dennisbeswick

I recently got a license for Thea render and I must say this render program really deserves more shine. In the latest build there is an interactive render overlay mode where you can model in Sketchup while simultaneously looking at the rendered image on your screen. That's among other things that improved not only the plugin but also the stand alone studio. I'm just posting this as a heads up for anyone here who is not aware of this program in this community. I'm won't go into technical reviews on this but I can say that what used to take me an hour+ to render is now done in minutes using the GPU+CPU modes. Here is a promo for one of the latest features that's a must see The main website for anyone not aware of this http://www.thearender.com/cms/

You can check out some motherboards that support dual Xeon cpu setup over at Supermicro. http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/ I'm working with one in a studio. The only drawback for me is whoever built it was obviously making a server. It was just sitting there collecting dust so I decided to stick a GTX 760 card in there and use it. The only drawback is that the processors are only 2.2GHz but it has 8 cores (2 quadcores). It inspired me to make such a workstation for my next rig but I want to get faster processors. Hyperthreading is not important to me though. While we're here, what are the best quad core dual Xeon setups for 3D work?

Just introducing myself. I am a visual artist. I been painting natural landscapes since sixth grade and spent the past 20 years doing decorative painting and murals for residential and commercial buildings. What I love about painting murals is that I get the opportunity to give a feeling of "being there". So it's natural that I get the same thrill out of creating 3D environments. Last year a client asked me to make an artistic visual of a building he wanted to renovate. I took pictures, went home and fired up Photoshop. Still needing to learn some PS skills, I felt I was taking too long and decided to do it in 3D to make my life easier. I did the job in Sketchup and caught the 3D rendering bug ever since. I'm on my fourth commission. My current project will be my first urban planning job where I am rendering a stretch of 6 city blocks that contains 5 buildings I am designing. A hotel, Museum with condos on top, 5 story apartment building, a theater and an antique shop. Very challenging but rewarding. I also have a friend who is an architect. I am currently working on some things with him too. I think architecture is a long lost passion of mine because when I was in elementary school, I would always opt for the shoebox book report to build things. Once I glued two boxes together and made a little house (had pipes made of construction paper running through them). I decided to make 3D visualization my main way of making a living. I always said for years that everything must be designed first; every modern building and man made thing is visually on paper somewhere. I have some experience with Maya but the version I have is very old (Maya 6). I am currently working in Sketchup8 and rendering with Kerkythea. Thinking about an upgrade to Thea Render but still looking at options. So far Kerkythea is getting the job done in the mean time. I am also learning Blender. Eventually when business gets more momentum, I plan on investing in the best software I can manage to get. I still consider myself new to architectural visualization and could use some tips on post production and presentation. I look forward to a deep experience in this site. Sincerely, Dennis