Getting into the Rendering Game.. Where to start?

[skip9]

Hey guys,

 

Im a 2nd year Architecture Student that has some background knowledge in basic rendering through Revit/Sketch Up etc.

 

I want to get further into it as i feel it is a big part of the future and as University Courses dont focus on this currently, i thought it would be a step in the right direction for me and also enhance employment opportunities by having another skill.

 

Anyway i was wondering where a good place to start is or any places for good resources to learn about 3ds Max, Vray etc. and how to combine them to produce some really good renders.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

[Aaron2004]

I don't know if UK schools do this, but sometimes school over here will have a deal where students can use Lynda.com for free. I would start with that route to learn a little bit of 3ds max if it's an option. 3Dats has some pretty good videos and books, but they aren't free. Here is a sample:

[Jonathan Sanchez]

I'll give you some advice: Run! Run away while you still can!!! ... :-) JK. I recommend you enter the field only if you enjoy it thoroughly and like most of us, you must have a passion for it. Chances are you won't become rich, not even close!.. but if you enjoy the field, then you can still be happy! Learn, Read, Practice, develop your artistic side, talk to people who do it, become an active member in forums such as this one. Those are the keys that have helped many develop the arch vis skills they now posses.

[jophus14]

I agree with Sancheuz. This field is saturated with people (notice how I did not say artists) and the work is being spread thin. If you are going to pursue this field, you have to do it because you enjoy art. On the other hand, if you are doing it because you are to become an architect in the future than it would be good to be able to create your own images....even though that leaves me without work to do. I say the best way to learn is search the forums, look at tutorials and try to figure out how some of the good artists created their images (lighting, textures, etc). Good luck.

[Michael J. Brown]

Agree with all.

 

My personal take is that taking courses is fine - to a degree. But you get the farthest and produce the absolute best work by the fruits of your passion. In other words, when you're passionate about CGI, you take the initiative on your own to learn software packages and hunt through forums for tips and techniques. Some of the best work out there comes from artists who are first and formost "artists", not CGI-heads.

 

Taking class after class makes CGI-heads.

 

Passion + talent makes artists.

 

And you'll know if you have it in you before you even get half-way through your Intro To Arch Viz class. You'll be doing lessons way ahead of the instructor. And experimenting with stuff that the rest of the class doesn't even "get".

[Playdo]

I don't know if UK schools do this, but sometimes school over here will have a deal where students can use Lynda.com for free. I would start with that route to learn a little bit of 3ds max if it's an option.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Flag

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Australia

 

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[Crazy Homeless Guy]

After you learn the fundamentals of the software, I suggest trying to get an internship or someone who will mentor you along the way.

 

Books do a good job of teaching fundamentals, but they really don't teach good strategy for production workflow. The only thing that teaches good strategy for production workflow is actually working in production.

[ihabkal]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Flag

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Australia

 

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I was thinking the same thing.

[Aaron2004]

Haha...sorry. Well, you can't win them all.

[TomD_Arch]

I went to architecture school as well. About 4 months after graduation I decided to invest time in improving my rendering skills. I was horrible! My work flow was: Model in Rhino> Export High-poly for 3ds max import> Apply mental ray materials> Render in mental ray. I can hear everyone reading this cringe. But, it was the desire to want to make my renders look better that eventually got me to learning..."Oh, I have to model in 3dsMax too, and then my 12 hour render will only take 45 minutes!"

 

I am not advocating that this is the best, or even a great way to start sharpening you visualization skills. Also, I agree with the previous posts suggesting there needs to be an artistic desire. I, also, do not want this to seem like a book review, or a suggestion that the only way to move forward is via the purchase of, what can be, expensive books. The 3dsMax help files and online forums and free tutorials are extensive and very helpful if all else fails.

 

I think the first thing you need to decided is what render engine do you want to use: mental ray, V-ray, Maxwell, etc. You might eventually want to learn a second, but just start with one for now. I picked mental ray, because at the time it was the one a knew the most, but mind hardly nothing, about, and it seemed to have a lot of reference material out there free and for purchase. The first two books I get were:

"Rendering with mental ray & 3dsMax" by Joep van der Steen &

"Realistic Architectural Visualization with 3dsMax and mental ray" by Roger Cusson and Jamie Cardoso

 

Joep's book get's into the how's and why's of mental ray. Roger and Jamie's book is more of a follow along tutorial that takes you through pre-conceived scenes and the steps of how they got there, but doesn't so much explain why. These books really pulled me into mental ray. I started to understand in a very rudimentary way things like Final Gather and Indirect Lighting. 20 pages into each book I had already noticed a 100% improvement in my own abilities, but don't forget I was starting at "SUX!".

 

In late winter of 2009 I discovered 3DATSand their series of books: "3DS MAX 2008, 2009 & 2010 ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION". I asked my family to pool together and get me all three of their books for Christmas that year. Now these books are not specific to mental ray, but they are specific to the world architectural visualization. This was when I discovered how essential modeling in 3ds Max was to the efficiency of rendering in mental ray. The first thing I did was the couch tutorial in the 2009 box it looked hard and I wanted to challenge myself. By the end I figured this was going to be a 1 hour render, so you can imagine my surprise when I hit "Render" and it was finished almost by the time I started to lean back in my chair.

 

This past year my wife got me a new book. Jennifer O'Connor's "Mastering mental ray" I'm still undecided if this could be a one-stop-shopping, as I have not had the time I would like to spend with it yet, but it is close.

 

Another book I picked-up along the way was "Essential CG Lighting Techniques with 3dsMax" by Darren Brooker. In terms of learning about lighting and the care that must be given to properly setting it up and considering it as a step in your work-flow just like modeling, material or rendering.

 

Thinking back on my architecture school education there are several small items from the visualization world that I wished I had been exposed to earlier. They are the kinds of things that I look back on now and think "Man, if I had only known that putting the check in that one little box and moving this slider over two notches, would have done that much good, I would have enjoyed learning more." But, instead I remember my time in school as a lot of frustration and dreading doing my renderings as they never seemed to come out as nice as I wanted no matter how much tinkering I did. It seemed like such a waste of time for not a very satisfying return. Look back at my post school desire to start learning more, once i got up and running so fast, my desire to learn more and get better grew 10 fold. I look at what the big boys do and think man I hope I can get that good, and actually feel like maybe someday I can.

[skip9]

Thanks for the reply guys, all very helpful.

 

As questioned, I do enjoy doing it and i think its amazing the work that can be done, hence why i would like to get into it. In saying that though, while not ruling it out -I don't think I would see this as my career path alone, rather a great skill I could use, and maybe if i become good enough in a short period of time, some work i could do on the side while still studying.

 

Thomas - Thanks for the titles, I will see what i can get my hands on and start reading. I wouldnt really have a clue about the difference in render engines? I guess its like choosing between Archicad and Revit? Same concepts, different developers?

[Brian Smith]

Books do a good job of teaching fundamentals, but they really don't teach good strategy for production workflow.

 

Some books teach production workflow.

[Fooch]

Intern at a arch viz house for 1 month.

That will give you all the shortcuts , the in and outs of the industry.

If you love it, you will pick up fast.

 

Don't expect anyone to spoon feed stuff though. Like what Thomas said, being hungry helps heaps.

 

Thanks for the reply guys, all very helpful.

 

As questioned, I do enjoy doing it and i think its amazing the work that can be done, hence why i would like to get into it. In saying that though, while not ruling it out -I don't think I would see this as my career path alone, rather a great skill I could use, and maybe if i become good enough in a short period of time, some work i could do on the side while still studying.

 

Thomas - Thanks for the titles, I will see what i can get my hands on and start reading. I wouldnt really have a clue about the difference in render engines? I guess its like choosing between Archicad and Revit? Same concepts, different developers?

[Fooch]

Some books teach production workflow.

 

Yours do

But as what Travis says. Nothing beats on the job pressure to get things done.

[Stan Zaslavsky]

definitely agree with Fooch ... stuff like having to complete exteriors for a large apartment building with a week's deadline or deal with production people who aren't responding, so then u need to jump in and know what the workflow is to complete the job on time

[notamondayfan]

Start at the bottom and work up.

 

Listen to others, and ask questions.

 

Learn the basics well first, then the harder stuff will be easier to master.

 

Never stop learning.