Introduction

Ted Boardman tedb@tbmax.com http://www.tbmax.com

Allow me to introduce myself…

I'd first like to thank Jeff Mottle for making space available on CGarchitect for what I hope to be a monthly column for Autodesk VIZ and Discreet 3ds max related topics. CGarchitect is one of the first websites I visit each day when I'm in my office to find good information related directly to visualization in the architectural field.

I'll start by introducing myself to you who don't already know me. I live and work out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA, a very small city on the very short coast of NH, about 60 mi north of Boston. I have traveled and worked extensively in Europe and Asia over the years and now focus training users of VIZ and max.

My work background is basically in architecture, as a draftsman early on, and with my own design business for about 18 years that designed and hand built post and beam frames. I have designed about 570 structures all around the US and built probably 120 of those for traditional and contemporary residences and light commercial buildings.

This business led me into Autocad version 1.4 (yes that's one point four), through AutoShade, Animator, and finally into 3D Studio DOS and 3ds max and VIZ. I had been training AutoCAD users in the mid 80's at New England colleges and continued my training in with max and VIZ. About 6 years ago I switched my business to 100% training.

I am one of a dozen Discreet Authorized Training Specialists for max and have co-authored a number of books with New Riders publishing. You can find more of that information on my website. I also know a number of you from my sessions on VIZ each year at Autodesk University.

OK, so get on with it…

I would like to use this space to cover topics and issues about visualization that I come across in my travels. I will be focusing on VIZ and max topics, mostly because I simply don't have the brain capacity to learn other complex software, and because they are commonly used in the architectural community.

The subject matter will vary widely, but will not stray to far from topics that I feel are important to the vast majority of users. In my travels I find that there are several areas that VIZ and max users either don't know about or don't realize the potential in day to day production. I get the most satisfaction by helping you, the user, get 80% of your work done as quickly as possible to allow you the extra time that it takes to tweak an image or presentation into a stunning work of art. That tweaking process can't really be taught, but like another other art form, must come from the users sensibilities and understanding of what makes traditional art "good" and how to adapt it to the new technology  

Figure 1: Modeled in about 7 hours from a photo - American Brewery, N.Baltimore, MD

I won't be covering much about AutoCAD or ADT topics, again primarily because I don't use those packages, and don't have the expertise to lead you in the right direction. Now before you throw up your hands and go to your favorite movie star website, let me clarify that even if AutoCAD or ADT is your primary modeling tool, the more you know about how VIZ and max work the more options you will have to make your workflow more productive and enjoyable. There are things you can do in VIZ and max that are just plain impractical or impossible to do in cad. The opposite is also true, of course, but I'll presume you are already a cad expert and go from there.

Often I'll be talking about Autodesk VIZ and Discreet max as if they were one program. And for many training purposes they are one in the same. The underlying code is the same and now, with the release of VIZ 4, the menus are very similar. The fundamental production issues, which not necessarily "basic" topics by the way, are very similar for both programs. While VIZ and max may leapfrog each other in capabilities with each new release, many offices use either package or a few offices may use both and there is enough commonality to make general methods and techniques useful.

For example…

As I mentioned earlier, the intent of most of my training and of this column is to enable you to get the bulk of your work done quickly to allow time for materials and lighting tweaks that can make the difference between a good rendering and a very good rendering.

What happens more often than not is that 90% of the project time and money is spent on modeling the perfect model. That leaves 10% for materials, lights, and, heaven forbid, animation. This remaining time is further compressed by long render times.

  



Figure 2: Modeled in about 4 hours from photo - Bastille Opera, Paris

There are two things that I stress over and over to my clients; only render what you can see and only put in as much detail as you need to get the quality you need based on distance from the objects and render resolution. If detail is smaller than a screen pixel or printed image pixel then it is a waste of computer resources. In these columns I'll cover some VIZ and max modeling techniques that allow you very good control over adjusting the detail of models on the fly. Add detail when you need it, reduce the detail when you don't.

I keep hearing the argument that it really doesn't matter how long it takes to render because we render over night anyway. I don't buy that argument at all. If it is relatively simple to learn how to optimize your scenes and cut the render time significantly why would anyone want to waste the time, just for the heck of it? Test renders will be faster, you will add significantly to the effective useful life of your hardware, and you will be able to do efficient animation when the day comes. Develop bad work habits now and they will haunt you your entire career.



Figure 3: 30 minute class exercise - tire tread is Bricks map in the Bump slot

  

We'll look at the process of simulated geometry using Bump and Opacity maps, for example, that will allow you to create the illusion of complex geometry with materials mapped to flat surfaces. For instance, standing seam metal roofing or clapboard siding can be done in many situations with maps instead of physical models.

We can investigate methods of creating convincing custom doors and windows with simple or complex trim that are easy to modify and to change materials. Modeling road and walkways that can be edited may be another topic of interest that we can investigate.

Use of some of the modifiers that you may not have delved into yet, such as Lattice, Bevel Profile, and FFD modifiers can increase productivity and allow you to quickly create object that would otherwise take hours to model is an interesting topic that we can spend some time on.

Lofting in VIZ and max is a modeling technique that has no equal in most cad software. There are a few simple concepts that, once understood, can open a whole new approach to flexible and efficient modeling.

Max 4 and VIZ 4 new Polygon editing capabilities open some interesting options for quickly modeling coffered ceilings and other honeycomb structures that would be very difficult to accomplish with standard triangular mesh modeling. Some of the features of edge and vertex sub-object editing that architectural users tend to ignore, generally for lack of available time, would be worth exploring. Once you know a tool or function is available you may well come up with some very useful techniques after just a little experimentation..

In the area of materials we could spend years exploring options. Topics I'll stress are investigating and using Specular Highlights to add sparkle to your scenes, placing and tiling images for convincing mapping, using some of the map types like Falloff that are very powerful but not intuitive at first glance.

In lighting, the topics will probably be heavily weighted toward the new Radiosity renderer in VIZ 4. These topics will, of course, not pertain to max 4 or VIZ 3, but they may be of interest if you are using one of the available third party render engines.

  



Figure 4: Radiosity lighting exercise

In the area of animation, I will go on my usual tirade of how terrible architectural walk-throughs are as a general presentation tool. Many walk-throughs I've seen are more like someone has put me in a shopping cart and is running through the building, steering with my ears. Not a pleasant ride at all. I'll discuss techniques to get easy control over the velocity of a camera when you do have to move it through a scene. I'll also discuss cinematic techniques that could make it easier for you in production without diminishing the content or message and would make veiwing more enjoyable for the viewer.

In Summary…

I'll also be open to suggestions on topics you might like to have addressed. No guarantees that I will know anything about the topic, but that won't stop me from having an opinion.

Bear with me if you've heard it all before and keep an open mind. Much of the content will be pure opinion and much will be methods and techniques that I find useful in my training sessions around the country. Pick through the information and use what you can, rejecting or filing away the rest. Think of it as Martha Stewart for the visualization community!

Visualizations and presentations are here to stay and, much like the early days of cad, it is through the sharing of ideas and experiences within the community that we will be able to learn and expand our experiences. For the most part, VIZ and max users from around the world are more than willing to trade tips and tricks that will benefit us all. I'd like to this space to promote that interaction.

Good luck and have fun.

Ted