Take a tour of England’s Blenheim Palace with our new Featured Model! TurboSquid Artist 3DMarko is known for bringing an architect’s eye to his 3D models, so we weren’t surprised when he told us that he had, in fact, started his career as an architect. In this Featured Artist interview, we were able to discuss 3DMarko’s art, how he changed gears in his career through the power of 3D, and why he says he could find joy even in the “ugliest city in the world.”
How did you get your start as a 3D modeler?
My profession is architecture, which is both science and art. While I was studying that, I started to play with 3D. It really came in handy, since I was very clumsy with cutting and gluing together the pieces for architectural models.
After graduating, I was employed as an architect, but most of the work I did was actually 3D modeling. Back then, very few people were doing arch vis, and it was quite a lucrative business, so I devoted myself to it. Aside from that, modeling is the most creative stage in architectural design and is so much more exciting than solving engineering issues… so, it wasn’t hard for me to decide to specialize in 3D.
So it seemed like a pretty easy decision then, right?
For years, I had doubts about whether it was a mistake to abandon arch vis and abandon architectural design. There is more money in architecture once you’ve established yourself.
But then, I paid a visit to some fair in Vienna, Austria. It was an expo for modern and futuristic technologies, some advanced productions, services, processes, whatever… all kinds of things. But they all had one thing in common: each one of them was presented in 3D. That’s when I realized that 3D is crucial for the future and I was lucky to master it.
What places would you say have inspired you the most? What else inspires you?
I’m passionate about the Mediterranean. I think the mix of history, nice climate, and relaxed lifestyle inspired me to make many models that reflected that.
However, I’m also passionate about all sorts of architecture, so there’s no bad architecture to me. Even if it’s ugly, it still has some qualities that are interesting, amusing, etc. I would enjoy the ugliest city in the world.
What do you think is your biggest priority when making 3D models?
I started modeling 20 years ago with poor hardware, an old 486 PC. So my priority was the optimization of the model- to make as many of the details as possible, with the lowest possible polycount. Now, even though it’s not as necessary as it once was, I’m still greatly concerned with it.
When I started selling models, another thing that became really important for me was to make models that customers can easily modify.
What has been your experience with CheckMate?
CheckMate is very useful. It helped me to improve my modeling skills, spotting issues that I wasn’t even aware of before. I would recommend it to everybody— and to non-SquidGuild members as well— to use it as a guide in model preparation, even without the certification.
How long have you been with TurboSquid? Would you or have you recommended TurboSquid to others?
I’ve been selling on TS since 2007, but there was an experimental phase. I published a few armchairs just to see what would happen, and for a month or two, nothing happened. I lost enthusiasm and forgot about TS for some time.
After two years, I came back, just to check out what was going on. I was more than surprised to find out that models had made a few hundred bucks. That was a game changer, so I approached TS much more seriously. So, you might say that I became a serious vendor in 2009. I would recommend TurboSquid to other people, but only with a well thought-out strategy– otherwise, it could easily be a waste of time for them.
Anything else?
I would like to thank TurboSquid for featuring my product. It’s a great honor.
The honor is all ours! Thanks again to 3DMarko for a fantastic Featured Model.
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