New to the Community

[wayneholmes]

Hi Everyone,

 

My name is Wayne. I have 3 semesters left in a 5 year architecture course and currntly hold a degree in Architectural Technology. I have always used pen and paper to communicate visually apart from 2d auto cad plans. But I have recently grown a great interest in cg imaging. I suppose I have being basing alot of my work on the methods of alex hogrefe and also following his advised work flow.(sketchup,kerkethea,ps)

 

But I find with all due respect to alex, his methods are limited in terms of final product. Finding this site and the work you guys are producing has opened my eyes to the possibilities.

 

So anyway I hope by interacting with you that I can learn a new method and work flow.

 

I guess if I was to open with a question, it would be:

 

I notice the majority here use 3dsmax, vray and ps. What is the cheapest way to obtaining these programmes for a student and how much money am i looking at.

 

I am a student using windows 7. i3 core processer 4g ram

 

Thanks in advance

 

Wayne

[spunk91]

Welcome!! (Balloons falling from above!!)

 

As a student you can download and use 3ds max (all autodesk software if i'm not totally wrong.) free of charge. Non commercial of cause.

Chaos group(vray) and adobe(photshop) don't have those benefits, as i recall. But they both have trials you can try.

I think vray is around $1200, photoshop i don't know, But they do have their creative suite, where you 'rent' the complete package for around $35-$50 a month.

Or else there's a three free render engines coming with 3ds max as standard(iray, mental ray and scanline)

 

//Niklas

Hi Everyone,

 

My name is Wayne. I have 3 semesters left in a 5 year architecture course and currntly hold a degree in Architectural Technology. I have always used pen and paper to communicate visually apart from 2d auto cad plans. But I have recently grown a great interest in cg imaging. I suppose I have being basing alot of my work on the methods of alex hogrefe and also following his advised work flow.(sketchup,kerkethea,ps)

 

But I find with all due respect to alex, his methods are limited in terms of final product. Finding this site and the work you guys are producing has opened my eyes to the possibilities.

 

So anyway I hope by interacting with you that I can learn a new method and work flow.

 

I guess if I was to open with a question, it would be:

 

I notice the majority here use 3dsmax, vray and ps. What is the cheapest way to obtaining these programmes for a student and how much money am i looking at.

 

I am a student using windows 7. i3 core processer 4g ram

 

Thanks in advance

 

Wayne

[wayneholmes]

Hi Niklas,

 

Thank you for the warm welcome,

 

Thats brilliant ill get downloading 3dsmax right away... The fee for vray is very disappointing isnt it?

 

Thanks man!

 

My Irish friend Ryan Hughes is studying in the Aarhus architecture school. You dont know him do you? Ha

 

Wayne

[ichii]

I'm new here too, in the hope of mutual encouragement with you.

[wayneholmes]

The more the merrier

[Chris MacDonald]

Welcome.

 

First things first, VRay is excellent at what it does, but you will almost certainly be able to get what you want from Mental Ray which is included with 3DS max - which as mentioned before you can get for free as a student.

[wayneholmes]

cheers chris, iv just finish downloading. Ill let you guys know how in get on.

[Eliot Blenkarne]

I'm in almost exactly the same boat Wayne, almost done studying (albeit in Wellington, New Zealand) and deciding on programs/plugins etc

 

I'm using sketchup with the vray 2.0 plugin - chaos group's prices for students are VERY reasonable, though it is limited to a single year of use. My local reseller tells me they are open to movement on price after this date should you wish to purchase the full version, though not sure if this crosses over software platforms.

 

If you're familiar with sketchup (sounds like you are, what arch student isn't?), it could be a cheap (sketchup = free, vray student plugin = $300 NZD) and easy means of getting to grips with the essentials of vray and viz in general - that's my approach, with a view to moving over to 3DS + vray a bit further down the track when I'm working full time and have a decent income to afford the various programs and plugins.

 

It goes without saying that the results with sketchup and vray doesn't really enter the realm of what the guys using 3ds etc are producing, but it has come a long way - some of the other guys using the combo can likely give more detail. For mine, of what I have seen to date, this is the standard by which to measure.

 

http://www.ramyhanna.com/2013/05/v-ray-for-sketchup.html

 

With that said, Ramy is vastly experienced in the field - replicating his quality is tricky to say the least!

 

My final thought is the connection between sketchup and 3DS - Peter Guthrie is a prime example of someone who models in sketchup and then renders/populates the model in 3DS and no one would say his work is anything but at the leading edge of the field.

 

Just my two cents, apologies if a bit ranty...

[Eliot Blenkarne]

I'm in the exact same boat Wayne, albeit finishing up my studies in Wellington, New Zealand. Like you, Alex Hogrefe has been instrumental in my early days of study.

 

I assume you're familiar with Sketchup (what arch student isn't?), so have you looked at the vray plugin for it? It's super cheap for students, and is what I'm using in the meantime while I get to grips with 3DS. Total outlay is low, as Sketchup is obviously free, and I paid $300NZD for my copy of vray 2.0 (thought it only runs for 1 year)

 

Obviously, the end product won't compare with what can be done on 3DS, but I'm finding it a really accessible means to learn the ropes of viz stuff, on a platform I'm comfortable with, and I expect it will provide a decent bridge over to using vray with 3DS or another modelling program.

 

Perhaps it isn't a sensible plan - I'd be interested to hear the pros thoughts on it.

 

As a side, and you may be aware of this, but a couple of "big names" choose to model in sketchup, then populate/render in 3ds, namely Peter Guthrie (assume he still uses this workflow) - and you would be a brave man to criticise what he produces!

 

Ramy Hanna did Chaos group's promo images etc for the new vray for sketchup 2.0 - that's likely the highest quality I've seen using this combo to date - though he has a very high level of expertise!

 

http://www.ramyhanna.com/2013/05/v-ray-for-sketchup.html

 

Can't help with Photoshop - I only use it at uni, and haven't investigated purchasing it

[notamondayfan]

It might be worth talking to a re-seller in your area. There might be crafty ways of going from a student license of Max to a full version so you don't pay the full price.

Also re-sellers sometimes do deals. I went through BlueGFX and my Vray licence was included when I bought Max.

 

Regarding Adobe, the CC suites are very good value, and mean you have no massive initial outlay. Or if you prefer you can still purchase CS6.

 

Dean

[Guest calumreid]

Funny thing, the exact same thing happened to me! Used to study Architectural technology until i got more interested in 3D, finished my Bachelors but my interests shifted too much to finish my honours. Yep get 3ds max for free with student license, i also picked up a student version of Vray, was about 90-100 quid i think, so no where near as bad as the 1200 price tag! As for photoshop i can use it at work, but at home i use GIMP, totally free software