ChrisLSimpson

I have been working on the house more and here is the current progress on the render. I have removed the fence, changed the lighting some, and and I am now starting to work on the landscaping.

Studio/Institution: Class Project Client: Class Project Genre: Residential Exterior Software: 3dsmax, Mental Ray Description: I am working on this and another project for my 3D animation class (you can see the other project here) I am recreating 6th and Brushy from Austin Texas. As part of the assignment we had to make our own interpretation of the building, so I had to change the exterior materials but other than that is an exact recreation. I am getting close to being happy with the assignment but I know that I can still improve on it. One of the main problems I am having right now is finding a way to make the cars look nicer. Also i am not following the surrounding area exactly for the recreation, because the area around this building in real life is not that interesting, so i made a plain background building for now but I am not sure if it works. This is just a plain render out of mental ray without any post-processing or Photoshop. If you have any advice on that or anything else I could do to improve my render, I would greatly appreciate it.

Studio/Institution: Personal Work Client: Personal Work Genre: Residential Exterior Software: 3dsmax, Mental Ray Website: http://chrislsimpson.com Description: Hello, this is one of my first 3D Exterior projects. I am nearing the point where I am starting to be happy with how my project is looking but before i start making final renders, i would like to get some advice. I have done this render in MentalRay, and this is just a direct output image without any post-processing in Photoshop. (that's next) Any advice that you have to help me improve this before i start my final renders would be great. I have attached my render so that you can critique those too. I don't have that much experience with Mental Ray yet so I don't know if i am using the best settings.

I have been spending alot of time with mental ray since i made my first post, and now I think i am much better at it. After my next paycheck i should have enough saved up to be able to get the student version of VRay so next week, i will be starting on it as well. I do agree with Photoshop work though, and I have found that using it can make either render engine look like the best. I will have to start learning VRay though because every archviz firm ive looked at applying to mentions it as a requirement. (One company was so concerned about Vray,they listed it first before even mentioning 3dsMax)

I noticed the lists at the start of this thread, but also that they were from last year. Is there a more up to date list somewhere? I will be getting a new computer in a few months and having a up to date list would be nice.

I am about to graduate from college in May, and I want to be able to get a job somewhere doing architectural visualization. I have only used mental ray, but it seems that everyone everywhere is using V-Ray. I looked in the WIP thread and went though 6 random pages. Every single project on every page used V-Ray. I have finished a test render of a building I have been working on and compared to even the most basic V-Ray renders of people that say its the very first thing they ever did, it doesn't look as nice. Ive been working on 3d rendering for 3 years using just mental ray and have seen images here of people that just started 3dsmax/V-Ray create better looking images in one weekend using V-Ray than I have created in a month using Mental Ray. That being said, without using V-Ray do I even stand a competitive chance of getting a job anywhere without using V-Ray? It seems that using V-Ray makes any image look better regardless of how little time is spent on it. I want to be able to get a job when I graduate, so should i switch over to V-Ray even though my computer would barley be capable of running it?

After seeing theese posts i feel much better about myself. I applied to some jobs over the summer and got quite a few rejections, and I guess I have been letting that get to me more than it should. I am thinking more positively about myself now and I know that I will be able to get a job if i look around enough. It is transitioning from internships to entry level work that is scaring me, because no one had ever explained to me how they were different. I saw all the nice work on this site, and I thought that it was the kind of work i would be expected to turn out when I started out in the working world, but now that I know its not like that, I know i have a chance somewhere. I just need to keep working on my stuff, but more importantly I need to find some contacts. From what I learned from getting the internships that I did, it is more about knowing people than knowing what you are doing. I didn't know everything that I was supposed to to be able to intern where I have, but I did know people that already worked there. They were more than willing to teach me what I didn't know so that I could do everything they wanted. Now that i know that entry level jobs work in about the same way i know i can find one somewhere. I just have to keep working on my stuff and sooner or later I will have enough money to be able to get the newer computer that I wanted. I don't know when that will be, but it shouldn't matter as much as getting my name out there and getting known.

I am a college student and I am in my last year before i get a computer animation degree. I want to get a job doing some kind of animation when i graduate. However when i look at the work here, everything ive ever done looks like complete crap and i don't think i even stand a chance at all. If just one person on this site applied other than me applied for a job, they would get it over me because my stuff looks bad compared to what you can do. Here is my portfolio site: chrislsimpson.com First off here is some stuff about my work just so you know where I am. I am stuck in a bad posistion and i need to find a way out of where I am. I need a job somewhere. I still have one more semester of college to pay for, so all my money has to go to that. After that, i need to get a new computer so I can work on things. I am still stuck on a old 32 bit windows XP computer that can barely even run 3dsmax. It can barley render on Mental Ray, and wont even run VRay. I want to get a job doing arch viz stuff, but from what ive seen here, I stand no chance and ill just be laughed at if i even try applying. I can't get any better unless i have a newer computer, but i cant get the money for a newer computer unless i get a job. What advice do you have for me so that I can get a job once I graduate from my university? I at least want to try and get a job doing something relating to animation once i graduate. Even if its not in archviz, id be fine with an internship somewhere, so I at least can have a job. Then once i have a job, I can get a better computer and start on nicer looking archviz stuff. For the meantime. are there even any exisiting tutoirals on MENTAL RAY archviz stuff? Everywhere i look its always Vray this or Vray that. Don't get me wrong, I like Vray, and I have used it before at an internship. I just don't have a computer that can run it.