Workflow & organization

[sdds]

Hi all,

 

I have spent the last 4 weeks learning architectural basics and autocad, it's been hard and a steep learning curve for me working part time in an arch office.

 

So I have some basics under my belt, have autocad, sketchup, c4d, photoshop, illustrator and after effects experiance. I have never used max so this may be something I must do. I can now put worked in an architects office on my cv, may put me up the pile a bit..

 

what I lack is organization and working efficiency. My scenes could be optermized better, workflow could be better and file organization needs improvment. Creating and organizing elements in a library is something I really must sort out.

 

I also feel my modeling lacks detail, ie I model mainly in sketchup, this could be a mistake, fast, but is it efficient?...making changes etc can be a pain.

 

Also how many of you start of with hand drawings or crude models to rough out a comp, I tend to dive in thus giving myself more problems later on.

[chiquito]

Hi, I started also in autocad, think of it this way, if you can manage autocad, you can manage anything else, no software is so complicated and primitive as autocad. So if you handle that one...

as for the productivity.... In my opinion it depends on what the models are going to be made for, lets say you are going to do an external view, I would use autocad for the layout and facades, then go to max and do a polymodel there, so I get to do all windows at once , lets say. that is if the project is already solved (interms of design) if its a in-process design, I would either use 3d block for facades and modular pieces in autocad, so im just at a double click away form modifing the whole strip of them. Yheres less chance in modifing these blocks in 3d max, but it dependes on how are you planning on modeling for each project. As for sketch up, I can give you some quik results, in terms of massing, but for fine modeling I would use max, or if the pieces are may and to much alike, lets say a courtain wall on an office building, definitlly autocad.

Starting with crude sketches is fun, but beware of indefinitions... everything thats not specified today is a problem tomorrow. unless the guy who comisions the work has a clear way of passing on an idea.

[chiquito]

sorry for the spelling mistakes... didnt read the post...

[sdds]

Thanks for the help mate, I have only be working with autocad for 4 weeks. Get on with it ok but haven't done any 3d in it.. Your right about sketchup, when I first used it thought great - fast easyer etc.. But apart from massing the basics out it's not so good. My sketchup models when rendered with textures always look crap.. maybe its just me but they look flat and too simple.

[Tommy L]

Sketchup is actually capable of great things. I havnt used it, but those who model with it on a daily basis say it is very fast and just as accurate as anything else. And soon I think Vray may plugin to it. So I wouldnt dismiss it. Max is more complicated than acad in my opinion, because it is designed to be able to do everything.

If you have limited experience and want to advance, my advice would be to build on your sketchup knowledge, learn a render engine (Fry or Vray maybe) and start to build a portfolio. Studios arnt as interested in a software list as they are n your artistic use of software. So for quick/good results, build on what you know. In a studio, they can quickly adapt your knowledge to their workflow to tap your talent.

[STRAT]

And soon I think Vray may plugin to it

 

it already has - http://tinyurl.com/2924hw