Questions from a noob

[cakewalkr7]

Hi everyone. I am new to the 3d world although I do have a graphics background. I am very interested in eventually changing careers to arch viz but I do not have any formal training. I've been doing quite a bit of reading on this site and some others to get familiar with 3d terms and such, but as I do, there are other terms that come up that I'm not familiar with. Most of them seem related more toward the actual arch viz world than the 3d application. But, anyway, as I'm trying to get going, what would you suggest as a good intro to terms, concepts, etc for arch viz for someone like me? And what are some lower cost 3d apps that are good for creating architectural visualizations? Thanks!

 

BTW, I'd love to take some classes or something formal, but due to my work and family schedule, I just don't have the time. I'm hoping to get some good references for books, videos, web sites, etc? Thanks.

[AJLynn]

You might find this useful:

 

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Architecture/index.htm

[Geoffc]

Heya, nice name!

 

I would download and play with some demo versions of the popular modeling software, such as Max, Viz and Sketchup.

Most of these are full functioning, but limited to 30 calendar days use, or a certain amount of hours, so make sure you have some tutorials ready before you install the demo, so you can maximize your learning time. That being said, I'd make sure to not install them at the same time to maximize the learning time.

 

You may want to start with sketchup to get used to a simple 3d environment.

Then try the Max or Viz demo through Autodesk. All of these come with tutorials built in to get you started on the basics. Sketchup, last time I checked, has some excellent video tutorials.

 

If others know of some free demo 3d apps, please list them.

[Geoffc]

You might find this useful:

 

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Architecture/index.htm

 

wow, that's an amazing link that I never knew of!

[cakewalkr7]

Thanks everyone. I would think that at first I would work on just modeling a basic room and furniture. But after I feel comfortable with room scenes and I want to move on to full houses/buildings, are there places where I can download 2d autocad files to play with? Thanks again.

[Arnold Gallardo]

My suggestion would be to model something you know. Like your own room and try to use the actual Luminaires (light fixtures) that you have in that room. it can also be a bathroom or some other place that you know. This way you can predict not only how it will look but also see how well you have done the lighting and materials. This is the only best way to model something instead of getting some CAD data someplace else that you are not intimately aware of.