James Insley (September 23, 2010)

Great job! Love this one!!

i have just got inspired buy your work,,, thank for the Vimeo tut

love the colours in this!

Jinsley - really good work, especially on the postwork. Any chance you can put together a run through of how you did the layers in photoshop? (Possibly a narration of the video) For instance, the car light streaks - I can never get those to look right. Also, with the building glows/lighting - would love to pick up some of your techniques. Keep up the good work!

Really great choice on the background, and the building looks cool, though hard to built i guess:p!

outstanding gallery, beautiful images!

James, This is some of the fines digital arch-viz i've seen. I love your solutions. The interior shot of the hospital thing is nothing special, compared to the rest of the work. I was wondering, do you have a background in traditional art, something like a fine art degree or something? Majority of people who do renderings nowadays are able to learn a lot of technical stuff about the 3d software itself, but lack centuries worth of knowledge about compositoin, color balance etc. What do you use for painting? It doesnt look like piranesi.

Sorry, I hadn't seen this... I don't have any education in the arts. Once or twice a week I take my son out to the dike and we paint with water colours, I draw on the train every day and spend a lot of time browsing sites like MIR's, Luxigon's and a slew of others. Every thing is done in max and photoshop, there is very little painting with a tablet, most of the effects are from some scripts I have written or standard filters... if I paint too much then it takes too long and I don't make my deadlines. I work in house, so most times quantity comes before quality.

James, This is some of the fines digital arch-viz i've seen. I love your solutions. The interior shot of the hospital thing is nothing special, compared to the rest of the work. I was wondering, do you have a background in traditional art, something like a fine art degree or something? Majority of people who do renderings nowadays are able to learn a lot of technical stuff about the 3d software itself, but lack centuries worth of knowledge about compositoin, color balance etc. What do you use for painting? It doesnt look like piranesi.

Very nice work James. I'm curious to know, where did you get the spiral building in your main image? I only ask because I designed and rendered a building identical to that about 4 years ago for an architectural competition.

I think that 99% of people who have something to do with architecture and use a 3d program, have designed a box with a twist modifier on it :D I designed a similar building for a structural class (the emphasis was on a simple structural exercise not the design) and was stoked to see the very same concept done by SOM. I admit, i was inspired by another one of their buildings, the transbay terminal, but i designed a whole different thing. Later, i found the very same concept, in one of their older presentations.

Very nice indeed! Impressing work!

Good job i like the concept of your structure, can i ask one question james if you dont mind, im new in using 3d max im just wondering how to put a neighbor building background is it done also in max or in photoshop and color blending only. Thanks i know you can help me for this... Thanks

I used the following link as a guide and then adapted it to suit my needs... http://vyonyx.com/2008/11/03/tutorial03-creating-a-night-time-facades-in-max-using-mental-ray/

Good job i like the concept of your structure, can i ask one question james if you dont mind, im new in using 3d max im just wondering how to put a neighbor building background is it done also in max or in photoshop and color blending only. Thanks i know you can help me for this... Thanks

some quick answers to questions before I go for lunch... Adam - the brushes were compiled/created by Levente Peterffy. I originally found the link on the VYONX site. http://vyonyx.com/ http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8JG2SGUI Tom - it was done purely off the top of my head. Inspired by Calatrava's turning torso and a project we are working on at the moment... http://www.vancouver-real-estate-direct.com/blog/images/ritz.jpg Travis - great feedback, you're right, spending a few more minutes to help define the scale would have helped a lot. I never intended to light up the plaza, but I think maybe I should have now... I missed a few good opportunities to help the image but I'll get it next time.

Some very nice work James! I always struggle to achieve the more arty/conceptual look that takes the edge off the realistic images. I am getting asked for this style more often now, and you seem to have mastered it (along with some great realistic images too!). Thanks for the mini tutorial too. Well done.

AMAZING JOB MAN (y)(y) YOU REALLY GOT THE TALENT

nice work james...the student has indeed become the master. sorry i couldn't make it for nachos and beer yesterday. is the 'confidential work' all that assassin/secret spy stuff you were bragging about ?

Paul, it was ok... I had some last minute revisions to a parkade at work so dinner at the pub = lets try and drink two pints and eat a beef dip in 15 mins before we have to move along. Maybe next time or I will head over there really early one day next week to sort some things out with payroll. I'll give you a shout.

Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback and crits... I was very surprised yesterday to see it. The project was created to try out some ideas for creating exterior illustrations at the design concept stage quickly. I learnt a lot doing it and will probably do a few more study projects in the next few weeks when I have some down time. Part of the reason for this was to develop some styles and document them in the form of video tutorials for use in the work place... Here is the render straight out of 3ds Max using MR... [ATTACH]39318[/ATTACH] and I have a quick post on the layer build up in PS over at vimeo, its not quite the same image posted here, but it is 98% of the way there minus a few filters and touch ups: http://vimeo.com/15227904

I am digging the direction the first image is going. I think the sky is really coming along, though it would be better if the banding weren't there, and it blended smoother when going to the night. I could also use a bit more definition of the streets, maybe some lamp posts to help indicate scale. The streets kind of get lost towards the sky as the move into the background. I think you know this, but maybe weren't so concerned about it. The people are also hanging out in a really dark place, which may not be good. I could use a few more lights in the plaza area so that it feels like an inviting space. ....but as for the mood and stylistic aspects, I am digging it.

nice work james...the student has indeed become the master. sorry i couldn't make it for nachos and beer yesterday. is the 'confidential work' all that assassin/secret spy stuff you were bragging about ?

Congrats, Jim! Well deserved :)