Minimum Requirements Arch Viz

[jcorpe]

I am curious about a career in architectural visualization but I'm not sure what the minimum requirements would be for a potential employer to consider me for a position. I have a BFA in Industrial Design, and my current responsibilities at my job are graphic design (for brochures) and interior visualization for the aerospace industry. I use Rhino, Photoshop, Illustrator and 3ds Max on a daily basis and I am beginning to learn V-Ray Advanced. Most of the job postings I see require AutoCad and/ Architectural Desktop. Is it possible to get an arch viz job without knowing the above two packages? It's one thing to develop a portfolio consisting of arch viz and learn how to read blueprints but it's quite another to spend thousands of dollars just to learn AutoCad. Does it require going back to school or will a portfolio speak for itself? How much can be learned from books if technical knowledge is required regarding building construction? Are there any other good resources (other than this website) for learning architectural visualization? Your thoughts and guidance on how to proceed would be appreciated.

[kippu]

i think a good portfolio should speak for itself other than having a degree but then i did not find myself searching for a job ..... knowing autocad and architecture desktop is an added incentive

[Devin Johnston]

If you’re going to be working for an architectural firm then they are most likely going to be using AutoCAD and unless they have someone there who is going to model for you then you will be responsible for creating the models. I would say that would be a big turn off for a firm if their Viz person wasn't at least basically familiar with AutoCAD. As for quality your portfolio should speak for it's self but make sure you have examples of architectural projects you have worked on, firms generally want to see examples of past work that is related to the industry.

[jcorpe]

If you’re going to be working for an architectural firm then they are most likely going to be using AutoCAD and unless they have someone there who is going to model for you then you will be responsible for creating the models. I would say that would be a big turn off for a firm if their Viz person wasn't at least basically familiar with AutoCAD.

 

So would you say that most architectural firms model in AutoCad rather than 3ds Max? I learned basic AutoCad for 2d (V14) years ago but I didn't really think visualizers used it for their primary modeling application. My impression was that most people took the AutoCad data and modeled it in Max (or another package). Am I way off here?

[Jeff Mottle]

Hi Joseph,

 

I think your current qualification more than speak for themselves. You have a degree in a design field and are already familiar with all of the tools to do high end visualization, so you already have a lot going for you but I do think that you lack of knowledge in AutoCAD could be somewhat of stumbling block. I'm not saying you will not be able to get a job, far from it, but depending upon the firm and how integrated AutoCAD or ADT is in their 3D pipeline, you could find yourself strugling. If the company uses ADT extensively, and yes a lot do for their 3D work, then it will be tough to keep up with out some training. If they only do some in AutoCAD and mostly 2D, then you could probably go out and buy yourself a book on AutoCAD and/or ADT and get yourself familiar enough with the program to be able to manipulate the models and 2D data so that you can use it in 3dsmax.

 

If I was hiring someone for a 3D position and their only downfall was their lack of training with AutoCAD, I'd still seriously consider them. Experienced 3D people can be hard to come by and anyone with your skillset can be taught how to use a CAD application. On the other hand not everyone can be taught to be creative and have an eye for visualzation.

 

Don't forget that anytime you see a job posting, their are usually listing their ideal candidate. Rarely does that person exist, so I'd still get myself out there.

[jcorpe]

Thanks for your time everyone. Having discussions like this in a forum atmosphere is relatively new to me, but I very much appreciate everyone's willingness to share their thoughts and experiences. If anyone else has an opinion, or has a story of their own about making the transition, I'd like to hear it.

[jcorpe]

Firms I talk to now want to hire architects coming out of school with 3D & graphic skills, that can run projects.

 

Yeah, this is what I was kind of afraid of. I mean you have to expect that new graduates are going to have pretty descent skills with 3d and graphics. At some point though I would think that it would be difficult for the architect to actually focus equally on both designing and marketing their spaces. Although I must say that it seems like we live in a time where we are expected to learn an extraordinary amount of software packages just to compete. Do architectural firms expect their architects to do the designs, texture and light, animate the cameras, do postwork and edit the movie, design and create the DVD's, do the graphic design and pre-press, and follow-up with the construction? Or is it more like other creative fields where people specialize a bit more. The industrial designers I've known over the years could care less about DVD interactivity, global illumination, non-linear editing, motion graphics, CMYK, HTML, etc... Maybe the recent grads are expected to know these things.

 

Speaking of which, I still haven't learned After Effects, Mental Ray, Quark, Dreamweaver, Flash, AutoCad, Architectural Desktop, Microstation, Form Z, Combustion, Director, Maya, Studio Tools, Cinema 4d, Final Cut Pro, Catia, XSI, Solid Works, Pro-E, Freehand, or any of the other half dozen tools that I should know to be the ideal candidate. That said, what am I doing wasting time here when I should be learning these programs. I'm starting to miss the days when life consisted of learning about things like Repetition, Hue, Atmospheric Perspective and the economy of line thickness. Where charcoal, a board, a smudge and a nude were all you needed to 'feel' like an artist. I haven't felt like that for a while.

[Devin Johnston]

I think smaller firms usually have to spread the load around and there isn't one specialized person who does only one thing. In large firms they will have at least one dedicated person who takes care of all of the 3D stuff in the office. As for learning all of those software packages I would say for an architectural office you should know AutoCAD, PhotoShop, Max (Vray, Final Render, or Maxwell), Premiere or After Effects. Those are the basics and if you find you have extra time your just wasting then you could learn some others but not knowing them shouldn’t keep you from getting the job.