Charles Gaushell

Congrats!

You should add information on the firm/yourself - whichever is appropriate. I am always hesitant to hire anyone that is "unknown". Something about your background, experience, services, etc. Images are the hook, but they don't close the deal alone. Best,

Gary. I'll send you a note via email. Might be interested.

I think it is fair to say that most if not all of the bigger 3d firms are making adjustments to actually save jobs. Sometimes it means hard choices are required. There is nothing more awful than ever having to let someone go or to ask them to make some level of sacrifice. My guess is that there will be many firms that go away altogether, but I would put my money on the larger ones (8 or more people) and the smaller ones (1-2) surviving. It is that middle size that would concern me. Right now the game is survival through the second quarter at least. There is work out there of course and plenty of it even now, but it is going to be very dependent on how well a firm is already networked. My prayers are with everyone through this.

Thanks, but not a new concept. Just a slight name change to be more accurate to our services that we've been providing for a very long time. The marketing work uses 3D as a core service. We've actually been providing those services since 1995, three years after our founding. We've always been a bit "fringe" here since we are not 100% 3d.

Like others have said - just ask for permission. It is quite common to show work, but be clear in exactly what you created for that shot (if not everything from soup to nuts) and to give credit (openly) to the firm you worked for.

We use: Lightwave (with fprime) and Modo for 3D modeling and rendering Every Adobe product known to mankind PaintshopPro Piranesi Framecylcer

Having on-site contractors sounds good in theory, but since most firms are relatively small and only create a limited number of presentation renderings per year, it seems to me to be a very small market segment.......certainly limited in the average size city. Young architects know enough about 3d to use it as a design tool and not all grunts will be cut back - got to have the guys to create the bathroom elevations! So a large number of firms will have limited 3d talent in house. With so many firms nervous, I doubt that many will be in the mood to take on a foreign concept - they will hire arch viz firms on an as needed basis.

Numbers aren't looking so good. I've been hearing of layoffs from firms for a few months now. Likewise, I've watched developers that had seemed really strong cutting staff. Without a doubt it is impacting the arch viz market. I suspect more than a few of our types will go away and others will shrink. There seems to be plenty of 3D work for those willing to change industries and relocate though. Unfortunately for many architects it isn't quite as easy.

In most instances here in the US, if you created them while working in-house for someone, then they own them. Freelancer obviously is vague as you described it. If you were paid under a contract, then you probably do. You need a contract to clearly state so with each client. If I were you, I would feel comfortable to use for self promotion, but would mention the architects by name. It is very common to see here in the states architects to show work that they were in charge of at another firm, but they always credit that firm by saying something like "Created while at XXXX firm" Sounds like you need to ask an Austrian attorney about the actual copyright issue.

I think you partially answered your question - success in business has a lot to do with connections and networking. For those of us that have been in business for a long time we typically spend less time chasing work and more cultivating existing relationships. The good news is that the poor work that you say you are competing against will eventually hurt those competitors. Just do quality work and keep working to build your network. It takes time but is the best way in my opinion to build a future. So you are going to have to keep plugging away and calling upon people you know. Trying to undercut competition screws yourself (you will always be expected to be cheap) and hurts the entire profession - it ultimately leads to poor quality of work too. Which is why I keep hearing from firms that have tried cheap 3d, that it was counter productive and they won't do that again.

Some good points here, but we are seeing work picking back up. The bigger players realize that the market will turn and they need to plan now. The residential market is clearly hosed in many locations due to greed and stupidity for the most part. It will come back but I'm not expecting to see another crazy condo frenzy again anytime soon.....though that market will bounce back too. So for us it has really been a matter of different sectors slowing but others just fine. There are clearly mixed feelings as to the bottom of and rebound of the markets from the developers and bankers that I've talked to. Time to be tough, tighten up and focus. But I don't believe the sky is falling. I'm just thankful I'm not new to this and trying to start a business.

First I write the script with a visual description. Depending upon the client, we create a graphic storyboard or just send the visual description. The project team sits down and discusses the shots, but we like to do a lot of in camera adjusting so we leave some of it open until we do the first animatic - then we start honing the timing, cutting/adding shots, etc. Lightwave 3d. We have a render farm controlled by ButterflyNet Renderer. A combination of Dual Core and Quads. All Dells. About 60 boxes total. Not sure of which shot you refer to - the shot with the bird in the foreground is video with a cg background. The bridge/river shot is all composited within Lightwave but uses a mix of 3d and photos on polys. They are far away from the buildings. The site is quite large which is the point we are making - a lot of undisturbed environment. HD Instance. Render very very fast. LOL - oops. Yeah, it was a big debate internally. We use both 3d and 2d shot on our greenscreen - both have advantages and disadvantages. There is a big debate in the Lightwave forum at Newtek too. As I noted there, a client has never commented either way as they tend to pay attention to the overall feel. I'm waiting for realistic 3d people - don't exist yet. Thanks. Happy to help. Hope answers are useful.

Thanks. Birds and nature shots are key to the story - showing that 900 acres is untouched and the project is integrated well - very sticky issue. Static people - yeah, we debated adding in ones we shot on our greenscreen, but the time crunch didn't allow. We had less than 3 weeks to turn key it. Grass at end shot is video - there are several shots where we combined live action video and/or photos with CG. Made it fun and challenging. We have a shorter version - 45 seconds that i will try to get posted after a short trip.