Hi & seeking insight

Hi all,

I just wanted to introduce myself and seek advice from those who have "been there, done that". I'm currently a student at Derby University, studying Architecture Technology, currently in my year out.

However, I find the course to be somewhat of a disappointment. But that's another story...

Why I'm here is I want to make sure I'm on the right path for learning how to produce good realistic models and renders, as that seems to be something that really interests me, I love spending hours on end working on a detailed project.

I decided to use 3ds max as that seems to be the best choice for impressive architectural renders (correct me if I'm wrong).

And have signed up to http://www.digitaltutors.com/ though pretty expensive, they seem to have the best selection of tutorial content.

I'm seeking any advice or suggestions from those with more knowledge, also if there are any of those that have gone down the same or similar path, what's is it like working in the industry?

Thanks in advance

I tried digitaltutors for 1 month but I didn't really like it. The thing with these tutorials (and many others online) is that they show you where to click and what to do but they rarely explain why.

In the future, i'll be looking for online formations, like cg school or matt guetta (french). Matt Guetta is a teacher in real life and what he offer online is pretty much what he would teach in his class.

Formations are more expansive but I think you learn much more from them. Someone correct me if i'm wrong.

I don't think 3ds max is the best 3d program (i'd prefer the free Blender) but it's the industry standard because of other autodesk prodcuts architects use...like autocad, revit. They all work well togheter.

People use different software, but 3d max has a lot of support on forums and many people to help out on forums as well. Like any job it can be rewarding if you love what you do. Remember that once you only focus on 3d you will most likely be doing that as profession and loose the architecture experience wrt a portfolio of architural design and detailing etc. My opinion is that studying architecture and then doing 3d only is a bit of a waste as chances of professional growth is more likely with being a professional architect than the 3d guy. Doing both is good, but when job cuts come in, 3d is not as important companies would rather keep the good architects, draughters and make do with the skills they have.

Its very important to have an architectural background yes. Are you studying as architect or technologist?

I chose to do 3d rather than doing drawings cause that is not my passion and having architectural/ design background helped a lot. This will be a very important future decision for you so think about it and do your research before just giving up on something.

Any training through any medium for 3d is good, books, internet etc........use all of them together. Books I found better myself to start of with as watching videos you will only copy what they show you to do, thus not going through the process yourself.

Insight into industry, well like any job it depends who you will be working for....you could be working the longest hours out of any employee in the company as it is a time consuming job. Could be you work for a company not so demanding and you have more time but this industry expects a lot from the 3d artist as they do not really understand the detail behind creating the 3d. Long hours and many changes, so you need to love it to stay in it. Not negative but realistic towards your question.

As 3d artist companies have to invest quite a lot of money for one person, a good machine compared to the draughters, software suites, extra 3d stuff like trees packages and people etc etc the list goes on and on where as the draughting people only use autocad your cost to them is seriously expensive and they will expect a lot in return. So make your skill stand out from the rest.

Suggestion is to start out doing both in the beginning and decide which direction to go from there.

Good luck

I disagree that it's a waste to study architecture and go into 3d. I've done that exact thing and my architecture degree has not only given me credibility but it also allows me to communicate effectively. If you’re able to work for a firm that values renderings you may find that they need you more than some of their other staff. In 2009 when we faced a slowdown my firm downsized but I kept my job because they needed the ability to sell their projects and do it economically. If you look at what it costs to employee an in house renderer against what a 3rd party would charge to do the same work the in-house renderer is usually much cheaper.