How is the architectural visualization industry?

[russkev]

I've seen a lot of talk on other forums about how the the feature film visual effects industry is turning sour with a lot of big studios going bankrupt.

 

So how is it over here in arch vis land?

 

My guess would be that business is still strong, people are still making buildings and they still want to see what they will look like.

[Justin Hunt]

The slow down has changed our industry in many ways. Many of the smaller guys disappeared, out sourcing took a stronger hold, fees fell and competition rose. The larger studios slowed down but managed to keep going, many joined the in-house ranks and a few brave ones started out on their own.

 

Because of the competition the overall quality has risen, although this is problably due to more people working on personal projects during down time. Innovation and finding ways to diversify have been key, which is quite exciting.

 

Specifically in OZ, because the building industry came to a stand still there was little to no arch viz work going around. Things are looking up and we are starting to get busier. The concept design stage is ramping up as developers open the purse strings.

 

It is still very a delicate situation and a long way to go before things are fully up and running. So now is the time to get your ducks in a row.

[Tommy L]

I think its fairly weak. My ad industry clients are keeping me very busy, but arch-vis has been slow. I even had 3 weeks downtime at the beginning of this year which is very unusual. Spent the time doing R+D as mentioned above.

[carlotristan3d]

Here's a view from the client side, last year the company I work for outsource at an average of 1 render a week. From Nov. onwards- zero. Those sketches I make tracing over sketchup models are finding their way to board presentations. The funny thing, the client seems to be more receptive to those sketches.

[Justin Hunt]

I totally agree that hand sketches in the early concept stage are best, often even basic sketchup renders can be too much. A simple hand drawn scribble can tell alot more than a render as long as it is backed up with a well spoken presentation. Being open to interpretation and allowing the client to fill in the blanks with his own imagination is a very powerful thing.

[carlotristan3d]

I totally agree that hand sketches in the early concept stage are best, often even basic sketchup renders can be too much. A simple hand drawn scribble can tell alot more than a render as long as it is backed up with a well spoken presentation. Being open to interpretation and allowing the client to fill in the blanks with his own imagination is a very powerful thing.

 

What's funny is that we only resorted to these sketches cause we no longer have budget for proper renderings.

[artmaknev]

There seems to be trend for hand sketching, I was on couple of meetings with clients and they all have really nice quality in-house hand sketches on their boards. I guess they either have extra time to both design and to do a sketch, or they are really staying late at work to make that sketch, or they are out of money to hire a renderer.

 

Overall, I think arch-viz industry will be back on its feet soon, the stock market is doing much better now, hopefully it will create more confidence investing in new properties.

[bindunarayan]

Architectural visualization plays a major role in formulating the final design before the desired building structure take its final shape. It is really nice to have a clear visualization of your upcoming building well in advance, which is in fact the primary benefit of the architectural visualization industry.