Ontario & Full Time Architectural Visualization/ Rendering Positions

[Aspiring Visualizer!]

I am currently an Architectural Technologist, I have been working in the field for over 3 years now, however, I am really not enjoying my career as an Architectural Technologist (basically I have come to really hate detailing!).

 

I am trying to find a full time Architectural Visualization/ rendering position within an office in the GTA, however, I am noticing that next to no one actually hires a renderer full time! and when they do, they are Sheridan College Animation graduates! I am noticing that the US has WAY more opportunities within this field?! (however, I have just bought a house and can't move there!)

 

I am extremely confused, as I really want to get away from Architectural Technology ASAP, I have been doing some freelance rendering work at night (but that will never be enough to pay the bills!) I really don't know where to start, do I need to go back to school!

 

I guess I am just asking for some guidance and advice?! If there is no such thing as a full time rendering position (in Ontario) within offices, should I move into the field of graphic design? What exactly is Real Estate Marketing and do developers outsource this work to Architects or freelance renderers?

 

Any advice and direction would be very greatly appreciated!!

[Brian Cassil]

It would help if you posted some examples of your work.

[Sawyer]

A lot of people started doing this this way getting tired of drafting. The thing about this work is getting up and running requires a bit of cash. As far as most businesses go we don't have huge operating costs but the start up is considerable.

 

Talk to people - Ontario probably has a pretty mature market. What I mean by this is 5 years ago I could go to anyone in an architecture office show them the worst illustration I had & I had their attention. Most firms had never considered this type of work and everyone got stary eyed. Now everyone is familiar with this work and when I go an architects office to offer my services I am usually competing with an in house drafter who may render right out of autocad. Now I cannot get every job this drafter gets because he gets $10 per hour and well the images don't have to look that good. I then get called only on special projects that really need to sing. So things have changed and you need to know what your competition would be in Ontario. The next step will be that no on will accept anything less than movie quality. It will happen many parts of the industry are like that already.

 

Big developers need this work, but they may already have it.

 

The reality is you need to be good. Most of us did not go to animators school but it may have taken us longer with longer nights and annoying our wives to do so. My feeling is that in a few years time everyone will have "training" in this. It will become a more established profession where people will say "Oy, I was trained in the C. Nichols scool of interior GI", "Yes well your GI is no match for my EB3 NPR kung fu".

 

Thats how things happen and mature. Should you go to school YES! if you can. If you cannot can you still make it work, yes, if you are dedicated have a little room on a credit card, and can work 15+ hours a day.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is that when these firms hire the kids from the animation schools they may not care that they went to animation school but I bet they have the best of the portfolios that get past around.

[Aspiring Visualizer!]

Thank you soo much for your advice, I really appreciate it!

[Tim Saunders]

sawyer nailed it right on. i'm a new school artist who just took a couple classes at a local community college to get me started. but i was willing to put the extra time into it to develop a good enough portfolio to land a job as an in-house illustrator at a fairly prestigious firm. i still suck compared to most these gurues. but, the key is figuring out if you love it or not. if you love it, you will skip american chopper like i did last night, and spend it doing more of what you do all day long just to get better. when firms see your work, the word will get out. you just have to spread it around. make tons of portfolios or brochures and take them around.

[moshenko]

Hi Cheryl,

 

Full-time postitions are available in Toronto; in fact, I'm trying to fill several right now (and yes, I received an application from you - more on that later). The key to getting a full-time position is to have a good portfolio of work and, as Sawyer said, you need to be good. Now, "good" doesn't necessarily mean that your completed work is at the same level as the company that you are applying to, but it does mean that there should be signs of competence and understanding about your projects. When considering an applicant for a junior position, I'm looking for great potential: a sense of composition, colour & light knowledge, undertanding of architecture from a visual standpoint. Being able to make a basic 3D model is almost irrelevant - everyone and their mother can make some kind of 3D model - it's the other artistic things that go into creating great images that I am looking for. If modeling is your strength, make it really stand out by doing exceptional modeling samples.

 

I mentioned junior positions, but that kind of role is difficult to provide for. We are an office of 5, so there aren't really any "junior" roles to be filled. Anyone that I hire is brought on as a longer-term member of our team. If they are hired as a "junior" member, it is because they have demonstrated some kind of raw potential that undoubtedly will grow into a mature, creative skillset. Demonstrating that raw potential is your job as an applicant.

 

To your application: My initial reaction was that there was not enough work presented in order to make any kind of decision about your abilities. If you had presented, for example, some insanely detailed 3D model of a piece of furniture or complex building canopy structure, or a really well-lit and composed massing study, I would probably have been impressed enough to at least give you a call and find out how badly you wanted to further your craft. Your educational background is relavent but, quite honestly, my biggest criticism of college/university 3D courses is that they're taught by people who do not work in the industry and are too broad to be of much use. Your best learning partner is yourself: experimentation, peer forums, manuals can all be great resources for furthering the quality of your work and your understanding of how the process works. The fact that you're getting involved at this forum is great, and you should utilize this as a learning resource as much as possible.

 

So, your best strategy is to figure out what your real strengths are and start working up some amazing examples of those strengths. There are opportunities for motivated, talented individuals with minimal experience, but you really have to prove that you are worth the chance. Otherwise, it's just too risky for an employer.

 

Best of luck - I hope to hear from you again.

[mesht]

i would like to give my opions with regards to moshenko's reply....

 

i have to totally agree with you about colleges/universities 3d courses, as they either lack in the knowleadge of 3d world or the programs itself. during my school time with a private arts institution, i should say none of the lecturers are capable enough to teach 3D. it so happen that a graphic trained lecturer is teaching 3d to interior design students!! doesn't make logic here.

 

so, me and few of my friends began self-tutorials, countless experimentations, trial & error, online tutorials, manuals, forum etc to pick the skills. well, took me 6 years of self-taught, from beginner to i should say, advanced user and working my way to be a professional one.

 

nowadays, employers look for quality and potential in a candidate's portfolio. if the drawings they saw impressed them, you're in! they are not like those days where a decent 3d work would satisfy them, now it's different. they look for realism, proportions, compositions, elements of design, ligthings etc just to name a few. these are from my experiences with a few firms i went for interview when i just graduated.

 

my advice for Cheryl - there is no short-cut to become a 3d pro, you need a lot of patience, enthusiasm, willingness to learn, experimentations, a good observer of things around you to pick up those skills. like what moshenko put it, work on your strength, if you really enjoy 3d, work on it with perserverance, you will see the fruit of your labour

[Brian Cassil]

i'm a new school artist who just took a couple classes at a local community college to get me started.

And how would you rate that experience?

[Tolgahan gungor]

my portfolio..

 

http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12088&page=1&pp=10

[jroberts77]

Hello,

We are new to this online community, and we're looking for a freelancer for building and floor

plan rendering/design work. We are an ad agency.

 

Does anyone in Canada, preferably in Toronto offer this? Working across borders isn't a problem either.

 

Here is something we might want made:

http://www.graphicalwonders.com/parkviewhomes_scan1.jpg

 

Thanks, for your recruitment suggestions.

[ihabkal]

Could we please not Hijack Cheryl's post? the last three replies before mine were irrelevant to this discussion.

[Brian Cassil]

Could we please not Hijack Cheryl's post? the last three replies before mine were irrelevant to this discussion.

 

I don't have a problem with this post, although posting something 5 years late may not be very effective in terms of connecting someone who is looking for work to someone who is looking to hire, it is still relevant.

[ihabkal]

yea I didn't notice the date, although someone posted an ad which they should have posted in the jobs section, their post brought the post to the forefront of my unread posts, weird.