➢Tell us a little about the project?

The idea for The Tech Show has been festering away in the back of my mind for about a year or so, but I’ve never really had the time to dedicate to it. I finally decided to produce it when a friend who works for a radio station said he was producing something similar for the station. He has better access to the gadgets and other cool toys than I do, so we decided to collaborate and share resources across platforms.

➢What is it about and why?

The Tech Show Podcast is just that; a podcast about ‘tech’. I’ve deliberately left it as vague as that, because from one episode to the next, we’re just not sure what we’ll be talking about. Last month we covered some interesting stories from CES 2012, but similarly, we could be talking to the RNIB about the latest tech for blind and partially sighted people, and then talking to the makers of Angry Birds about their new music app. It’s a pretty eclectic show.

➢What does it hope to achieve?

‘Achieve’ is a pretty big word. I don’t really have a goal in mind at this point. My co-host MJ and I are just having a good time looking at all things tech and chatting about them. I suppose if you push me on something I’d like us to achieve, then I’d hope that everyone downloading each episode enjoys what they hear, and comes back for the next one.

➢How would you like it to develop?

Ideally, I’d like to have a subscriber base in the thousands. So far, just on the first episode, we’re into triple digits in terms of downloads. If we get enough regular downloads, I’d like to secure a sponsor or two, allowing us to go to the trade events like CES and The Gadget Show Live and actually chat to exhibitors. Maybe even get our grubby little hands on a new toy or two!

➢How can we find out more?

We’re on Facebook, Twitter and our show notes are available at thetechshow

If you have an iDevice of some sort, we’re in iTunes. It’s ‘The Tech Show’ by Audio Ninjas Ltd. If you’re not iEnabled, you can point your favourite podcatcher at our RSS feed: ondemand.audioninjas.eu

Later, I received a first class honours degree in interior architecture and an MSc in Design and Digital Media. I have worked in architecture and design both home and abroad including Sheppard Robson Architects and Novo Design. I now live in Edinburgh and specialise in creating bespoke 3D visualisations for built environment professionals, my interests extend from the ultra modern to the neolithic.

Tell us a little about your background and how you came to establish Pixogram.

I began my professional career in interior design. The ability to transform space from the imagined was something exciting and compelling. In 2006 my wife and I started a business in Spain catering for expats and a sprinkling of celebrities. Returning to the UK to graduate and grow, and after a period of employment in architecture, I became increasingly interested in 3D design visualisation at the expense of real world construction. Pixogram emerged as a long term goal; a vision which is professionally stimulating yet affords my own young family the flexibility I once experienced as a child.

Explain to us what 3d visualisation is and it’s benefits

3D visualisation is a communication tool, a means to express design intent, ideas and visions through images (both still and moving) which is at once immediate. Typically, visualisations are designed to be photorealistic, to give the impression of looking through a lens to a reality in space and time. Of course we are not, and playing with the parameters between real and hyper-real is where it really gets fun! Alex Roman’s ‘Third and Seventh’ short is seen as the holy bible for 3D visualisation artists and is a joy to behold.

What projects have you found most challenging and why?

A few years ago I worked on an animation project, the client was a family friend. Looking back, the deliverables were relatively unknown to both myself and the client yet the fee was set in stone. Lesson learnt! Consider 1 second of animation consists of 30 frames and 1 frame can take 1 hour to render and you get an idea of how important understanding deliverables is! Plan as much as possible in advance and price accordingly, not the other way round, it just doesn’t work.

Where would you like to see the industry headed in 2012?

The 3D visualisation industry has a big future, be it in architecture, heritage, film, TV, marketing, you name it, it is already everywhere. The problem the internet brings is globalisation, and in particular a globalisation of ideas and creativity. So much work out there looks the same, attempting to achieve photoreality when, in reality, the technology could be used to create so much more. I hope 2012 brings a flowering of new and inventive ways of ‘seeing’ spurred on by clients who are ready for something new.

What are you currently working on?

I’m about to start work on a heritage animation project to digitally bring back to life a significant crumbling building which is soon to be lost to the sea. Another project, in conjunction with Edinburgh World Heritage and Edinburgh City Council, is coming to an end. My role was to digitally reconstruct an old gas street lantern from existing photographs and photogrammetry so that replicas can be manufactured and installed in the city. As well as doing some private 3D tutoring and a residential architectural visualisation project I’m developing an ambitious pilot scheme which aims to digitally document Scotland’s standing stones in 3D through crowd sourced photogrammetry.
………………………………………………………………………………..
Find out more about Pixogram and follow Jonathan Knox on twitter.

• Profile
• Samples
• Contact

• Profile
• Samples
• Contact

Front

Role: 3D Designer

Tuilyies

Role: 3D Designer

Viewing Platform

Role: 3D Designer

• Profile
• Samples
• Contact

La Grande Arche

Role: Photographer

Description: La Grande Arche – Personal.

Road Pattiesmuir

Role: Photographer

Description: No More Than a Mile – Image from a personal photographic project documenting environment no more than a mile from home in Pattiesmuir, Scotland.

Red Chair

Role: Photographer

Description: Red Chair – Image shot for advertising usage for an Edinburgh based interior design studio.

How the Land Lies is an exhibition of Alastair Cook’s recent film, analogue photography and glass work: it draws together work from his solo show Analogue Decay, exhibited at The Howden in April 2011, alongside the Five Seascapes Commission and most recently the Kilned Collodion work, a technique pioneered by Alastair while on residency at North Lands Creative Glass in Lybster, delicately combining wet plate Collodion photography and kiln-forming.

At the opening event, Alastair will present screenings from his Filmpoem project with readings from the poets, accompanied by Italian composer Luca Nasciuti.

Alastair works predominantly with lens-based media as an analogue photographer concentrating on antique photographic technologies and as a filmmaker using 8mm and 16mm film, combining these with digital technology to great effect. His award winning film and photography is driven by his knowledge, skill and experience as a conservation architect: this mercurial work is rooted in place and the intrinsic connections between people, land and the sea.

………………………………………………………………………………………………
The Out of the Blue Drill Hall
36 Dalmeny Street,
Leith
Edinburgh
EH6 8RG

10th – 24th February 2012
(10am – 5pm)

Showcase Your Work

Folio14 is a great place to display your work. In each profile a dedicated samples tab allows you to upload three visuals with accompanying copy. Click on an image to see it appear in full and flick through using the easy directional navigation. Share your bespoke Folio14 URL with others and add it to your CV.

Get Noticed

When joining up with Folio14 you get noticed. Once your profile is live you won’t be able to stop us tweeting about it. We have been impressed by the quality of talent available and want to get to know more about your ideas. We are constantly on the lookout to promote individuals, let us interview you or why not write a guest blog?

Find Other Creatives

Folio14 is shaping up to be a busy directory of creative people. Got an idea? Collaborate and seek inspiration and advice from our great bank of talent. You can’t possess every skill needed to create a project so get in touch with each other and start something today.

Why Not It’s Free?

We are all about giving a voice to those with ambition and we know you have got it- everyone should have the chance to be heard so that is why we are providing this for free, you have nothing to lose.

Check out some of the existing profiles and register today.

Antonio always strives to be creative. He lives in London, and is known around clubland for his outlandish sense of style.

Dave was a Royal Marine who approached Michael for modelling. He’s since left the services and lives in the US. The gun, by the way, is real.

Mats is originally from Sweden, but has come to live in Edinburgh. He wanted to see what Michael could create when representing the older man. Both were pleased and surprised at the results.

……………………………………………………………………………………………
The Virginia Gallery
(Open: Tue- Sat: 11am- 6pm)
45 Virginia Street
Glasgow
G1 1TS

• Profile
• Samples
• Contact

➢ What prompted you to become a photographer?
I worked in many jobs from managing bookshops to installing X-Ray software in NHS hospitals. I found I was good at anything I put my mind to, good at communicating and training others but the jobs I did lacked a key element I missed from art college; creativity. I have photographed from school, art college and throughout all of my many jobs, but it took a two month trip to Cuba and a subsequent exhibition of my Holga shots to convince me to try and make a living out of producing images.

➢ Tell us a bit about your first job
My first paid job was an EP cover for a band called the Jaded Playboy. I shot a battle of the bands gig they played just for fun and posted them a link to my flickr with the shots. They got back to me and asked if they could shoot a cover for the EP they were releasing. I photographed them in a car park in Ocean Terminal in Leith, then they told me they could not pay the fee we had agreed. So I got a whip round instead, amounting to all of £35! I accepted the money, gave them the agreed shots and ended up laying out and designing the sleeve. They were nice guys but totally clueless. It gave me a published element to my portfolio which helped me get into college.

➢ What do you consider a highlight so far?
My highlight would be the travel photography that I’ve been able to do off of the back of my commercial work. This combines my wanderlust with the ability to generate some saleable images. My latest trip was to Burma for a month in January from which I have published a book of images and plan to exhibit the photographs hopefully next year.

➢ In an ideal world where would your career take you?
Currently most of my work is with small businesses and individuals, I enjoy the close relationship and feedback this allows. However, in the future I hope to be able to work with more arts organisations and fourth sector organisations. Hopefully this will include travelling to developing countries to combine my interests in image making and travel.

➢ What advice could you give to those starting out?
Keep in touch with people you studied with as they are going through the same process as you, and can give you a reality check if you are going through a period of self doubt or feel you are losing your way. Shoot shoot and shoot. Don’t hang around waiting for paid projects. Shoot what you are interested in and the quality of this will show through. Network as much as possible, and yeah I know I hate the thought of if too but it does pay to talk to like-minded people. Above all have confidence in your abilities.

➢ What are you currently working on?
Commercially I have shot for a couple of cabinet makers; Angus Ross in Aberfeldy and John Galvin who has appeared in Wallpaper Magazine. I enjoy shooting quality design and these two makers produce fantastic stuff. In my personal work I am doing a project on the A68, shooting large format pinholes on a camera I made, as well as medium format shots of the A68 which connects the Borders where I grew up to Edinburgh where I now live.
………………………………………………………………………………………..

Find out more about Paul Cowan at www.paultcowan.com