[Fremont]

I would love to see this! There are a bunch of Florida specific issues I would like to see discussed

1. Plants (obviously)

2. Dealing with Florida soils.

3. Irrigation

4. State of the profession

5. FL licensure

I’m excited to see it come out. How can I get my hands on a copy?

[Fremont]

Hi Nicole, glad to see your still in Florida.

I was working in SKP pretty heavily last year and ended up diving into the rendering engines. They are absolutely worth the time to learn as they can produce some amazing results relatively quickly once you have the model set up. I did my research into the various engines and I really wanted Vue, but couldn’t justify the cost. I ended up deciding on Thea Render http://www.thearender.com/cms/ There is a steep learning curve, but once you get familiar with the program it only takes an hour or two to set up your materials and test out your components before you click “go” and let it do its thing. Once the model is set up, I haven’t found it to be a problem making revisions. Simply make your tweaks to the SKP model, re-export it and let the render engine go.Here are some of the samples I did recently all using TheaRender with very basic post processing (all the plants are SKP models)

[Fremont]

I survived on contract work for the last eight months working for a single firm from 20-60hrs/wk on a single large project. The small firm (3 people) needed the manpower but didn’t want to commit to a full time employee. By offering myself as a contractor I was able to keep my skills fresh and get some experience in the field (just graduated w/MLA last May) and the firm was able to staff up without the long term commitments and associated costs of a full time employee. It worked out well for both of us.

[Fremont]

Good luck. I don’t use 3DS Max, but from what I understand, it has a very steep learning curve. You would be better off modelling in SketchUp and pairing it with a render engine.

But, if you are determined to stick with 3DS I would recommend posting at http://forums.cgarchitect.com/ and they might be able to steer you in the right direction.

[Fremont]

I just picked up one of those about about a month ago and I’ve been thrilled with the performance thus far.

[Fremont]

Very cool. It’s kind of like peeking behind Oz’s curtain when you build it in 3D. In the same vein, this guy models his favorite architecture in SketchUp  and does some amazing renderings Solos Place

[Fremont]

I’ve fallen into being the default 3D guy for my small office and was considering making the leap from SketchUp into one if the more intense programs like 3ds Max or Rhino. But the deeper I delve into SketchUp the deeper the rabbit hole goes and I’ve found that its capabilities far exceed my talent. With all of the awesome plug-ins being developed you can find just about any tool you need. And once you couple it with a rendering engine the graphics can be absolutely stunning.

Check this thread at sketchucation.com for a little inspiration: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=33509

 

[Fremont]

I hate that shadow bug. When using SKPs native animation tool an inelegant, but effective method, is to turn off shadows on all the objects I pass under. However, exporting an image sequence obviates the problem.

As for post rendering software, 3DS Max, Rhino etc… I’ve seen some absolutely beautiful work and I think that is eventually where I want to be. But, for now I think I’ll stick with SketchUp and maybe get one of the cheaper or free programs that works inside of SketchUp. I’ve heard Kerkythea (sp?) works well, but I haven’t had a chance to play around with it yet.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

[Fremont]

Yes! Just got a job. Hours may be variable from 20-50 depending upon work load. But, it’s real design work and I’m psyched to get this ball rolling.

[Fremont]

I don’t know if this plug-in exists, but I sure hope it does. I render in PS the same way and PDFing layer by layer can be a real time suck.

[Fremont]

No. Just graduated with an MLA a couple of weeks ago.

[Fremont]

Great article. Just goes to show you never know what you might end up doing to make ends meet.

Thanks, Fremont

[Fremont]

This could be a good opportunity to learn a bit about construction as well. Taking some time to talk to the contractors could pay off as I might have to do some design build for awhile considering the job market.

[Fremont]

Thanks Brent, I really like your idea of working with community groups. My thesis work is primarily a study in implementation. I’m working with a small beach side resort town to revise all of their mechanisms that deal with the forest: codes/ordinances, management plan, budgeting etc… It’s all about what a municipality can do to effect change within the urban forest. So, I had planned on putting together a section on creating a tree board or community council, but leaving most of the actual work to the city. Maybe I’ll look into getting the legwork started on this thing.

[Fremont]

Cool idea. It reminds me of the floating agricultural islands in Mexico.

[Author]

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