New book for architectural renderers

[ihabkal]

it has been over a year that I have been thinking of writing a book for architects and designers that detail how to get a project and finish it from A to Z.

like how to advertise and make an agreement, how to get the data from the client, how to model efficiently and how to render. how to put landscaping and how to composite animations. like a huge book that take you into the real world production phases. I would say over 1000 pages. I'll call it ":The easy breezy way to model and render architectural projects using 3D studio Max and Autocad" or something shorter...

it would contain notes on artistic composition, lighting tips, hardware selection, other tools like Composer, Piranesi, Premiere.....something scary....

 

 

what are your opinions? do you think it's worth it? take into account I would be teaching people techniques that would take years to discover or that many people don't use because they don't know it's so good...sommething not in the manuals or books already available...

[Msamir]

what are your opinions? do you think it's worth it? take into account I would be teaching people techniques that would take years to discover or that many people don't use because they don't know it's so good...sommething not in the manuals or books already available...

 

I think like that you'll be collecting more than one book into one , no i dont think it's worth.

[Devin Johnston]

I think it's a good idea, but it may be a little two ambitious. A 1000 page book that is basically filled with tutorials is going to take you years to write unless it's your full time job. Are you going to make all the tutorials your self or get them from other sources? How will your book be any different from the other Max books on the market?

[BrianKitts]

Make sure you consider the scope of how much you plan to cover verses how many people are working on the project. From what you've said so far, it sounds like a personal project. Sure you could do it alone....... which would pretty much mean by the time you get the book done, the info will already be WAY out of date.

 

On the other hand if you are masterminding a group operation..... I say good luck to ya, its a good idea, but I think ambitious doesn't even cover the scope of what you're up against..... heck the chapter about dealing with clients alone will have to be a seperate 12 volume set

[mbr]

Hey Ihab,

 

I'd suggest starting with some tutorials and posting them on here or another site, getting some feedback, etc. There are some superb free video tutorial sites out there that would be good to look at and several 3D gurus that are offering thigns for free. I'd write a tutorial up and see how people respond.

 

Tutorials are tricky, as you will be rewriting them over and over to make sure it's all clear. I agree, it's a multi year project. Start with something simple, post it, and see what the feedback is.

 

I also agree that time is everything. Things move fast. We've got stand alone renderers on the way that will surely stir things up, cheaper software that could/will stir things up, etc., etc. I think it's next to impossible to be good enough at everything to teach it all well, so pick something you feel strongly about and write/record something.

 

Cheers.

 

Oh, one more thing, if you are thinking about making $$ I wouldn't count on it. Of all the architecture firms I've worked for (as an architect, not 3D guy), none used Max exclusively, it was always FormZ. Max is just too slow to model with and design with (this is from personal and professional experience), not to mention too expensive. So make sure you look at who your target audience is.

[ihabkal]

thanks for the input. I'm posting a reply to move this up so that I can get other valuable insights.

thanks again,

Ihab