topic Re: Design Contest in Visualization

Design Contest

Robert Fuchs — Thu, 11 May 2023 13:56:23 GMT

Here are some Images of designs we did for a competition for a local company. Unfortunately we did not get the job but sill came out with some nice designs and images IMHO. What do you guys think? I tell you, I bet some of the designs would have been a lot easier to draw in AC11 than in 10.

Robert F.

Re: Design Contest

Robert Fuchs — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 22:43:16 GMT

Here is another group of images.

Robert F.

Re: Design Contest

Anonymous — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:00:13 GMT

Pretty cool
Just made the jump to 11 from 9 recently.....so it might be awhile till we go full time 11. Question for you, are those trees directly from ArchiCAD's library? Or are they from another source?

Re: Design Contest

Thomas Holm — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:30:28 GMT

I like your design, and the images have high quality, but I don't like their lighting. And in the top-lefts, the cars dominate too much. Is it them you're selling?

If the main subject is shadowed, it looks dull compared to the well-lit, bright surroundings who get the emphasis wrongly. And I think you have this problem in most of these renderings. It really doesn't do your project justice. I think it's better to tweak the lighting and perhaps lie a little about the real sun position if necessary to present it at it's best. Use light to model and enhance, not dampen and restrain.

Buy Dwight's book! It taught me a lot about how to light architectural objects. And that applies to whatever rendering system you use, not just Lightworks.

Re: Design Contest

Robert Fuchs — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:35:55 GMT

junior wrote:
Pretty cool
Just made the jump to 11 from 9 recently.....so it might be awhile till we go full time 11. Question for you, are those trees directly from ArchiCAD's library? Or are they from another source?

The trees are Artlantis objects that I got from the ArchiRADAR website.

Re: Design Contest

Robert Fuchs — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:42:27 GMT

Thomas wrote:
I like your design, and the images have high quality, but I don't like their lighting. If the main subject is shadowed, it looks dull compared to the well-lit, bright surroundings who get the emphasis wrongly. And I think you have this problem in most of these renderings. It really doesn't do your project justice. I think it's better to tweak the lighting and perhaps lie a little about the real sun position if necessary to present it at it's best. Use light to model and enhance, not dampen and restrain.

Buy Dwight's book! It taught me a lot about how to light architectural objects. And that applies to whatever rendering sytem you use, not just Lightworks.

I will take a look at updating some renderings with the lighting changes. I can't remember why but the designer in charge wanted a mid day light.
Thanks for the comment Thomas and I might take a look at getting Dwight's book. I hear a lot of good things about it.

Robert F.

Re: Design Contest

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 01:33:39 GMT

Nice images and nice designs too Robert!

It does strike me that the cars look a bit plasticy for some reason. I also suspect, if they are actually 3ds models, that they must have taken ages to render. Would it be better to composite some 2d photos of cars in photoshop on top of the image perhaps?

Also a technical question... What technique did you use to produce the red panels cladding, with the correct recessed joints? They look particularly good on your images. I've tried doing it several ways myself, none of which looked convincing.

Thanks for showing the images. Its a shame more people aren't brave enough to post images of their projects. (Myself included! ) I think they are always useful in both an inspirational way and as catalyst for discussing different techniques no matter how good or bad they are.

Re: Design Contest

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 03:04:01 GMT

Personally I don't mind the views with the cars in front - it wouldn't be the feature view in the presentation, but it gives a good realistic feeling to the model.

Also I'd like to know how you created your negative details - i've tried a heap of different ways but have yet to discover a perfect way.

Thomas wrote:
Buy Dwight's book! It taught me a lot about how to light architectural objects. And that applies to whatever rendering system you use, not just Lightworks.

I agree - a good chunk of it relates to general architectural rendering, using whatever application you want to use.

Peter wrote:
Thanks for showing the images. Its a shame more people aren't brave enough to post images of their projects. (Myself included! Embarassed ) I think they are always useful in both an inspirational way and as catalyst for discussing different techniques no matter how good or bad they are.

Also I agree - but like Peter, I too am not brave enough

Re: Design Contest

Robert Fuchs — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:24:20 GMT

Peter wrote:
Nice images and nice designs too Robert!

It does strike me that the cars look a bit plasticy for some reason. I also suspect, if they are actually 3ds models, that they must have taken ages to render. Would it be better to composite some 2d photos of cars in photoshop on top of the image perhaps?

Also a technical question... What technique did you use to produce the red panels cladding, with the correct recessed joints? They look particularly good on your images. I've tried doing it several ways myself, none of which looked convincing.

Thanks for showing the images. Its a shame more people aren't brave enough to post images of their projects. (Myself included! ) I think they are always useful in both an inspirational way and as catalyst for discussing different techniques no matter how good or bad they are.

Peter, the cars are from the transportation library that graphisoft gave out one time. I like to use them as fillers even though they are not a high ploy object. I have high poly objects in Artlantis but time was an issue from the project. Generally I will put a high poly car in the foreground but those do add to the rendering time. The transportation library cars don't add hardly any extra time to the renderings. The longest rendering time I had was right at 30 minutes. That's on a Dual 2.0 G5 with 2 gigs or RAM. If I add a lot of Artlantis plants for landscaping them the time starts going above 30 minutes but most renderings take 15 minutes.

As far as the red panels. They are walls that I used Solid operations on for the reveals. I just put some slabs 3/4" wide and deep at the reveal locations , S/O them out and there you have it. Very easy and quick.

Robert F.

Re: Design Contest

Rakela Raul — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 19:12:18 GMT

very nice rendering, thanks for sharing...
only one comment, and just a personal thing: the background a little too flat for me.

Re: Design Contest

Robert Fuchs — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 19:36:03 GMT

Here is a updated rendering. I moved the sun around and it does make a difference in the image.

Robert F.

Re: Design Contest

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 20:16:20 GMT

Thanks for the info, Robert. I will investigate the SEO technique further.

I love the updated image. The extra sun falling on the face of the building really brings the image alive. The shiny red reminds me of the Rojkind house on the AC10 logo!

I have to say you don't see enough bold colours on buildings really, which is a shame. A splash of a primary colour here and there is quite fun in the right situation.

Re: Design Contest

Dwight — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 20:38:39 GMT

Where my book could help you is in getting the cars more metallic and in making the sky and sunlight colors enliven the image with warmth. You have your light intensities figured out and that's the basic rendering problem.

Putting clouds or more color in the background could enliven the glass facade, but light color and background are taste rather than technical issues.

Re: Design Contest

KeesW — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 13:48:24 GMT

Hello Robert

Looks like a stylish design. Not very old-fashioned!

Maybe I am opening a hornet's nest. I've tried to find modern architect designed houses on the web and have noticed an almost 100% pre-occupation with quaint, 19th or early 20th century style designs. Is that really what the USA market demands, or are architects unable to move from the traditional, old fashioned forms to something fresh and current?

Re: Design Contest

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:27:57 GMT

KeesW wrote:
Maybe I am opening a hornet's nest. I've tried to find modern architect designed houses on the web and have noticed an almost 100% pre-occupation with quaint, 19th or early 20th century style designs. Is that really what the USA market demands, or are architects unable to move from the traditional, old fashioned forms to something fresh and current?

I've noticed that as well. For some more contemporary work (from archicad users) have a look here - all from Christchurch, New Zealand, except the last one, who is in Nelson:

www.formarch.co.nz
www.wta.co.nz
www.pivnice.co.nz
www.matzarchitects.co.nz

Re: Design Contest

Rakela Raul — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:46:15 GMT

Is that really what the USA market demands, or are architects unable to move from the traditional, old fashioned forms to something fresh and current?

Maybe a software limitation?

Re: Design Contest

Dwight — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:00:35 GMT

Rakela wrote:
Is that really what the USA market demands, or are architects unable to move from the traditional, old fashioned forms to something fresh and current?
Maybe a software limitation?

Yeah. Like Archicad's Automatic Palladian Corbel tool that attaches itself to the exterior faces of walls and cannot be removed. THAT keeps us archaic.

Re: Design Contest

Rakela Raul — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:39:37 GMT

talking about just myself, and i do it everytime:
i start using ac from the very inception of the project, meaning from the design phase...thats a huge error on my side...i should get a pencil, tracing paper and do it as i used to........when that process is done....get my dear ac and build the model.

Re: Design Contest

Dwight — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 23:46:27 GMT

Rakela wrote:
talking about just myself, and i do it everytime:
i start using ac from the very inception of the project, meaning from the design phase...thats a huge error on my side...i should get a pencil, tracing paper and do it as i used to........when that process is done....get my dear ac and build the model.

But you are presuming that every architectural exercise is actually a creative one that requires exploration and experimentation - not a soul-destroying space-packing geometry exercise or a soul-destroying maximizing the FSR exercise , or a soul-destroying minimizing the building costs by putting up a blank-faced block exercise. Maybe you Floridianites end up with more than a leaky brown box and a flickering neon sign for your architecture, but that is not how it plays out most of the time.

I find that by starting out in Archicad on a building type i already know will go a certain way is swell because Archicad gives me great confidence in knowing my areas and volumes, identifying real opportunities rather than fudged ones and in seeing fundamental mistakes. Sketch paper and sepia graphite might fuel optimistic imagination but computers fuel sad soul-destroying reality.

Re: Design Contest

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:11:01 GMT

Were you using US Aluminum, Vistawall or Wausau curtain walls in your design? (inside joke)
Is that why you didn't win?

I think it looks great.