Alison K. Rathbun

I am currently pursuing an associates in architectural graphics at the local community college in hopes of getting into architectural visualization work. I already have an associates in 3d computer animation and have worked for the past 8 years as a graphic artist (mostly in the area of graphics for video).

My teachers at the college are enthusiastic for me, but otherwise know little about the field of architectural visualization. The program they teach is designed to train me as an architectural drafter. They tell me again and again that hand drafting skills are very important; and while I can understand that might apply to an architectural drafting position, I begin to wonder how important it is to a visualization artist.

Should I expect to work as a drafter before moving into the architectural visualization field?

Which skill is more important to architectural visualization: Drafting, hand drawing skills, or computer graphics?

-Alison

STRAT

all 3 are most important. the 4 most important thing is a good backround knowlege/basing in architecture.

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RobMc

I think perhaps that it's the understanding of technical drawings that they are getting at. If you can produce good 2d drawings, then you'll be able to read them clearly too.

I learnt hand drafting skills back in my apprenticeship (1990-1994) then never used them again. It's all CAD these days. No clients that I've worked for have ever given me a hand drafted drawing. But I've seen plenty of bad cad dwgs though.

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www.pixelcream.com

mahorela

most arch viz job advertisements I have read mention that an architectural background is preferred.

Darrin Sabin

Learning a bit about CAD production will help, but you want to check in with yourself from time to time to make sure that you're doing what you want. Getting out of the trenches can be a struggle once you're in a firm's production machine.

It's fairly common for a small-med sized firm to hire on a 3d guru that also knows some CAD. That way they can minimize their risk of potential overhead while there is no billable 3D work. Gotta be careful here. You could end up in a lose-lose situation. If you prove to be a good worker on the boards, project managers will try to hold on to you for every project and you'll never get a chance to develop your 3D skills. You're also likely to find yourself surrounded by other CAD vets that have been aching for a change of pace and see themselves as the one who should be doing all the fun 3D work.

My advice...
Soak up as much practical production experience in school. Work as an intern somewhere to see how the system works. Teach yourself everything you can on 3D. Get a few killer images together and re-apply as a resident 3D guru, but never mention a THING about knowing CAD.

If you'd rather go straight into 3D, find a place that already has one or two 3D folks in-house and work as their support. You'll get better faster and bypass a lot of the politics. You'll learn what you need from the drafting side and when your dept head decides to start their own company, you can choose between going with them or taking over.

I'm starting to sound too preachy, so I'll just add one more general bit of advice to anyone just starting out. Visualize, visualize, visualize. Not 3D or anything, but in your career. I know it sounds corny and you've probably heard it before, but it's easy to become paralyzed with the unknown. Taking that next step is frightening for even the most confident professionals. The more you see yourself over and over doing what you want, the more focused you'll become in making decisions. Even the subconscious ones. Oh GOD, I sound like Tony Robbins or something.

You'll do fine. Posting this thread shows that you're serious about each step of the way. Be sure to keep us informed.

Alison K. Rathbun

Thanks to all who replied. I'll admit I have been getting a little discouraged… I’m a graphic artist taking classes in a technical architectural drafting program. And all I want to do is take some blueprints and make pretty pictures.

I'm pretty quick at learning the 3d stuff, (I've dabbled in more than half a dozen different 3d programs over the years) and I want to learn more about creating photo-realistic imagery. Some of my work can be seen on my website portfolio at: www.dragon3d.net

I enjoy drafting, both by hand and in AutoCAD but I definitely don't want to make a career out of it. My impression of architectural visualization is that the drafting comes in handy for modeling the building in 3d but that you aren't expected to make construction documents from the drawings.

-Alison

Alison K. Rathbun

Ah, blast it! It seems that there is something up with my hosting service.

For anyone interested in my portfolio site, and the above link doesn't work I have a mirror site here:

http://home.comcast.net/~alisonkay/

Couldn't load the Quicktimes on the mirror but everything else is the same.
-Alison

Brian Smith

I strongly believe knowing how to read a set of CAD drawings, is the most important and fundamental part of starting a career in 3D visualizations. CAD drawings is where 99% of your projects will start and if you can't figure out what you're looking at, it's hopeless. But it's more than knowing which lines represent the walls and which represent the ceiling above, etc. It's equally important to know enough about architecture that you can put a set of drawings together yourself. I think anyone trying to start work in 3D visualization without spending at least a year in an architecture firm as a CAD drafter is at a serious disadvantage. Not saying it can't be done, but it sure makes life easier. Even if I knew every facet of Max, I would be lost if I didn't know how to read a set of drawings.

Brian

Justin Hunt

It is not the be and end all to have an architectural degree drafting course. It is however vitally important to be able to read a plan, elevation etc.

If you want to get into the design end of 3D then it will be a good idea to have that behind you. If you want to get into the "high-end" photorealistic stuff, I would say you would be better off doing a photography/ cinemaphotograph course instead.

Any one can learn how to model, but there are very few who know how to light and render a scene. True Rendering skills are in great shortage in this industry.

It has been the artistic eye that has landed me jobs around the world and not once has the lack of drafting/architectural degree lost me a job.

JHV

Matt Clementson

One other thing I add to all of the above - is a keen interest in photography can help a lot. 3D visualising is essentially recreating a photo - if you know how to take good photos then those skills of composition and lighting will help you an awful lot.