if a guy wants to start doing renderings....

[MKH-VB]

never done any renderings. My people are wanting to start doing renderings of simple buildings, pump stations, etc. We are currently drawing those with just 2d  drawings.  What is the order of progression to get renderings. Do we have to start with a revit model? SOrry for vagueness, but I am really just starting. Thanks

[Bob_Zurunkle]

Rendering can mean many things. I think you have to start with some 3D no matter what. AutoCAD can assign materials to 3D objects -- I have done some things with brick and EIFS and glass etc. some will advise programs more tailored to rendering, such as 3D Studio. I wouldn't start with a Revit model unless you already have Revit -- but if you do, it can produce some decent stuff. Perhaps you should provide more info, such as which programs you have at your disposal, what level of rendered finish your company wants, etc.

[MKH-VB]

thanks Bob for that quick reply...

recently purchased the civil3d infrastructure suite, so we have revit, 3dsmax, civil 3d. problem is, we are new at it all. Bosses are wanting quality renderings to show detaisl such as brick, concrete, exerior finishes. etc. I just need to start somewhere!

[dgorsman]

Don't expect to go from zero to oh-my-gawd right away.  There's a *lot* of conceptual learning that goes into creating a decent image, both technical (like light levels, applying materials and normals) and artistic (light locations, composition, color selection).  Its very easy to get discouraged when the first couple of tries look like fingerpainting done during an earthquake.  Movies, TV, and especially advertising are a good reference for the artistic side.  Look at them from a composition point of view - why did they choose that color, put the camera there and not somewhere else, and so on.

[hgasty1001]

Hi,

Rendering it's a professional specialty itself, and more, there are subspecialties too, like ilumination, animation, modelling, texturing and so on, so you or your boss can't expect inmediate good results, it may be frustrating at the start, my advice would be to learn the basics from tutorials, youtube may help, and a *good* rig helps too.

Gaston Nunez

[pendean]

IMHO your boss needs to hire a "tendering" expert: it's a apcialized field. You already have the correct software.
This person can also be tasked with training the test of you.
This is a long term process. Sorry, but none of you are in a position to output much anytime soon that's worth showing.

[MKH-VB]

thanks for the reply. Yes, hiring would be ideal, but not an option. We have the software, and a little free time to start learning. Thats why I am asking where to start. I'm sure the guy we hired would have had to start somewhere. I am just looking for a workflow. Start with revit? Start with autocad? Start w/ 3ds max? I don't know. As you quoted, we may not be in a position to produce any worthy output, but I am sure not against trying to learn something new!

MKH

[pendean]

3DSMax or REVIT is the place to start, skip tired old AutoCAD for rendering.

Just remember, you need to learn to crawl before you can stand then walk then run: I really suggest you take classes to get a jump start.

[steve216586]

" I'm sure the guy we hired would have had to start somewhere."

This is true, and I think the main point of everyone who has expressed their opinions about the quality of results, or lack of, YOU will produce. The best place to start is through formal education. I believe that is the sole purpose of those suggesting caution, by trying to teach yourself. I had a 3 credit course devoted to rendering and graphics during the course of earning my Degree in Drafting Technology. Our instructor wasn't a CAD Associate Professor but was a professor in the Graphics Design Program. He had 10+ years in the industry before starting to Instruct at my university. We have a girl devoted to graphics for catalogs, company web site, rendering of products in O&M Manuals, etc. and I would be insulting her and her field of study, if with my limited education, tried to produce any of the aforementioned myself.

I always tell people who want to remodel, rewire, add plumbing etc. to their homes, whom after causing more destruction than renovation, call me to help because I worked those jobs prior to my drafting career, "This is why I got paid for that type of work." "I am a professional residential contractor, you work in sales." There are professionals in graphics and design for a reason. (wink, wink)

If you can't talk sense into the "higher powers that be", then here is my opinion.

3dsMax is a very good program to use, from my experience, but you will still have to build 3D models with some sort of CAD program, to import into the program. Whether you use Civil, Inventor, Arch, Revit or vanilla ACAD doesn't matter. Use the program you  or the rest of the staff is most compfortable using and which eases the design work for what your target model will show. Meaning, don't try to use Mechanical if you are rendering sports complexes. Or Arch if you are developing centrifigal pump applications. Get the most tutorials and experience with creating and using the AutoCAD materials to assigned them to your surfaces and objects. That may be the easiest part. After that, getting anything to look real within the 3dsMax program, will be the difficulty. I would suggest buying a text book dedicated to the program, not just using the supplied manual and help. 

Without formal instruction or an experienced person training you, I wish you all the luck in the world. I would be interested in seeing some of the progression and final work.

[dgorsman]

One of the best things you can do is bring in a professional on contract to help you get set up.  After that you have contacts who can troubleshoot virtually or in person when you hit a snag.  They will likely be doing the first few projects for you to get them done on a reasonable schedule.

[Bob_Zurunkle]

OP will your bosses spring for some training classes for you at least? Here is an example of what I did with Revit...

[darawork]

I started with AutoCad, extruding 2d plans and building 3D solids. If you know how to build 3D solids quickly, and manipulate them... it's basically like playing with Lego all day long. If you are good with AutoCad then use that as a starting point, rather than trying to relearn the basics in another program.

I then import into 3DS Max Design to apply materials and uvw maps. Later adding daylight system lighting and ies lights. You can file-link too, like an xref between AutoCad and Max essentially, but I find that the link will corrupt after a few days work. So I stick with importing layers now only.

Photoshop is an essential part of Arch viz, so brush up on that too.

When I think of the process, it sounds not too bad, but I've been 'building Lego' professionally for 20+ years. The hardest part was initially trying to get a line up off the page. Once I got that to happen I was hooked.