Chaos Group

Kamil Pohl - Lighting & Rendering Artist at Platige Image

What  attracts  you  to  CG  and  why?  Does it  happen  accidentally  or  it  was  a  matter  of conscious choice?

This started about 10 years ago. At  that time I was interested mainly  in Photoshop and  in  printing  photos,  sometimes I  was making  something in  the  field  of  vector graphics. This  continued until  once I  saw a  strange program  on  the  display  of  an acquaintance of  mine.  There were no  colours, no  palette of  colours or  layers in  it. Only  lines  crossing,  mysterious  windows  with  sliders  and  options...  Everything looked very exotic. I was looking  at the third version of  3d studio max. Of  course, I did not  start immediately  working  with  this kind  of  graphics. This passion has been becoming imminent for me for several  years,  spent  in efforts to solve this program. At that  time  Internet was not  very popular in  Poland. In  the 90s the Internet cafes were rare. Because  of  lack of  access  to  any materials, I had to  cope with  complex  options and functions'  names by myself.  I  can still  remember how-many  sleepless  nights  I spent  with  dictionary  in my hand and the first  successes  in the decoding of Scanline. I recall  those nights  with  special excitement.  They gave me  a  great satisfaction  and persuaded  me that you can always  find a solution of a particular problem.

Could  you  tell  us a little  more  about your  company?

Platige  Image  is  not  a  "company"  in  the  full  sense of  the  word.  When  you  find yourself  among people with  similar  interests, then you do not  have the feeling  you work from  a sense  of  duty. We have created an atmosphere of  freedom and friendly team-work.  We try  not to  base our contacts on  rivalry.  You  can always rely on  the others. And that gives very good results.

Is  there  anything  what  makes  a  difference  between  Platige  Image  and  other companies from  this  industry?

I  do  not  know  what  it  is  like  in  the  other companies. Everyone keeps his  secrets
eagerly. Unfortunately,  in the companies for which  I used  to  work  before, dominated an atmosphere of  competition  and rivalry  for bonuses.  This did not give good results, and it  was an obstacle to make teams because  everyone  worked for  himself.  That is why I quickly  left them.

Can  you tell  us about  some of  the major  projects  you have worked  on? Which  of them has been  the  biggest challenge to you? Why?

My most major projects? Undoubtedly this  is “The Witcher".  For me this was the first so huge and so important  project. Then especially I learned to work  on a complicated image, much  more complicated than my  past advertisements or  visualizations.  The project  in succession  then was an advertisement for the Portuguese  ,,Vodafone".  This was not so  big and time-consuming project, but the creation of  a 30-second  movie for about  10 days was a quite  big  challenge for me. The greatest enemy is  time.  The animation  which  must  be  repaired  a  few  seconds before  the lighting  and  the recalculation  of  frames, the corrections for  the  client.  I think  that  everyone who  has worked  for  clients  understands  what  I  mean.

After  that  I  worked  on  the  campaign “Allegro  Winter”. This ad had to  be simple: the camera  had to fly over the house of Santa  Claus -  somewhere  in the deep and snowy North.  We had to achieve fairy-tale and  at  the  same time  slightly  realistic  atmosphere. I  wanted to  achieve a  contrast between the  land  of  cold  and  snow out  and warmth  inside the  house. I  lighted  up everything with  delicate dot lights by lighting  up the separate  elements.  This gave me a great pleasure. I  experimented with  cold  colours, which  I  broke with  the  "warm" light  from  the inside of  the house. The entire ad was additionally  coloured by Rafal Wojtunik  but  I  think  that  then at  the  rendering phase we  managed to  achieve the necessary  effect. The advertisement was accepted  warmly  by the client,  as  well  as  by the viewers.

The next project  was the ad for Duracell. At  the moment we finished  with  the third campaign  of these  series.  In the first  ad I did the rendering of F1 cars.  This was an easy and pleasant  job. The scenography  was made in 3D, the lighting  was not complicated - we only had to put stress on the cars' movement, the brilliance of the polish and the reflections in the surroundings.

In  the second campaign the job  was more different.  The main  characters  of  the spot were  racing  on  a  difficult  way  in  the  park.  The  film  was shot in  a  film  booth  in Warsaw and the background of the entire scenography  was filmed  in Lisbon. Here the cars,  as  well  as some  elements  of the atmosphere  were made in 3D. In order to be able to light  up the cars and to  achieve authentic reflections  on the polish  coating or the  windows,  I  filmed  the  whole  set, worked  out an HDRI  map  and  used it  as a
lighting  and reflecting  element in  the  cars'  polish  coating.  This  led to  surprisingly good results. Some V-Ray lights were added  to this as  it  is structurally  connected  with film material and we obtained a very high evaluation from the client. This, of course, is only  an insignificant  part  of  my work  in the commercial productions. Multiple  ads of  mobile  phones,  promotional  movies  for  the  Expo 2010  exhibition,  Tesco advertising campaigns... there is a lot to tell  about all this.

From  commercials,  to  animation  movies  and  games: Is  there  a field  where  you are more specialized in?

The ads as well as the  making of  movies  have a lot  in common.  With  the advertisements  sometimes the requirements of  the client can be hardly  fulfilled.  The people which are not in our field  of business  often have  a wrong idea about how work and efforts the creation of a good advertisement  requires. The sudden  changes  and the quick  corrections are big challenge for  those who  realize it. With  respect to  games the client  usually  gets to know  what  can be made for  a particular  time  and what the end product should look like. A lot of things here depend  on the pre-preparatory stage, during  which  are discussed all  possible aspects of  the artist's  work:  storyboard and animations, conceptions about the surroundings and the characters  are created.  When I  start my work,  I  already know  what and how  I  should realize, and I  approximately know  what  the  final  frame  will  look  like.  With  the  advertisements this  cannot be always achieved and sometimes unfortunately the conceptions,  the animations and the ideas about the ad go through changes  then in the course  of  work.  If  I have to choose with a view to what is the easiest  for  me to  make, then I would choose  the cartoons and the  shorts. In  this  type of  productions  I have my own  little  contribution  to  the work  that should be created, I  can give  rein  to my  imagination,  I  can suggest  some interesting solutions...  in one word I enjoy it  :)

The animation  "What  a channel"  seems  to  be very  amusing. Did  you  enjoy while working  on  it  or  you  just  concentrate  over  the  technical  realization  of  the project?

The idea about such a movie  brightened me.  A  small  family  disguised as rabbits? They always have problems with the scenarios,  the scenography,  the TV  and on top of that they must advertise  a TV  platform? The idea itself about such a cartoon should be making us smile. In the realization of the separate  series  I was doing the scenography. I  am a photographer, I  am good at studio lighting,  that is why  I took  up the lighting and the filming  of the models on which the already mentioned family  was moving on.
In  our  studio  by using  MILO  we  recorded a sequence of the camera's motion.  We were processing the  finished  material  and after  that we were additionally  rendering the movable elements  such as  doors, cupboards  or sofas.  It was a very pleasant  work.

What  kind  of  3D  software  you  are  using  commonly?  And  what  kinds  of renderers?

Every possible :) I usually use  3ds max. The program is very efficient,  everyone  in the company uses it  in  its  work,  and therefore  I  cannot  suddenly replace the  soft  for instance with  another one - Softimage XSI  or Maya. But this does not mean that we do  not  use  any  other  software.  The  designers in  principle  use Autodesk  Maya, rendering and lightning - most often on 3ds max, XSI,  Maya, and sometimes  Houdini. Everything  depends  on the  effect we want to  achieve. When  I  need a beautiful,  pleasant for  the  eye picture  with  mild  shades  and  vivid contrasts, I  use V-Ray.  When  I  want  to  count  the  metals, the  window-glasses,  Sub Surface  Scattering (SSS), then  I  use Mental  Ray,  and  when  I  recalculate  quick conceptions or masks  -  then I use Scanline.  A  perfect engine does  not exist, but when you have them all, then you can force out of them really a lot.

Can you  make a short  comparison  between V-Ray  and  other  renderers  based on your  own  working  experience?  When  is  it  most  appropriate  to  use V-Ray?  In which  cases?

Undoubtedly V-Ray is a very fast renderer  with  regards  to recalculation of materials, GI or  Motion  Blur.  In  combination  with  the  possibility  of  making  very  good looking shaders we  can  achieve a  really  powerful  tool.  But  I  do  not  like  comparing  the rendering engines.  I  always repeat that each of  them was made for  other things more different,  and maybe with  the help of  each of  them can be created something really excellent. But if  I really  have  to compare V-Ray to other engines,  then I would  compare it to  Mental  Ray. Of  course, both engines  work  on 3ds max.  With  regards to Mental Ray, a disadvantage  is the quite long process  of the rendering itself.  The recalculation on final gathering unfortunately is longer compared to the recalculation for  instance on Irradiance Map. V-Ray has as  well  many other methods for calculation of the Global Illumination,  which  cannot be told  for Mental Ray. In my opinion the thing that needs to be improved in V-Ray  is maybe the not especially persuasive materials. Especially the metals, made with  Mental  Ray, are more  realistic  compared to  the  V-Ray  metals.  The  consecutive  -  Fast Skin  SSS in Mental  Ray -  this  is  something I  miss  very  much  in  V-Ray.  The  realistic,  quickly, recalculating  skin is a big  challenge for  V-Ray. But after all we managed to achieve quite a good effect without using Mental Ray. :)

What  improvements  would  you like  to see  in V-Ray?

I  am  looking  forward  to version of V-Ray RT with  the  possibility  to  viewing  the  real  time rendering. This will  extremely make the placement  of  lights easier.  The quick viewing will  be undoubtedly a considerable step  forward.

What  would  be your  advice  to  the  young  rendering  and  lighting  artists?  What should they know?

I  always  encourage people  to  get  to  know  photography.  This  art  gives  fantastic possibilities.  A  one day work  in a photo studio; a one day observation of  the world through  the  lens gives  exceptional knowledge,  which  later  can be  used during  the
rendering  and  lighting.  In  the  photo  studio  is  not  necessary to  wait  for  the  GI recalculation, the Omni01  power or the width  of fall of  Spot05  are  not necessary  to be checked. You just  look,  move, close and open....  It is an indescribable pleasure  to be able to see  in  live how  the light  in the picture  acts,  how  the colours are formed, how by  only  one  click  you  can make  an  amazing effect.  My  advice  is:  take pictures, observe  the world.  Look  how the light  diffracts, how it reflects from  the surface, how it colours the surroundings. The more we observe,  the easier  will  be our response  after that to the challenges.

We thank Kamil Pohl for this interview and we wish the whole Platige Image team good luck in the future!