Looking to the future....

[susiehacker]

Right now I'm working for a small architecture firm as a job captain, doing the occasional rendering. I love to render but it's super infrequent that I get the opportunity. I'm looking at the future and thinking about long term goals and possibly transitioning into a freelance viz arch position in the future.

My main problems:

1. I feel weird saying this but I'm not sure I have the talent to make it on my own. Stepping out of the box is scary!

2. I'm not sure what path to focus on - right now I'm "rendering" in Revit and Photoshop with an occasional Lumion project. The Revit to Photoshop process is familiar to me but it's s.l.o.w.! The Revit lighting is awful and the materials are a pain... I'm not sure if I should transition to 3ds Max / Vray or focus on Lumion? When I ask people about 3ds Max I get "its so hard...take forever to learn it..." BUT I'm not always a fan of the way my Lumion renders turn out - they look cartoony to me. I've looked at Enscape but haven't had the time to play with the program.

3. It takes me forever to complete a project. I'm usually averaging around 30-60 hours for a single rendering. How long does it take everyone else? I know libraries/materials on hand makes a difference as does the program (lumion is super quick- which could be why my images look cartoony) but my work isn't thrilled by the amount of time it takes me to complete an image. If I do transition to a freelance situation I want to make sure I'm not spinning my wheels and blowing through my fee because it takes me double the time that it should. This might also bring it back to the whole program debate because I feel like I spend a lot of time googling techniques for Photoshop. I wonder if I'm doing too much time trying to manipulate the rendering in photoshop?

 

Thanks you for the feedback/advice/place to put it out there in the universe

[Devin Johnston]

This is a particularly precarious time to be starting into Arch Viz IMO, it’s not like it was even 5 years ago. With the introduction of Lumion, Enscape and Twin Motion the democratization of rendering and animation has begun and it’s only going to accelerate from this point on. There is still the high end of Arch Viz that these programs can’t yet touch and probably never will because it takes a lot of artistic talent. If you want to go into Arch Viz this is what you should be shooting for, at that level it’s more about your skills as an artist than you technical ability to use the software.

[Tom Bussey]

30-60 hours doesn't sound too bad, depending on the project and it's scope. Don't expect to get massively quicker overall, as your skills develop, you will get faster at the regular stuff, but there will be more to do, you'll always find things to do to improve the image if time allows! It does depend on the project though, my first studio expected a couple of images a day, they were noddy houses though so it was possible, but no fun. Your employer should realise that if they go to a studio they'll be in a queue, your value is as a reactive asset who can communicate directly with architects. I work in an architectural studio, and it's the reactive-ness I can provide that's been the biggest thing about taking me on.

 

I would say stick where you are for the minute (or to another architect if they appear to be more supportive of your CPD), develop your Lumion skills, maybe look at Twinmotion (which is currently free) and then once you've got the hang of that progress to Unreal Studio. This is more of the Lumion model, it's a highly competative market, software-wise, as developers are seeking to grab a bit of the 3DS/Vray market which is an established, but old standard. You're starting to see more jobs in London for 'real-time artists' & unreal artists, I think this will be a trend as more studios uptake that technology*

 

*Caveat is that this 'real-time' stuff hasn't been as revolutionary as people hyped it to be initially, a lot of people are still doing things the 'traditional' Vray/3DS way, but we may be on borrowed time.

[Scott Schroeder]

Learn Enscape. The more you can render in a the main software you use, the more efficient you can be. I know as I say this it means taking work away from me, but that is just what the industry is going to. For me, as I continue to learn Substance Designer I can now create materials that the Revit users can use in Enscape and the like. To really survive in the rendering world you either have to be the top 5% of talent or be extremely well versed in many different softwares. The day of the Max and Vray only person are numbered. I would guess that at some point in the future, architectural renderings will swing back to higher quality as we're now dipping well below the standard of cg quality for ads, tv shows, and movies.

 

Enscape is less quality than Lumion, but you can render right in Revit from it. You don't have to do the round trip to Lumion each time a change is made. So in the early phases, where changes happen, this is a huge advantage for Enscape.

 

 

If you freelance, it is a cesspool of $5 render studios you are competing against. Unless you are in the top 5%, freelancing can be a very poor lifestyle choice for many people.

Edited July 18, 2019 by VelvetElvis

[Francisco Penaloza]

As mentioned by others, I don't know if this is the best time to go freelancing on Arch Viz, mostly if you are new to it.

I did freelance for a long time, years a go, before the last crisis, I even survived the whole Sending overseas craziness, but I already had good clients, and plenty of work. When crisis finally hit it Texas (were I used to live) then everything when down very quickly, in my case pretty hard. I lost the house and more, Thankfully I got a in house job in a very good architectural company in California, I moved and stay there since. I do miss the freelancing sometimes, mostly because the schedule flexibility, but it wasn't easy or free of problems. but for sure I would not go back to it, not now, maybe in a few years, but as mentioned by Scott and others, our industry is living a very large revolution now. Technology and business wise.

For a new person on this business here in the States will be very hard to compete, if you don't have contacts and a decent workflow, it would be very hard, or nearly impossible.

 

 

I may create other thread, so I don't hijacker this one, but I have been very curios to know the opinion of others regarding everything going on in our industry, Enscape, Lumion, Unreal/Uniti, it is crazy.

 

 

For you Susie, if you like the craft of rendering, I would recommend to dig deeper in lumion and learn to get the most of that software, but at the same time keep learning photoshop, and start learning Unreal or Uniti, 3DMax, Vray or Corona. If it sounds too much for you, then let me tell you that's our reality, as an Arch Viz artist we need to learn everything related to our industry, and this one moves very fast and in many directions.

Don't get disappointed though, it is hard, but very rewarding, when you find people who appreciate this craft.

your main steps would be to learn industry standard software, then work with someone senior on this field to learn workflows, then maybe look for a job only doing this, and later when you feel very confident, have contact or know how to manage as a business, then you can jump as a freelancer.

[Guest Noise Treshold]

I highly recommend learning 3dsmax !