Matthias Buehler
Matthias founded vrbn (pronounced ‘urban’) as a consultancy and service provider to push 3D design and content creation technologies in multiple sectors, such as Games, VFX, Architecture and XR. Matthias also co-organises industry events such as the CityEngine User Meeting, the ICE 3D Environment Conference and is the host of the 3D Environment Podcast.
How would you describe ICE 3D Conference in one sentence?
ICE is an artist centric, horizontal conference, which connects people from many industry verticals, to discuss all aspects related to the creation of 3D environments – whether real or fictional.
How did it all begin?
I had the idea for ICE due to the fact that my past work connected me with people across many industries. Especially when teaching software concepts and doing consultancy work, I saw patterns of technical and creative workflows across disciplines emerge, which fascinated me and nobody addressed. Having done presentations at events and conferences for many years myself, I thought starting something might be worth at least a try.
What are you most excited about for this year’s conference?
To me personally, ICE transcends the typical industry conference. I see it as a vessel for contemplation and self-reflection rather than a stage for glorification. Art, Creativity and the Conditio Humana are the core of it all. Thus, I’m most excited to reach out and touch more like-minded people who appreciate those types of dialogues that don’t need actual spoken words.
Find out more about ICE via their website: https://www.ice.art/
You are also the Founder and CTO of vrbn, which specialises in 3D urban environments, how did these ventures begin?
My fascination with 3D worlds goes back a long time. As a kid, I was drawing a lot, then, as a teenager, things shifted towards Video Games. Eventually, I found my true passion: VFX. The notion of creating entire worlds which look 100% photoreal was – and still is – mesmerizing to me. Though there was no chance of pursuing those things back in the day, I chose the next closest thing, studying Architecture. Over the course of the years, working on deeply technical creative workflows that deal with Architecture and Urban Planning, I circled back to the vision I had as a 17 year old: To specialize in creating worlds, especially 3D cities.
So instead of following my passion through a regular job, I decided to do so with a team of like minded people.
What kind of projects take place at vrbn?
Most of our commercial work is related to a combination of technical consulting and implementation of 3D content creation and visualization for clients in different industries. Some of that work is focused on Historical Digital Twins, where the challenge is to balance historical and architectural accuracy with pipeline automation, procedural content generation, while being fully compatible with GIS-Data and multiple derived visualization methods, like 3D-Web-GIS, AR/VR, and offline rendering.
But most of our efforts go into developing methods for creating tool-agnostic 3D cities, which work for both Real-Time Engines and Offline Rendering. The amount of engineering needed is insane, but each solved milestone brings us one step closer to our vision: To be able to create long-lasting partnerships, where our core expertise enables the other party to focus more on their core expertise.
Does your team all have architecture experience or have some come from other areas like film/TV or gaming?
vrbn’s team mostly consists of software developers and computer scientists with different backgrounds, ranging from Mathematics, to VFX, to Geographic Informatics and others. In the art team, we have people with backgrounds in Architecture (not including me), Film, and Game Design.
It is exactly this combination of multidisciplinary thinking, which makes the team so special.
Do you have any other projects or involvements elsewhere in the industry?
As I get bored really fast, there’s always something new for me to try. The latest endeavour is my activity in the Germany Section’s Board Of Managers of the Visual Effects Society (VES), into which I was recently elected. Otherwise I have been organizing the CityEngine User Meetings (CEUM) since 2017 and I started my own podcast called The 3D Environment Podcast in late 2023. Though, I do wish I’d take more time creating my own badass leather jackets.
Do you have any “VFX heroes”/ someone who inspires you? If so, who?
One of my biggest inspirations is The Third Floor. This is specifically for taking the risk (and succeeding) of building an entire company around Previz. I see vrbn as a similar endeavour, just with building it around the specialisation of creating complete 3D cities.
What are your hopes for the future of VFX and animation?
Personally, I am getting tired of the perpetual Generative AI hype, the vicious corporate greed, the shameless ignorance of copyright law and merciless exploitation of legal grey areas. I hope that all industries, and especially the legislators who regulate international laws and market dynamics, react fast to Generative AI and see through the blatantly obvious game that is played.
To anyone who thinks Ethical Generative AI is the solution, here’s an invitation to my podcast and I welcome any open discussions.
