Do Landscape Architects need 3d Vis artists

[Ausmax]

Hi,

Could someone tell me if Lanscape Architects call on 3D Visualisation

artist for Visualisations?

I currently live in a rural area outside of a city and have questions as to whether their is a demand for Vis. services in my local area.

 

I know that there are a number of Architects that work and live locally, but they also seem to be big on gardens here.

 

Any thoughts ? I would appreciate it!

 

Kind Regards

[luckyluc]

I think you maybe need to create the demand yourself.

 

Landscape artist often try to use 3D themselves (here in holland)

but like architects, they don't have the skills, software or hardware.

 

you have to show them that you can do it better.

[Ausmax]

I think you maybe need to create the demand yourself.

 

Landscape artist often try to use 3D themselves (here in holland)

but like architects, they don't have the skills, software or hardware.

 

you have to show them that you can do it better.

 

 

Yes, I think you could be right. It might be worth investigating further.

Thank you for your input Luckyluc!

[amer abidi]

Make sure you do some research first. Different Types/Species of plants, as they will most probably require specific needs, instead of the usual architect's "connifer here, and palm there" sort of approach.

 

Lighting might also be another bait to get them to work with you.. showing them their designs in a night view shot for example. I Just Love good landscape design.

[ihabkal]

Every year I get to do 3 or more projects for landscape architects, especially US ones are very specific about plant types too. They are easy to work with and happy with the work, and happy to supply you with plants imagery too.

About your place of residence, it would be wise if you could move into a major city where architects live and work, nowadays I am finding Architects more inclined to working with local freelancers than outsourcing. You do high tech, you should lice near high tech.

[Justin Hunt]

How rural are you?

 

Best way to find out is to ask them, offer your services and take it from there.

Finding good "local" 3D plant libraries is hard, so be prepared to build your own. If you do them right you could always start to sell them.

 

 

jhv

[Jeff Mottle]

Everything I have been hearing in the last 12-18 months is that Civil visualization is one of the untapped and up and coming visualization markets. For some reason the civil field is about 3-5 years behind all of the other architecture markets when it comes to visualization. I think if marketed correctly, there could be a lot of work here. Especially in the US with all of the upcoming infrastructure projects being funded by the stimulus package.

[Justin Hunt]

Toowoomba isn't too bad, at least its not woopwoop:D

 

starting out is scary but we all gotta start somewhere.

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

The only thing that I will add beyond what others have said is that I feel working successfully in creating visualizations for landscape architecture will require extensive Photoshop skills, and image libraries. I wouldn't count on being incredibly successful by creating 3d libraries of the plants, and then rendering those. I could be wrong though.

 

You will probably be best off creating the base model in 3d, then placing fairly generic plantings to cast shadows. Then render out the underlay, and bring it into Photoshop to complete a detailed, extensive composite.

 

3d software for landscape is continuing to get better, but for standard day to day, nothing still looks as convincing as skillfully composited images.

[jkletzien]

The only thing that I will add beyond what others have said is that I feel working successfully in creating visualizations for landscape architecture will require extensive Photoshop skills, and image libraries. I wouldn't count on being incredibly successful by creating 3d libraries of the plants, and then rendering those. I could be wrong though.

 

You will probably be best off creating the base model in 3d, then placing fairly generic plantings to cast shadows. Then render out the underlay, and bring it into Photoshop to complete a detailed, extensive composite.

 

3d software for landscape is continuing to get better, but for standard day to day, nothing still looks as convincing as skillfully composited images.

 

Now I'm quoting for agreement.....relying on 3d libraries as tempting as it may be for plants is a bit of a pig in a poke - in that creating a lot of custom content whose form is at some level subjective (plants) can be a HUGE investment in time - much less rendering it. Learn to composite well, it's the shortest line between start and finish.

[Justin Hunt]

There are allot of European plant libraries (both 2D and 3D) available, but very few Australian. As such regardless if you model or composite you will have to invest in creating your own custom libraries.

 

On top of that Landscape architects can get quite hung up on having exact plant species, so generic libraries may get you some of the way but may not be enough to satisfy.

 

So grab your digital camera and go for a walk in your local botanical gardens.

 

Good excuse for spending some time outdoors.

 

jhv

Edited January 19, 2010 by Justin Hunt

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

On top of that Landscape architects can get quite hung up on having exact plant species, so generic libraries may get you some of the way but may not be enough to satisfy.

 

The trees lining the front of the building need to be Monkey Pod's... Now, we should make the ground plantings around the Monkey Pod tree White Jasmine, but make sure they are not to manicured. They need to have a wild, natural look to them. Now, the bed to the left is wild prairie grass. It should be 2 feet tall, and very breezy and airy looking. Now, along the walk we, parallel to the building, we need Mother-in-Law's tongue.

 

Not Australian plantings, but as Justin says, expect conversations like this.

 

Oh, ...and the plants above are not from the same project. They aren't even from the same regions.

Edited January 19, 2010 by Crazy Homeless Guy

[Justin Hunt]

step in google, there are some great horticulture web sites out there with common and scientific names (and luckily images)

 

jhv

[Ausmax]

Make sure you do some research first. Different Types/Species of plants, as they will most probably require specific needs, instead of the usual architect's "connifer here, and palm there" sort of approach.

 

Lighting might also be another bait to get them to work with you.. showing them their designs in a night view shot for example. I Just Love good landscape design.

 

Hi Amer,

You mentioned that you like good Landscape design - have you put together many of these types of scenes? I have read that 3D veg. is now the standard

and that it possible to keep file sizes under control using 3D. I figure it would be wise to use 2D maps for background trees and 3D for middle and

foreground?? There is a Mental Ray feature that is supposed to be good for keeping file sizes to a minimum.

[Ausmax]

Everything I have been hearing in the last 12-18 months is that Civil visualization is one of the untapped and up and coming visualization markets. For some reason the civil field is about 3-5 years behind all of the other architecture markets when it comes to visualization. I think if marketed correctly, there could be a lot of work here. Especially in the US with all of the upcoming infrastructure projects being funded by the stimulus package.

 

Thanks Jeff,

This is good information.

 

Here is a link to a video by the Civil Consultancy Firm Scott Wilson.

They talk about the difference they see between Architectural Vis and Civil.

It's mentioned that Civil Vis. projects don't require a great deal of photorealism but have to be very accurate.

 

I guess it depends on the particular job?

This will be interesting for anyone who hasn't had exposure to Civil Vis. work.

 

Edited January 20, 2010 by Ausmax
missed detail

[bev.lynn]

100% of my work is Civil Design. Over the past 4-6 years, the clients that I have worked with want accuracy AND photorealism and are quite disappointed when they can't get both at an unreasonably low price. For some reason, they seem to have the idea that there is a "make it look real" button because it's easier to visualize site topology in Civil 3D. I must admit most of my clients still do things the old way and shy away from new technology. But, I am opening their eyes to the possibilities...

 

I love architecture but the main reason I joined this forum was to learn design visualization from an architectural perspective and apply it to civil design. My own proclivity for detail and accuracy has given me many headaches when it comes to design visualization!

[Ausmax]

100% of my work is Civil Design. Over the past 4-6 years, the clients that I have worked with want accuracy AND photorealism and are quite disappointed when they can't get both at an unreasonably low price. For some reason, they seem to have the idea that there is a "make it look real" button because it's easier to visualize site topology in Civil 3D. I must admit most of my clients still do things the old way and shy away from new technology. But, I am opening their eyes to the possibilities...

 

I love architecture but the main reason I joined this forum was to learn design visualization from an architectural perspective and apply it to civil design. My own proclivity for detail and accuracy has given me many headaches when it comes to design visualization!

 

Yes, that must be challenging! How do you go interpreting the line work?

How complex are the plans?

[bev.lynn]

Yes, that must be challenging! How do you go interpreting the line work?

How complex are the plans?

 

Prior to last year, I used AutoCAD and Land Desktop to create 3D terrains and did artistic renderings in AutoCAD or AutoCAD Impression. Many times if it was a commercial site, I handed the 3D terrain off to the project architect for rendering.

 

I currently use Civil 3D 2010 to model my terrains and I am wetting my feet with 3ds Max Design 2010. I am still learning Max, but I am very experienced with modeling terrains in Autodesk Civil software. I have spent the last two years trying to learn to model structures and terrains in Max, but found it very frustrating because of my lack of experience and the time required to model an accurate terrain. So, I have returned to what works for me.

 

Over a year ago I tried to model my first site in Max and got frustrated, quit and started working on the tutorials again (see first two images below). Now, I am at it again, determined to succeed! I've invested toooooo much money to quit! The third image was created in Civil 3D from a DEM file with an image draped over the surface.

 

Now if I can only find that "make it look real" button, I will get brave and post some real work !

[Justin Hunt]

There used to be a great program called Kia's Powertools in photoshop, it had a "feature" where the more you used it, more tools would reveal themselves.

 

The "Make beautiful" button is like that, it will reveal itself after a time.

 

After 14 year's I'm still waiting for it to be revealed

 

jhv

[Ausmax]

Yes, maybe I'll be as brave as you and post my own work at some point or another. I am hardly one to comment being a Graphic designer and new to Visualization - but I think your cruising well, obviously you have a lot of skill . Keep going and don't give up on Max. Sooner or later you will break through onto a new level.

 

Bev,

Have you heard of this plugin called Dynamite VSP for civil work?

It sounds very useful!

Look at this link if you are interested

http://civilcommunity.autodesk.com/blogs/blog/6/blogpost/6791/

[Jeff Mottle]

Bev,

Have you heard of this plugin called Dynamite VSP for civil work?

It sounds very useful!

Look at this link if you are interested

http://civilcommunity.autodesk.com/blogs/blog/6/blogpost/6791/

 

Yup, Autodesk just acquired them a few weeks ago. Friends of mine are the also the exclusive resellers for the product in the US. http://www.visuallyis.com/

[bev.lynn]

Yes, I am aware of Dynamite VSP and I have been following them since Autodesk acquired them. I am hoping that they do something drastic like incorporate some of the features into Civil 3D.

 

OK, let me dream:D! I am considering investing in Dynamite VSP, but I am waiting for the next release of Civil 3D to see how or if anything will change...