Congratulations to marforno for earning Renderosity's 2004 Merchant of the Year title. marforno is well known for his high quality architecture products. If you haven't seen marforno's wonderful creations take a moment to browse his store (click here).

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How does it feel to be the Renderosity Merchant of the year for 2004? Well, it takes me by absolute surprise, in an internet cafe in the middle of a trip to South America (Central zone of Chile), and getting ready for a 3 day fishing trip in the Northern Chilean coast. I am still kinda' walking on air and a little shocked ... *smile*. Transcending all this, the remaining feeling is simply fantastic. You are best known for your architectural product line. From conception to completion, how much time is typically needed for product development? This depends mostly in the complexity of the project that we are undertaking, and in our approach to it as a team. Most of our work is improvisation. We come up with a basic idea and then we do our best to put the energy into it that will make it grow practically by itself. We are very careful in making all the components simple enough to be used by users of all levels. Some projects will see the light in 4 days, some in 2 weeks, and then again some will never fulfill our expectations and will just be left behind. All your products utilize high quality texture maps. What tools do you use to create the maps? One of our main concerns while working on a package is how far the components will go in large, close up renders. Nowadays the general trend is large renders, because in a large render the post production work is easier. For this purpose we have gathered a large number of digital images taken by both of us that are treated in Photoshop to achieve the final desired look with the use of native PS filters, and also some custom made patterns and shapes. What programs do you use for modeling and how long have you been using them? I use several programs, depending on what I am looking for, but my favorite, without a doubt, is MAX. I've been using MAX for the past 3 years. I cant wait to see what you are cooking up for release next year. Would you care to share any hot insider information with the community? Well I think we will continue with the "total package" concept that we have been developing in the last year. Packages that make life really easy for all kind of Poser users. Architectural settings, characters, poses, light presets, etc., all in one package. Probably the next architectural settings will be largely influenced by the South American colonial architecture from which I am gathering very interesting images and notes. Do you have any tips for aspiring digital content developers? I believe that the main thing is originality. Finding something that has not already been done or is very difficult to find ... this inevitably will generate a niche for the product and the new artist associated with it. Add optimal quality to the equation and there you have a recipe for instant success. But you cannot get there without an iron will to win, and a large amount of study and perseverance. Do you have any final words? First of all I would like to thank our customers for all their support, critiques, suggestions, and feedback. You people are amazing, thank you very much. Also I would like to thank the people at home for all the efforts in making Renderosity the best 3D place to be in. Clint, DebbieM, Lillian, JenyK ... thank you so much. Very, very special thanks to my partner Danie, one of the most versatile artists that I have ever met. Thanks so much Spatz, you are simply amazing. Many thanks to Rhiannon, another artist of many talents. Thanks so much for all the inspiration, help and advice. And I'd also like to thank Joan (kinouk), Luis (lluque), Rose (rjghise), Leah (Turtle), Karen (Avalonne), Orietta (luciferino), and Jill (DTigerwoman).