melvisou Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 (edited) Wanted to enquire what your experiences are working in an archviz firm in the UK? I think a professional environment is very healthy for one's growth and learning the ropes about the business side of things. I am currently looking for a position in one and looking forward to learning as much as I can in terms of skill and business. Edited January 8, 2015 by melvisou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notamondayfan Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Depends what you define as "professional". Some professional studios are very bad for health and families others are better. The only problem I really see is that studios always have plenty of low level / junior applicants, but very few who are production ready and able to start work with minimal training. You need to stand out from the crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frog_a_lot Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Wanted to enquire what your experiences are working in an archviz firm in the UK? I think a professional environment is very healthy for one's growth and learning the ropes about the business side of things. I am currently looking for a position in one and looking forward to learning as much as I can in terms of skill and business. Yes and no.. in terms of the business side of things, i think I have learn't more from smaller or boutique studios.. In big professional firms you have managers and other people who take care of all the business side so you can just work on the artistic side.. where as smaller studios you seem to spend a bit more time dealing directly with clients. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyJ Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 firstly, I wouldn't recommend doing purely arch viz as a career - for a number of reasons that I won't bore people with here, you are well advised to try and diversify as much as possible, either within architecture/construction or film/media... or whatever angle you came at 3D from in the first place. If you want to learn 'the business' of arch viz (if such a thing exists) you're probably better off working with a smaller firm. That way you'll have exposure to a wide range of techniques, clients, software etc. While working for them may look better on a CV, the larger firms (the only ones who really make any money in the UK) tend to use people as human computers, concentrating on narrower skill sets - So you may have people who just model furniture all day every day, or just add human characters with Photoshop, all day every day. Personally, I'd rather work in a supermarket than do that for a living. UK CG firms, particularly those in London, are trying to compete with companies based in nations where the cost of living is at least ten times less, and are consequently squeezing their staff extremely hard. That's not to say that there aren't any good opportunities around, but it's no land of milk and honey. What software do you use? If you're a 3ds max person, get along to one of these http://3dslondon.blogspot.co.uk/ - there's usually a really good bunch of people there and the bigger companies often send their guys along to announce any jobs that are going. Plenty of people go by themselves, and there's usually beer, so everyone is easy to talk to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 firstly, I wouldn't recommend doing purely arch viz as a career - for a number of reasons that I won't bore people with here, you are well advised to try and diversify as much as possible, either within architecture/construction or film/media... or whatever angle you came at 3D from in the first place. If you want to learn 'the business' of arch viz (if such a thing exists) you're probably better off working with a smaller firm. That way you'll have exposure to a wide range of techniques, clients, software etc. While working for them may look better on a CV, the larger firms (the only ones who really make any money in the UK) tend to use people as human computers, concentrating on narrower skill sets - So you may have people who just model furniture all day every day, or just add human characters with Photoshop, all day every day. Personally, I'd rather work in a supermarket than do that for a living. UK CG firms, particularly those in London, are trying to compete with companies based in nations where the cost of living is at least ten times less, and are consequently squeezing their staff extremely hard. That's not to say that there aren't any good opportunities around, but it's no land of milk and honey. What software do you use? If you're a 3ds max person, get along to one of these http://3dslondon.blogspot.co.uk/ - there's usually a really good bunch of people there and the bigger companies often send their guys along to announce any jobs that are going. Plenty of people go by themselves, and there's usually beer, so everyone is easy to talk to. Quite a peculiar view from someone hanging out on a forum dedicated to arch-vis, but there you go. 'The business' has treated me well, if you are going to choose to sit behind a computer all day, its a pretty good industry to be in. I'd suggest staying away from being the in-house guy at an architecture practice for any great length of time unless they take their 3d dept seriously. That said, it is a good place to start as it will expose you to a broad skillset and serve as a good apprenticeship for applying to work in aarch-vis specific 3d studio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyJ Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 I'm very happy for you. However that isn't the reality for the majority, which is why I personally would not recommend focusing purely on CG. Though I would support your comments regarding working as a 3d person in-house for an architect. That's the stuff of nightmares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 I'm very happy for you. However that isn't the reality for the majority, which is why I personally would not recommend focusing purely on CG. Though I would support your comments regarding working as a 3d person in-house for an architect. That's the stuff of nightmares. But most of the people I speak with about the industry actually enjoy it. Everyone likes a moan now and then and all professions have their unique gripes. When people dont enjoy this line of work its usually because their position is mis-understood by those around them. In that case you need to stand your ground and things get better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyJ Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 hard to disagree with that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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