Bobby Parker 9/24/14 Bobby Parker 9/24/14

3D Studio MAX 2015 Base Scene with Exposed Lighting for Architectural Visualization

Yesterday, I received a Tweet requesting "an empty stage with exposed lighting for architectural visualization."

Below is a download link, to a 3DS MAX 2015 using V-Ray 2.4 scene, with my basic setup, which is optimized for an exterior architectural rendering and visualization.

Most importantly, if you have any questions about this basic architectural rendering setup scene, feel free to post a comment.

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Bobby Parker 9/24/14 Bobby Parker 9/24/14

The White Shake House Architectural Rendering

3DSMAX, V-Ray, Photoshop + Time = Photo Realistic Architectural Rendering

The ABEL-FERRIS White Shake House Rendering. I was asked to illustrate the "White Shake House" from CAD files to a warm and welcoming 3D Photoreal architectural rendering.

This home took 1 day to model, 1 day to texture, 1/2 day to render and 1/2 day dedicated to post production (color grading and color correction.)

“I reached out to Bobby to commission this render for my father’s property.

Looks really great! I have a feeling Bobby can do this in his sleep He probably already does.”

— Owner's Son

Bobby Parker 9/23/14 Bobby Parker 9/23/14

Evermotion Editors’ Choice

Editors’ Choice: Daily selection of works published in Evermotion Forum Galleries picked by Evermotion staff.

Bobby Parker 9/23/14 Bobby Parker 9/23/14

4 Reasons Not to Outsource Your Architectural Renderings

Many problems come to the forefront when outsourcing work to foreign countries.

First, the difficulty lies with the difference in time. Shanghai, China is thirteen hours ahead of Dallas, Texas while India is ten and a half hours ahead. As a patch, some of these companies have a representative in the United States. This does solve the problem. Their representative is only around to answer phones and does not do any of the work. Now you are involved in a game of passing information from one person to another before it is received by the person that is assigned your work.

Another issue rears its ugly head. You are probably thinking that since we are off cycle, things will be completed faster. Instead, they take additional time. One day turns into two and before you know it, you are weeks behind.

The second issue is the language barrier. There is no question that the representative speaks English. There are still difficulties to overcome when attempting to have your 3d rendering completed. Edits and changes have to be translated. As we all know, the true meaning can easily get lost in translation. Forget about the direct meaning of the words you speak. What about the delivery? Have you ever made a wise crack or sarcastic comment to a foreign customer service representative only to have them take you seriously?

Third, their culture is different. All of the pictures in the world will not change that fact that your outsource work will be completed by somebody from a completely different culture. Styles are difficult enough to keep up with when living in the Continental United States. Your architectural visualization piece may be accurately represented, but the landscaping package will have a peculiar look. Now you are relegated to driving neighborhoods and photographing exterior architectural visualization groups.

Finally, how much time do you have? It takes time to manage a team from a foreign country. I bet your time is worth more than any potential savings could possibly make. Imagine saving $200 and spending an additional three to four hours. That is imagining also; odds you are not even going to save $200 on an architectural rendering. Your 3d illustration will require a lot of time and effort to complete.

Delays caused by the difference in time zone, lack of English as a primary language and language translation for the working staff eliminate any perceived value. Add in time delays and now you’re starting to have a problem. You will have to save a lot, because, the extra management time will make the project time consuming and difficult. You will have to work hard for every nickel you save, if you save any money at all. Take any difference in fee structure and couple it with the extra management time and aggravation and you suddenly have a project that is more expensive to implement. In many cases, the time delays alone are substantial enough to create difficulty.

Fulfill your architectural visualization needs of a company that resides within the United States. You will benefit with reduced management, time and aggravation. Your architectural illustrations can be completed economically without outsourcing.

Save time, money and aggravation by having your architectural visualization project completed within the United States.

Bobby Parker 9/20/14 Bobby Parker 9/20/14

Negotiate Your Hourly and Project-Based Pricing

If you’re an architectural illustrator, doing freelance by the hour, you are going to have to determine your pricing structure. For example, do you charge by the hour? What’s a reasonable rate to ask? Are you better off charging clients on a project basis?

Here are some tips for calculating your hourly and project rates and how to negotiate pricing with your client.

1. Determining Your Worth

Before you submit a quote for any work, ask yourself these questions:

What is the market rate for architectural illustrators in your location?
How experienced are you? Not just as an architectural illustrator, but as a home based business? Being awesome at architectural rendering is good, but being able to meet deadlines, exceed expectations and above all, being reliable, are essential qualities for an architectural illustrator.

What rate are you willing to accept?

2. Calculating an Hourly Rate

If you’ve been a salaried employee all your life, making the switch to self-employment requires a change of thinking. Some companies may be tempted to coerce you into a rate that reflects what they’d be willing to pay a salaried employee. But self-employment brings its costs and credit to you. Your rate should reflect this, as well as your expertise.

If you are used to being a salaried employee, here’s a good rule of thumb to follow when determining an hourly rate:

Divide your former salary by 52 (work weeks); then divide that number by 40 (the number of work hours in a week). Then mark it up 25-30%.
Your mark-up covers both your value and experience, but also takes care of our business costs such as networking, selling, and other administration, not forgetting your self-employment tax obligations and healthcare insurance costs.

3. Calculating Project Rates

Many clients will prefer to manage their costs and ask for you to rate your work as a fixed project fee. This can also work to your benefit if you price it right. However, it can also work against you, especially if your client is new, and the project scope creeps beyond your original expectations.

The best way to calculate project rates is to spend some time scoping out what you’ll deliver. Use your knowledge of your work methods and familiarity with the subject matter to structure your time commitment, for example:

Research: 2 Hours
Produce gray scale model: 8 Hours
Two rounds of edits: 2 Hours
Add color and lighting 8 Hours
Two rounds of edits: 2 Hours
Final render: 2 Hours
Total: 24 Hours @ $x hourly rate = $x

Remember, you don’t have to put this calculation in front of your client, but it gives you a useful framework for covering your costs and delivering within scope. Don’t forget to add a caveat to address that any work done over and above this scope of work will be charged at an hourly rate

4. Negotiating Your Rate:

Negotiation is hard to avoid and can often shed light on whether this is a client that you really want to work with for. If you are confident that your pricing reflects your value and the market rate, being haggled hard on price can get a relationship off on the wrong foot. Likewise, being locked in at a low rate can quickly devalue the relationship from your perspective.

So, when it comes to negotiating, be prepared to stand your ground but be willing to compromise. If you foresee further business here, try to be flexible.

5. What About Retainers?

If a client starts to send a lot of volume your way, retainer-based pricing can be advantageous, even if it’s at a lower hourly rate than your advertised price.

A retainer is a fee paid for a pre-determined amount of time or work (usually within a month) and is often paid up-front. A retainer agreement can deliver the benefit of predictable work and income while giving your client the reassurance of having you on “stand-by” and a clear view of monthly costs.

Many architectural illustrators charge the full retainer fee, even if they don’t work the entire hours allocated. If you value the relationship, steer clear of this; instead, roll unused hours over to next month.

Good luck!

Bobby Parker 9/19/14 Bobby Parker 9/19/14

The Wood Paneled Cigar Room

Here is a small, but wonderfully warm space, for Z Feng Architect and Company out of Chicago, Illinois. It was a fun project and I think it turned out great!

Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design
V-Ray® for Autodesk® 3ds Max®
Adobe Photoshop CC

Bobby Parker 9/17/14 Bobby Parker 9/17/14

Marvelous Designer 4!

We are excited to announce the official release of Marvelous Designer 4!

Marvelous Designer 4 includes new features that are outstanding,
such as Quad, FBX importer and Symmetric Editing.

Highlighted features

Quadrangulate
Symmetric Design/Editing
FBX Import
1 to N Sewing
Basting (Tack, Tack on Avatar)
Normal Flipping
Layer Clone
Wrapping Arrangement
Scale Rotation Pivot
Multiple Selection

Detailed videos are available at Learn > New in MD4 and, MD4 manual is available at here.

Price

For pricing information, please visit MD Pricing page.

Users who purchased MD3 during Open Beta period get free upgrade to MD4.
Existing MD3 users get 50% off on their upgrade.

→ MD2 users are not eligible for upgrading price.

Bobby Parker 9/10/14 Bobby Parker 9/10/14

RealCamera Motiva

Needed libraries (could be already on your system):

· DirectX9 March2o09 (or higher) Download
· Visual C++ Redist 2008 (needed) Download
· Microsoft .NET framework 3.5 (needed) Download

RealCamera Motiva is a free real-time post production tool, developed by Motiva, which mimics the behavior of real cameras and films, based on studies of the Computer Visualization Laboratory at the University of Columbia. All calculations are performed by the GPU, which ensures maximum speed. To understand its features, please watch the videos.

Bobby Parker 9/9/14 Bobby Parker 9/9/14

All about Gamma & V-Ray

Lesson by Ciro Sannino | More about: Vray News

Contents:

VIDEO IN HD / Narrated / 28 ‘
MAX FILES to download with all V-Ray settings
Gamma output with 3ds Max 2014
Gamma uotput 1.0 and 2.2
Migrating from one configuration to another
Advantages and disadvantages
Successfully save images to 32bit
Duplicate the frame buffer with success
Batch render and render elements

Gamma and configurations

Compensating renders with gamma curve has always been a very hot topic. The reasons for this offsetting is required are already discussed in my book “Photography & Rendering with V-Ray“, so now I will focus on technical and practical details that will allow us to finally dominate all aspects related to the topic “Gamma”.

After it has started, click the “X” to view it in full screen:

GAMMA CONFIGURATION 1.0 :

Script: fileoutgamma = 1.0
Color mapping> Gamma: 2.2
Color Mapping> Mode: Color Range Mapping and Gamma
sRGB button to display preview / disabled

GAMMA CONFIGURATION 2.2 :

Script: fileoutgamma = 2.2
Color mapping> Gamma: 2.2
Color Mapping> Mode: Color Mapping only (no gamma)
sRGB button to display preview / enabled
This configuration is the default in V-Ray 2.4 and V-Ray 3

Both configurations produce the same result, with the difference that the configuration GAMMA2.2 facilitates saving images to 32bit and management of 3ds Max Frame Buffer and batch render.

FILES & TRAINING:

Download the package containing the scene set in 2 configurations:

Download Gamma Pack
Buy the book Photography & Rendering with V-Ray
Subscribe to the Online course: Learnvray and 5SRW method

Note: A “mismatch” window appears when we open a file with output gamma set differently from your system.

Bobby Parker 9/6/14 Bobby Parker 9/6/14

V-Ray Film & VFX Showreel 2014

We'd like to thank the amazing artists and studios whose work we feature here in our 2014 VFX showreel. Every year we are inspired by what artists bring to V-Ray.