Vitalii Tomak

1. Tell us about yourself. How and why you chose the Archviz

Hello, my name is Vitalii, and I'm from Kolomyia (Ukraine). My passion for architecture in general dates back to 2009, when I entered Lviv Polytechnic at the Department of Architecture. Before that, I studied for several years in college as a fashion designer.

During the training itself, I was not very fond of 3D visualizations, maybe then it was not as popular as today. At that time I practiced architectural layout more and made custom-made term papers for students.

Everything changed in 2015, when I enrolled in a master's degree at the Technical University of Vienna (Austria). I had to look for an alternative way to earn money. So I started moving towards the 3d visualization.

2. How was your training? How much time did you spend, took courses, or studied yourself?

3D Visualizations for my thesis like most students I did in Artlantis, where everything was much easier than in 3ds max. 3ds max frightened with its black interface and hundreds of icons, which then seemed unrealistic to study.

Once I learned that there are still people on our stream who rendered their diploma using the program 3ds max. One of them was a guy who lived in our dormitory upstairs. So I got acquainted with Taras Kvitka and the studio where he worked - Submarina. It was then that they recruited people for their first course in architectural 3D visualization, which I successfully enrolled in with two other classmates.

These courses gave me not only technical knowledge that simplified the perception of the whole program: basic 3D modeling, adjustment of light and materials (then still in V-ray), etc., but also an understanding of the aesthetic appeal of the picture, composition, artistic component and correct references from the best Archviz studies at that time. The training process did not last long, about two months, but at least another year I needed to practice and work on my portfolio to find my first job.

3. Studio or freelance?

At first, I worked in various architectural studios in Vienna, where I got via recommendations or acquaintances (hello Zhenya Kalinovich!). But of course, based on the formed portfolio in which already at that time there were many pictures of objects of various scale.

So I was lucky enough to work with BUS Architektur, Ortner und Ortner, Schuberth und Schuberth on competitive projects and projects under implementation. The format of cooperation in these offices was short-lived and then I started looking for local studios that deal exclusively with architectural 3D visualization, so I met Janusch. I didn't have to work as a freelancer so often, so my answer is Studio.

4. Tell us about your team. How many people in the team. What PCs are needed for quality work?

The Janusch team consists of three people - Wilhelm, Philippe, and me.

Wilhelm is a Photoshop guru and author of lessons, Philippe is a 3D master and the fastest cyclist I have ever known.

In my opinion, for comfortable work you need a PC that will cost at least $ 2,000. Although in the beginning, I worked on an old laptop for $ 400, which was enough for me to perform basic tasks, of course, it rendered for days :)

5. How do you find customers? And what customers value most when working with you.

It so happened that we never looked for customers and did not do advertising or mailing. Most of the architectural offices we work with are mostly colleagues or acquaintances. I believe that the Austrian market is somewhat closed due to this, e-mail and spam mostly do not work.

An effective way to find customers here is "sundress radio". Although I have seen several examples where Lviv studios have successfully collaborated with some of our regular customers. In my opinion, guarantees of timely work and instant feedback are important for clients, it is better to ask or call several times before starting work.

6. What projects do you like to do the most?

Competitions. As a rule, they take place in a very short time (5-7 days). In this situation, both the client and we are interested in a quick and high-quality result. Therefore, the client always gives clear and fast feedback, which simplifies our work on the project itself.

7. What interesting projects have been completed?

For 4 years we have collaborated with more than 70 architectural studios and designers, and for me, all the projects were interesting, hard to name specific. But from the world-famous architectural firms, I can single out the 3XN/Gerner&Gerner project "Donaumarina" and ICD Stuttgart - "Expo Pavilion 2020"

8. Where do you look for inspiration for your work?

Lately, it's movies, sometimes I making stills to save references for the future, most of them pay attention to color solutions. Also, the colors of the posters for the movie can serve as good examples, because sometimes dozens of people work on them and they are the face of multimillion-dollar projects.

Due to the excess of 3D content in the Instagram feed, I try to unsubscribe from most CG aggregators (aggregator - a service that collects content from various sources and publishes on its page) (certainly not from CG Award UA and not from CG Top, Yura, Hello!), in order not to catch the eye and subconsciously not to repeat the pictures of colleagues in the archviz services. Although there is a PufeRef file on the desktop with all the MIR robots I could find on the internet :)

9. Do you continue to improve your skills? Raise the level? In what way? Lessons, conferences

Yes, in my spare time I try to work on optimizing the workflow, creating presets or 3D libraries. I'm also working on libraries for the materials I use most often in standard projects, the Forest Pack and Rail clone plugins. I'm learning more Photoshop to integrate 2D into the workflow. Also attended D2 and 3D December conferences, but in my opinion, this is a more entertaining format where you just come to hang out with renderers :)

10. What is an Archviz studio in Ukraine? Pros and cons.

The advantage is the number of highly qualified specialists in our field who form a huge community throughout Ukraine, which allows sharing experiences and developing in parallel.

A clear advantage for me as an entrepreneur is the low taxes in Ukraine. Unlike Ukrainian taxes of 5%, in Austria, the tax rate can reach 55%, on the principle that the more you earn - the more you pay. This factor, as well as to a greater extent the Coronavirus, are the reasons why I returned to Ukraine and now live in Lviv. Cons have not yet been identified.

11. How do you spend your free time? Sports, tourism.

I spend my free time with my wife and cat when I have the opportunity to ride a road bike. We regularly hold a table football championship in the office. Tourism is not relevant at the moment, but as soon as the quarantine measures in Europe weaken, we will be happy to fly somewhere for the weekend.

12. What do you want in your work? What peaks, results.

I do not set myself the task of achieving any specific super results or peaks, I try to enjoy the work process every day and avoid stressful situations. Long-term goals are to scale the studio and collaborate with more talented architects.

13. Wishes, advice to readers

I want to wish readers great renderings and even better clients. Don't save money on tools for work and the workplace, because we spend most of our lives on them.

And the most relevant wish today - be healthy :)

Janusch studio website: https://www.janusch.co/

Vitalii portfolio: https://www.behance.net/vitalii_tomashchuk