University Major Project - Any feedback would be much appreciated, thank you!

[freyascott]

Hi guys!

 

Wow, what an awesome site! I am in my final year of my Computer Animation Arts degree but over the summer I worked for an architects company doing their visualisation and modelling and had the most amazing time!

 

Year 1 and 2 of uni was a bit of a mixed time for me, as I spent all of year 1 learning maths and programming (not my strongest areas!) and felt lost with the lack of creativity and was eager to get to year 2. Year 2 came, and I still felt a bit lost and began to realise 'animation' wasn't working for me. This is when I started my year 2 group project and I was given the role of lead environment modeller. I was in my element!! I felt a surge of excitement as I realised I had found my path It perfectly links my passion for design and architecture, photography and CGI, but it took the door of animation to get me here, hehe!

 

Anyway! I have begun my major project but I wanted to share my initial idea with you all to get some feedback and tips? It would be great to see what you all thought.

 

This point in my archviz journey is very personal to me, so I am keen for this project to portray that. I would like the outcome, or final piece, of the next 5 months to be an representation of what I'm about and to convey my own style. This will not only be a piece of work for uni, but something that defines 'me' as I venture into this wonderful industry.

 

My idea so far is to have a series, maybe 5 or 6, final renders complete with Photoshop post production depicting various view points of buildings. A mix of interior and exterior, the images will portray different moods/atmospheres/textures/colour schemes/lighting and compositions. This will allow me to explore an array of ideas and really get my teeth into this project!

 

My slight worry is how these final imaged will 'gel' together. I want them to be independent of their own style, but perhaps I should base them all on something to thread them together?

 

Also, the actual building designs are something I have been pondering. I initially wanted to design the sections of the buildings, (as it will be only a section per image, so I will not need to design entire buildings), but perhaps I should model up sections of existing buildings? What are your thoughts?

 

Some main influences are the wonderful works of Carlo Scarpa, especially his use of water. Also the beautiful imagery of Julius Shulman; his compositions are just breathtaking. I would also like to point out that I find bare concrete with subtle lighting very beautiful!

 

I apologise if this a bit waffley! I am still very much in design stage with the entire idea, so if you can somehow make a gist of what I mean and give me some feedback then I would be most grateful!

 

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and happy new year!

 

Freya

[Corey Beaulieu]

I don't want to tackle this question as a whole, but to put a few ideas in I'd say....

 

You have 2 choices in terms of environment. Your own or existing. Existing would be along the lines of 3rd and 7th where you are visualizing iconic things, in his case modern architecture, and your own might be more along the lines of Factory Fifteen's Megalomania.

 

My point here is not to suggest that what you are thinking has been done before, but that if you use existing stuff, the lighting, materials, and camera work need to convey the most believable and romantic viewer experience and for your own design, fantasy would be the most enticing. If you set about creating your own sense of architecture and try to make it seem as real as the classics, you will lose the audience. I just don't believe that people will be interested in any architecture that you design in 5 months time along side of an animation thesis.

 

Lastly, as far as connecting your images together...It would only really matter if you created your own "fantasy land," but I suggest that you make at least one of the images a wide shot aerial showing the general scope of the rest of the project. Check out Megalomania, it shows what I mean really well. the wide shot sets up a vibe for the rest of the project and while the detail images are very different, they all have the qualities that tell the story of the larger image.

 

I hope this helps. Good Luck on your degree.

[notamondayfan]

It sounds like a good plan for a portfolio building exercise, but not really what I would expect from a Uni graduate.

 

As a graduate in a years time, you'll need something to really make you stand out from the crowd, what is it that you do, but other don't?

 

You really need to use the time in Uni to be creative, free, and come up with ideas, and then build upon them to something much more exciting and interesting than just 6 well done images, which could be done anytime, and you wouldn't be paying thousands in tuition fees for the privilege.

 

If I were looking for graduates for a studio, I would of course look for quality, but I also want ideas, concepts, and something that excites me!!