Bobby Parker 1/12/15 Bobby Parker 1/12/15

The Freelance Handbook

The second in our six-part series of practical manuals, The Freelance Handbook is your definitive guide to being your own boss.

New year, new start – right? If you’ve made it your new year's resolution to go freelance then you're in luck: there's never been a better time to be your own boss. With more and more employers outsourcing their work, and social media connecting you better than ever before, it's a great time to take the plunge into freelance waters.

But the road to solo success isn't always easy. So whether you're thinking about making the leap or are a seasoned freelance pro, pick up a copy of The Freelance Handbook – 116 pages of practical tips and essential advice for making it alone.

From setting your rates and managing your time to getting noticed, winning work and more, The Freelance Handbookbrings you everything you need to succeed as a freelance creative.

Chapters include:

Go it alone
Win more clients
Work smarter
Manage your money
Be more business savvy
Promote yourself
Well-being
Essential resources

The Freelance Handbook has sold out in print, but you can still buy an ebook edition using the free Computer Arts app on Apple Newsstand.

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Bobby Parker 1/11/15 Bobby Parker 1/11/15

Manufactured Home Rendering

Recently, I was asked to help explain the design intent for a semi-custom manufactured house manufacturer. The designer had some great ideas to give the manufactured home some curb appeal, but was lacking the ability to visually show the owners her design. Initially, the designer contracted some architecture students, but the illustrations were not successful.

Manufactured Home

Option 1

Manufactured Home

Option 2

Manufactured Home

Option 3

“This is absolutely amazing and so incredibly realistic! I am so excited!!!”

— Interior Designer

Also, along with the exterior, the designer had some ideas for the bedroom. See, most manufactured homes have the bedroom in the back, and the back isn't seen by most, so lacks character. In this manufactured home community, which is in Florida, the homes are located on a beautiful lake. The back of the home is on the road, and is seen by most, and needed some curb appeal. The challenge was, they wanted windows on the back, but they wanted to make sure that the bedroom has little natural light.

Manufactured Home Interior Bedroom Rendering

This was a fun project and I was extremely satisfied in helping someone convey their design ideas; that's what I do!

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Bobby Parker 1/10/15 Bobby Parker 1/10/15

Should you go freelance?

Have you ever considered going freelance?

Perhaps it’s something you’d like to try but you’re concerned about the financial risks. Or maybe you’re already taking freelance work ‘on the side’ and are wondering whether to take the plunge into full time freelancing.

In this video I share some points to consider, when deciding whether or not to go freelance. This advice is based on my own experience of moving from permanent employment, to freelance copywriting.

Visit my website:
http://gilbhub.com

Follow me on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/hannagilb

My LinkedIn:
http://linkd.in/1vizL8F

@WorkHubs:
http://www.atworkhubs.co.uk

Got questions about the freelancing life? Or are you a freelancer who can offer some top tips? Leave me a comment or connect with me on Twitter @hannagilb
For more tips on copywriting and the freelance life, visit me at Gilbhub.com

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Bobby Parker 1/7/15 Bobby Parker 1/7/15

Watch The Designer's Pricing Class Trailer:

This class is a step-by-step guide to help you get paid what you're worth:

50 videos in five entertaining lessons that take you through understanding the market, learning how to price projects, acquiring the negotiating skills you need, and learning how to write a sexy proposal.
Five documents and templates such as a checklist for your first call with your client, a proposal template, a step-by-step guide on how to price like a pro and exercises you can do by yourself or with a friend.
Online tools to help you calculate your break-even rate and write a great proposal in just a few steps
Lifetime access to the class (including any updates) from any device, anywhere in the world
Your questions answered by the mentors
Bonus: 30% discount for Happy Socks
Bonus: Free 3 months of Studio account on Qwilr

The class will launch on January 13th, 2015 with 15% off for the first 72 hours.

We're giving away a free ticket!

If you want to win a free ticket to our awesome class, all you have to do is share our trailer (with the following link) on your Twitter/Facebook account:

http://youtu.be/Rx9uSYP-zL0?ref=info@bobby-parker.com

The winner will be announced tomorrow night on our Twitter and FB page.

Good luck!

- Lior Frenkel

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Bobby Parker 1/5/15 Bobby Parker 1/5/15

The Real Cost of Architectural Rendering

Russell L. Thomas

No matter what professional field you are in, inevitably you will be asked to provide or even justify the cost of your services. It can be difficult to give pricing while trying to make sure that what you are providing pricing for is what any competition is providing pricing for. In addition giving some context for your price and demonstrating that it is reasonable is often times necessary. If you are an architect practicing in Washington State you may show clients the published price surveys that would indicate where you where within the reported percentile and is a good litmus test of your fee structure compared to the rest of the market. In the architectural visualization profession there isn't any "defacto" standard and many studios are good at the old "Bait and Switch" to lure you in. One resource is the 2009 CG architect survey and the information could be interpreted as follows:

In a 2009 worldwide survey, performed by CGarchitect (most influential and reputable online magazine/community focusing on architectural visualization), the average price charged for a high-quality 3D architectural still image is between $1000.00 USD and $2000.00 USD. This is an average price you could expect that paying in this range as being fair for small to medium projects, large projects range from $3,000.00 USD onward depending on the project. While standard 3D animation costs anywhere between US$5000.00 USD and $10000.00 USD , you could expect to pay a fair bit more depending on duration and complexity of video. Obviously, every studio is different and prices vary, but usually the studios that are producing higher quality work, are charging more. If you have worked with rendering studios you probably know you can get cheaper renderings from countries like China and India, downside can be the quality control and all the time spent managing the process to get the results you want. The comprehensive survey on the profession of architectural visualization can be found here:

http://www.cgarchitect.com/2009/11/cgarchitect-2009-industry-survey-results---spotlight-on-the-future-of-the-architectural-visualization-industry

There are some firm hard figures on the monetary level of what are going rates by regions and it gives you a good idea how much you may pay in currency, but I would argue that the cost of renderings is also measured in your time and quality of the end result.

It's All Subjective:

I can say a rendering is bad and the average person off the street might say they see nothing wrong with it, so why should anyone care? This is the dilemma many potential clients face, bottom line is the all mighty dollar and if a cheap $500.00 rendering conveys the idea to the average person, why not just go with the cheapest artist/studio you can find? If it serves your purpose, it is hard to argue against it, and probably a waste of time to even try. So rather than argue the subjective, lets discuss the objective.

$500.00 vs. $1,500.00 Rendering:

The little guy in a foreign country using pirated software and hardware supplemented by their government doesn't have the overhead of a big professional studio. Obviously you can reverse the scenario and the little guy in our country using pirated software working from home has less overhead than a big studio in a foreign country, this isn't about foreign vs. domestic, just pointing out the more typical scenario based from my experience. So pricing doesn't necessarily denote quality so that $500.00 rendering is looking pretty good right about now.

In any case the little guy typically can whip out a rendering that is probably acceptable and you are dealing with an individual which a lot of people like. That $500.00 rendering can also come from a large studio that is basically a render mill pumping out renderings at a very fast pace by the use of hundreds of artist working for cheap, producing renderings via assembly line fashion. Down side is usually that you get different people of varying skill levels each time that studio provides services. What it can come down to is the big studio has back up artist to complete your project if initial artist gets sick or has an emergency comes up, but you aren't guaranteed the same artist working for you from project to project. So at this point there really isn't much mentioned here that helps a potential client make better decision.

For an American company seeking artist specializing in AEC, choosing an American artist/studio who has a strong foundation in our construction industry is a huge bonus in the long run. If you go with someone who doesn't have a strong architectural background you will probably need to assign someone in your office to coordinate with them and this cost you money and adds up real fast. There is also the whole English as a second language which can sometimes make communication less than accurate. Now that $500.00 rendering starts costing a lot more.

Having someone who knows National materials, construction techniques and building codes is very beneficial, saves lots of time for the Client who doesn't have to hold their hand every step of the way. Little things like handrail balusters spaces greater than 4" apart or curbs greater than 6" high can make a rendering appear incorrectly and steal the viewers attention trying to figure out what doesn't look quite right. So a trained professional who charges more can actually save money for the client and more importantly can save a lot of heart ache and revisions.

Selecting an artist/studio by their online portfolio can be difficult for multiple reasons, so if in doubt ask for a reference. There have been plenty of situations where online artist/studios have been called out on stealing others work and showing it as their own. Another item that isn't illegal but questionable is that there are companies out there that sell readymade scenes for people to render and put in their portfolios. The scenes are sold for this purpose, so nothing illegal, but artist/studios are using content not created in-house to pad/build their portfolio, the work doesn't represent what they can do and is misleading. There are also plenty of cases where an artist was a small part of a team and they go off on their own and show the work as their own. So be careful if the work seems world class, but the price is ridiculously low and they can't provide a referral or two.

What it comes down to is finding the artist/studio that is knowledgeable in your industry sector and who has a body of work that you respect and a point of contact that you feel comfortable with at a price point that is in your realistic budget. No simple answers just some things to think about, we have found that there are some fantastic artist/studios in China and the old Soviet Union countries like Serbia or the Ukraine, so it doesn't mean you can't go outside the country to find great reliable talent, just do a bit of homework and make sure you aren't going to do a lot of hand holding for a final product that isn't acceptable.

In conclusion the real cost of architectural renderings may not be the bottom dollar but the end result and your "hassle free" time. And after all on a multimillion dollar project, is a few thousand dollars too high of a price to pay to represent you and your project?

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Bobby Parker 12/30/14 Bobby Parker 12/30/14

Scenic Mountain Architectural Rendering

Park City, Utah is a scenic mountain community with three world-class resorts and a town filled with activities. Lane Myers, in the construction industry for over 25 years, asked me to create several photo realistic architectural renderings for their homes located in Park City.

Like the majority of my work, I received an email for a quote. The email was from Freedom Design, which isn't the architect on file, but has a relationship with Lane Myers. Lane Myers had seen some of my work done for Freedom Design and asked if I can create a rendering with the same level of realism as they had seen on renderings I did for Freedom. Of coarse, was exited to get started and after they excepted my quote, I dove right in.

First, I received the AutoCAD 2D Drawings, which were very nicely drawn, and I created the 3D model based on the 2D CAD file. Like the majority of 2D CAD files, there were things to work through, but nothing too difficult.

Once the model was completed, I sent some gray-scale proofs, so the builder can verify the accuracy of my 3D model. The gray scales were approved and I started the texture mapping (colors and materials). Once again, I emailed some color proofs. Once the color proofs were approved, I fine tuned materials, worked on lighting and shadow, and delivered some high resolution finals.

During the project, there were some changes to design, but I was happy to make the changes. A lot of the time my renderings bring up design changes, which is an important part of the design process and I am glad to help. One thing I didn't have was a nice photo of the mountain, which would be seen behind the houses. The architectural renderings will be used for sales and marketing, and a construction site billboard.

From start to finish, this project took me a little over a week. The client was happy, which makes me happy.

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Bobby Parker 12/17/14 Bobby Parker 12/17/14

Forest Pack 4.3 Pro & Lite Released

iToo Software announced today the release of Forest Pack 4.3 Lite and Pro versions. This update adds powerful new features suggested by users, including tools to create level-of-detail models, a new boundary-checking mode to simplify the creation of clearly defined edges for large scatter areas, and the ability to limit distribution using material ID’s.

Forest Pack 4.3 Demo Reel from iToo Software on Vimeo.

Forest Pack 4.3 brings Corona Renderer materials to the existing libraries, adds 16 new ready-to-use gravel presets – each in two versions for small or large-scale areas – plus many more features and fixes.

Key Features :

A new Forest LOD object that allows you to switch billboard, models or materials based on distance from the camera, a custom target, or as a percentage of the screen size.
Edge boundary checking mode to automate the creation of clean edges, especially when creating grass. Works by removing element sub-objects that fall outside the scatter area’s perimeter. (V-Ray only)
The ability to limit a scatter to specific polygons using Material IDs when using surfaces.
Introduced separate controls for Density and Scale Falloff Affect parameters.
A new XML Data exporter to aid interoperability and integration of Forest Pack into large pipelines.
16 new Gravel presets, including detail and large-scale models.
Materials for Corona Renderer added to existing free libraries.

To help you get up and running with these new features, iToosoft is also releasing two short tutorials :

2. Boundary Checking Using Edge Mode to show a simplified technique for creating clean edges around large scatters.

The Lite version of this release, freely available to download and use commercially, and full release notes are available now on the iToo Software website.

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Bobby Parker 12/11/14 Bobby Parker 12/11/14

V-Ray 3.0 for 3ds Max SP1

V-Ray 3.10.01 is now available for download from our website. Before you get too excited, let me say that we will have a patch next week with some minor fixes, so it may be best to wait until then. Nevertheless, if you find any issues, please let us know.

We had a build yesterday that didn't work correctly; if you downloaded that, please get an updated installation from our website. We apologize for this inconvenience.

There is a short video demonstrating some of the new features here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy-tRHExWgU

The full changelog from the previous release is as follows:

Build 3.10.01 (official) (November 2014)
==============

New features:
(*) V-Ray: Further optimizations for render speed;
(*) Updated to OpenEXR 2.2.0 and added new DWA compression options to VRayOptionsRe;
(*) Support for point cloud rendering in 3ds Max 2015;
(*) Built-in DMC samples calculator for VRayLight, VRayMtl and brute force GI;
(*) .vrmesh viewer: Added a .vrmesh viewer tool for previewing .vrmesh and Alembic files in a standalone OpenGL application;
(*) Embree: Update to Embree 2.3;
(*) Embree: Proxies and instances can now be accelerated by Embree;
(*) Embree: Can now accelerate hair rendering for Ornatrix and HairFarm;
(*) V-Ray: Added "GI filter multiplier" option to the Global switches rollout to control texture filtering for GI rays for VRayHDRI;
(*) V-Ray: Secondary matte environment background slot to control the appearance of matte objects in reflections/refractions;
(*) V-Ray: When created, V-Ray will automatically load a preset named "default" if there is one (allows for customized default values);
(*) V-Ray RT: Support for Carbon Scatter;
(*) V-Ray RT: Support for the V-Ray VFB for ActiveShade session;
(*) V-Ray RT CPU: Support for the VRayClipper object;
(*) V-Ray RT CPU: Support for Ornatrix and HairFarm rendering;
(*) V-Ray RT GPU: Support for using the light cache for GPU rendering;
(*) V-Ray RT GPU: Support for coherent tracing (may improve rendering performance);
(*) V-Ray RT GPU CUDA: Support for the nVidia Maxwell GPU architecture;
(*) V-Ray RT GPU CUDA: Support for the VRayFastSSS2 material;
(*) V-Ray RT GPU CUDA: Initial support for hair rendering for Ornatrix and HairFarm;
(*) V-Ray RT GPU CUDA: On-the-fly recompilation of the GPU kernel to include only features used by the particular scene;
(*) VFB: Ability to dock/undock History window and Color Corrections window to the main VFB window;
(*) VFB: Added highlight burn color correction to the VFB;
(*) VFB: Added "background image" color correction to the VFB;
(*) VFB: Added white balance color correction;
(*) VFB: Added the ability to save multi-channel .vrimg and OpenEXR files from the VFB UI;
(*) VFB: Added the ability to load arbitrary file formats in the V-Ray VFB for post-processing;
(*) VRayInstancer: Implement a new geometric plugin for instancing objects on a ParticleFlow and other particle systems;
(*) VRayHDRI: Added image preview in the file open dialog;
(*) VRayHDRI: Added controls to specify UDIM/UVTILE tiles for the preview in material editor;
(*) VRayScatterVolumeMtl: Greatly improved calculations; ability to use the light cache;
(*) VRayScannedMtl: Support rendering of scanned real-world BRDF materials;
(*) VRayProxy: Support for hair and particle instances;
(*) VRayProxy: Support for subdivision objects in Alembic files using OpenSubdiv;
(*) VRayLight: Disc light shape;
(*) VRayLight, VRayIES, VRaySun: Added parameters to control the diffuse and specular contributions separately;
(*) VRayLightSelect render element: Added "mode" parameter to allow extracting the full/raw/diffuse/specular contribution of specific lights;
(*) VRayMtl: Added GGX BRDF model;
(*) VRayMtl: Added clip opacity mode option for faster rendering of trees etc;
(*) VRayMultiSubTex: Extended with new randomized modes for choosing colors;
(*) VRayVelocity render element: Added include/exclude list;
(*) ply2vrmesh: Added export options to export specified frames to separate files;
(*) ply2vrmesh: Added Alembic frame offset output to the files;
(*) ply2vrmesh: Added option to merge two or more .vrmesh files into one;
(*) vrimg2exr: Added -multiPart option to vrimg2exr that produces an OpenEXR 2 file with each render element in its own "part";

Modified features:
(*) V-Ray: Added an option to open the V-Ray messages window on error or warning only;
(*) V-Ray: Added by Object IDs selection method for Render mask;
(*) V-Ray: Added MaxScript access to the Trace sets include/exclude flag;
(*) V-Ray: Added %numPasses and %numSubdivs stamp keywords;
(*) V-Ray: "Camera Motion Blur" is controlled independently on "Motion Blur" setting;
(*) V-Ray: Embree enabled by default;
(*) V-Ray: Improved render speed when not using any render elements;
(*) V-Ray: Light cache "Use for glossy rays" option is enabled by default;
(*) V-Ray: Optimized hair rendering in general;
(*) V-Ray: Reduced memory usage for hair and particles;
(*) V-Ray: Renamed the "Time independent" option to "Lock noise pattern" in the DMC sampler rollout;
(*) V-Ray: The default GI methods are set to Brute force/Light cache;
(*) V-Ray: The default image sampler set to Progressive;
(*) V-Ray: The image sampler parameters rollout is unfolded by default;
(*) V-Ray: VFB is cleared always when doing network rendering with render mask;
(*) V-Ray RT: Improved refresh speed;
(*) V-Ray RT: Removed the Show Mask option from the user interface, the mask is written in VRaySampleRate render element for the progressive sampler;
(*) VFB: Improved anaglyph stereoscopic preview to reduce retinal rivalry;
(*) VFB: Improved initialization speed of the History window when there are a lot of images in the history;
(*) VFB: The vfbControl MaxScript function returns values for the commands that have states;
(*) VFB: Made the History window compliant with the 3ds Max color theme;
(*) .vrscene exporter: Added combo box to select between Scene Animation/Frame range, the latter remembers the start/end values;
(*) VRay2SidedMtl: Added ability to filter the translucency effect through the diffuse color of the front-facing side;
(*) VRayClipper: More robust and faster algorithm is used;
(*) VRayDirt: Added "double sided" option;
(*) VRayDirt: The distribution parameter can now take negative values for more defined edges;
(*) VRayFastSSS2: Added opacity texture slot;
(*) VRayHairFarmMod and VRayOrnatrixMod: Faster rendering of hair;
(*) VRayHDRI: Added MaxScript access to "coords" parameters;
(*) VRayLight: Added the ability to display the light name in the viewport;
(*) VRayLight: Somewhat faster sampling of rectangle lights;
(*) VRayMtl: Multiple layers of glass rendered with noise;
(*) VRayOSLMtl/VRayOSLTex: Improved shader cache logic, now the compiled shaders reside entirely in a memory buffer;
(*) VRayOSLMtl/VRayOSLTex: Removed dependency of shader name on the shader file name;
(*) VRayProxy: Export texture coordinates for .vrmesh preview, if preview mesh is specified;
(*) VRayProxy: Same proxies are automatically instantiated;
(*) VRayProxy: Show proxy color set names in Vertex Color texture "Channel Name" list;
(*) VRayProxy: Show the extra color channels from Alembic files in the "Channel Name" drop-down of Vertex Color maps applied to the proxy object;
(*) VRayProxy: Support for Material ID channel when rendering with point clouds;
(*) VRayShadow: Made the U, V, W Area shadow sizes animatable in the VRayShadows params rollout;

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Bobby Parker 12/9/14 Bobby Parker 12/9/14

Managing Multiple 3DS MAX projects

If you are like me, you have several projects going on at any given time. Each project in a different stage and most awaiting on client comments. And, if you are like me, you hate loosing work and backups are very important. As you might know, 3DS MAX has an Autoback, which keeps 3 backup copies.

“How often should I back up? It depends, how much data are you willing to lose?”

— Bobby Parker

Without spending a fortune, I sought out for a solution, and found a solution that works great.

Project Switcher

ProjectSwitcher is a Macroscript utility for quickly switching between multiple project folders. It keeps track of the previously opened projects, saves them to an .ini file and presents them in a dropdown list.

Installation: For automatic startup, just copy this script into your scripts\startup folder and restart 3ds Max.

Use the 'X' key to remove an entry from the list (this will not do anything to your actual project folder!); the 'Set' key works just like the 'File > Set Project Folder function: it allows you to select another existing project folder or create a new one. Both will be added to the list. Note: projectSwitcher does not currently track any project folder actions that were performed directly in 3ds Max.

New in v0.31:

Due to a bug in 3ds Max 2014, I have made an alternative version for 3ds Max 2014
The alternative version 0.31 no longer works as a dockable toolbar but inside a floating dialog instead
Dialog now remembers position and size

New in v0.3:

Automatic Project Switching when opening .max files: When opening the file c:\projects\myproject\scenes\file.max, this function will automatically set c:\projects\myproject\ as the new project folder. Thanks to Tollef Roe Steen for the suggestion.
No longer a macroscript; can be automatically run when 3ds Max starts

Bug in 3ds Max 2008: A bug in the latest release of 3ds Max causes projectSwitcher to always show a Browse-Folder-Dialog. This can be fixed by manually editing the file Macro_SetProjectFolder.mcr in the <3dsmax_root>\ui\macroscripts directory and changing

local _SetProjectFolder_macro_option_promptUser
local _SetProjectFolder_macro_option_newFolder

in line 25 and 26 to

global _SetProjectFolder_macro_option_promptUser
global _SetProjectFolder_macro_option_newFolder

Save the .mcr file and restart 3ds Max. This should return normal functionality for projectSwitcher

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Bobby Parker 12/6/14 Bobby Parker 12/6/14

Architectural Rendering with Rhino and V-Ray with Dave Schultze

Watch the Online Video Course Architectural Rendering with Rhino and V-Ray

A detailed rendering job can make your building models look more realistic and professional—and help sell clients on your ideas. This course teaches everything you need to know about rendering interior and exterior architectural scenes with Rhino and V-Ray. Using a pavilion of his own design, author Dave Schultze shows how to set up Sun, Sky, and V-Ray lighting systems; apply glass, metal, stone, and wood materials; and insert trees, grass, and people for additional scale and interest. Plus, learn how to use cameras and compositing techniques to add a sense of depth and realism to your designs.

Topics include:

Setting up your system
Understanding the settings, software, and process
Lighting the scene
Tweaking exposure
Rendering with architectural glass, masonry, and concrete
Making realistic grass and trees
Creating depth of field
Compositing from 3D to 2D

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