manta

Hmmm...haven't heard from Martin since he switched to Maya, very strange indeed...

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richmondlu

So is there anyone left that uses maya for arch viz?

I have a job doing it and i use nothing but maya and come up with very good results. I just wanted to talk to other people that are useing maya in the work place? here is a sample of work that you could q&c on.
So please lets get this form back on its feet.

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djimifett

I was thinking of approaching some architect's offices with some examples of work (when i have some examples) for some freelance work. Richmondlu Three questions..

Do you think this is a valid way to go about getting a job?
Do you work in an architects office?
Could you tell me about your modeling workflow?

Here is what I have done so far..
http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/17561-red-lodge.html

richmondlu

1.) That is how I started living in the midwest united states it is really hard to convince people this is the thing that is going to make their work better. So what i did is played the numbers. I wrote out a pro resume and put together a very nice mailer of about 20 works i did. Remember to send out work in all different stages. From wire frame to how you made shaders textures stuff like that, to the final images and then the post images. Then send them out everywhere you can find. I bet i sent over 200 resumes and portfolios out. By the numbers someone will call. I started out as a freelancer then was offered a full time job with all benifits so things worked out good. The only bad thing it took a year to do after graduating college.
2.) yes i work in an turn key office which does everything from demolition,design, contrustucion documentation to the final furniture that goes in it. So being an arch vizzer like our selves this was a perfect place to go.
3.) My modeling work flow goes like this. I usally start off with a clay render to make sure all the detail i want looks right and also that is how i start lighting things as well. Then i add textures and all that jazz. unwrapping and mapping everything. Then i do a couple more basic renders to make everything looks okay. Then i set up the mental ray stuff. Doing final gather passes, global passes to make sure that is all going to be alright then. I get the okay from the architects and designers then i render it production.

Well i hope i anwsered all your questions if not let me know i would like to keep this maya form going.

djimifett

When I said 'modeling', meant how do you arrive at the clay render, so do you import CAD files, and then use curves....etc. and what is a clay render; just a plain lambert shader?

I've been making my own plans in illustrator and using the create polygon tool, then extruding..

Thats the thing about teaching yourself 3d, you have a method of working and then you'll find there's a way to do it ten times faster.

richmondlu

sorry it took so long to reply!

well it depend on the project what i do if it is a short deadline then i grab models from CAD, but if i have time i will model them my self. I use strictly poly for arch. And yes a clay render is just a lambert colored a little lighter like clay then set the enviorment background to white and with my lights set up do a FG and GI test on the scene. Then i play around with the FG and GI setting to get the look i want then i start adding my materials and textures.

Any other questions please ask it looks like we will be maya buddies in this world of MAX have you tried cgtalk.com? pretty good stuff for maya users but not much on arch viz. I have been using maya for about two years now and still learn something new every day, damn near.

Peace out

apprentice

Nice to find out that there are some maya people her too.
I´m currently converting from graphic design to arch viz after a friend gave me a oppurtunity for work. I was told to learn maya for this job so I´m eager to get some advice along the way. Haven´t found much on maya and arch viz on the web. I´m currently getting my machine set up, so for now I`m just reading as much as I can. Starting to get the hang of poly modeling with Blender which I use on my mac in the meantime.
I really love going from 2d to 3d!!!
Do you have any links to good tutorials? I´ve already bought books (one render spesific and one general learning).

richmondlu

cgtalk.com is a really good site for maya user q & a as well.
Other then that digital tutors is a good dvd set.

good luck to you and if you have any questions never hurts to ask.

silviapalara

Unless you are talking of some specific plugin that is only for Max, I frankly don't see anything that Max does and Maya can't do too.

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DigitalBricky

Hi there! I'm an animator and total newbie to Maya. I've used AutoCAD for aboot 9 years, max for about 2 years on and off and a while back did a few rudimentary tutorials for maya also, then decided I wouldn't have enough time to learn and use any 3D product for my final film and promptly returned to Flash as I felt more comfortable with it, anywho after working all summer as a CAD designer for a timber frame construction company I found the whole architectual viz thing very appealing as it combines many of my favourite interrests. My favourite visuals are the ones that involve showing the structure being built almost, layer by layer. I've got the 15 inch mac book pro running both max (through parallels) and maya and am on the look out for guidance on the issue. I've been researching for a few weeks now it appears that the criticism steered towards maya is with reference to it's ability to translate DWG's and DXF's. I've had a look around and located a plug-in called 'direct connect' which is supposed to help. Does anyone have any experience using this plugin?