Lux: You have been using other 3D products for years. What drew you to modo?

KAA: Our story with modo begins late one night when I was deep in the modeling phase on a large assignment. I was putting models onto images that exceed 700MB in size and had gotten to a dead end because there were issues with OpenGL on the software I was using. modo had been on our list of software to try out for some time now, but since we were always working, it was something that had to wait until we would free up some development time. That evening, my partner Rashad was checking your site and decided to download it anyway, just to see what it was like.

Having installed it, we were amazed by how quickly and nicely the demo version worked and even more astounded that we could actually use it. The layout was so similar to Lightwave, that it made us curious to try it on the project we were working on. So we installed it on the workstation, and were amazed to see that it was accepting and allowing us to continue where I had stopped. To just give you an idea of what the project is, we are creating the 3D visualizations for the entire Kingdom of Bahrain and the proposed master plan for the next hundred years.

KAA: After seeing how simple the layouts were, I was then curious to see how much of my modeling work I could continue on Modo and how easily and quickly I could integrate it with my work flow. We are still amazed at how much it has helped me speed up the process and how flexible it was in allowing me to reach further towards my concepts. This is a screen shot of another model that I am working on in the meantime using Modo and was able to get it closer to finished product in a much shorter time that I would usually expect. Please keep in mind, that all of the above is using the demo version we downloaded less than a week before.

Lux: Let's discuss this image called the Myth of the Floating Islands. We think you might deserve a prize for the best art produced with the evaluation of modo. What was the idea behind creating this image that blends whales and terrain?

KAA: I wanted to share with everyone a concept I had from the old books with old magical stories that always amaze me, that of a Whale with an island on it's back. It is interesting to question things like whether those are actually trees or are they growths that formed over the years to help camouflage it? The whale is old and has lived for hundreds of years and had always been mistaken for land, until this voyager ship makes a discovery...

Lux: How long did it take you?

KAA: This project was done on Modo demo download...I had just started to use it and had only just had a little time to practice and have some fun.

I created the models, textures and UV's in about 8 to 10 days. After the normal maps it is about 2 million polygons total.

Again, I have used modo as part of my 3D toolkit for the modeling and texturing. I used ZBrush for the displacements and Lightwave to render the final image.

Lux: You said on the forum that you were hooked on modo. I have heard other people make this analogy also. What did you mean by this?

KAA: I would describe the relationship between an artist and a software using the expression 'love at first sight', you either like it or not, but with modo it was more than that, it felt like a sport car with better grip on the steering, better performance under the hood…I loved the simplicity yet a complete solution for my needs, it was refreshing to have so many of my needs taken care of in one application.

Lux: Tell us about your company. You have a very impressive portfolio.

KAA: Thank you for the comment about the work, which is the most important thing for us and what we are all about. I set up Muharraqi-Studios to continue my family's history in the creative world and I am trying to continue to build on what my father started. The company was set up about two years ago after I left the commercial world of advertising with my partner Rashad who decided to leave a career in banking. We wanted to get together to make a place that allows us to be more creative, and since then we have been fortunate to work on some of the biggest projects in the middle east, and also continue working on our ideas and concepts, like our movie project.

Lux: You have a wide variety of work in your gallery. What is your personal preference as to the kinds of projects your company works on?

KAA: I know a lot of artists would love to work on some of the high profile projects I do, the truth is that I only do the architectural developments that I feel are interesting and worth investing time in to create a beautiful scenes that engage people's imagination… my real passion would be creating magical worlds with amazing creatures and getting into the story telling, of course with the right tools.