New to the Forum

[MesaPrs]

Hi Folks,

My name's John and I'm new to the forum and to computer based architectural visualization. I've been doing traditional watercolor arch. renderings for a few years and want to make the move into computers.

Could anyone give me an idea what a wise investment in software/hardware might be?

Right now I have a PC with an Athlon 64 1.8 ghz and 960 MB RAM, no 3D acceleration, and am looking at Autodesk VIZ mainly because of it's compatability with Autocad/ADT/Revit, and it seems the modeling tools are better suited for architecture. I'm also thinking about OnyxTree Broadleaf, some sort of image collection for "entourage", and possibly a renderer like Vray, if it's even needed...

Does this sound like a good setup to get started with, or would anyone recommend anything different?

 

Thanks for any help!

John

[Devin Johnston]

Yes that setup would definitely give you what you need to make some nice images; you might want to think about getting some kind of texture library as well.

 

It's always good to see new people coming into the profession, be warned though it's not an easy thing to learn especially on your own. I'd recommend taking some classes at your local college or art institute just to get you up to speed.

[MesaPrs]

Hey thanks Devin,

I actually have some experience with this stuff (note: some), I was a 3d modeling and animation major at an art school in San Francisco and did a lot of non-architectural work with Maya. I'm hoping that'll level the learning curve with Viz a little. I'm also taking architecture classes at a community college to learn arch. design and get some experience with these programs - it's actually Autocad that I'm scared of at the moment...

Blah, more details than you wanted to know! Anyways,thanks for the help and for offering so much information on the site in general! It definitely makes things a lot less intimidating for us newbies.