Meet Luka Popović, a key figure at Darkroom Studio. As our Key Account Manager and Head of Development, Luka has played a vital role in our journey. From tackling complex projects to creating innovative workflows, his contributions have been instrumental in our success. In this edition of "Meet the Team," we explore Luka’s experiences, insights, and the significant impact he has made on both our team and the architectural visualization industry.

Q: Can you tell us about your journey to becoming the Key Account Manager and Head of Development at Darkroom Studio?

A: It all began almost 9 years ago (yes, 2015 was 9 years ago). I sent an email to Darkroom inquiring about an unpaid internship and was promptly denied. However, they put out a job offer not long after, so I applied and got the job. Over the years, my role was gradually shifting and evolving, and I got the opportunity to fill pretty much all the shoes - from 3D modeling, interior and exterior visualization, all the way to project management, client communication and workflow development.

Q: What initially drew you to architectural visualization?

A: I have been hooked on video games and computer graphics ever since I played the original Prince of Persia on DOS when I was a kid, so it was no surprise that my favorite part of every architecture school project was the visualization.

Q: You've been at the forefront of many complex projects. Can you share a particularly challenging project and how you tackled it?

A: In the early Darkroom days, animations were always a struggle due to our inability to render them inhouse, so waiting for the renders to come out of the render farm was always nerve-racking. On one such occasion, we were dealing with a perfect storm of technical difficulties, a less-than-ideal client communication and tight deadlines, so the pressure was at a maximum. How we dealt with it is by just taking a deep breath, creating a good game plan and focusing on the tasks one by one. Sounds stupid, but there’s nothing else you can do.

Complex animation entirely produced by Luka

Q: How do you balance your responsibilities as a senior 3D artist with your managerial duties?

A: I wouldn’t say I actively do something to balance these things, it just kind of sorts itself out. When I have more managerial duties, I take on a lesser production load, and vice-versa. Having picked up a few tricks over the years to speed up my workflow also allows me to have more time for other, non-3D related parts of my job.

Q: You’ve significantly contributed to our workflow by writing scripts, building our database, and continuously finding ways to improve our daily operations. Can you elaborate on these contributions and their impact?

A: Every script or workflow optimization that I have ever contributed to started as an excuse to do some coding, which is something that I love but don’t often get a chance to do. I also really hate doing repetitive tasks (who doesn’t?), so these two things go perfectly together. In the end, the final goal is always to spend less time doing digital chores and more time working on the creative aspects of our job.

*Sprinkler system Luka created and shared with arch-viz community for free. Done with tyFlow for Corona render engine.*

Q: What motivates you to continually support both junior and senior artists on the team?

A: It just feels good to share my experience with the team, even more so when I see that an artist is really interested to learn. No further motivation needed :)

Q: In your opinion, what are the key skills and qualities needed to succeed in the field of architectural visualization?

A: A combination of observational and technical skills is essential - being able to break down what something should look like and having the technical prowess to recreate it.

Q: As someone who has been with Darkroom Studio since day one, how have you seen the studio evolve through both good and challenging times?

A: Apart from all the obvious things that evolve in a company during a 9-year period, such as personnel change, growth in numbers, moving offices and things like that, what really stands out to me is the evolution of our artistic and technical abilities, as well as our confidence in delivering whatever the project requires, even if we hadn’t done anything like it before.

Q: What are your thoughts on the emerging role of AI in architectural visualization and how it might shape the future of the industry?

A: When it comes to archviz specifically, AI tools are certainly very helpful in various phases of the project. Fully AI generated “solutions” on the other hand, in my opinion don’t qualify as products of a visualization studio that wants to take itself seriously. As for the future, the only thing I’m sure of is that the “expert opinions” on this topic have so far been about as accurate as the local weather forecast or the NBA playoff predictions.

Q: What are some of your personal interests and hobbies outside of work?

A: Photography, gaming and reading, although I have also been trying to get back into drawing lately.

Meet the Team- Luka Popovic

A sprinkle of inspiration