Scott Sindorf co-founded UVPH in 2000 after graduating with his Masters in Architecture from Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and working as the Artist-in-Residence at Columbia’s Graduate School of Fine Arts. Together with Damijan Saccio, Scott has grown UVPHACTORY into an award winning 3D and motion design studio responsible for branding clients such as SyFy Channel, Al Jazeera, BET, Xerox, and AT&T. UVPH has also created music experiences for artists such as Bjork, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, and Shakira, cementing the studio’s status as a leader in 3D and motion design worldwide. With the recent launch of floorplanGRP, the company that Scott co-founded with partners Han Vu and José Mujica, we caught up with Scott to talk about his roots in design and architecture, why now is the perfect time for floorplanGRP, and what he is most excited about with the new partnership.
How did you get involved in animation and architecture?
While I was a graduate student at Columbia University, I was invited to help with an architectural animation in collaboration with the Fine Arts Department explaining Amiens Cathedral in France. The goal of the animation was to explain visually how the proportional systems for the cathedral were developed and designed. This was to be part of the curriculum for the Humanities Department. This led me into further architectural animations within the architecture school. By the time I graduated, I was sought after for not only architecture but also for 3D visual effects for film, television and gaming. These were new career choices at the time.
And then you started teaching?
I started teaching first at the Boston Architectural Center in the early 1990’s to date myself. I actually taught the first computer animation class there and then attended Columbia University on a teaching scholarship to help teach computer design and animation because prior to our generation of students, computer animation did not exist. You could argue that the invention of computer design was the first real innovation to architecture since the invention of mechanical perspective . So, I looked at this not only as a tool but as an obvious opportunity to look at architectural visualization in a way that has never been done before.
What inspired you to start your company, UVPHACTORY?
After graduating, I began as a 3D artist working at various shops in NYC such as RG/A and PLF to name a few. I realized that I was very much sought after as a freelancer. I decided at that point that it would be better for me to start my own company with my business partner, Damijan Saccio. This was in the year 2000 and knock on wood, fifteen years later, we’re still doing well.
How did your design experience lead to the decision to co-found floorplanGRP?
At UVPHACTORY, we’ve always prided ourselves on exploring new immersive technologies. We recently created an augmented reality dinosaur exhibit for the new Prairie Fire Museum in Kansas. We also helped design an interactive wall for Verizon’s flagship store. When I first discussed the idea of this partnership with Jose and Han, I realized that these technologies are allowing unprecedented immersive design and, given my roots in architecture, I knew these technologies would be a natural fit for the real estate community. What better experience can you ask for than to see a space completely envisioned before ground has ever been broken? People from around the world can remotely see what the spaces are like and walk through them in the comfort of their own home. Real estate developers and agents want to be able to sell a space at a premium and we understand that. We also understand the commercial applications of this technology. We now have the capacity and capability to do 3D scanning and to show what it’s like to actually go through a space in the most advanced way possible. We also have the capacity to do what is called augmented reality where we can put an actual floor plan down on the floor and generate a 3-dimensional house from that. We are taking my past experiences from UVPHACTORY and working with both Jose and Han to combine the best of our resources as a company.
What are you most excited about regarding floorplanGRP?
I am really excited about this new partnership because UVPHACTORY has, for the last 15 years, done extremely high-end graphics, motion design, and branded some of the largest companies in the United States, if not the world. I admire Han’s documentary skills. I admire Jose’s skills in the real estate community. We feel that the real estate community has been underserved and so we are combining all of our resources to give the real estate community the best possible experiences that have and will exist in terms of immersive technologies, enabling floorplanGRP to be the go-to visualization company in New York City and beyond.