[HELP] I Have no architectural experience, Only CGI

[jackpedleham]

Hi, I have just graduated from a CG & VFX degree in the UK but during this time whilst looking for an area i could use my Sketchup knowledge i came across an interview with Henry Goss where he mentioned sketchup, this led me to Peter Guthries work, then Ronens and so on and since then i have just been mesmerised by the entire Archviz industry. The Third & the Seventh completely changed my mind about what i wanted to do with my life halfway through a vfx course! I have been using Sketchup for about 7 years and max for about 4 and whilst i have a firm grasp of the tools, I dont have the creative flair to design buildings for a reel because i simply don't know whats right or wrong when it comes to realistic architecture.

 

Do you have any tips or ideas on how i can begin to create some pieces for a demo reel without copying other visualisers?

Is it just a case of find an interesting bit of architecture and use that?

 

Jack

[jensandersen]

Hi Jack

 

I would say "yes" to the part about just finding a bit of interesting architecture to get your portfolio going.

The whole process of designing a building/piece of architecture is very time consuming and if you are going in to the archviz industry as a 3D artist, it seems very unlikely that you will be asked to design a building.

I would pop over to http://www.archdaily.com/ for some great inspiration and see if you can find some projects you find interesting. Most of them have plan and section drawings too so you can just scale them to correct size in sketchup/3ds max and go from there. Thats mostly what I am in the process of doing now (building up a better portfolio). As I do have an architectural background I tend to mostly add some new/different details, change some materials or give it a completly new context (geo location, usage, mood etc) to the projects I find interesting. Just to not blindly copy a picture, but also challenge myself in the making of it.

 

Best of luck

 

Jens

[jackpedleham]

Thank you, youve answered it perfectly! That site is seems excellent for what i want. and once the actual structure of the building is built i guess i can alter the details to make it less of a copy as you suggested. thanks for the info!

Good luck with your portfolio!

Jack

[jensandersen]

No problem. I'm looking forward to see what you will come up with in the future.

[Fooch]

Build a few things for a good porfolio.

 

Use archdaily for ext + pininterest for interiors

 

Match photos.. not other renders.

Do interiors first (easier to hit out fast)

hunt pininterest for good photography of interiors.

Match modelling (quads), match furniture (shows you can poly model).. Or design connected if you want to blast through this fast (but do push on a few to custom)

Keep it white , clay render for now.

Next match lighting.

Then after thats done.. match materials.

Some post after that.

Dont jump steps. easy to just head into photoshop to faff around and do student styled work.

 

Time yourself doing it. Example, first image should take a few days.

Jump into next image as soon as first image is done. Dont overcook stuff. Its a learning process. Dont faff around and render 100 versions of the finished model. its tempting to do it but doesnt serve any purpose.

Do another interior. This will be faster. Stick with the steps.

And another , and another... remember to always use great interior photography as references.

 

After a fair bit, you will have learnt how to make a good photoreal render with proper composition.

You will also start recognizing how great interiors are naturally.

 

 

 

 

Then do exteriors. Follow a few designs from arch daily.

Remember to only match a photograph (lighting, materials etc) and not to deviate and make strange angles, lighting

Rinse and repeat.

Choose photos of different times of the day

 

After a few of those, you will be come pretty damn good at making shots at various times. You will also understand composition from great architectural photography. (normally the shots you see shown there are the best angles)

 

Then and then only, mess around with other stuff.

By then your portfolio would have a range of interior and exterior stuff.

 

Oh, keep your layers clean.. Name stuff as well. Attach stuff. Keep material names proper. Make being tidy a habit.

Common mistakes juniors make is to do it all later. There is no such thing as later..

Work clean and fast.. I always prefer a tidy junior who is prepping stuff for the guys. (everyone hates the messy file person in the office)

 

Its ok not to have archi background in this industry.

just pick up what makes an archi image looks good. thats the most important bit

[RyderSK]

And another , and another...

 

This is probably my most favorite advice I always want to give to someone. I see all the time people stuck in single project, wasting their time (weeks and months) on it for far too long, nit-picking on it and improving it slightly only, mostly on feedback of outsiders. It does happen more often when they start too ambitiously.

"Perfecting" single image or project for months teaches you quite much less than 3-4 "decently imperfect" (not unfinished!) ones.