PHOTOGRAPHY VERSUS RENDERING
Generally “Rendeorari” (meaning those professionals who produce photorealistic images using very complex software sometimes with indecipherable names) are seen and considered as the worst enemies of industrial photography. This because “photo-rendering” is now beginning to eat into important shares of the world market which were always considered the exclusive hunting grounds of photographers: interior catalogues. Given the current economic climate where finding a new customer/job is always more difficult, we understand why some professional photographers see 3D graphics as undesired intruders.
In reality this closed-minded attitude leads to nothing positive, and lost opportunities for new growth. In this scenario we must emphasise that Luca Tassotto and Massimo Puzzolo, the owners of the Agenzia LemonStudio of Udine, Italy, have instead undertaken a road heading in the diametrically opposed direction. Last year, on the occasion of a meeting between companies (Matching Day 2011) organised by the Udine Confederation of Artisans, a 3D graphics company (Segnoprogetto s.r.l.) proposed a form of collaboration between the world of 3D and that of real photography. The “mission” was to develop an image that contained both photographic elements and photo-rendering. The occasion was offered by the Udine 3D Forum (a day of meetings/discussions concerning the world of 3D) of last November. One of the speeches regarded “Photography versus photo-rendering” where the provocation was to compare the two schools of thought and emphasise complementary aspects with variegated potential for new creations.
Starting with a product to photograph without any environment (a kitchen in this case) the idea was to obtain an image used in a catalogue environment by mixing the two techniques. The final image had to maintain the “flavour” of a photographic shot with a “location” that was completely constructed using 3D technology.
All this to demonstrate that without moving the product from the company and without physically reproducing a photographic set, it was still possible to obtain an emotionally-strong image. Leaving aside the technical description of how the project was achieved, we might affirm that the final result was at a very high level. At such a point as to also obtain the positive evaluation of the company that had enthusiastically accepted this first experiment by making available one of its models and deciding, once having seen the final image, to proceed along this road with other projects.
With this we wish to repeat that, as long as new capabilities are added and the courage to put oneself into play exists, the right strategy is being pursued with an increasingly better quality offered to serve companies.
