These past few months were pretty intense. I decided to add a blog to the site and I thought that a first post with a quick summary of what happened would be ideal.
Let’s start with the beginning: my name is Bogdan, I’m a 3D artist based in Romania, an endless dreamer and a stubborn innovator. My journey into the art of photo realism started way back in 2006. I soon started to get frustrated with not getting good enough results with my images which affected me a lot. So I searched and searched in order to understand things beyond a simple tutorial or course; I wanted to know how light and other elements worked and what I needed to get that amazing photo-like image.
I’ve worked some years and improved along the way but I was still not getting the results I wanted. Around 2014, the idea of talking to great artists in the field started to take shape – I was sure this way my questions about great images will be answered.
Soon after the idea of the book took shape in my mind, along with the title and the questions, everything started to fall into place and my struggle became even harder.
Some years had passed and I kept on pushing forward and kept on believing that this book could be a landmark. At the beginning of 2019, I saw a video on YouTube by Fabio Palvelli and I soon realized that he might be driven by the same passion as I am. Since I had nothing to lose, Alexandra (my fiancée) encouraged me to write him about the book. There I was, writing this email, hoping that maybe this time the result will be different. One or two days had passed before I got a reply. Great Talks about Photo Realism was no longer just an idea in my head, but a story that had to be written.
How It All Started
In the following months, I had great talks via email with the artists and they seemed very excited about the project. At that point, it was still not very clear to me where I was going with this, but I was driven and focused on my next task as a laser beam; the next natural step to take was to assemble everything.
In June 2019, we printed the first draft. We presented Fabio with a copy of the book and he was amazed by the work we had done and by its quality print so he assured me that it would be a success. Personally, I was a bit reserved because I was focused on the next step which was to prepare the book for the final print so we could finally start our presale campaign.
July 1, the first day of presales made all those years of dreaming and some months of hard work worthwhile; I remember we had over 60 copies sold in that very day. I continue to be amazed by the impressive feedback from the community; I’m excited like a kid when I realize that all those years of “failure” were actually the seed of what’s happening today and I couldn’t be happier.
After July 1, the entire project started to gain momentum: making sure that everything runs smoothly is now on my day-to-day agenda. I work with passionate people who share my vision and can help me and this project grow and evolve.
For me, the last couple of months were like a GTAPR test, which we successfully passed. We managed to achieve some of our goals so far and, most importantly, “I” or “Fabio and I” became “we” and “the Gtapr team”. It was and it is an amazing ride for which I am thankful to you – the artists, the studios, the curious ones, the dreamers – who interacted with us and became part of the GTAPR family.
What’s next?
I guess you will need to stay close and find out. What’s for sure is that we are preparing more surprises for you and we wish to participate at as many events in the field as possible. The Archviz community is really one of the best there is so thank you!
More About the Book
We Are Excited to Announce the Launch of Great Talks about Photo Realism
The book is the very first such project uniting world-renowned artists in the 3D community.
Early bird sales are now available on the book website until end of July. The pre-sale offers include seven 3D scenes for free, as well as a numbered and customized copy with the author’s inscription. Get your copy today!
Great Talks about Photo Realism by Bogdan Sasu is a book that promises to unveil the stories of some of the best international visualization artists in the industry. If you’ve ever wondered about the secrets behind creating photo-realistic images, you now have a chance to peek inside the great minds who have already captured the attention in the field.
Bogdan Sasu is an artist, 3D generalist and author living in Romania who has more than two decades experience in the creative arts. His interests range from drawing to chip carving, from paintings to mosaics and stained glass. In 2006, he started exploring the possibilities of replicating the reality inside a computer, so he found the challenges he needed in the realm of 3D.
Year after year, he would strive to improve his skills and expand his knowledge in the field, so, naturally, he wanted to learn from the best artists in the industry. One of the aims was to find the secret behind creating photo-realistic images.
This was the spark that ignited the conversations that followed with artists all over the world. And this was what marked the beginning of a most exhilarating and fortunate adventure into book publishing.
Essentially, Great Talks about Photo Realism is more than a book. It is a community of dedicated artists who can bend reality with their craft. It is about coming together so they can realize their full potential as artists and see where creativity can take them.
It’s a vibrant visual experience which exhibits some of the most famous and award-winning 3D artworks as much as it is an invitation inside the lives of these people (so, it’s scenes and behind-the-scenes, if you will).
Make sure you visit the book’s website to see for yourself.
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Artists from our book such as … use Corona for versatility and amazing results in seconds. The engine is built to encourage creativity by allowing you to put aside the settings; with the default values it works in over 98% of the scenes. This gives the artist the freedom to focus more on light, color balance and composition without worrying about the render stage.
Using Corona is similar to organic architecture, if you like – everything is there and feels natural and intuitive. Moreover, you can also find an important tool for post processing: the Corona editor which is extremely easy to use.
Oftentimes, Corona faces some adversity because the user wouldn’t try something new, but once you manage to press render without any additional time spent on settings and see that it really works suddenly, the balance starts to tip in favor of this simple render engine.
The continuous growth, the many beautiful renders from users across the globe and also from our contributing artists stand as a testament of a mature and innovative render software. The uniqueness of Corona lays in complex simplicity that enriches creativity for every artist and studio that uses it. There is no doubt that Corona has heavily influenced and continues to influence the work of some of the best artists in this wonderful industry.
