Home on Ariel Marin — Architectural Visualization

Automating a Render Queue with Python and systemd

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:00:00 -0300

My render node used to be driven by a folder of .bat files and hope. This post walks through the small Python daemon that replaced them — about 300 lines, no framework, running under systemd on Debian.

Requirements

queue render jobs from any machine on the LAN;
survive renderer crashes without losing the queue;
notify me when a job finishes or fails.

The queue

Jobs are plain JSON files dropped into a watched directory — no database, no broker. The filesystem is the queue, and mv is atomic:

Render Queue Worker

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:00:00 -0300

A small daemon that turns a watched directory into a render job queue. Jobs are JSON files; claiming a job is an atomic mv; recovery after a crash means moving files back. No database, no broker, no web UI.

Design notes

The filesystem is the queue — mv gives atomicity for free.
systemd handles restarts, logging and memory limits.
Notifications go out through a Telegram bot on job completion or failure.

Status

Running in production on my render node since mid-2026. Next step: a --dry-run mode that estimates job duration from scene statistics.

Hillside Residence

Sun, 10 May 2026 00:00:00 -0300

The house steps down the slope in three volumes, and the imagery had to make that movement legible: how the roofline follows the terrain, how each level opens to a different layer of the canopy.

We worked from the architects’ BIM model, rebuilt the terrain from survey data, and developed a restrained material palette — board-formed concrete, blackened timber, large glass planes. The lighting concept centers on two moments: low warm sun cutting through the trees, and the blue hour when the interior reads as a lantern.

A Practical Linear Workflow for Archviz

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0300

Most “my render looks flat” problems are not lighting problems. They are color management problems that masquerade as lighting problems.

The short version

Your renderer computes light in linear space. Your monitor displays gamma-encoded images. Every texture, light value and post-production step has to respect that boundary — or you end up compensating with ever-stronger lights and crunchy contrast.

Fix the pipeline once, and stop fighting every image individually.

Where it goes wrong

Albedo textures imported as linear when they are sRGB.
HDRIs double-corrected on import.
Post-production applied to already display-referred images.

A quick sanity check for albedo values:

Atrium Interior

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0300

A triple-height void organizes the building’s public life. The brief asked for images that communicate scale without losing warmth — a balance handled mostly through lighting temperature and the density of entourage.

The vertical format was essential here: the signature image looks straight up through the void, compressing all three levels into a single frame.

Contact Sheet Generator

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0300

Clients review sets of images, not single files. This CLI takes a folder of renders and produces a single annotated contact sheet: filename, resolution, and an optional note under each thumbnail.

contact-sheet ./renders --columns 4 --out review-r03.png

Why

Every delivery used to involve ten minutes of manual layout in an image editor. Now it’s one command in the delivery script.

Status

Prototype — works for my delivery format; flags and defaults still shifting.

Courtyard House

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0300

Competition deadlines compress everything. This set — three exteriors and one interior — was produced in five days, from a clean SketchUp volume to final boards.

The images lean on strong shadow patterns from the pergola and a single, consistent time of day, which kept the set coherent and the review cycles short.

Riverside Office

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0300

Developer marketing work with a clear goal: the building had to feel inevitable in its context. We matched drone photography of the site, calibrated the camera and sun to the shoot metadata, and composited the tower into the real riverfront.

Pendant Lamp Study

Sat, 14 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0300

A self-initiated exercise in restraint: a single spun-aluminum pendant, rendered under thirty different lighting setups. No post-production allowed — every image had to work straight out of the renderer.

Studies like this feed directly back into client work; half of my go-to studio lighting rigs came out of this series.

About

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m Ariel — an architectural visualization artist. I create images for architects, developers and designers: modeling, materials, lighting, rendering and post-production, from early concept studies to final marketing imagery.

Most of my work sits between architecture and computer graphics. Understanding how light, materials and optics behave — physically and perceptually — is a central part of the craft, and it’s what keeps me close to the technical side of image-making.

Contact

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

For commissions, collaborations or a quote, email me at arielsmarin@gmail.com.

Requesting a quote

To make the first reply useful, include if possible:

project type (residential, interior, commercial, product);
number of images and target resolution;
available material (CAD/BIM model, drawings, references);
deadline.

I usually reply within one business day.

You can also find me on GitHub, LinkedIn and Instagram — links in the footer.