Ryan W. Knope • 3D Visualization

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Latest News...

• 4/10/12 •
I will be featured in two books in 2012. I will update with new information on titles and publish dates in the coming months. There is a quick update to the train station below.




• 3/24/12 •
My friend, colleague and fellow 3D artist / animator has passed on today. John Whitesel, you will be sorely missed He was an inspiration to me through the past 10 years. Cancer won the battle, but he won the war. He was not only a great artist, but a great musician, father and husband. I want to dedicate today to a great person that changed my life. Thanks John!


• 3/10/12 •
Below you can view a rendering that I created for a "Kate Spade" store for one of the famous high end shopping malls in New York City. I have also added 2 new testimonials on the lower right of this page..


• 2/3/12 •
Another progress shot of the train station. A New camera angle. I am planning on having several.


• 1/30/12 •
Below you can see a new update to the train station. This is all 3D an no photographs used. Right now I am testing different times of day along with different camera angles and shot ratios.


• 1/11/12 •
Happy New Year! Below you can see a project that I am working on for John Feldman at EcoCentrix. Still a ways to go, but it is coming along little by little. This has become a pet project of mine as well to test out new software. I just finished up a few other visualization projects as well.


• 12/1/11 •
New cove update below. More updates coming soon. Just finished up a hotel room in Las Vegas and a few hospital renderings for clients.


• 11/24/11 •
I am thankful for all of my clients and the life that I have to share with my family and friends. I am thankful for my son, who means more than anything to me. Below is a tree that I am working on painting. It is on the wall in my sons room. Happy Thanksgiving!


• 11/21/11 •
I have decided to revisit and start work on the ocean cove scene again. A lot of huge changes have occured within this project over the past year.


• 11/16/11 •
I began a new sculpt in Zbrush. You can see the start of it below. A rendering job set for a hospital has just been completed.



• 11/11/11 •
Below is a rendering that I did for a new client, "Black Laser Learning, Inc. New projects should be coming in soon from various clients.


• 11/1/11 •
Been quite busy lately. Below you can see a rapid prototyped model of "Cog", the mascot that I created for thegamecrafter.com. Thanks JT for sending me these photos. Once he is painted I should have more photos to share.


• 9/21/11 •
It has been a while since I have updated the news. My first child was born on 9-10-11. I have also just completed a few new jobs. Work continues to flow.


• 9/7/11 •
Panera Bread is now complete. The Hospital Food Court is complete as well. I have begun a Biotech rendering set. SSP work sounds like it will resume soon. There is also the possibility for another game shortly. We shall see.

• 8/21/11 •
I am back from Vancouver. It was a successful conference. I had the opportunity to spend a good deal of time with a fantastic concept artist named Julian Vidales. I am now working on a food court rendering along with Panera Bread.


• 8/7/11 •
I will be out of town and in Vancouver, BC from August 8th - 12th for Siggraph, the worlds leading CG and 3D conference. I will have limited coverage for communication. Thank you for your patience.


• 8/1/11 •
I have now begun working with "L2M Architecture" and several new projects are coming through. I will be out of town for 3D Convention "Siggraph" from August 8th - 12th with shutdown the day before and day after. Any clients that are in the Vancouver area please contact me to schedule a face to face meeting.

• 7/20/11 •
I have started working with L2M Foodservice Design Group. I was just told that I am not a "Featured Artist" on Turbosquid! Below is a new rendering for a new cafe brand in Asia.


• 7/6/11 •
It has been a busy week with Shanghai, Hong Kong, Colorado Springs, Wisconsin, Malaysia and California. Thank you for your patronage.

• 6/20/11 •
Below you can see a new update for a corridor shot in Japan. It is progressing little by little. A character design job came in today. Shanghai International Airport is beginning and some other jobs came in as well.


• 6/8/11 •
I am currently in the process of upgrading my machines to 24GB of Ram / Memory. This will raise the ability of quality and detail for future renderings.


• 5/17/11 •
FT Eustis is now completed and below you can see an update for the dusk shot of Kichijoji Honmachi. Still much more to do. A project for Alcatraz should be coming in soon!


• 5/11/11 •
I just finished the Kaplan Master Bath Garden. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. FT Eustis is now resuming, some other special treats coming soon!


• 5/10/11 •
A new project just came in regarding Kichijoji Honmachi. This is a real cool job. I cannot wait to show the final renderings for it!

• 5/9/11 •
The magazine cover and inside is now finished. The tutorial regarding the "Lacuna Expanse Web Illustration" is now released and can be viewed here.


• 5/3/11 •
This week I am working on a magazine cover and inside illustration for "Agents Sales Journal", along with a few other things. This has been a busy week. I have heard of some neat new jobs coming in. I am excited to share the news when it is official.

• 4/25/11 •
Currently I am working on a rendering for FT. Eustis in Virginia. There are also several other projects going right now as well.

• 4/14/11 •
I have been working on several floorplans and house front renderings for Alan Klatsky. A detailed master bath garden rendering has also come in from John Feldman.

• 4/10/11 •
Recently I finished a "Making Of" article for my rendering "This Is Hope". You can view it at CGArena.

• 3/28/11 •
A quick furniture update for Ah Hung in Hong Kong came in.

• 3/26/11 •
Yesterday I took the time to create a space ship for Turbosquid. You can see it below. It was relaxing to make something for fun.


• 3/25/11 •
I am currently working on a 2nd Wounded Warrior Rendering of Camp Pendleton along with a custom home for Alan Klatsky and a Cafe rendering set for a restaurant in Malaysia. CG Arena has also asked me to write an article about "This Is Hope".

• 3/18/11 •
Well, the new Lacuna Expanse Website and background mural has been a long journey in a very short amount of time... although I am pretty happy with it. You can view it below. The background took less than 3 days.


• 3/4/11 •
I have begun working on the "Wounded Warrior Campus" Renderings, of Camp Pendleton, CA. This is proving to be a great project, since I was wounded in the military as well. Hopefully I can share the renderings with you all at some point.

• 3/3/11 •
Today I completed an interior rendering of a School Library for a client out in California. Hopefully I can show the rendering soon.

• 3/1/11 •
Today "This Is Hope" has been added to the CGArena Gallery! Very exciting, I hope other winning galleries are to follow.

• 2/26/11 •
Finally I am finished with the rendering "This Is Hope", which is about an old warehouse that has been converted into an interior growroom. This showcases how so many people want to take something ugly and beat up and make it new again in the name of "Green. You can see the high resolution version Here. Low resolution is below.




• 2/16/11 •
Well, it is the season to submit to the book "Expose"... I have been busy preparing a lot of entries. Hopefully one gets in. My fingers are crossed. A lot of interesting projects should be starting soon. Very exciting!

• 2/6/11 •
I have added a GAME ART GALLERY! Please check it out here. Much more to be added soon. It will just take time to add the vast number of pieces.




• 2/3/11 •
Happy Chinese New Year to all!

• 2/2/11 •
I lost one of the student emails today. Please email me back if you see this.

• 2/2/11 •
Lately I have been getting a lot of emails from college students that need to write a short paper about an artist in the field. It must be the season for colleges to require this from their students. If you are a student and have questions please do not hesitate to email me! I enjoy the experience of speaking to the next generation of 3D Artists!

• 2/1/11 •
Alot of large developments within Shanghai Airports are about to hit. Lacuna Expanse is blazing forward with a lot of updates and a tournament server!

• 1/14/11 •
I am beginning a large contract in Europe, creating the visuals / renderings for Caffe Ritazza. Thank you to all of my clients making this a very nice beginning to 2011!

• 1/4/11 •
I have started a new contract creating renderings for military housing / barracks. It is great to start the new year with a new client and interesting new job.

• 1/1/11 •
"The Mall" rendering has been selected by CG Arena.

• 12/31/10 •
"The move is just about complete. Regular office hours have now resumed. Thank you for your patience.

• 12/14/10 •
"Mansion At 6 Evan Way" has been accepted into the CG Arena gallery. I am finishing up some contracts with SSP before my vacation. I am also discussing front end artwork creation for "Sony Acid Pro" plugins.

• 12/2/10 •
Currently my business is in the process of moving to a new location. This new space will provide room for expansion to better serve my clients.

With the holidays coming up, I will be out of town for certain parts of the month. To confirm dates with me please email or call me. Two new works in progress below.




• 11/17/10 •





• 11/16/10 •
Currently my portfolio is featured on the front page of the 3D Artist Magazine website. I hove been voted to 3rd place in the top galleries of the website. I thank all of you for making that happen.

• 11/9/10 •
A lot is happening currently. A job is just getting closed up with Alan Klatsky, another huge job is starting with SSP and 6 renderings are being created for advertisements that will be used in numerous Latin American magazines.

• 11/5/10 •
I am now allowed to show the recent works created for "Mindful Design Consulting". You can find the larger renderings by clicking the image below or by visiting my interiors gallery. The website is undergoing some new design changes.




• 11/4/10 •
A huge contract with SSP has just finished up. 26 interior airport renderings. I am now taking 2 days off to complete machine maintenace, server backups and network upgrades.

• 10/26/10 •
I have recieved the ok to show the artwork from the game "Lacuna Expanse". Below you can find many of the ships I have created for the game. The 6 Core I7 render station is now up and running.













• 10/25/10 •
I have been working on a new personal work. It is an island cliff scene that was inspired by the series "Lost". This is a mix of photorealistic and cartoon style 3d. I hope to have updated renders shortly and maybe an animation.











• 10/22/10 •
In-office upgrades are currently happening. A new Intel® Core™ i7 980X Processor Extreme Edition (6x 3.33GHz/12MB L3 Cache) has been ordered and should show up in a few days.





• 10/18/10 •
Issue 21 of 3D Artist is now available on the worldwide market. Issue 21 features my normal Q&A column along with a 4 page tutorial discussing the "Mansion At 6 Evan Way".





• 10/15/10 •
Session 2 of the Lacuna Expanse Artwork tutorial has been released. You can check it out HERE. A lot of airport renderings have come in. System upgrades in the office are happening over the next few weeks.

• 10/6/10 •
Yesterday I created a new quick render in a few hours. This render is part of a discussion in 3D Artist Magazine. The Lacuna Expanse game artwork tutorial has been released on Instatuts! Please check it out.









• 10/4/10 •
The game "Lacuna Expanse" has been released. You can play it for free! I have been working on the game for about a year. Lots of great stuff in the game. Hundreds of people are playing already and growing fast! I am also writing an article set explaining my experiences with creating the artistic world of Lacuna Expanse..

• 9/27/10 •
I have uploaded a new Zbrush sculpt test. Shortly I will begin a higher end set of detailing for them, including texture maps and higher quality renders.







• 9/26/10 •
I have begun brushing up on my Zbrush modeling skills. The character created below was a 2 hour quick sculpt. More characters and zbrush art is coming soon.






• 9/23/10 •
"Lacuna Expanse", the massively multiplayer empire simulator that I have created most of the in-game artwork for will be released in about a week! Please check it out. It is a ton of fun to play and it's FREE!

• 9/22/10 •
The trip to the Grand Canyon to see Krista was fantastic. We hiked down to the bottom and back up in the same day. It was a good hike. I also just finished up another SSP project. This time in Thailand. There is a possibility for a project in Saudi and another project has started for "Mindful Design".

• 8/20/10 •
I will be writing a 4 page article for 3D Artist Magazine while continuing the question and answer column. The Morgan Farms master plan has been added to the "Exterior Gallery". Please keep in mind that I will be out of town from August 29th until September 10th.

• 8/17/10 •
I am back from a backpacking trip into the Rocky Mountains. My artwork "Global Warming" has been featured on "Green San Diego". I just started another large artwork contract for Lacuna Expanse. Recently I have finished Hotel and Shopping Mall interiors located in China, which I will be able to show at a later date. More SSP work starting in various Asian Pacific locations.

• 8/12/10 •
Well it has been a busy few weeks! Stuff in Japan, Michigan and other various places... Now it is time to take a few days off backpacking in the mountains... I need a break. More game art is coming up... and I have signed a contract to discuss the game artwork in tutorial form... which will be released on Oct 1st.

• 7/20/10 •
The session last night was a lot of fun and seemed to be a great success. Almost 40 people showed up for the 3D Visualization discussion at Cad-1, Boulder / Denver Architects Group. Now it's back to work trying to finish up a bunch of deadlines this week!

• 7/14/10 •
A ton of work has flowed in over the past few days. I am working on a huge 200+ building masterplan development community, a masterplan for a RV Park and Tradeshow graphics for the PlainBlack Corporation! I have also been asked to update the Sumiyoshi Masterplan which will be featured in a magazine article in "Luxury Living Magazine!

• 7/6/10 •
I have been asked to speak on the topic of Architectural 3D Renderings on July 19th by the "Boulder / Denver Architects Group. Please email me for more information if you would like to attend. A new gallery image of a mansion has been uploaded. You can check it out HERE! Other shots from it coming in the next few weeks!

• 7/5/10 •
I have updated the Misc 3D gallery with 4 images. These images range from Manufacturing to In-Game artwork. Please note, the in-game artwork has been edited to be different from the titles use.

• 7/1/10 •
With the Lacuna Expanse contract ending shortly, I am looking for new work. There is talk about maybe writing a new book and possibly teaching 3D classes again and maybe a seminar or 2.

• 6/18/10 •
I have been negotiating a new development community, working on my next 3D Artist Magazine Column and creating a bunch of SSP Airport Interiors... along with continuing the game design for Lacuna Expanse.

• 5/22/10 •
I am working on a new "Renewable Energy" project for IsetSolar. A new tutorial has been started for INSTATUTS regarding building a high poly 3D Space Ship". I have started another restaurant design, Singapore International Airport for SSP.

• 4/21/10 •
I just found out that one of my artworks will be on the back cover of the large hardcover book "CITY BY DESIGN: DENVER. The image being featured is my interior Lobby rendering of the new NREL / DOE building in Golden, Colorado.

• 4/13/10 •
Tomorrow I will be starting 2 kiosk concepts for Sydney International Airport. I am hoping to get approval of showing the Singapore concepts soon.

• 4/12/10 •
For the past week I have been working one the Maryland Mansion Project. I cannot speak too much of the project... but you can check out the previously half built mansion that is getting structurally rebuilt and detailed beyond belief. Eventually I plan on submitting this project for several galleries and Expose in the year to come.

• 4/6/10 •
I have had the privilege to play the alpha version of Lacuna Expanse before it has been released to the public. I am amazed at how fast it has come along. I have high hopes for this game, as I have had a lot of fun playing it for the past few days!

• 3/29/10 •
The current project with SSP has been completed. Work on the MD Mansion is starting. My column for 3D Artist Magazine Issue 15 has been completed. I am still crossing my fingers for Expose gallery book. Many new things in the works. The game trailers have been completed. I will announce details on the game when I get approval from my client.

• 3/16/10 •
Contracts with SSP International have been renewed for Singapore International Airport. Ballistic Publishing's call for entries with their book "Expose 8" have ended. Hopefully I will receive a positive email in the coming months. System / Equipment upgrades have taken place. New gallery images should be approved to be added in a week or 2.

• 3/8/10 •
While the game design project and SSP are wrapping up, more work is coming in on a constant basis. Things are consistently looking really well. I apologize to those that I had to turn down due to the workload / schedule.

If things continue as they are, I will be building my render farm on the premises. Thank you to every entity that has made the expansion a possible reality!

On another note... Issue 13 of 3D Artist has already been released... my column continues, check it out.

Demo Reel - Video Portfolio
Animations, fly throughs etc. This is a 3 minute video showcasing last years work. I will be updating shortly.

Complete RWK News
To see the latest with what's going on in the world of Ryan W. Knope's visualizations please click here.

Articles and Tutorials
Over the past 13 years I have written many articles and tutorials. You will find the archive of those here.