jtroupe Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 I have been working in 3d renderings now for a couple of years, but they are only a small part of my job description. So I have not had much chance to learn a lot about Vray and Max. I mainly do exterior residential renderings. Every time that I do one, I feel like I am reinventing the wheel and having to figure out everything on my own. There are so many settings to play with. I have done a lot of the tutorials and they have been somewhat helpful, but I don't get very far because of them. I guess what I am curious about is if anyone has any suggestions for a workflow for exterior renderings such as lighting, rendering settings, etc. Basically a jumping off point for me. Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horhe Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 I have been working in 3d renderings now for a couple of years, but they are only a small part of my job description. So I have not had much chance to learn a lot about Vray and Max. I mainly do exterior residential renderings. Every time that I do one, I feel like I am reinventing the wheel and having to figure out everything on my own. There are so many settings to play with. I have done a lot of the tutorials and they have been somewhat helpful, but I don't get very far because of them. I guess what I am curious about is if anyone has any suggestions for a workflow for exterior renderings such as lighting, rendering settings, etc. Basically a jumping off point for me. Thanks, If they are only a small part of what you do - then why bother anyway? Diversification is good, as long it is not too overwhealming. Its better to be a professional in one or few fields, than a novice in many (i heard this quote somewhere - cant remember where but this is so true). What else do you do? Anyway if u really want to get into CG then youve got to invest some time. A whole lotta time. From my experience, the more images you produce the better you get. Observation is also beneficial. Checking out other renderings that satisfy your eye, and trying to figure what they got right that you dont helps a lot. Ive been working in this field for 6 years so far. Looking back at my first images really brings a smile to my face, as the difference in quality is definetally noticable to the naked eye (in other words - images that i produced 6 years ago just look really crappy ) If you want to produce nice renders you have to appreciate what is surrounding you. Look at the shadows, the materials, vegetation, how light is reflected. Try to analyse how things in real life work. I know the latter has been said before and probably a lot of people will tell you this. Thats my 2 cents Cheers and good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtroupe Posted December 17, 2007 Author Share Posted December 17, 2007 My job title is artistic director. I work at an architectural firm and I am in charge of producing the marketing materials, sales materials, advertisements, and 3d renderings. I understand about being good at a few things, but 3d is one thing I need to be good at. I always get requests for rush jobs, that is why I have not had the time to really dive into the 3d aspect of my job. I thought I was finally going ot get the chance today and just sit down and experiment a little. But once my boss heard that I wasn't busy, I got more on my desk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horhe Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 .......I thought I was finally going ot get the chance today and just sit down and experiment a little. But once my boss heard that I wasn't busy, I got more on my desk. Heh, thats the way it is Looks like the only time youll get to work on your 3d skills is during your own valuable personal free time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STRAT Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 yep, if 3d is only a small part of your job then it'll take a long time to become good at it. you really need to be doing it 24/7 (ok, full working days then) to come up to scratch. then stay there. doing it every now and then will be a struggle. you sound like a jack of all trades and a master at none. 3d is a full time job, not a passing whim, else each time to attempt it you will feel like you're re-inventing the wheel every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmcgonigle Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 Johanna, I'm in the same boat as you. I perform marketing & IT tasks for my company along with the occasional rendering request. Always a rush job on the renderings and I'm never "not busy" enough to take the time to learn/teach myself during business hours. I use my personal time as mentioned above. CG & 3D Rendering is a big interest of mine but I don't have the skills to do it fulltime and support my family so I have to settle with the situation I have now; random nights and weekends of learning Max & VRay. I've gotten fairly good with them and I've developed into a very quick learner because of doing it on my own time. My next goal is to branch into some freelance work to build my portfolio, this again would happen on night and weekends. But at least the freelance work will help pay some bills while I learn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 Practice makes perfect and that's no lie, the only way to get better is to use what you know and realize that there is always more that you can learn. I've been doing this for almost 9 years and I still learn something new almost every day. It's a never ending process and there is no quick way to do it, it just takes time. That's not to say that training won't help you, if your really interested look into taking some classes at your local college, or sign up to take some online classes. Vray is the most popular render engine out there so you should have no trouble finding tutorials, it's just a matter of absorbing the material and then putting it to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malevy Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Since i am new to 3ds and vray I have picked up a brians smiths books and also took his beginner class online which was really fantastic but you absolutely need to practice as much as possible. read everything you can get your hands on that pertains to what your learning and experiment. I take the books with me wherever i go and if i have spare time i read and study and read and study. Eventually it sinks into your brain and you can move on to more advanced subjects. If you have an ipod record his live online sessions with camtasia and put it on your ipod. ya its hard to see the video but you can hear the audio just fine and believe me it works hearing it over and over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Hi Johanna, I think you are not necessarily looking to become an expert visualizer, but rather to have competent, consistent results that satisfy the needs of your firm for their marketing materials. If your firm IS looking for expert output, then you might consider outsourcing the work if it is not something you are doing all day every day. But here are some suggestions to help you obtain consistent results without having to relearn the program each time you open it: - Fully document your next project with copious notes about starting each program, how you set up lights, cameras and materials. In a sense, you are making your own tutorial - or cheat sheet (however you want to look at it). - Use materials from other projects or get them from the Vray material repository. - Save your Vray settings to a preset file (if you can - it is worth looking into). - Start a new project from an older project that was successful. Just delete what you don't need, adjust your camera and lighting as necessary, and tweak your materials. In other words, use a "template" concept, so that creating a new scene is like filling in the blanks. I hope this is helpful. I don't think that a long story about the school of hard knocks is really appropriate to your situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rechtav Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Hi, Go to Gnomon workshop and buy some video tutorials about interior or exterior rendering depending on your needs. These tutorials are made from world class CG artist. They are very well explained. It is worth the buy .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malevy Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Funny you mention those videos i just bought the interior dvd and it is really good although one thing i wish would of been mentioned before i bought the videos is that the exterior dvd is needed to fully understand the interior dvd.. so i guess i am spending another 60 bucks to get the exterior dvd. He covers topics in the first one that are not in the 2nd dvd and you need to understand these to be able to keep up with the 2nd dvd. Anyone know of any good sites for materials for v-ray Hi, Go to Gnomon workshop and buy some video tutorials about interior or exterior rendering depending on your needs. These tutorials are made from world class CG artist. They are very well explained. It is worth the buy .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rechtav Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 I watched them both and they are very good tutorials. For the exterior, he will teach you how to use an hdr image with an exterior scene, finding where the light come from on the hdr, and put a light in your scene matching the source because hdr do not create sharp shadows. He will also talk about different settings related to vray rendering and vray materials. All his materials are mainly textured so not reallly a lot of information on setting materials with vray He will also introduce animation with vray and what are the best settings for animation. Really worth it. If you need vray materials, please go to this site: www.vray-materials.de Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malevy Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Yes i have been using that site for a few weeks now but all of a sudden the site appears to not be working.. hopefully it will come back up soon I watched them both and they are very good tutorials. For the exterior, he will teach you how to use an hdr image with an exterior scene, finding where the light come from on the hdr, and put a light in your scene matching the source because hdr do not create sharp shadows. He will also talk about different settings related to vray rendering and vray materials. All his materials are mainly textured so not reallly a lot of information on setting materials with vray He will also introduce animation with vray and what are the best settings for animation. Really worth it. If you need vray materials, please go to this site: www.vray-materials.de Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Burns Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Yes I registered with that site a few months back and I am still waiting on an email so I can download materials. Anyone know whats up? As far as the learning goes I think you should have a look at mental ray especially from max 9 on. It seems to me that vray used to be really simple to use but now has become harder and mental ray was really difficult to understand but has become a hell of a lot easier. I use MR all the time now and I actually find it quicker to render and set up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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