In spite of the architect.../..injecting fun.

[Tommy L]

Some people said before the World Cup (soccer) that England were a good team 'in spite of their manager' rather than because of him.

Does anyone else here get that feeling about doing in-house renderings for an architect? It really gets on my tits. Ive just laid to rest a night animation about a month ago. I says "let me know when you need the stills, Il drop back on it".

Yesterday, he wants A1 stills rendering, about 10 of them, in ten minutes. Naturally, he didnt get them, he got blown up 800/450's.

We spent 3 months doing the animation, then ruined it with crap stills.

 

I know its an old one, changes in design, rubbishy/no drawings, changing the guys hair colour......

 

Does anyone have any advice for injecting fun into rushed/ boring /uninspiring projects?

[Sawyer]

Every once in a while I get a comment that is fun. Last week I was getting rushed on a project and I told them I would be pressed to render it on time for their meetting will all of the changes they were making. They said that I didn't need to render to a TIFF file that I could just render to a jpg and that that would save me rendering time.

[Tommy L]

haha, do you work in-house for an architecture firm?

[Tommy L]

haha, do you work in-house for an architecture firm? I think what annoys me is that i used to work in a 3d studio, now Im a bit stuck because of my visa stipulations since moving to the states.

[Koper]

hehehe, yup thats life:D

 

I only started in Jan at a very good Animation House, 6 month contract and very good prospect for staying. So now I am proving my self and here comes a project where the guy wants a chinese market (stills) in a big animation and so its given to met to PS it and every time I show something, the guy wants it to look worse, grunty and dirtier (and all i think of is that I'm not gonna stay much longer at the animaton house) hehehe

but I did enjoy the ps challange, trying most of the tools there is

it was a good learning curve (hairy) BALL

[dinhtuan]

Every once in a while I get a comment that is fun. Last week I was getting rushed on a project and I told them I would be pressed to render it on time for their meetting will all of the changes they were making. They said that I didn't need to render to a TIFF file that I could just render to a jpg and that that would save me rendering time.

 

Why you don't tell them Jpg need more time to compressed

[mskin]

i work for an architect and it can be over the top.

 

ill render out, photomontage and then he'll ask me to start changing colors, hues, adding shadow, glare effects etc... no prob in pshop. but then, a day before he wants to show it... he wants the building turned 60 degrees.

[Justin Hunt]

my favourite is being supplied with a daytime photograph for a montage only to be told to make it a night time shot by "Cant you just turn the sun off?"

 

The other is I built a base model for the architect to trace over, later at the design review, one line had to be removed from the line drawing so it was suggested that I remodel the change so that the sketch could be redraw. The deadline was 15 minutes away:rolleyes:

 

JHV

[Horhe]

They said that I didn't need to render to a TIFF file that I could just render to a jpg and that that would save me rendering time.

 

Charge him double for the .jpg

[Limbus]

Sometimes a client may even ask if we cant skip the rendering part because it takes so long. The only fun I can think of is more money.

 

Florian

[STRAT]

i work as an in-house visualiser for an architectural firm and it does get on my nerves allot of the time. for one thing i dont get the respect my fellow 'architects' do; thats all i do i draw pretty prictures all day. i'm expendable and dont really have the technical knowledge they do.

 

and because of this 'lack of respect' (or understanding as i prefer to think of it) they also think (because they're architects too) they also know alot more than me about how to compose, sell and market an image. so i'm told by my bosses exactly what they want to see. this usually ends up messing up an otherwise perfectly good image. not all the time, but allot of the time. (allot of my best work never sees light of day because they dont deem them 'standard' enough. ie, 'strong sun at noon' type of image)

 

and also, because they're architects (a term i think allot of architects get a tad too high and mighty about) i also find they're not interested in a beautifully lit and marketable image but more a workable image where their design is correct and shows through. because of this they'll then insist the image will be excellent. complete arse. but try telling them that. this is why freelancing is like an artistical freedom bubble for me.

 

ok, i'm ranting a bit here. but why not. we all suffer from it. the amount of times i've had to diss one of my own finished images to suit the architect's liking is a killer. it's also known for them the physically sketch and pen over a finished print just before they go into meetings with them.

 

this is the general classic - i get architects adamant about the exact finish/colour a building surface must be finished in, then they moan at me when i show them that same material in 3 different renders at three different times of day and shadow position. doesn't it occur to them that finish will look different each time because of the lighting?

 

rant over

[joseph alexander]

A. If you're a consultant give the architect a VERY CLEAR TIMELINE as to when you need finished drawings by. Architects work by deadlines so having clear deadlines can be useful for both you and the architect. Also, add a stipulation about late submission and fee.

 

B. Review the drawings and send a reply saying that all changes made after the submitted date may add fee depending upon the scale of the changes. Then when changes are made, say something like "because you're a valued client we won't charge for this." or if it's a big change, charge. This strategy will reduce the overall last minute workload and make the architect realize that he or she is getting value from working with you.

 

C. Anybody who renders at our office are treated very well. Having some one who's talented and in house saves an office a lot of money and makes the design architect happy because they get presentation material that's more dead on. There's a science to modeling and lighting, which takes time to learn and intelligence, just as design and building technology does, people should respect that.

 

-Joe

[Vince Paske]

Strat - I know exactly what you are going through, I used to work in a place a lot like that. Luckily I had an opportunity to go work for another company that gives the sort of respect we deserve, and pays much, much better.

I think part of the problem may be generational, the other part is just plain ignorance. The generation of architects I used to work with, at least the lead designers, were 10-15 yrs older than me and didn't care or want to know anything about "computers" or the cool things we are doing with them. They would use my stuff for studies, then get a high-end water color to present to the client because it was easier to hide what wasn't worked out. Its the format they grew up with and felt comfortable with. Nothing wrong with that, but it was attitudes and self-imposed ignorance that made the job a grind.

Try to explain cg graphics to some ppl, even without techno mumbo, all they hear is the teacher from Charlie Brown..mawamawamawa

Not all older generation architects are like this, some are really fascinated by it and a real pleasure to work with.

[edub]

anyone ever got this one:

 

"can't you just *fence-stretch* that wall, without having to re-render?"

 

as if it's a 2D CAD drawing, instead of a rendering... LOL

[Sawyer]

I have noticed the client who says make it "red" can often be easier to please than the guy who comes in with a color swatch or a Panatone number.

 

I had a client who wanted the walls to match the floor in color but he didn't have a floor sample. This was the same client who wanted a blue/green/brown/gray color. It took a long time to find that one. Every rendering was wrong because I coulnd't find blue/green/brown/gray.

[RyanSpaulding]

I got one recently...I had a photomatch where the lighting was from the wrong angle and it CLEARLY showed (issue with the Bentley > Maxwell exporter).

 

So I corrected it, yet the client demanded the lighting be changed back.

 

Worst part? It's going on a giant billboard about 1/2 mile from my apt. I gotta look at the glaring error every day going to work.

 

Stupid client. *shakes head*

[alexg]

I've worked in Arch as in-house before, and it seems that the more unskilled the architect is, the more disrespectful they are towards us.

Their nasty comments and revisions are just tools to desperately try uplift their dying design skill in front of their peers / client.

 

When working on with talented designers, the process are much more fun, some even takes time to explain the concept behind the design, and are more open to creative suggestion.

[3D_IC]

I'm an in-house 3d guy for an architect and on one of my current jobs, of which i have four, the last count was 9 changes to an image. The gut wrenching thing is that its only one of a set of 6 (i feel sick just thinking about it), and they want a 7th new angle too. This could be the project that drives me to resign.

 

When i first started, the tracing paper sketches were a novelty and i found it a challenge to complete good looking images from a desk full of tracing paper. Now its getting down right annoying. The two-three day turn around time means any images i create are not worth the paper they are printed on.

 

I feel for your plight tom, and know exactly where you are comming from.

 

The pantone colours are classic. I had a client (Architect) who chose a colour for a roof then came back saying the client wanted something lighter......lighter.....a bit lighter still. Then i get he's seen this roof he drove past and he wants it this colour. Don't even start me on the render colour....

 

The only fun thing i can think of is to take as many holidays as possible.

[aflack]

I work in-house for an architect and while most of the time they make my life difficult over the last couple of months I have found the best jobs to work on.

 

Masterplans......... they want fully worked up images and building yet they don't have the time to design them.

 

Three days ago one of the architects came to me, he didn't have a plan, he didn't have building heights, he didn't have a design for the buildings. All he said was I want a tall building here and a few smaller buildings here and use the leadenhall building in Moorgate london style.

 

That was it, its been great. As long as the finished image looks alright he doesn't care!

[1eo]

Hey, you guys should become architects... in that way nobody is going to mess your pretty pictures! that is until a client wants to change your design

[alexg]

better still, be a developer.

 

I am now an architect too. Once in a while there comes a fun project, but most of it are not that flashy. All the regulations are too damn meticulous and time consuming. Not to mention documentations, site supervisions, and those changes on the field because that detail is just too expensive to build.

 

When doing 3d, the architect ruins most of the beauty.

When being architect, the client sucks!

[1eo]

better still, be a developer.

 

I am now an architect too. Once in a while there comes a fun project, but most of it are not that flashy. All the regulations are too damn meticulous and time consuming. Not to mention documentations, site supervisions, and those changes on the field because that detail is just too expensive to build.

 

When doing 3d, the architect ruins most of the beauty.

When being architect, the client sucks!

 

 

couldn't agree more... Becoming a developer is my next step (I'm working on it )

[Guest nazcaLine]

i know both sides of the story since i'm an architect too. the difference is, when i make a render for myself is the perfect story. but i guess (i guess) the day will come when i have to tell somebody to make a render for me. that day i'll know if they are right to be so bothering or it's just that i have more common sense

 

Eduardo

[3DEXTRUDE]

i know both sides of the story since i'm an architect too. the difference is, when i make a render for myself is the perfect story. but i guess (i guess) the day will come when i have to tell somebody to make a render for me. that day i'll know if they are right to be so bothering or it's just that i have more common sense

 

Eduardo

 

Most of the time architects have no common sense, sorry to say that. I am also working for an architecture company in florida, and the problem with architects is that they do not see the technical side when they ask you to change something simple in their eyes, and its huge on your side. There was a project that he wanted a new render that was due in about 30 min. Well, my render would of taken longer than 30 min and i did tell him that. All he cared about is changing the view and re-render my scene.

 

I called him over before i hit render on my last one, and i told him to make sure this is the view he wants to be rendered because this will take hours at times to render...sometimes leave it over night...He said yes sure..this is what i want...

 

Later when everything was good and rendered, the next day now he wanted this re-rendered in 30 min....Well, i simply told him he needs to take the render i did from before because there is no way he will get a render of a different view in 30 min...

 

He was a bit bitter, but sometimes architects can be hard assed guys. The only thing you need to communicate with them is that you have to be STRAIGHT FORWARD in the beginning. Once you hit render there is no turning back, unless you finish the project days ahead schedule.

 

Eventhough i am new in the company, now he clearly knows my spot and he has to know his spot. We have to come to an agreement and ones you make that agreement, there is not turning back. I would tell all the 3d artists here, to not let an architect slave you around and hold you " AT FAULT" for not generating a render. I hold them responsible not me...cheerz

[Tommy L]

ok, ok, I didnt mean to start a slanging match about architects!

I was saying that their design-flow isnt conducive to creating beautiful images at my practice. So how do I maintain job satisfaction whilst churning out frustratingly crap renderings?