think that the quality can be attributed mainly to the talented staff. We also try to empower people; the more we have a role in directing the work the better the end product is. This does not mean that the "customer is always wrong" but what we sell is not just our talent on creating art for a project but the expertise in what might be the best solution for the project. We have a realistic view of what we can get done in the time frame with the budget. We try to leave enough time to achieve the goals of a project.

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

I always say that the culture of Neoscape is one of the main strengths. We all work together, towards a common goal. We have not ever been wedded to a specific process, platform, or program. We try to have a wide point of view. We look at a whole project and try to work with the client to distill the main reason for doing a rendering, animation etc. We then try to help them craft the deliverable so that it fits within their message and best suits their issue. If someone is building a new office building and they need to try to lease out space before the building is started then it is one message, if the client is trying to generate interest in a project among neighbors or the public then it may be a different message. Each project is unique and we try to focus our efforts to solve the problem.

CGA: What is your favorite part of the rendering/animation process?

Lately I have been expending effort in the rendering and animating part of the process. I also like modeling challenges, things like organic shapes of furniture. The place where I think I provide the most benefit to Neoscape is in pre-production, planning what a project should be when it is finished.

	Project Manager: Evan Buxton Interactive tool for project management for Equity Interactive Click to enlarge	Project Manager: Robert Morrissey Interactive Virtual Tour for Gillis Homes Click to enlarge	Project Manager: Evan Buxton Web site for 33 Arch Click to enlarge

CGA: Which individual(s) have/has influenced your renderings the most?

Any and all hand renderers. When we started Neoscape in 95' we came from a background where we would model, render and that was that, we did very little post-production on images. Now we look to fine art and classically trained perspectivists to try to make the images be the best they can be. We look to traditional media in all the things we do on the computer. With this philosophy we are inspired by anything and everything, from movies to cartoons to fine art.

CGA: What software do you currently use and have you used in the past for computer renderings/animations and why have you chosen those particular applications?

We started as a Mac only shop, we used PhotoShop, aftereffects, formZ and electric image. We bought our first PCs when lightscape became available on that platform. I had used it on an SGI years before and thought it would always be outside my reach but when it came out for PCs we had to get one just to run it. Also in our previous environment we used 3d-studio release 3 and 4 (before max). When we got some PCs in the office we started using Max. I have used Softimage and Maya a fair bit but now our main 3d package is 3ds Max and Viz. Many of us still model in FormZ (on the Mac). We use what ever will get the job done for that project.

CGA: What projects are you most proud of and why?

I am proud of all of our projects, for me the most rewarding project of the last year would have to be the New England Aquarium east wing expansion.

CGA: Can you tell us little bit about one of the projects and walk us through the process from start to finish?

A small project that I did about a year ago was for a Temple in Lexington (outside Boston) the Architect was changing materials in the main sanctuary, adding a bay to the building and building a smaller chapel off the main space. We had the challenge of there being an existing space we were re-building in the computer. The model was straightforward to build; the views were also fairly straightforward. We produced two interiors and one exterior. We have to represent the materials faithfully but still keep the images looking as good as possible.

	Nils Norgren, Bob Quinn Gulf Of Maine, New England Aquarium Click to enlarge	Nils Norgren, Bob Quinn Temple Chapel, Temple Isaiah Click to enlarge	Nils Norgren, Bob Quinn Temple Sanctuary, Temple Isaiah Click to enlarge

CGA: What were the most rewarding and most difficult parts of the project?

The most rewarding part is always when we finish. This project had a few challenges; we were view-matching a night photo for the exterior. The representation of the materials inside under the new lighting conditions was a bit of a battle. Again one of the main concerns is whether to make an image that looks really good or to make one that is very accurate. We try to do both.

CGA: What do you see as some of the challenges facing the architectural CG industry as a whole?

There will always be a battle with architects that claim that they do everything we do in-house. What is not taken into account in this argument is the experience and capabilities of Neoscape. In-house CG renderers will always be over-burdened, under appreciated and alone in their effort. When we are hired to produce graphics one of the things that our clients are paying for is the security that they will get a quality product. We have the resources to get things done that no in-house renderer can do. The one side effect of this battle is that the industry has high expectations.

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

I think that as better renderers become available, (Final Render, Vray, Brazil, Arnold, GI in Lightwave) people will become more able to get high quality images. The one side effect of these tools is that they are all deep and time-consuming to master. One of Max's biggest shortcomings is that the scanline renderer. I think that all of these changes in the rendering industry are a good thing, I am just curious to see how it all shakes out.

	Nils Norgren Neo-Bot 2001, Star of Neoscape Broadcast Reel Click to enlarge	Josh Presseisen, Nils Norgren Graphic for Discovery Channel's Adventure Race Click to enlarge	Nils Norgren, Bob Quinn Animation for Houghton Mifflin's Reading Books Click to enlarge

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

I am not technically versed in how different rendering architectures work per-se, as a layperson I have found that Max's renderer is weak in many circumstances. Some people are able to get it to look good, but it can be a challenge. Maya's built in renderer is better but slow. I have used Mental Ray in Softimage 3.8 and liked it but felt that the costs were prohibitive. I think that many things will be changing in the rendering industry over the next few years.

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

Copy! Pay attention to entourage. Trying to get entourage right in a rendering can be the biggest challenges. Often it is left to the last minute, which doesn't help the situation. Entourage is like a referee, when he is doing his job no one notices. That is what entourage should be like, this is one area that the hand renderers have miles of advantage over someone working on the computer. My advice is to copy the hand renders and look for cues in reality.

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

Again I am going to go back to entourage. Things like cross trees, obvious cutout people that don't fit in (lighting from an outside shot used in an interior). Another thing that I could write a whole article about, just because the "camera" in the computer is able to do anything doesn't mean it should. I have been approached by many architects requesting that we have a pedestrian's view of a whole project. This is almost always a bad idea, There are to many reasons to list here but as a rule of thumb, look at movies, see how they are shot, match those camera moves. Sorry for the rant.

CGA: What is in the future for Neoscape?

We have a few exciting new directions, some of which is outside architectural visualization. We have done large interactive projects (outside architecture) as well as some broadcast graphics and commercial animation. We recently completed some graphics for the discovery channel's adventure race.

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

http://www.cgarchitect.com/ of course!
http://www.google.com/ - I start here for just about everything

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

http://forums.delphiforums.com/VRay/start/
http://forums.delphiforums.com/blurbeta/start
http://max3d.3dluvr.com/main.html
http://www.cgchannel.com/
http://maccentral.macworld.com/ - For all things Mac
http://www.neilblevins.com/ - A great 3ds Max Resource
http://www.jackals-forge.com/abom.html - For a good laugh