hidr Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 There are many times a 3d artist is making a very good rendering (for him) and suddenly the customer factor comes (usually a day before deadline) and destroys everything. He wants to change the lightning and you explain that it's not right and a scene like that would never have that light. He request the scene to be flat, he changes colours in order to fit his RAL palette and he never understand that all the changes need time. Not to mention the problem with the sketches and plans of the project (changes all the time) and we always have to follow these changes. What are we going to do with them? Which is the way to satisfy them? What is your stategy? Is a good rendering that they want or to see their changes done? I know that answers of many of these questions are pretty obvious but I want to know, what are you doing with your customers. How do you treat them? Any ideas...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cassil Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 Haha! Yes, clients get in the way of great renderings all the time. The answer to all of those problems comes with generating enough clients that you can baiscically choose to work for the ones that are good to work for, and still have plenty to keep you busy. Untill then, you pretty much have to suck it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alvaro Ram. Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 more changes..?...more money... I agree with you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbr Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 yup, it's 'suck it up' when you need the projects, when you don't you just do the 'well, that's beyond the scope of the project...' Another pain is when you have a client that's great, but then the people that he's hired that you need to get information and files from are not cooperative. Then it makes you look bad because things take so long. Happening right now, as a matter of fact...on more than one project. Joy joy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Saunders Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 i guess it also depends on your role your selling yourself as. meaning, i work in house at a firm, so many times, the designers don't realize changes need to be made until they see a rendering. so i realize i am being paid to not only produce a nice image, but to also assist in the design proccess. but yeah those last minute changes suck. especially when they have seen like 3 wips and made no mention of the changes all along what they have been shown. clients just need to know that up to a certain point, no changes can be made unless the due date changes. good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hidr Posted September 28, 2005 Author Share Posted September 28, 2005 One of the things that gets in my nerves is when you are having a meeting with a client that he wants to find a right angle for the camera, or to see the colours of the project and after hours of testing and camers movements he decide that the camera position and the colours that you have from the beginning looks right. That's why I always keep the first image that I produced and compare it with the image made after the long hour meeting. He is always suprised and he realises that he lost his whole day. May be next time he has to trust me. Are you being paid for such meetings (hourly or how?). Another way of interaction with the client is through list of changes. The client sees a preview image and he makes a list of changes that he sends them to you. When you are done, you send another preview image that verifies that changes are made and if he wants more, then he pays. (the first list of changes is included to the offer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lambros Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 Usually, we offer two sessions of changes to clients. Do a draft render, the client submits changes, semi-final render, final changes, final render. More changes are charged depending on their scale (If we can get away with a little photoshoping it is not big deal), but it is always a nice idea to render in .rla or .pic including all material information, reflections, shadows etc and tweak in post as needed. As for the client thing, dear Elias, I would strongly agree. My philosophy is that clients need to be trained, especially on the 3d field which is kind of super-extra-terrestrial to many older architects. To be honest, I have dropped 3-4 clients even though they paid well, after doing a job for them. I just could not get along, and I think that it mattered most. So, I find it better to stick with the best I can get! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sindala Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 A thing i discovered after many of these problems that you can make life a little easier when you 'wow' the client. Sounds stupid but it works. when we are at the point of choosing the camera angle, that's when they first see the images (and one of the most important moments in the project), we send lots of possible angles from plain white renders without any textures sky etc. so they get about 20 options to choose from. these images are dead boring but make it easy to choose a camera angle without the client already commenting on the model itself, or having any idea about the lighting. The next round is the completely finished images, when the client sees these they are sooo much better than the original images that they are instantly satisfied (wow moment). After this we have two correction rounds, i ask them to put it in an e-mail so i have a list. first round to get all the mistakes out, second round to finish up. Basically never show the client images that are halfway, because they will complain like hell and keep making small changes because they are unsatisfied from the beginning, and you can never remedy this. this helps a little, but there are still a lot of architects i would like to strangle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STRAT Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 you do what the customer wants. if he asks for stupid things then he's the guy paying the bill. you can certainly try to talk him round and come to a compromise, but at the end of the day he's putting a roof over ur head so you make him happy and bite ur tounge. you can always re-render an otherwise client-botched image at a later date for your portfolio if you think it has potential. yup, clients are a major pain in the ass. 99% of the time they're not interested in a beautiful finished render, but more a personal take on the job, which usually turns out sub-standard and you feel ashamed putting ur name to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luft Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 If I don't agree with the requested changes, I will argue my point (as an expert on anything visual, compared to them!) This usually makes them realise the errors of their ways. However, if they insist, I am still prepared to do what they want, UNLESS it seriously compromises my standards and reputation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Sugden Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 As a word of caution, I have often seen my name linked to CGarchitech posts through search engines relating to topics I have posted on here. I'd be very wary about complaining about your customers so publicly. You never know who's reading these forums!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 As a word of caution, I have often seen my name linked to CGarchitech posts through search engines relating to topics I have posted on here. I'd be very wary about complaining about your customers so publicly. You never know who's reading these forums!! Actually I think that this is really true. I had a collegue at another firm point this out to me. He just out of the blue reminded me that he could do a search for anyone he wanted and found out a lot about them. It was so unexpected I think he was was saying he found my stuff here. I don't think I have much to be ashamed of but it did bring the point home that if I was going to have my real name posted everything I say is preserved and searchable. Good thing I am not vain & paranoid otherwise I would never say anything. :0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernest Burden III Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 I have a track record of postings going back to before the www was really being used because of archives of an email forum for Datacad. I'm talkin' early 90's. They do sometimes come up if you are searching by my name. Fortunately I have been aware of the fact that what is posted in forums is public, and (usually) conducted myself accordingly. The microphone is ON, Pres. Reagan. Which is why I haven't posted anything to this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manta Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Well if costomers knew just how much they hinder the design process, maybe it would be a positive thing... If they would come to realize how much extra money they get charged for doing so... And I hope every client in the world finds this post... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinice Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Ignore them. That's what I do ... sometimes (in a nice way, of course). If they want to think of me as pain-in-the-ass primadona, then so be it. Basically, most clients do make unrealistic requests. However, if it come to a level where you feel they do not appreciate you as a specialist/expert, my advice is just to drop them. The only way you will ever make a decent income in this line is when yr client appreciates the value that you bring in. If any client shows the "my 12 yr old can also do the same thing" attitude, please don't waste yr time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nazcaLine Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 wow. i've just read guys from many nations in different parts of the world complain about the same things. internet is great. and customers suck anywhere they're from!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now