timillustrator

The Society of Architectural Illustration has launched a monthly, free to enter competition. Winner receives £25 sterling (or equivalent). Details here: http://www.sai.org.uk/forums/forum/sai-monthly-competition/

It really does depend on who you work for. I agree that some big firms might not find you credible if you are not VAT registered but if they know you are a one man band anyway that won't matter. Some of my clients are big but can't claim the VAT back (not saying who here) so that 20% discount is a big deal to them. If you do work for private individuals (and that can still be some decent sized work in the residential field) they can't get it back either.

I think you are right, her standard of English does not sound like an American with such an American name.

Being a member of the RIBA does not entitle you to call yourself an architect. That is governed by law and the ARB and, as Justin says the reason for this liability. The chances of the British Government ever protecting the title of 'architectural visualiser' or similar is less than zero, they would not consider protecting the titles of Engineer, Surveyor, Contractor, Builder, Clerk of Works etc. (despite extensive lobbying from some massive engineering institutions with many thousands of members) so protecting the consumer against a badly rendered perspective would be given pretty low priority. The list of protected titles in Britain is very small indeed (much less than the US), it includes Solicitor and several health related titles - doctor, osteopath etc. but not much else.

Also only a very small proportion of the global GC community uses this forum. I haven't seen many Chinese members? It's your choice whether to share or not obviously but those using this forum and sharing are better prepared and knowledgable as a result.

I think there is equally a lack of knowledge, how many members of CGArchitect know about the ASAI or SAI? I teach yr 6 architecture students and some are pretty good illustrators and have a reasonable degree of skill, but none seem to have heard of SAI or even CGArchitect. Perhaps younger members of the profession do not see illustration/vizualisation as a viable career even though for many it is the most exciting or interesting part of what they do.

Hi Dan, For a more British perspective try posing in this forum: http://www.sai.org.uk/forum There are a lot of people who are successful in visualisation in the UK on there. I would say that getting work experience in an architects office (there is not much in the way of formal architectural internships over here) could be of some use but there is vast competition for the few places and you are just as likely to end up drawing door schedules as do any visualisation work. Tim

It has a new forum, which like anything new is slow to get going, but has a lot of potential (at least as much as this website). Check it out here http://www.sai.org.uk/forum/ I think there are a lot of advantages, it is cheaper than the ASAI and is also international as well.

I am looking at getting a small (A4) portable scanner to scan in drawings while I'm not in the office and import to a Mac. I will often have larger drawings which I'll scan in several parts and then want to join into a single image preferably TIFF or JPEG or PDF. Is there a quick and easy way to do this with TIFF files without using photoshop? I know there is Raster Stitch but I think that's PC only.

For five houses three views in the West Midlands, I'd say you'd be looking at about £1,000 - £1,500, people might do it for less, some would charge more, but it's about what a developer would look to pay.

I know of a case in England where the photoreal illustration was submitted as part of a planning application, the building was built and the architect got in trouble with the Planners because the cladding "did not look like the approved image" or something similar. If the image had been rendered in, say, watercolour that wouldn't have happened. In some cases it is better to submit something more impressionistic in case the client should change their mind later.

Congratulations, you just need to train him to hold a mouse, well as soon as he can sit up anyway!

Could do, I think the washiness looks to much like a cloud in front of the house. If it was rendered in watercolour the brickwork would be more consistent and the building probably a bit more prominent. It's not far off though.

Very nice, I think the washiness in front of the brickwork detracts from it a bit. Which version of sketch up was this?

OK, I've bought one or two disappointing books but found some others to be great. I have a few of the ASAI Architecture In Perspective books which I got cheap and are really nice. I was looking to buy some more but they cost about $35 each plus $25 postage so I was a bit reluctant.