Jeff Mottle

I think the important thing to take away here is that visualizers are only one segment of the customers we as ArchVision/VisMasters service and indeed only one segment of the design visualization industry. The conference did indeed start out with only marketing visualization type sessions, but just like SIGGRAPH focuses on gaming, entertainment, academics etc., moving forward The DMVC will start to focus on subjects relevant to Design Visualization in general. Design visualization includes everything from manufacturing CAD/CAM models, BIM, architecture, visualization etc. We slightly changed the name of the conference last year in planning for this expansion. Thus the name "Design Modeling and Visualization Conference". As I've pointed out before several times already, this year we will have more marketing visualization sessions than in past years and they will be CONCURRENT in most cases to the BIM type sessions. That means that you have the option to choose to see the type of session that interests you the most. Where relevant there will be cross over sessions that are presented to all attendees, like Keynotes and sessions that show the opportunities that exist when both facets of the industry converge. Really, it's like having two conferences running at the same time. You choose which one you want to go to. I hope this finally makes this issue clear for everyone.

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Jeff Mottle
CGarchitect.com

Maxer

Jeff, I'm curious as to why the DMVC thinks "manufacturing CAD/CAM models" are important enough to merit taking up half of the conference. I don't mind that modeling is included but let's face it if your on this forum your focus isn't modeling its visualization.

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“There is no spoon”
http://devinjohnston.cgsociety.org/gallery/

Jeff Mottle

Well that's an easy one. CGarchitect is owned by me and the focus is solely marketing visualization and likely always will be. VisMasters is owned by ArchVision and I only work for them in the capacity of business development. The two companies are completely seperate.

While the line is often blurred because of my very public involvment in both companies and the joint ventures we do together, the two are very seperate companies with very seperate agendas. Thus, the goals of the VisMasters conference are not the same as the industry goals of CGarchitect. Granted the DMVC happens to cater to the marketing visualization industry too, and as as far as I can tell will for the foreseable future, but for the conference to be sustainable, it needs to cater to a much wider demographic. This year the conference is making it's first big push to grow in this direction, and is the reason why we opted to host before the AIA conference and why we are adding more BIM/Architecture sessions. But, as I've menitoned already, if you chose not to see anything BIM related you'd still come away better, IMHO, than you have in past years as a visualizer.

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Jeff Mottle
CGarchitect.com

BrianKitts

As we are picking at names and companies, I'm curious to Jeff as to why the site is called cgArchitect.com....Was your thinking that it is a site for Architects creating CG, or is architect being used more as a verb for the act of creating something, such that it means CG creation? Because if the first of the two scenarios is true, then my big point would be that the site is called cgArchitect..... not cgCreations.com. I feel it's our jobs to support the Architectural community.

As visualization artists for the architecture community I think it's important that we keep in check with the direction that Architects head. And yes, Architecture is without a doubt heading into a BIM structured environment. I can seriously see Autodesk dropping Autocad down the road and only supporting Revit. In which case we will refer to the people who use 2D drafting instead of full 3D BIM production software just like we now talk about the old schoolers who used to draft on paper.

A good visualization artist will always be able to support a client/employee in the creation of renderings regardless of the provided materials. I'll accept a design on a napkin, tracepaper, orally communicated, in autocad, 3ds, dwg, revit, architcad, etc.... I can go on forever. BIM production of Architectural documents has such a large advantage that any firm would be foolish not to see it's benefits and support the technology as we move to the future. It's all going to 3D, and we should embrace it and support it, it will be to our benefit if we learn how to work with it in turn.

That being said my role in the last year has taken a large change such that over half the projects I have started are being developed on a BIM platform, and most of the time half of the modeling is done for me. I've recently changed employment to a company that supports Archicad instead of Revit, and one of the first things that I requested was to be placed in the next Archicad training course available. As a visualization coordinator for the company it's my job to make the daily workings between BIM production and high end rendering development as seamless as possible. My heart is in marketing rendering production, but I need the tools in my belt to support the BIM based world that we are all headed to.

I'm actually not happy to hear that some of the BIM based presentations will be running concurrently because there is much from both world's that will be to my benefit to learn. But that's just the way conferences are, last year you couldn't attend both the vray and the sketchup forums @ DMVC, you pick your sessions, or if your lucky bring more fellow employees so you can divide and conquer.

So back to my original point, this site is heavily populated with illustrators, but keep in mind that most of us are in-line with Architectural Production. So why on earth would you ever push against learning to work with the development of the Architectural community.

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Brian Kitts
ANSHEN + ALLEN

Brian Smith

Personally I think it's a great idea to separate from Siggraph.
If I was running the DMVC I would eventually want to become a visualization version of Siggraph and the only way to make that happen is to break away. Too many people would be lost if it ran right before, during, or after Siggraph.

I think the only way to become a Siggraph is to get the sponsorship and the best way to get sponsorship is to have attendess that the sponsors would be catering to. I think a small booth at siggraph costs $10,000 minimum and larger one over $50,000. Very few vendors in our extremely young industry are able to afford that kind of money. If we want to see better vendors and better content, then sponsors have to be able to afford it. They will be able to afford DMVC sponsorship much easier and they will know that the attendees are more in line with their products than the majority of the Siggraph attendees.

It will probably take 20 years to reach the level that siggraph currently operates at (i think 10,000 attendees) but this would be the 1st step to getting there.

The DMVC needs to be treated like a business first and foremost. Otherwise it wont survive and will be abandoned like so many other conferences have in the past.

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Brian Smith
www.3dats.com
3D Architectural Training Solutions

Jeff Mottle

To be honest, the name was chosen because at the time the big CG sites were all named like that. CGtalk, CGfocus, CGchannel, etc. So I was just following suit. There was no more real thought into it, as at the time CGarchitect was not intended to run as a business, but rather a "business card" for me in finding a new job. It's obviously since grown and developed a lot since then, but there was no great thought put into it Disappointing huh.


I could not agree with you more, but you are one of the few people who are able to make that connect right now. A lot of people in our industry see themselves as visualizers or artists and don't see how new shifts in technology and methodologies like BIM will affect them moving forward. Or more importantly how there will new business opportunities. The results from the surveys last year at the conference indicated most people were not able to make the mental leap from visualization to BIM. Part of that comes down to it not be presented as clearly as it could have been, and also that many firms are still trying to figure out how BIM will work for them and it's not clear how everything will eventually shake out.


Yeah, it's hard to balance what people think they need to see, what people want to see and what is economically feasible to organize. The hope is that people will bring more than one representative from their companies where possible and applicable, so that the great possible knowledge gain can be realized.


Eventually as BIM evolves some of the lines will be less defined and we will be able to have more sessions that everyone can attend and feel they are getting their money's worth. Right now, the industry is not there yet, so there still needs to be some distinction. This is why we are having some sessions like the Keynote, and some general panel discussions that present more global pictures of the industry and how various convergences are happening. For now, those companies that are in the transition phase already or are like yourself and have dual responsibilities, it will be best to try to bring more than one rep. It's impossible to please everyone, but we think this is a good step forward.

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Jeff Mottle
CGarchitect.com

nicnic

I agree with Maxers sentiments regarding the increased BIM slant, I would have thought the obvious majority of arch vis artists etc would like to be familiar with but not trained / expert in the field as it is going to be primarily a tool for architects to design with - not artists to produce with.

That aside, the fact it is in Boston rather than LA makes it alot more feasible for those of us in the UK to attend. Im aiming to come to this and look foward to meeting some people.

Jeff Mottle

Yes, the conference business is a tricky one. There is a razor thin line between being profitable and losing A LOT of money. It takes 3-5 years for a conference to find it's balance. Those that do, grow and prosper. Those that don't, fall to the wayside, like so many conferences have in the past. Expanding the DMVC to cover the entire design visualization industry is the only way the conference can survive and ultimately makes a lot more sense to the attendees as well. As design visualization evolves, the parralells between all of the various industries will become more apparent and the sharing of knowledge and experience can begin. Granted the movie and gaming industry has had a lot of influence on our industry, I think that will change as our own industries mature and visualization becomes more about it's intended purpose and less about the underlying technology.

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Jeff Mottle
CGarchitect.com

ShaunDon

I agree with what Jeff is saying on the BIM / archviz integration. It's not there yet, but I think everyone will agree that a smoother hand off of data from the design/build side over to visualization is the holy grail. We will probably always modify those 3D assets to meet our own requirements, but there could be massive potential cost savings, as well as allow us to fit in more easily to an iterative design process.

At the same time, I've been one of those people complaining the emphasis was too heavy on BIM, and I don't think it's because I'm blind to it being the future. If given the choice, I may attend one talk on the subject to see what the state of the art is, but it's not a huge part of my professional concerns. I'm elated to hear Jeff is increasing non-BIM content as well.

For pegging to the AIA rather than Siggraph, it makes little difference to me, but maybe we should put a poll in the field?? ;-) Boston couldn't be better for us -- an hour's drive away, and maybe Neoscape will host another crazy shindig while everyone's on their turf? Whaddya say, Nils?

Shaun

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Shaun Donnelly
TANGRAM 3DS

Chad Warner

We get more and more calls about whether or not we can work with Revit files. So I think that the future is in BIM whether we like it or not. I think as long as the DMVC has enough for everybody, then really, who cares? if you want to see BIM, go to the BIM seminars. If you want to see visualization, go to the visualization seminars.

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Chad Warner
www.bluelimestudio.com