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There are lots of rendering programs that will do this. The learning curve and cost varies greatly between them.

Twilight Render, SU Podium, and Kerkythea all work from within SketchUp and can produce quite good results. They all use the same render engine so you’ll likely get similar results with each. The quality of the final image will depend…[Read more]

For cropping, always find images with a clear background like a sky. When you crop them in Photoshop, use “Select” and the “Color Range”, then eyedrop the color in the background. Play around with the fuzziness for level of selection. You should also duplicate the image layer and play around with the level to increase contrast, that way you can…[Read more]

You can crop plants from images, convert to PNG, and then import into sketchup. After you render them they look very photorealistic since they are.. realistic photographs. Most importantly, they are very low polygon.

Example here:

http://www.timzhang.net/portfolio/ar2.jpg

There are also companies selling 3d blocks. However, you will need a…[Read more]

Elizabeth:

Thanks for your reply! It is encouraging just to have some Moral Support out there! I am on the fence about taking the exam again and a bit humiliated that I am struggling with this last section. It is ridiculous how impractical these exams seem but at the same time unfortunate to those good stewards of the land that are judged otherwise!.

Section A covers Professional Aspects of Practice. Laws & Torts, Contractor Relationships, Contracts, etc.

may i ask what is Kerkythea use for? -cliff

yeah, hi, i find the same issue, working on my own for now and using Autocad. Pshop and Sketchup. Thought i might try Vworks, but too expensive to just “try out”. same goes for Rhino, i wanted to try that out, too expensive.

so for now…. just staying with what we know and have, the top software companies probably like it that way..!

What does section A cover?

It is tedious work, and of course we can make it easier by staging our photo image with a neutral background board or sheet…and may even take planning a day to photograph when the sun light is less dramatic to capture a more generally lit plant. There are so many variables about capturing your own cutouts that it could end up being a discussion…[Read more]

I’ll have to look into Vectorworks Landmark. The ability to design in plan and see the product in 3D has many benefits. We are working with clients who see the plan on paper, but can’t relate to what it looks like in the real world. Working within one program also seems like it would be a huge time saver. Thanks for the response Eric.

Thanks for the info. I’ll have to start building a library of photo real plants. Do you know of a program that makes it easy to do your own cut outs? I’ve done some in photoshop, but it gets really tedious.

Noah brings up a great point about mixed media in our 3D models. Having photorealistic textures on your proposed features is essential to make the photorealistic props look like they belong, and vice versa…you would not want to bring photorealistic props into a model you are purposely trying to look sketchy.

One program that imports and exports…[Read more]

Well I guess that is sort of a different question. I am not a fan at all of 3D rendered trees/plants in photorealistic montages. They look way out of place and distract form the overall usefulness of the image to convey intent. They always look like big plastic trees set in the landscape.

I think there are a few resources online that you could…[Read more]

Noah thanks for your reply. I’ve been working with AutoCAD, Sketchup and Photoshop for close to five years now, and am pretty proficient at all. Lately our office has gotten into the 3d photorealistic graphics, but are having a hard time finding a program that meets our needs. We would like a program with a large library of photo realistic plants…[Read more]

Hi Jonathan! It really depends on what you’re trying to do exactly and how much you want to spend. For esentially free you can use SketchUp and import some plants. Or for lots of money you can use landFX plug in for AutoCad. Those are probably the two most user friendly options I can think of. It also depends, though, on what your base knowledge…[Read more]

I used the reading list included in the LARE review materials. Get a book on professional contracts, engineering, architecture, surveying, it’ll all be the same. I read a book on engineering contracts and found it very helpful when taking the test.

I also used the review booklet and reviewed anything that I was unclear about

Also, flash cards…

No need for name calling in a civil discussion.

I never said that he is not capable of doing high end design. The essence of what I said is without a track record of having already done high end design either on his own or while working with/for someone else, he is extremely unlikely to be considered for high end work let alone getting those…[Read more]

i feel your pain. it’s a frustrating guessing-game process. I think your 24 years experience is what’s hurting you. It seems like the LARE poses questions and answers that are based on LARE world, not the real world. I came across so many practice test questions that i COMPLETELY disagreed with the correct ‘answers’ that were given. I polled other…[Read more]

Jon, I am in the same boat …maybe many of us are, with the difference that i do not feel my business is taking off and probably much older…, I get projects here and there, so for me both points of view are very valid, no need to get all fired up fellow LA’s; there is nothing greater than to be your own boss, but also working on million dollar…[Read more]

John, I saw your post when you first placed it and was very curious to see where the discussion went. I transitioned from AutoCAD almost 3 years ago (after 12 years of using it), and began using Vectorworks. One thing which I think makes the effort of transitioning from one method of CAD to another worthwhile is the training. Everyone has a…[Read more]