The future of Architectural Visualization

[Sindala]

i have been wondering about the future of arch viz for a while also.

One point that i am not seeing in this discussion is that a lot of the clients i have are not the architect, but the developer or the real estate compagnies. the images they want are not only based on the architecture but also should help sell the project better. The architect usually has a diffirent agenda then they do. Perhaps this is how it works in holland, but i expect it's the same everywhere.

[J.C]

Excuse me for bringing this thread back again but I would like to know how you feel about this subject now that maxwell seems to have the "make good render button". I've been hesitating to buy because of the well known communications and missed deadlines issue but I'll surely buy before the preorder price is over. It seems to me that this is the tool to have if you want to stay competitive in this ending business.

[*Pete*]

i never tried the maxwell renderer, but even if it has a "make good render" button, will it still not be up to the artist to decide how much glass reflects, how blurry a wooden floor reflections should be, how transculent/transparent curtains are...and thats just surfacing.

 

its almost like, everyone knows how to take photographs with a camera, but still professional photographers are hired in to deal with anything that is expensive that you want to sell, or important to remember (weddings etc etc).

 

i would be very suprised if more efficient tools would put carpenters out of business simply becouse anyone can buy and handle the tools.

 

all that happens is that the expectations on speed/quality increases.

 

a carpenter with the best set of tools is expected to do his job faster, better and most important, cheaper (less hours per project, cheaper for the client)...but he is also more likely to get more customers with his new tools, speed and pricing.

 

 

i have been thinking about these things a lot, there is really sooo many things all of us can do, actually, we can do anything we ever wanted to do, if we take the time to learn to do it...but even if you are able to do everything you can imagine...there is still a problem that is stopping you.

we only have 24 hours, and atleast a third of that is spent on sleeping...what you do with the rest is up to you, but you better spend atleast one more third on making money, and you shoujld make money the way you know best..if youre an architect, you do architectural stuff, you dont spend the last third of the 24 hours to learn to do 3D, instead of having free time and spend it with your family.

 

 

i have been working with grinding uneven concrete floor to smooth concrete floor with relatively cheap machines and little needed expertise to do it, the smooth floor is needed for example to put an another kind of floor on top of it, but still the company i worked in was specialiced only in grinding the floor, working for the company that was specialiced in putting a for example, wooden floor on top of it.

 

it would be easy for the company with the wooden floor to learn to do what we do, or for our company to learn to do what they do...but it didnt happen, becouse there is a good and comfortable market for the both of us.

 

that is how the world works.

 

i havent worked with arch-visualisation yet, but id be very suprised if this business was any different to others businesses....so dont worry guys

[r_mc_gowan]

i am currently starting up a business in northern ireland, primarily based on providing a cg outsourcing service not only for architect firms, but also small cg pre-viz firms. services range from the usual 3d detailed modelling,image renderings and rendered animation walk through, to more advanced new media such as game engine technology for complete user interactivity and 3d printing technology. im currently finalising my research into this market area of pre-viz work, and im interested in your views and opinions on this. what you all think??

[r_mc_gowan]

no one has any opinons or comments??

[Calvin]

Message to Howard Griffin,

 

I also live in Canterbury and would like to discuss the CGI marketplace with you locally.

 

Could you please email me via the contact icon found on our website http://www.denovodigital.com

 

Cheers

Mark

[Charles Gaushell]

Having practiced for 13 years as a project architect in various firms and having a 3D Viz company since 1992, I am not concerned about losing work to architecture firms. In fact, we are looking for more people! We are extremely busy and may well double volume in 2006.

 

The thing you have to keep in mind is that most of the Viz work doesn't come from architects - it comes from the Client. Most architects don't understand marketing and fund raising - which are the primary outlets for Viz products and an intelligent client realizes this.

 

I'm seeing small to midsize firms use 3d more and more as a design and basic presentation tool - but when the client wants to really get the funds to roll in, they hire professionals like us. And I have larger firms admit quite often that they have no interest in getting into the graphic/marketing business. Heck, most architects are terrible businessmen anyway. The last thing they need to do is spread their focus thin.

 

I do think that the small viz shops - 1-3 people will fade away. But that has more to do being able to provide a variety of services, contacts and resources than quality. They might be edged out on the lower end renderings by firms though.

[bully712]

I'm seeing small to midsize firms use 3d more and more as a design and basic presentation tool

 

I agree with this statement. I work at a descent size firm (around 70) and 90% of my job is design work. Most of the time they can't figure out if they want a realistic rendering, or a hand sketched look. Only a few Architects in the office like finished work. Most of the time I create mass modeling where the Architect sketches over my wire frames. One Architect in particular takes my 3D models and adds color to them in Photoshop that turns out looking horrible. It drives me CRAZY when I see that, but he thinks it's the greatest thing in the world.

 

I have two Firms that I work with ( my clients ) that love the finished look, and being successful with these clients leads me to others.

 

I like working for the firm that I'm at right now, even though the work I get is not exactly what I want to do, but it’s a secure job. Once I build my clientele, I will change directions. I think most Architects (without 3D experience) will never understand the process it takes. They can spend weeks sketching designs or adding colors to sketches, but they expect you to create and render an image in a couple of days. And not to forget that you're never able to work solely on a project without interruptions.

 

To sum up this whole paragraph: I’m working to build up my own clientele so I don't have to rely on working at an Architectural Firm. You get to do what you want, and the pay is so much better.

[Clausbang]

I must agree with bully712.

 

You have to see the architectural visualisation for architects as something completely different as doing it for the developer.

The architect wants to inspire the client as they most often has already decided to build a project.

The developer needs to sell the project and therefore show what it will look like. It is the alternative to the photograph they can't get.

 

As for the future I see the same split.

CG Arch viz will to some extent be done by the architects inhouse. This will have the inspirational focus, and not the photorealistic images. For this work they will outsource it, and that on the request of the developer.

As for the software and tools I feel that my company is standing on the extreme front edge. We make interactive VR models that gets show over the internet. You can see samples here www.cubicasa.com (in the gallery).

 

We use freelancers for almost all our models (has about 15 attached for each country), and that is a strategic choice that limits the risk of our operations. I expect that a lot of companies will use freelancers to handle times with heavy workload and have a staff that will be fully occupied even in slow times. You see that trend of using "temps" in many other business areas. I can't see a reason this not being the case in CG arch viz.

 

I would also like the big "MAKE NICE RENDERING"- button, but we test a couple of new freelancers each month. They get the same scene, with the same materials etc. We see a huge differenrence between good and bad ones. There is also a big difference in being good at making interior solutions and making exterior solutions. This is where I see a specialisation comming.

 

 

Claus Bang Olsen

[stefkeB]

Being an architect and doing software development I see two paths evolving at the same time:

 

- on the one end, the individual firms, who only do visualisation, will get more specialised and get better and better results: they can make renderings look way better then average. I see growth in this sector.

These are the real artists who don't need a "make great rendering" button, but who will push the existing tools to their extreme and might do some custom develoment to improve them.

 

- on the other extreme: inhouse rendering done in architectural offices will get better and easier to: for that, there is a huge opportunity for "great&simple" rendering programs, genre Artlantis and the rendering engines which are integrated in the CAD-tools (e.g. ADT + VIZ Render, , Revit + Accurender, Microstation, VectorWorks and ArchiCAD + LightWorks... )I guess you might expect even plain AutoCAD to have a better engine as well in the future). Or they all end up integrating Mental Ray.

 

They will usually not provide the same quality but for a large part of the work this suffices. For competitions, when they need something bigger and better, people will still come to external firms, who can make a difference.

 

Maybe smaller 'sub-top-quality' visualisation-firms might suffer (a bit) from the second group, but even for them there are enought opportunities (probably for smaller budgets).