I founded Lucydreams in 2015 and have been its creative and technical director ever since. Throughout that time, my work has focused on creating images for architecture and interior design, and guiding my team through every stage of production: 3D modeling, photography, texture and material creation, rendering, and post-production.
I began sharing what I had learned in practice back in 2012, through my blog, the workshops I organized, and the courses I taught, mainly in Rome and Milan, but also elsewhere in Italy. I continued teaching alongside my work at Lucydreams. Both drew on the same foundation: technical knowledge and artistic skills built over time, which I kept applying, questioning, and refining.
Then came artificial intelligence. Between 2024 and 2025, it began to capture more and more of my attention and gradually became part of my work.
I wanted to understand what these tools could do, where they could fit into the process, and how radically they might change it.
That interest wasn’t immediately shared by everyone on my team. Some were apprehensive and strongly opposed to bringing AI into our workflow. Others had already begun moving in different directions. Eventually, the team went its separate ways.
That was painful, but it also left me feeling free again to pursue the work that interested me most, take new risks, and explore new directions.
I don’t want to frame this as a divide between people who understood the future and people who rejected it. People can have different views about the tools they want to use and the direction they want their work to take. In our case, those paths naturally diverged.
The team’s breakup is one of the turning points where this story begins.
Past and Present
I was feeling an increasingly strong urge to explore. Whenever a new tool appears, I want to open it, find out how it works, and learn to make something worthwhile with it. That’s how I approached Cinema 4D and every other tool I’ve used over the years. It isn’t about becoming an expert in everything. I simply find it frustrating to depend on someone else to bring an idea to life.
AI was raising questions I wanted to spend time investigating. To find answers, I needed to try it, introduce it into familiar processes, and see what happened—with the freedom to experiment.
Architectural visualization was changing fast. Rather than defend my territory against these supposedly diabolical tools, I felt it made more sense to get to know them.
From that point on, I wanted to discover both how AI could make my work easier and better, and how far I could push it.
Calling this a “break with the past” doesn’t quite capture what happened, because that past is still very much part of my work.
The way I shape an image is changing, but the thinking behind it remains the part of the process I care about most. Composition, photography, storytelling, color theory, and psychology are still central to what I do.
Contemporary Visualization
The relationship between traditional 3D visualization and AI is still taking shape. So is our relationship with AI-generated content. We’re learning how to engage with it while trying to work out whether it leaves us feeling more anxious and unsettled, or excited and curious.
Many architecture, design, and visualization studios already use AI. Others have experimented with it to explore its possibilities. Yet relatively few have made it a reliable, established part of their everyday workflow.
At the moment, there are two main challenges:
- Producing results that are not only high-quality but also consistent and repeatable, while retaining control over geometry, style, perspective, and the clarity of fine details.
- Integrating AI into the software we already use, so it can help automate tasks, improve processes, and speed up the work.
The real challenge is shifting from knowing which tools are available to understanding how they work, recognizing their limitations, and knowing where they belong in a daily workflow. That means preserving control, consistency, and quality while making the most of what AI can realistically do today.
Working with AI takes patience. Many people give up too soon, dismissing it because it failed to do exactly what they needed on the first attempt. Fewer are willing to give it a chance, explore it in depth, and allow time for the models to develop the ability to handle more complex tasks.
Why I Created the Masterclass
As I explored these possibilities, I noticed a growing interest in AI and its potential, especially among my former students. These were people who had studied traditional visualization with me and wanted to know how I was approaching this transition and what I had learned.
Their interest, my research, and my desire to share what I was discovering led to the creation of the masterclass Digital Imaging & Visual Storytelling in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.
Teaching became intertwined with my work again, as it had been before. This time, though, there was an important difference: the challenge was to apply the principles of image-making through tools that are constantly changing and evolving.
When we have a result in mind, our goal remains the same: to guide the tools toward it. Even as those tools change rapidly—usually for the better—our creative direction holds steady. We simply gain more powerful ways to pursue it.
Why Share This Journey on ITW?
For a while, I wasn’t sure what Inside the Workflow should become. A website for the Masterclass? An English-language version of my blog? An independent space to explore my relationship with AI?
The idea of a journal brought those possibilities together.
ITW is where I’ll share what emerges from this research, along with the questions it raises—including the uncomfortable ones.
The Masterclass grew out of this journey. My experience at Lucydreams and the years I’ve spent teaching and working in traditional visualization are part of it too.
I don’t yet know exactly what shape this work will take. What I do know is that I want to keep creating images, deepen my understanding of what today’s tools can and cannot do, and share everything I discover here. ■
ANGELO FERRETTI
My name is Angelo, and for over 20 years, I’ve been passionate about teaching and creating images focused on architecture and interior design.