Interview with Juan Carlos Ramos

1. JuanCarlos
Ramos
juancarlosramos.me
interview with
042014
Artist
Spotlight

2. One of my favorite hobbies from an early age is video games and
chess. Chess gave me values, taught me to respect others and learn
from them. Video games and good Architectural Visualization are
part of the same CGI family, so they have an amazing relationship
because when I work I feel like playing 8 or 12 hours successively
and combining it with music (chiptunes 8 bits), it is pretty cool!
Tell us a bit about yourself. What events
played a defining role in your life?
I am an architect originally from Michoacán, Mexico. Since childhood I wanted to be
an architect because I thought it had a direct relationship with my drawing ability but
when I started my Architecture education I found out it was not so; architecture is
very complicated and you can be a great designer without having any drawing ability.
So, in the years of study I had to find myself and redefine what I wanted to do in my
life, I even thought of leaving the university. Fortunately, I found the Vanguards in
Architecture where it was experimented with new materials and some broke radically
with historicism, all these concepts changed my artistic perception and encouraged me
to continue in architectural design.
Juan Carlos Ramos
ARTIST
SPOTLIGHT 042014
Interview with Juan Carlos Ramos

3. When did you first start taking interest in 3D
art? Did this interest evolve from drawing or
any other creative hobby of yours?
During my second year of studies I started working in an architectural design firm
and this move helped me combine theory with practice. Shortly after, I began to study
postmodern architecture. I was fascinated by how Frank Ghery developed his projects
from sketch and then transferred them to tridimensional models. This inspired me to
go into the world of CGI and helped me with many decisions during my professional
development.
How did you learn 3D? Did you take any special
courses? What is your work experience in this
area and how did it help you become a good
artist?
I have started learning 3D in the early 2000s; at that time in Mexico there was very
little information. In the Faculty of Architecture, I had an animation class and it was
quite useful to see the history of CGI animation; the photograms, the animation frame
by frame, the matte painting, etc.
My interest was in coming up with creative concepts and ideas and I think the best way
to represent ideas in architecture is to sketch. Then you can turn these sketches into
tridimensional models and concept images. Combining Internet research with work
was also a key part of my learning process.
Juan Carlos Ramos
ARTIST
SPOTLIGHT 042014

4. Juan Carlos Ramos
ARTIST
SPOTLIGHT 042014

5. You are also very active in the Mexican
CG arena. You participate as a judge in
competitions and organize webinars and
trainings. Is Mexico a country with high
potential in the 3D field? How are young
artists educated and trained in Mexico?
I firmly believe that Mexico and Latin America have great potential in the 3D field. We
are people with great artistic capacity, innate in many cases. I think that the social
problems in Latin America mark our lives from birth. If we manage to transform this
fact into something positive it can charge us with artistic inspiration and give us an
irresistible thirst to succeed compared to people from developed markets who have a
very different view about labor and daily life.
Unfortunately there are still very few ways to learn 3D in Mexico. But there are several
artists including me that are contributing to a better development of CGI in Mexico and
Latin America.
Juan Carlos Ramos
ARTIST
SPOTLIGHT 042014

6. Your projects create a bridge between
reality and abstract art. Where do you draw
inspiration from?
My biggest inspiration is Mexican tradition, the villages of the Plateau Purépecha
of Michoacán, Pátzcuaro and its aromas of freshly baked bread, the home-made
chocolate, the forest and its neighboring village Tzintzuntan with ceremonial pyramids
facing Lake Janitzio. The people, their music, food and crafts of clay, wood and quarry.
The purple Pátzcuaro sunset reflected in Lake Janitzio is something unique in the
world and will always be in my heart like an engine that inspires me to keep going.
There are also the great Mexican artists such as Frida Khalo, Diego Rivera and Rufino
Tamayo; although they were opposing ideological currents, they enriched Mexican
culture with concepts, colors and textures.
Juan Carlos Ramos
ARTIST
SPOTLIGHT 042014

7. What is your advice for anyone starting a
career in CG?
Study and investigate on your own, CGI constantly develops and there are still not
enough specialized schools out there! Even professionals must learn theory and
experiment at the same time, follow their inspiration and be able to decide how
far they can contribute artistically to the concept of the customer and make good
decisions in the final visualization.
Are you working on any new projects
currently? Any interesting plans worth
sharing?
I have many projects on the way; I’m about to start a webinar in Spanish based on
the workflow process of 3D and Matte Painting in my project the Pyramid House. In
this way, I will promote the development of CGI in Spanish-speaking countries. I’m
also in talks to collaborate with one of the most important companies in the field of
Architectural Visualization.
Juan Carlos Ramos
ARTIST
SPOTLIGHT 042014

8. Juan Carlos Ramos
ARTIST
SPOTLIGHT 042014

9. Can you briefly describe your workflow?
What software tools do you use and why?
I use mainly 3ds Max, V-Ray, Itoo Forest, Photoshop and After Effects. Over time
I have developed a workflow based on taking every effort for 3D and add the
greatest possible amount of matte painting to the final composition. This process
was developed as a necessity because my old computer had very low hardware
parameters, but now when I have resolved the hardware part, I extended my workflow
to the magical realistic painting details, lights and shades that enhance the quality of
the image.
Juan Carlos Ramos
ARTIST
SPOTLIGHT 042014

10. Your pyramid house became widely known in
the architectural community and was one of
the hottest arch viz projects last year. How
did you come up with this idea?
The project is inspired by the landscapes of Lake Zirahuen and Lake Los Azufres in
my native Michoacán, Mexico. It is a forested area with very wet and rainy weather, so
my first thought was to make a cottage and then I found out that there were formal
precedents for a pyramidal housing.
So I tried to redefine the use of a stunning geometric form so little used in
contemporary architecture. The approach was not easy, so I tried to base the project
on the logic of a contemporary home in which you can even work and be creative.
The pyramid house was created with the intention of improving the experience of
living in a house as a reflection of the human being through the beauty of architecture.
I think that creating comfortable and beautiful spaces with natural illumination where
the user can improve their quality of life is a great approach.
Juan Carlos Ramos
ARTIST
SPOTLIGHT 042014

11. Can you share more about the El Memorial
project – a project dedicated to the victims of
violence in Mexico?
It was a project I worked on in the office of architect Fernando Romero in Mexico
City in 2012. We made it for an architectural competition and were awarded with
an honorable recognition. I tried to offer a very expressive, emotional image, full of
mysticism and spirituality that represents each of the families affected by the violence
in Mexico.
The modeling process, ambience and materials were something very standard. The
work was done in three days, something very typical for an architectural competition
where you work under high pressure, so I dedicated more time to the postproduction
part painting the image resulting with a lot of personal emotion for the competition.
For such large scale scenes with so much
environment to be seen, how did V-Ray Sun &
Sky help you?
I use V-Ray Sun & V-Ray Sky usually in animation shots for atmosphere, it’s very
easy to configure it and within minutes have the necessary lighting - for example for
atmospheric shots where you do not need special reflection, just the gamma of colors
offered by this combination.
Juan Carlos Ramos
ARTIST
SPOTLIGHT 042014

12. Juan Carlos Ramos
ARTIST
SPOTLIGHT 042014

13. Adding a certain look and feel is always a
challenge. In what way did V-Ray’s DomeLight
help you achieve that? Can you share with us
a bit about your workflow when using V-Ray
DomeLight?
I like experimenting with V-Ray Sun + V-Ray Sky, V-Ray Sun + V-Ray DomeLight and
V-Ray Sun + IBL. Although I have no preferences, I use V-Ray DomeLight when I have
a good HDRI that would bathe the scene with illuminating colors and nice reflections.
In addition, I usually work with Photoshop for background images and combine
them using V-Ray Map with V- Ray Sky connected to V-Ray Sun, then add this result
to V-Ray DomeLight in order to regulate the amount of light. I like this technique
because it allows me to place reflections and refractions where I need them.
Working with so many trees and grass it must
be a relief having V-Ray Proxies. How much did
using proxies affect your overall work and
approach to the scenes?
The use of proxies has significantly improved the outcome of the work for
Architectural Visualization. I am very adept at scenes with lots of vegetation. Before I
had to work with opacities but they were a big problem to recreate in a natural scene
and all this complicated the final result. Now the big problem has become a daily job
being able to generate huge natural scenes in just a few minutes!
Juan Carlos Ramos
ARTIST
SPOTLIGHT 042014

14. Compositing is part of the 3D content
creation and V-Ray’s render elements are
widely regarded as one of the most flexible.
What is your typical workflow when using
render elements and how much do they
affect your final image?
I always use the Render Elements without exception. I think they have become an
essential part of the workflow for every 3D artist today. Based on my experience,
I have changed my workflow to be able to devote more time to the postproduction
(Compositing) because I think the introduction of Render Elements has created
a way to be more dynamic and responsive to the daily needs of the Architectural
Visualization job.
Juan Carlos Ramos
ARTIST
SPOTLIGHT 042014

15. Can you share some rendering tips with our
community?
My biggest advice is not to forget the great predecessors of CGI. In my case, I admire
the work of Helmut Jacoby who was doing architecture illustration in the 70’s,
visualization with pencil, charcoal or ink but with great handling of composition and
architectural surrounding. His images are full of vegetation, human scales and details
that enrich the entire work.
In photography I admire the work of Julius Schulman, especially his work in black and
white that represents in an exceptional way the lighting in architecture.
So we should not forget, we have amazing tools but we shall not limit ourselves within
only the learning and usage of software, there is a long way to go beyond that.
The biggest challenge we have at the end of the day is to represent an ethereal world
in a two-dimensional image, adding a tridimensional depth as large as our feelings
and with limitations as extensive as our imagination.
Juan Carlos Ramos
ARTIST
SPOTLIGHT 042014

16. JuanCarlosRamos
042014
Artist
Spotlight
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