Summary:
- Kunkun Visual is a CGI creative agency and visualization studio based in Bandung, Indonesia.
- Its academy was established to share knowledge and provide educational resources to aspiring visualizers.
- The studio saw a demand for Enscape training from its community, which led to the creation of workshops and a dedicated masterclass.
- Kunkun Visual's Creative Director shares his award-winning workflow and how he used Enscape to tell a story.
Kunkun Visual was founded in 2017 by husband-and-wife duo Rheza Eka Nugraha and Silvia Wulandari, the couple and Creative Director Jihad Maulana Ramdan share how they use Enscape to shape the next generation of 3D visualizers through their training program, Kunkun Academy.
Establishing Kunkun Academy
Rheza and Silvia met while they were colleagues at an architectural firm. While they both enjoyed being architects, they soon realized they were drawn to the creative side of the profession—the visualization process.
They trained at SOA Academy in Italy to further develop their skills in architectural visualization. The academy gave them a solid foundation in 3D rendering, which they brought back to Indonesia to build their company.
As their company grew, they noticed that many architects wanted in-house visualizers. "This insight inspired us to establish Kunkun Academy, where we could share knowledge and provide educational resources to aspiring visualizers," reveals Rheza.
Discovering Enscape
Rheza and Silvia were encouraged by the local visualization community to explore Enscape. To pique their interest, they conducted a social media survey among the architectural community in Indonesia. They found that 70% of participants chose Enscape as their preferred rendering tool.
The popularity of Enscape led them to host a series of online workshops during lockdown in 2021, focusing on teaching Enscape and SketchUp. The demand for Enscape training was so high—the initial workshop attracted over 1,000 attendees—that they created a dedicated masterclass, which has since become one of their most popular offerings at the Academy.
"We recognize the value of Enscape for quick and highly effective visualizations. Its simplicity and popularity have made it a favorite among the students, particularly those new to 3D rendering," shares Silvia.
Combining methodical steps with creative freedom
Cap Karoso is a luxury villa in Sumba, Indonesia, designed by GFAB Architects and Bitte Design Studio. In 2023, Kunkun Visual was tasked with rendering the project. Pleased with the project's results, the team got permission from the design firm to use it for its exterior rendering masterclass.
"The Cap Karoso project went beyond architecture and required exploration of the surrounding environment. The workflow combines methodical steps with creative freedom," states Jihad, who is responsible for R&D and is Kunkun Visual's Enscape expert.
The team first conducted research to understand critical elements like the environment, lighting, and overall mood. Then, they set up the scene and camera angles following basic photography principles. They used reference images to choose perspectives, which helped ensure that the scene composition adhered to professional standards and conveyed the right visual impact.
Before adding any assets, the focus was on environmental lighting. "This step is important because lighting sets the tone for the entire render. We usually source HDRI lighting from free resources, and we're careful to select options that match the lighting conditions in the reference images," mentions Jihad.
The team used assets from the Enscape Asset Library and custom assets. For the latter, Blender was used to create and optimize models. High-quality assets from platforms such as Maxtree, which are often heavy, get exported to the gIFT format via Blender.
"This method retains the original textures and materials and ensures no re-texturing is needed in Enscape. We then upload the optimized custom assets to the Enscape Custom Asset Library. However, since SketchUp doesn't display these assets in real time, we use Blender to make adjustments to reduce poly count and import the model's proxy back into Enscape for placement," explains Jihad.
Animation is kept simple, with subtle movements like dolly effects used to avoid distracting viewers from the building. The team also experiments with the Field of View and Time of Day functions. Once the movements are set, the scene is saved, and the video rendering process begins—which happens quickly thanks to Enscape's capabilities.
Storytelling through imagery and sound
Post-production is where the rendered project comes to life. It's where storytelling through imagery and sound becomes crucial, and static visuals are transformed into an engaging story that connects the viewer to the space. The post-production process, which resembles a movie editing process, involved refining and enhancing the visuals to create a cohesive and finished presentation.
The team looked at the architectural videos of the Ritz Carlton Maldives for inspiration to capture the right ambiance, depth, and lighting. These references helped set the mood and tone of the final video. The primary post-production software was Davinci Resolve, a tool for video editing and color grading. Music was also integrated, cutting it to fit the pacing and rhythm of the video.
"The video needed to tell a story, so for this project, we used the metaphor of a day, starting from sunrise and progressing to sunset. This approach added depth to the presentation and showcases the villa and its surrounding environment in different lighting conditions," expresses Jihad.
With this video, the team won the exterior category of The Enscape 4 All: Architectural Real-Time Visualization Award earlier this year, a competition hosted by Chaos and ArchDaily. "A friend of ours who is an architect shared the competition with us. We didn't have time to create something new, so we submitted the Cap Karoso project. The winning image is actually taken frame by frame from a video animation," reveals Rheza.
Empowering the next generation
Through Kunkun Visual, Rheza and Silvia are not only creating beautiful visuals but also empowering students and up-and-coming architectural professionals in the country.
"Our mission with the academy is to unlock the potential of local talent. The architectural visualization field is still relatively new here, meaning there are few educational resources. We want to provide access to training, help people find jobs, and pave the way for the next generation of architectural visualizers in Indonesia," shares Silvia.
