sdds Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 hi all need a bit of advice and wisdom from you veterans. I am currently learning the ropes at a small architectural practice and finding more and more how little I know about drafting plans, how buildings go together, rooflines etc etc. sure I can render a pretty pic, but without some structural knowledge its, well unlikely to be of any use.. Do you guys happen to know any books, online resources etc for the basics of architectural plans? Also how far do I take this, how much do I need to be a good arch viz artist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 My honest advise to you would be night school. Technical fields require education. If that isn't an option, try looking for books with titles like "Methods and Materials of Construction". You also need something along the lines of technical drawing for architecture. Another good thing to do is to study construction details produced by your firm. You should not be required to design details, but you should be knowledgeable about your firm's methods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louis.cho Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 I am agree with Fran, school is the best place to learn it. One other method is read plans, a lot of it. and if you have the chance, looks pics of the final result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceAged Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 I would certainly recommend a book by the British author R Chudley, 'Building Construction Handbook'. It lived on my desk for a year and really helped make sense of 'why' buildings are constructed the way they are. If you can understand this then modelling them becomes a lot easier, and you will be in a better position to correct any mistakes made by the architects. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Building-Construction-Handbook-R-Chudley/dp/0750661968 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbowers Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 I also recommend some schooling. Never hurts and will only show your place of employment your commitment to continuing education. On the other hand, Francis DK Ching has published many great books on this very subject. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agolk2 Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 As far as I have encountered, Ching's books on the subject deal mostly with the visual design aspect but are nevertheless VERY informative and easily understood texts. He is a very talented artist, architect, and author. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mskin Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 i recommend experience. a must purchase is... "Building construction illustrated" - francis ching. Absolute best place to start. Read product literature.... for instance, USG has a great hand book for drywall construction that includes all sorts of detailing. When you draw something... learn all about it. Find out who makes it, what did the PM specify? go check out thier website. Get samples. Operative quote... "i am learning the ropes". I don't know anyone who "knew how to put a building together" at 24. It takes experience. - try to get some field exposure. ask one of the CA guys to take you on a walk through of a site I honestly dont know what you would learn with a class or two about "how to build a building" except possibly a methods and materials course. I think the best advice is to make sure that you work in a supportive environment and get as much experience as possible. My opinion, learn how to "put a building together" at work and take courses on business management. but, WTFDIK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdds Posted May 13, 2007 Author Share Posted May 13, 2007 thank you all for your input. I am spending time this weekend looking over working drawings and site photos, slowly getting a feel. I will defiantly consider a course on the basics, but will focus on learning at work for the time being and do a site visit. Will look into books by Ching to help me along the way. Thanks for the help guys, like I say kinda put the cart before the horse with learning modeling/lighting & rendering first, but I guess at least they are up speed, now need the practical knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deevee84 Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 the Ching book was my best friend in my first year at uni...i reckon that you would learn heaps at work more so than u would at 'school' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAllusionisst Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 Ching is good advice and it has already been suggested that you go to school, I might add that site visits will help you see how things really go together. Take some initiative to get lunch time visits to job sites with fellow workers, the Project Managers might love a chance at sharing their projects with fellow workers, but with hectic schedules, usually don't have the time to initiate this sort of thing. Justify it as 'Continued Education' and offer to do it during the lunch hour and management will probably go for it. Then just soak up all you can when you are at the job site and try to go over the project plans ahead of time so you can easily put two and two together. Technical know how is great, but actually seeing it during construction solidifies that information. That is my two cents anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexg Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 If you'r in small arch firm, then you can try to visit the construction site. All the textbook goes down the ditch once you saw what really happens in real life. See what they do and why they do it. The logic is there, and it's the greatest teacher. Can't really explain it on any book. BTW, Ching book is a good thing to have for reference as well. Nice overall explanation there. Great sketches and font too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STRAT Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 I would certainly recommend a book by the British author R Chudley, 'Building Construction Handbook'. It lived on my desk for a year and really helped make sense of 'why' buildings are constructed the way they are. If you can understand this then modelling them becomes a lot easier, and you will be in a better position to correct any mistakes made by the architects. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Building-Construction-Handbook-R-Chudley/dp/0750661968 i absolutely second that, especially for the UK. This was my architectural bible all through my college days up until now. It's a fantastic little book that explains all aspects of building and design in simple tech drawings and explanations. I wouldn't part with my copy. http://tinyurl.com/35uyot (even cheaper) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
da-rc Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 To be quite honest someone fresh out of an architecture degree will know very little more than you on construction of 'real' buildings, so don't get too down about it and the architects you work with should have been through it all before with students. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4DM Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 I second all the above, but on another point: Several posters on this thread are not declaring their full names. Forum Rules: "CGarchitect.com is a professional forum for professionals. We require that all individuals who wish to participate on our forums fully complete their user profile, including their real first and last names. If you're not comfortable providing us with that information, your account will be deactivated or deleted and you will not be permitted to participate. Our feeling is that only professionals are willing to do this, thus forcing real first and last names reduces the amount of unprofessional participants." STRAT, have the rules changed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STRAT Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 STRAT, have the rules changed? no they haven't. i'll email these members soon. i'm not always on the case Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3DEXTRUDE Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 Well, it depends what kind of school it is and if they are teaching you something that you can later apply to your career. In my 3D classes, they were teaching the program, but did not teach us what to do when you get out of those classes and when you are on your own. They do not teach career minded programs, but mainly how to use this program or that program, teaching you the buttons etc...etc..They give you some simple projects to do from a book, or from online tutorials and you are on your own. What i dont understand is that, they charge you a lot of money for those classes, and i see students strugle to get a " JOB " after school is over. Do they care about you not having a job? I don't believe they do. They care about your pocket more. They have career services in college thats true, but about 60% of people get jobs like that, the rest complain never learned enough to get a job. I recommend picking up a good book or a good DVD tutorial on these things. I see a lot of people out there who never went to school, just invested in a few good books and dvds and were able to pick up more from those, than what they picked up in a college. I have a bachelor's degree, and i can say that i learned more outside school than what i learned throughout my classes. My teachers were very talented and some of them worked on lord of the rings, and spiderman 1 etc...Usually it happens that they are great individuals in the talent department, but bad teachers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mskin Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 i have not posted my entire name. i used to have it listed until i noticed that a google search for my name led to this forum. no offense, but i would really prefer that a google search of my name not lead an ex girlfiend to this forum. I would gladly divulge my true identity to anyone here, but i would prefer not to publish it. Fair? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4DM Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 i would really prefer that a google search of my name not lead an ex girlfiend to this forum. An ex-girl fiend? Hmmm...don't blame you then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mskin Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 fiend i didn't catch that at first, but its a good description. no, there weren't many, but the ones there were.... well, they were pretty frieghtening. thanks for your understanding anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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