tyrannosauRoss Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Just signed up. Wee bit about me. 3rd Year digital media student, in his second semester with an industry based partner. Already ran into my first problem and thats understanding the CAD plans! To me it seems I have been sent construction plans instead of "floor plans" as it includes all hidden beams etc, how the wall is made up (eg insulation, plaster board, render) instead of just basic wall thickness etc. But not being architecturally trained (and first real world attempt) I am not sure of the norm for passing on plans to the 3d visualiser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil poppleton Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 The construction plans just need the useless levels turning off or deleting. Or just trace round what you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pechara Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 You will get all kids of drawings. Some clients "clean up" the drawings and some don't. It would not hurt to understand the construction drawings as this will make you a better modeler. There are building standards that apply in all countries and if you miss the small details, the architect will be able to tell your level of understanding of architecture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannosauRoss Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Cheers guy, May need to spend a day just cleaning it up, so far using just the plasterboard and render layers gives me the basic shape, but often the walls aren't straight but a few degrees out, guessing it's up to me to tidy this all up? It's going to be a long process for an almost beginner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil poppleton Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Walls a few degreees out, corners not meeting, elevations not matching plans, Architects drawings never fail to amuse me.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannosauRoss Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Walls a few degreees out, corners not meeting, elevations not matching plans, Architects drawings never fail to amuse me.... And an other problem I have realised but keep forgetting about is the elevations. They have only applied the left side elevation, and with a non symmetrical house I thought it would be fairly important to provide more. Encase window heights etc change. Only plus side is that there's already a 3D model in a brochure to work from but the developer wants a fly-through, interior shots, etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Matthews Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Being an Architect..cough..cough.. I can tell you that very seldom does the Architect themselves draw the documents. Some CAD person is usually responsible for the drawings. Most of the time that person does not care enough to make sure their drawings are top notch. That is simply just the reality of things. That said, regardless of who is doing the drawings, I will create the model from scratch using the provided documents. I never trace because if walls are not straight in the CAD files then they are not straight in the model. That said, you will never be able to see if a wall is off by a degree or two so why not draw it straight? Additionaly, I never use a model done by someone else. Too many times I will spend more time fixing their model than just building the thing from scratch. Case in point, I am working on an animation ofr a medical office building. The CAD person did the project in Revit. The Revit model is not constructed tight enough for visualization purposes (walls overlapping, ceilings not having any vertical return tot eh ceiling above, etc). So I am remodeling the whol building. Lastly, in order to be successful in this game you need to know how to read construction documents and how those translate into the architecture you are building. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrannosauRoss Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 Cheers Saturn. So any advice etc to get this going? I just feel way out of my depth with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Matthews Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 My advise would to be first get a book on architectural drafting. The books are tailored to people learning architecture and and how to draw it. It will give you insight on how things are represented and what information is on each type of drawing. How to go about modeling from CAD plans depends on personal preference and software. Most people will import the CAD plans and trace over top of them. They are used as reference not for building the model from. Keep in mind that the end product of an Architect is to provide a contractor with the information they need to build the building. This information is in the form of printed drawings. Only use the dashed lines (showing beams above) as reference. Don't worry about the internal components of a wall. It doesn't matter what the wall is. All that matters is how thick it is (for modeling purposes). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Cheers Saturn. So any advice etc to get this going? I just feel way out of my depth with this. Ross, You mentioned the architect wants 'fly-through etc'. In line with your qauestions so far, your post makes me very nervous for you. Animation is a tricky beast to tame. If you are struggling with the drawings, then my concern is that you do not have the experience to take this on in a professional capacity. Unless this is a learning execise and the architect is aware of that, this may well end in tears or worse. That said: 1: Ensure that your contract stipulates full and final drawings, any areas of insufficient information and you have discretion to fill in the gaps. Any ammendments to your improvisation will be met with a fee for changes. 2: Clean up the drawings, dont bust your balls, then freehand over a frozen max layer (with snap to frozen turned on). 3: Model. 4: Test renderings (no lighting or materials), send to client, get geometry signed off. 5: Render with lights and materials, send to client, get signed off. 6: Render animation (no lighting or materials), send to client, get signed off. 7: Render final. 8: Invoice. 9: Wait 10: Wait some more. 11: Get paid, buy some donuts. Tom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jinsley Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Ross, You mentioned the architect wants 'fly-through etc'. In line with your qauestions so far, your post makes me very nervous for you. ... +1 quoted for agreement... what services are listed in the contract for you to provide. As far as CAD people not caring and doing a crappy job... it is the architects responsibility to ensure their quality and correctness, his name goes on the drawings when he signs and seals them. Make sure he provides you proper drawings to work with, like Tommy said, otherwise you could be making assumptions about the project that will only bite you in the ass eventually... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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