Roger Cusson Consulting - Blog

UrbanImmersive

2011-05-09T17:22:00.000-04:00

I've been working at UrbanImmersive for about 4 months now. Here is a demonstration of our AVU3D technology in a village of friendship in Africa.

Click here to access the site. Hope you like it.

cheers
rec

Revit Family Tutorial

2011-01-08T11:34:00.000-05:00

I've recently updated a tutorial I created a while back creating a Revit Family. The tutorial is an introductory one featuring the creation of a flexible coffee table using Revit 2011. There are 21 separate videos varying in length between 1 and 3 minutes. Click Here to access the first of the videos on YouTube, afterwards proceed in order from 00 to 20.

One on One Training

2011-01-05T11:59:00.008-05:00

For the Winter 2011, I'm announcing the availability of one on one training for the following software programs.

AutoCAD
3ds Max Design
Revit Architecture
Creating Revit Families

Courses are geared to the architecture and construction industry. Individual rates start as low as 45$ per hour. Group, corporate and distance training rates are also available.

For more information, e-mail: randomknowledgestudios@hotmail.ca or call 514 951 8017

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Pour l'hiver 2011, j'annonce la disponibilité des cours individuelle pour les logiciels suivants.

AutoCAD
3ds Max Design
Revit Architecture
La creation des familles Revit

Des cours sont adaptés à l'industrie d'architecture et de bâtiment. Les taux pour les individus commencent aussi bas que 45$ par heure. Les taux de groupe, de corporation et de la formation par distance sont également disponibles.

Pour les plus amples renseignements envoyer une courrielle à randomknowledgestudios@hotmail.ca ou appelez: 514 951 8017

Project Based Courses

2010-09-01T14:51:00.003-04:00

Well I'm just wrapping up another course on AutoCAD 3D and I just can't get over how much students get out of project based courses. This one is a 75 hour course where a student develops their own project in 3D. Each and every time I do a course like this it's amazing to see how all the theory they have learned in previous courses really sinks in while doing their projects. On top of that, problem solving really goes to a new level. Students regularly get stuck, and when I'm able to help them out of a jam this gets immediate retention.

Coaching a Summer Student

2010-08-13T19:19:00.009-04:00

This summer I took on a One on One training gig with a student who was in Montreal for the summer. Recently we took one of Tom's class assignments which he had started in Revit and brought it into 3ds Max to do some rendering work. Although we are by no means finished I thought I would post some of the images which we have worked on. Last week we worked on creating geometry in 3ds Max for curtains and do some tests on how this might affect a mostly glazed exterior wall.

Article on BIM

2010-07-27T10:38:00.003-04:00

I found this article on BIM which gave a great overview on the subject. It appears to have been written a number of years ago but has been updated over the years.

Good reference for terminology and software.

AutoCAD Training Still

2010-07-05T15:57:00.004-04:00

I started teaching AutoCAD in 1986, almost 25 years ago. Never in my wildest imagination did I think that there would still be a need for AutoCAD training in 2010. Thinking back, I figured that it would take about 5 years for everyone to learn and adapt to this new technology and that all schools would have no problem with students having at least this basic knowledge.

It's amazing for me to be still teaching adults about AutoCAD, and some of the newer and more fun softwares like 3ds Max and Revit. Sometimes though I can't get over it when I get a young student in a class who has not learned AutoCAD properly in their design courses.

The longevity of AutoCAD has been astounding. I purchased with my first computer a version of AutoCAD, Wordperfect, Lotus 123, and dbase.... Hmmmmm.... at least one was the right choice... :-)

Revit to 3ds Max through FBX

2010-06-23T13:25:00.004-04:00

Recently I looked into the FBX linking tool which has just been introduced in 3ds Max 2011. I ran into problems immediately when I went to link a file which had artificial lights.

It appeared that in the 64 bit version of 3ds Max Design that there was a single toggle that was off in the shipping version to import artificial lights. Simple fix just turn it on. That led to other questions. Suppose you are working on a Revit file and import your artificial lights. You will probably need to refine your lights in 3ds Max to do such things like add soft shadows. If you then make a change in Revit and reimport the scene with lights you lose your changes that you made in 3ds Max.

This can be quite anoying if all you wanted to do is move a floor lamp from one location to another. Would be great if you could retain the information you changed in 3ds Max and only import the changed location of the lamp.

New Portfolio Images

2010-02-11T16:08:00.018-05:00

Image of a Modeling Project In Progress

Revit Family of a Wall Unit

Rendering of A Hotel Washroom

Courtyard Rendering

Model of an Office Building Used in Photomontage Rendering

New to 3D... ??

2010-01-04T15:57:00.002-05:00

I started a course today with a group of students learning 3D for the first time. Since they are in an AutoCAD drafting program, I'm teaching them AutoCAD 3D. I took a few moments to explain to them some of the different Autodesk products that work in 3D for various industries.

3ds Max, Revit, Civil 3D, AutoCAD Architecture, Inventor, Navisworks. I'm just scratching the surface, some of the most popular and more heard about programs. Boy these students have a long way to go....

Revit Architecture Book

2009-11-25T19:12:00.006-05:00

Recently, I had the urge to get back into learning Revit, and decided I would grab a book and review the basics. So I decided to purchase "Commercial Design Using Revit Architecture 2010" by Daniel John Stine.

I have had some positive experience using a similar book he wrote in a Beginners AutoCAD course for Architects, so I thought it would be interesting to see his approach to Revit.

Overall, I would give the book about a 7/10. I like the project approach of his books, basically stepping you though one project from start to finish. There were a few gaps that would have been good to adress, and it would have been good to have chosen a building that may have added a few twists and turns.

I know Revit fairly well and I'd like to get more indepth with the software so the book did leave me feeling a bit disappointed. I think though this book is more meant for raw beginners where the book serves the audience quite well.

Arch Viz book now available

2009-10-30T13:57:00.012-04:00

Well it seems like I've been waiting for this moment for a long time.. :-). The 2nd Edition of the book "Realistic Architectural Visualization with 3ds Max and mental ray" is now available.

The book was co-authored by myself and Jamie Cardoso. It features sections on the basics of mental ray, and project based sections where you develop materials and lighting for real scenes. These scenes include; an interior of a living room, a photomontage of an exterior of a building, an interior atrium, and a harbor.

You can order the book in the US on online sites like Amazon.

Here are a few more images from the book, which are based on the projects you work through in the chapters.

New Arch Viz Book

2009-08-04T11:28:00.007-04:00

The 2nd Edition of the Realistic Architectural Visualization with 3ds Max and mental ray is now in production at Focal Press. The book has been rewritten almost from the ground up, with 2 entirely new scenes depicting renderings of an atrium, and a building exterior photomontaged into a photo of the building site.

Plenty of new techniques are depicted in the scenes which were carried over from the 1st edition.

There is also an entirely new Introductory section which explains concepts of using mental ray with 3ds Max & 3ds Max Design.

You can preorder the book at several online retailers including amazon.com

I'll post more images in the next few weeks.

cheers
rec

Project Dragonfly

2009-06-12T07:35:00.008-04:00

I stumbled upon something new from Autodesk in all places, Facebook. The Autodesk group pointed me to the Project Dragonfly site. It's a Web based residential design modeller where you can create a plan and 3D model of a house or apartment. Sort of remins me of a cross between those 99$ 3D Home style products and creating a house in "The Sims".

You work based on a room basis, starting with basic shaped rooms and then modifying them with new room elements, Then add door and windows and then built-in elements furnishings, and materials.

It's really a toy at this point at this point, and there are plenty of features missing, but I like it's simplicity, reasonable intuitiveness and the direction of being able to model a design online. You could very easily share this design with others. Then there is the ability to output to .DWG and .RVT formats, interesting. I'd like to see where Project Dragonfly goes...

Revit Market Contest Deadline

2009-03-25T08:54:00.000-04:00

Revit Market Contest Deadline Coming Up! March 31

If you have original Revit families (ones you’ve created yourself), you can put them up for sale at Revit Market, then use them in a project and enter the contest. Not only do you get a chance to win $2500, but you can get cash from ongoing sales of your families.

Revit Contest: www.turbosquid.com/Revit-Contest
Revit Market: www.turbosquid.com/Revit
Press Release about the contest: http://www.turbosquid.com/revit-family-contest

Revit Family - Online course

2009-02-09T10:23:00.010-05:00

Recently, I jumped into creating Revit families. Unfortunately, throughout my use of the program thus far, creating families was this "do I really want to go there" kind of issue. I've never seen a family created live in a demonstration. Sensing complexity, I avoided creating them completely.

Finally, I dug into them and what I found was amazingly easy. So I thought I would help people get started, and I created my own online course in creating Revit families.

With the urging of my friend at TurboSquid, I've made this available on their site. Go to the Revit Market on their site and search for "Roger Cusson" and you should find it easily.

TurboSquid Revit Marketplace

2008-11-24T12:04:00.015-05:00

Well the folks at TurboSquid finally did it, they have launched a market dedicated to Revit families. If you have worked with Revit at a superficial level you will probably think of family libraries of one of the mysteries of the software. If you have been fortunate enough to have received some good training, you will probably know some of the basics of creating families and know how much time can be invested in creating a good Revit family.

On the heels of all of TurboSquid's success in the visualization space they are now launching a beta version of a combined visualization and BIM site for Revit. Some of the families are render ready, others are for quantity takeoffs and creating a Building Information Model.

Creating Revit Families

2008-11-12T08:40:00.019-05:00

Lately, I have been getting into creating Revit families. It's mostly been driven by personal interest in Revit and the co-incidence that TurboSquid is developing a market place for Revit families. My long time friend Michele Bousquet has been working there and it seems like TurboSquid is going to branch out from static 3D models into this new generation of parametric Modeling meant for AEC and BIM.

Here are a few of my efforts. Getting into creating parametric families has not been as difficult as I had imagined.

I'm hoping to put together a short crash course soon for those who would like to get into this as well.

Tree Storm

2008-09-26T16:34:00.017-04:00

Trees Plugins for 3ds Max. I have no idea how many of them are out there but there seems to be tons. There are the standard foliage objects, and the 2 plugins who have demo versions shipping In the box.

Typically the problem with foliage is the amount of geometry which it adds to a typical scene. Well Tree Storm is no exception, but rendering times do not seem to be adversely affected. After some experimentation I was able to place about 100 trees in an empty scene, and render it with mental ray on my test system in about 3 minutes.

Recently, some of my students in my CGSociety course introduced me to trees created by Onyx. So I contacted them and they were kind enough to send me a version which I could evaluate. Well at first I was not sure I liked them, but after closer inspection and examination they are working great.

At the heart of the program is the Adjust Polygons dialog which allows you to adjust the number of polygons that an individual tree will use. Those who are familiar with adjusting foliage in 3ds Max should not take long to get familiar with this dialog.

Now the trick to get mental ray to play nice with this plugin was to use instances extensively when cloning the trees. Take 3 or 4 unique trees, instance them, use rotation and scale to give some diversity and your memory requirements go down. Therefore more trees.

I think you'll agree the results look great.

Architectural Interior Space Rendering

2008-09-18T12:10:00.011-04:00

I've been working on some courseware for Autodesk and just thought I'd post an image which I created for the project.

The space (Walls, Doors, etc.) was created in Revit and linked into 3ds Max 2009. Equipment and accessories were modeled in 3ds Max. Rendering used mental ray with ProMaterials and Arch & Design materials.

Cool Blog on mr and VRay

2008-08-11T09:33:00.003-04:00

One of my friends and collegues pointed me recently to a rather cool blog site on mental ray and VRay rendering. Thought I would share this with my readers.

http://3dsmaxrendering.blogspot.com/

have fun and enjoy..

cheers
rec

Revit City

2008-07-09T11:16:00.011-04:00

As I was seaching for some Revit families from manufacturers last week, I came across the Revit City web site. Now I had heard a bit about this site (both good and bad) and thought it would be a good time to look into what could be obtained from it. So here goes...

There was a lot of material on the site, and even though I have not had to use the CSI standards category for a while, the site had the same look and feel to it. Organized into familiar categories, I went looking for windows. Seems like you can never have enough window types in Revit.

There are some very interesting Revit families to create windows on the site, and I think its commendable that things have come this far with what is a free site fed by community members. The first image is an image of an impressive window with ornamental trim. It does though act more like a traditional AutoCAD block rather than a family. It has two sizes which you can't adjust though parameters, and only the depth of the window was adjustable, and that did not work 100% either.

A couple more examples of windows which again work fine when inserted into your project. But when you search for parameters to change or when you change them things do go ary.

I think that these attempts are good, and that if you take them as they are, (things you have obtained for free) they are great. Play with them on projects you are doing as tests for Revit. When you get into the serious projects you need professionally made families.

Next post, I'll have a look at the Anderson window families. Unitl then, cheers.

SWEET...!!! - Sweets Online 3D Catalogue.

2008-07-03T19:49:00.013-04:00

Well this is pretty cool, Sweets Catalogue has an online edition which features 60 manufacturer's products in a 3D collection which can be viewed using the Google Sketchup Viewer.

After installing the Sketchup Viewer, you download .skp file to your local drive and view them or use them in a building model.

Models range from Windows and Doors to Fridges and Stoves.

It's a great start to be able to view manufacturers products online in 3D. Revit offers even more possibilities. Revit families are the equivalent these 3d elements in the sketchup catalogue but with so much more. Imagine being able to import a model from a manufacturer, and being able to generate a high quality render in Revit's new mental ray engine. Pretty pictures aside, when you populate a building project in Revit with a manufacturer's products you can generate quantity takeoffs from the Revit project into easy to use schedules.

In order to make this the most useful all manufacturers need to get onboard with producing Revit libraries. So an entire project can be populated with information direct from the manufacurer. Sweets would be a great leader in this effort.

HDRI Images

2008-07-01T12:47:00.006-04:00

More and more people are asking questions about HDRI images. HDRI or High Dynamic Range Images are photographic files which are capable of storing information at different exposures. Whenever you have reflections and /or want to use an image to light a scene in 3ds Max HRDI will improve the quality of your scene.

I'm no expert in taking these images, but I know it can be complicated, so I did stumble across the other day an excellent image database. Like many model sites this site contains many HDRI images which you can purchase for a fee.

A sample image is provided free.

http://www.3sixo.net/index.php

Have a look, I think you will like it.

cheers
rec

CGSociety Arch Viz Course

2008-06-27T09:27:00.007-04:00

In May of this year I started an Architectural Visualization course with CGSociety (http://www.cgsociety.org/). This beginner / intermediate course is delivered online to students interested in learning architectural visualization with 3ds Max and mental ray. The class closes this July 13th, and is has been a long ride, what with preparing all my classes and keeping up with student work. It has been interesting to me to see this type of format of online course, as I have had several experiences with delivering online (or distance) learning before.

There are so many forms of online learning, that the mind does truly boggle. when you include distance learning and what is referred to as blended learning the methods of creating a course increase exponentially. Used to be, get a classroom, get an instructor, bring in students, conduct class. Simple, but often extremely expensive.

I've always contended that the best form of learning happens, when you have that problem while you work. You lean back in your chair and ask your buddy sitting next to you, "hey, Amer, how do you do that thingy with the gizmo?" and get a quick explanation. You try it, maybe show it to your bud again, get a thumbs up, maybe a few tweaks etc. What happened there? Just-in-time learning? A teachable moment? Direct knowledge transfer from master to apprentice? Coaching? People teaching each other? Answer: probably all of the above...

I figure the more learning online can approach the above ideal learning scenarios the better. One of the things I really like about the CGSociety course has been the ability of students to ask me questions directly, they occasionally send me files which they are having problems with and I'll try to deconstruct and fix them, letting them know how I did it.

By far the best thing about the class has been the interaction between the students. Each student gets a work thread every week, where they post images of things they are doing. Everyone else can see their work, my responses, and post comments as well. These threads are so active that sometimes there are 5-6 posts before I even get to see the original student's post. Students at intermediate levels are brings a vast amount of knowledge to the course. Many are expert in other software, and want to learn 3ds Max. It humbles me to see all the knowledge in my class. All the better for the students though, it is like there are 10 teachers instead of just one.

I heard it once said tht the best university is one which has a library and a coffee shop. Well I guess CGSociety has accomplished just that. Cheers to them.

When the course wraps up I'll see if I can get some of my students work posted

cheers
rec

Revit 2009 to 3ds Max 2009 Curriculum

2008-06-26T10:04:00.013-04:00

One of the projects which I had the pleasure to work on recently, was for the Autodesk Media and Entertainment division's education department. The project entailed writing a short tutorial on the process involved in rendering a Revit 3D model in 3ds Max.

Now it's been several releases since you have been able to take a Revit Model, export it to DWG, and then Link / Import it into 3ds Max. In 2009, a new method of exporting and importing has been introduced using an FBX file.

The greatest advantage in using FBX is the amount of information which is now transfered from Revit to 3ds Max. Revit 2009 now has the mental ray rendering engine incorporated within it, and when you start the rendering procss in Revit, by assigning lights and materials, this information then gets transfered to 3ds Max....!!! ............SWEET............!!!

Through FBX, Revit metadata also gets transfered. Like the Revit Family, Category and Level. which you can use in 3ds Max to organize your models.

Through this improvement in Revit rendering technology, Autodesk appears to be recommending to designers to take their models and renderings as far as possible in Revit, and when ready transfer to 3ds Max for final renderings. Unfortunately, one of the things which is lacking at the moment is a complete resource of Revit components and families. Rendering elements like furniture and speciality Revit families like windows and doors typically are built from scratch by companies adopting Revit. This makes for a long and expensive implementation of the software.

Some help is available, as in the Revit content site,

http://revit.autodesk.com/library/html/index.html

Much more is needed.

Allways looking foward to better tools.
cheers
rec

Catching up on the Blog

2008-06-26T09:48:00.003-04:00

Well folks it has been a while since I wrote, so catchup time. What have I been up to I'll get into a few posts in the next few days. As allways there are some really cool developments in Architecture, 3D Visualization, and the BIM industry. I'll separate these posts so they all don't merge into one massive post.

Well I'm ready to write so here we go...

cheers
rec

Penn State U. Presentation

2008-02-18T09:51:00.009-05:00

Last weekend I was invited to deliver a presentation to Architecture students at Penn State University. My presentation centered around the workflow from Revit to 3ds Max.

If you would like to download part of my presentation click on the link below:

http://www.mediafire.com/?bdjmjmdmt0j

This video was produced with Camtasia, and requires the tscc video codec available on the Techsmith website. If you require more info on downloading this video codec click on the link below.

http://rec-blog.blogspot.com/2007/11/codec-for-videos-posted.html

More videos are available see the following posts from months gone by:

http://rec-blog.blogspot.com/2007/10/revit-to-3ds-max-video-files.html
http://rec-blog.blogspot.com/2007/10/some-3ds-max-videos.html

New Tip and Trick from Jamie Cardoso

2008-02-18T09:49:00.050-05:00

About final gather

When saving the fg file at a small image size (IE 400x200 pixels), you should ensure that the image ratio and the camera view are locked. Prior to creating the final big size renders (IE 2500x1250 pixels).

In addition, is prudent to first save the fg files in one computer only; preferably in one's local drive. Once the files are saved, you should then place (copy & paste) the saved the fg files in the network where other machines can find it. The same procedure should be applied to animations.

Note that, once the fg files are saved, any further changes to the lights, fg settings, objects and some material settings such as displacement values, self illumination values and glows, may result in having to delete and resave the fg files.

To delete, simply uncheck the Read Only (freeze) function, followed by clicking the X button to the right once or twice. Save the fg file again.

Any changes other than the ones mentioned earlier won't need the fg to be resaved (IE most material settings etc).

Myth about Final Gather files

A number of people believe that the secret behind achieving great renders lies in the fg and gi settings. This couldn't be further from the truth.

The fg settings are essential to produce renders and eliminate light bouncing artifacts. However there are only 3 factors that will significantly improve your renders:

1- The final Image sampling will ultimately change the look of your final image (IE from draft to high end).

2-A strategic use of lights and its colours (IE the placement of lights in areas of the scene where there is going to be an apparent definition between bright and dark areas, otherwise known as depth. Also, highlights in the scene and a wise choice of light colours).There are numerous architecture books focusing mainly in photography that you can use as reference for lighting.

3-Good choice of materials. With mental ray, most of the default shader settings are set to draft. If you have a good understanding these settings and utilize them accordingly, you will obtain superb results. Having objects with correct scale and realistic effects will also contribute to outstanding renders (IE correct bump values, right amount of glossiness; accurate shading and bitmap tiling etc).

In our book, Realistic Architectural Visualization with 3ds Max and mental ray, we have used relatively high fg settings in order to achieve satisfactory results. Generally keeping the fg settings as draft should be enough to render great images. I normally only change the following settings:

Rays per FG Point to 150: Note that higher values will dramatically increase the render times and Initial FG Point Density function can solve most fg problems.

Interpolate Over Num. FG Points to 80 as this won't affect much the fg process render times

Diffuse Bounces to 1/2 if there are any fg artifacts, simply increase the Initial FG Point Density to 3 or 4. Note that higher values will increase the fg process render times dramatically.

The ambient occlusion normally occurs in areas that are not directly lit by light. Most Hollywood CG studios use it also for directly lit areas as it adds an extra depth of reality to the renders. To do so, simply apply the ambient/Reflective Occlusion (base) parameters to the diffuse slot of your pre applied arch design shader.

If you previously had a bitmap applied to the diffuse slot, simply click the bitmap slot inside bitmap parameters.

Double click the ambient/Reflective Occlusion (base) parameters from the material/map browser. The replace map dialog box should appear, choose to keep the old map as sub-map.

There should be quite a few settings, but simply focus on the first 5 of them. When working with real size models, I normally use the following settings: (assuming that you are using meters as the unit system)

Samples=45 note that this won't increase the render time much
Bright=diffuse original colour (It is the slot where the diffuse bitmaps or shaders are applied to. If there are no bitmaps or shaders to be applied)
Dark=black colour
Spread=3.0
Max Distance=0.2

I only use it on every non transparent object.

Note that shaders such as satined metal from arch & design won't enable any bitmap/shader used in its diffuse colour slot. To enable it simply go to the arch & design main template and pan down to general maps parameters, and check the diffuse color function to enable it. In addition, go back up to the diffuse color swatch, copy by right clicking on it, click on the slot. In the ambient/Reflective Occlusion (base) parameters, paste it onto the bright colour swatch

Valuable Tips:

1-Metal shader: At times you may need to darken its original color diffuse swatch when working in relatively bright scenes.

2-By default most arch & design shader settings are set to draft. For best results without compromising the rendering times, simply:

a) uncheck the fast (interpolate) function

b) Change the interpolation grid density to 1(same as rendering)

3-Another method to help prevent loss of memory while rendering, is to increase the memory limit to about 2000

4-At present, direct 3d driver set up, works best with 3ds max 9 or higher, as oppose to any other driver. Users often experience memory, rendering and viewport display problems, when not using the adequate driver set up. To choose the driver, simply go to: main toolbar and click customize. On the dropdown list choose preferences; the dialog box choose pop up. To change the current driver set up simply click on the Revert from ... button.

5-When using mental ray, it is wise to apply the UVW modifier on objects that have shaders containing bitmaps. (IE Satin Varnished Wood; Glossy Varnished Wood; Rough Concrete; Polished Concrete; Glazed Ceramic; Glazed Ceramic Tiles; Masonry; Leather and Brushed Metal) Otherwise, you may encounter some UVW error messages when rendering.

6-At times when working in very bright or dark scenes, use the curve and/or RGB values to correct, brighten or darken materials.

7- You can also use the RGB and curve values as light sources, however you need to have at least one real light source in the scene, even if its multiplier value is only 0.5.

It is often easier to use the RGB and curve values without the exposure controls. This is due to the fact that, exposure controls evens out bright and dark areas of the scene.

In the image below, the coned shaped geometry and other objects had their bitmaps used as light sources to light up the scene. High RGB and curve values were used to achieve the right intensity of brightness and colour. The objects used as light sources had their physical properties set to: not cast shadows, not to receive shadows, not visible to camera, and not be visible to reflection/refraction.

8-The Glass (Thin Geometry) shader should be used mainly on straight surfaces, to avoid artifacts.

9-When using Glass (Physical) shader on surfaces that are not straight (IE revolving doors, spheres etc), its surface may render black at times. To correct this, simply change its diffuse colour swatch to a brighter colour.

10- When Network rendering, keep the backburner files as simple as possible to prevent rendering errors.

Tips and Q+A with Jamie Cardoso

2008-01-26T09:43:00.000-05:00

All,

My co-author on the book: Realistic Architectural Visualiztion with 3ds max and mental ray, Jamie Cardoso, has sent me a number of tips and a Q+A, that we thought might be nice to post on this blog. So you should see a number of new posts in the next few minutes, I hope you like them.

cheers
Roger C.

Grainy Quality to mr Renders

2008-01-26T09:35:00.000-05:00

Q + A With Jamie Cardoso: Grainy Quality to mr Renders

Question: I bought your book Realistic Arch. Vis. And have gone through the first interior room tutorial. I’ve been trying to learn Mental Ray for a year now, but one thing I can’t figure out is why the renders of your files have this strange grainy quality to them. I’ve never produced a render with this using my own files, and I can’t figure out what it is about your settings which could be causing this. Can you please advise?

Jamie: This is to do with the fact that the render is at a small output size and also when the light's radius values are very high. This artifact happens with every high end rendering engine. Moreover, it frequently happens in enclosed scenes where lights (more than one) are bouncing across far too many objects.

There are 2 ways of by passing this:

1-To keep it at a small render size and get rid of the graininess, one should increase the U & V mr light samples (under area light parameters) to a point where there are no more grains (the value of 10 should be enough). This process will require some test renders, and it will increase the render times dramatically. By the way, this subject is mentioned in the book, at the end of the interior daylight tutorial.

2-The most common option amongst Hollywood film companies and 3D visualizers, is to render at higher resolution (IE 2500 pixels and above), and later decrease its original output size (IE 800 pixels) in photoshop etc, for web or e-mail purposes. Higher resolution renders are normally used for movies, publishing or marketing purposes. By the way, the big size render tutorial of the book cover image is also covered in the book.

When going through this tutorial, as mentioned in the book: save first the fg file by checking the read/write file function and clicking render at draft sampling settings (IE box filter; samples per pixel minim. 1/4 maxim. 4), the render size should not be higher than 500 pixels . Once rendered, the fg should be saved by then. The next step is to keep the read/write file function checked and also check the read only (fg freeze) this time around to ensure that the fg process will be bypassed. Finally set the final render output size to 2500 pixels or higher followed by also increasing the Sampling settings (IE gauss or mitchell filter type, samples per pixel min. 1 max. 16 or 64).

In both options, the rendering times will increase considerably however; the 2nd option is more reliable and professional.

Distributed Bucket Rendering, Windows Firewall Updates

2008-01-26T09:30:00.000-05:00

Tips from Jamie Cardoso #1: Distributed Bucket Rendering, Windows Firewall Updates

For distributed bucket rendering, Windows firewall updates are now blocking the mental ray distributed bucket rendering system for max 9 and 2008

(IE raysat_3dsMax2008_32.bat;raysat_3dsMax2008_32.exe;raysat_3dsMax2008_32server.exe).

All the above for max 9 and 2008 need to be included in windows firewall exceptions list. To do so, simply go to: control panel + security center + windows firewall + in the exceptions list, simply add (program...) the list of raysat files for max 9 and 2008,one at the time. By the way, the raysat files can be found in: C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 9 and/or 2008\mentalray\satellite.

Distributed Bucket Rendering

2008-01-26T09:28:00.000-05:00

Tips from Jamie Cardoso #3: Distributed Bucket Rendering

IP addresses are more reliable and recommended by hollywood movie companies and visualization companies however, depending on the way one's network is set up, one may need to type the computer's name instead in order to make it function.

Big Marketing Images

2008-01-26T09:23:00.000-05:00

Tips from Jamie Cardoso #3: Big Marketing Images

When rendering images bigger than 4000 pixels (marketing) with mental ray in one computer only, make sure that one uses the network render instead of distributed bucket rendering as mental ray may not render them. (depending on your machine's specs) To bypass this, simply send the file as net render and choose (check) split scan lines. Once that is checked, define the strips setup (pop up dialog box). I normally keep the settings as default and only change the overlap to 1 and check the delete the temporary images upon completion function, however one can choose the settings that best suits their computers.

Arch & Design shaders

2008-01-26T09:16:00.000-05:00

Tips from Jamie Cardoso #4: Arch & Design shaders

I normally use customized materials, but for those who use default arch & design materials:

When applying shaders such as satin varnished wood shader and etc, one should be careful when network rendering. The satin varnished wood shader normally generates temporary bitmap/s( IE finishes.flooring.wood.plank.beech.jpg) in a localdrive. When sending the 3ds max to net render across another machine/s, the other machine/s may not have this file, which will subsequently generate errors in backburner. Even the backburner's include maps. function doesn't work at times.

The most reliable way of re-pathing any missing maps is to first use the archive tool to archive the file (IE file + archive..). This tool will also collect all the maps in your 3ds max scene. Thereafter one should use the asset tracking tool to re-direct all the missing files to the area where your archived files are. If there are any unused paths in the asset tracking dialog, simply strip them with strip path tool. Do not use the the include maps function from backburner.

By the way, to configure paths with the asset tracking, simply select any path from the asset tracking dialog box list, and right click. A pop up menu should appear. One can choose to either browse... or strip from the pop up menu. When browsing for a file, ensure that the map is found, selected and opened...or it won't reconfigure the path on the asset tracking. To access the asset tracking tool, simply go to file, on the drop down list, choose asset tracking.

Zion National Park

2007-12-05T11:45:00.000-05:00

While at AU, I awoke one morning at 4am, picked up a friend, rented a car at the airport and drove 3 hours to see a remarkable place, Zion National Park. Once in the park, despite the 36 degree F (2C) temperatures, we put the top down on the convertable and were treated to one of the greatest shows of natural beauty. Here are a few of my pictures:

Autodesk University 2007

2007-12-03T08:36:00.000-05:00

Autodesk University 2007 is now in the history books.

For the first time that I have attended AU, I was not there as a speaker but as an external member of the Autodesk Learning group. This was the first year I actually was able to attend more than one or two seminars. The seminars I attended were great, 2 on ACA, 1 on Revit (delivered by a former student of mine) and one on REAL lighting in Autodesk VIZ.

The seminars are one thing, but it has always been the networking to be the most valuable aspect of the show for me. My first show in Chicago, led to me being invited to participate in the then Kinetix Training Specialist Program, and eventually a job at discreet. In our virtual work world, this year I met people I have worked with over the last year but have never seen face to face. I also reconnect with others who I have not seen since the last trade show or for many years.

Honestly, I don't know what else to say about this show; it gets bigger every year; the organization is fantastic, the seminars invaluable, and the people you meet, as the ad would say, priceless.

Codec for Videos posted

2007-11-01T17:47:00.000-04:00

In order to run the videos properly which I have pointed you to on this site you must install a video codec which is not standard with windows. To do this follow the steps below:

1/ Go to the website www.techsmith.com
2/ In themenu at the top of the web pave click Downloads > Video Codecs.
3/ In the Download center page click on the Download TSCC Codec link.
4/ In the File Warning Dialog click on the "Run" Button.
5/ An Install Dialog will appear, Click Install.
6/ In the TSCC Installation Complete dialog, click Ok. (this last step. does not take long so don't worry it has actually done something)

Some 3ds max Videos

2007-10-28T22:41:00.000-04:00

A couple of new videos which I have created today on 3ds max.

For those who are new to 3ds max a short explaination of the Modifier Stack
http://www.mediafire.com/?0hc4p5dzi4m

I also created a short example that shows how the Modifier Stack and cloning objects using instances and references can create a building model which can be modified using some basic parameters.
http://www.mediafire.com/?cidd29klbg9

Hope you like the videos.

cheers
rec.

Revit to 3ds max Video Files

2007-10-18T17:07:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I presented a seminar at the Arcadia conference which was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I presented how Architects could work with Revit files to create renderings in 3ds max. I promised my attendees that I would post some screen videos of the materials which were not in the content I distributed.

Although, I have not been able to do as much as I wanted. I thought it would be best to get at least something here online for people to download, and then do some more as time permits. The following 2 videos describes the process of exporting Revit files to AutoCAD format and then Linking an AutoCAD file in 3ds max. there are a couple of flaws in the presentation but again I wanted to post something sooner rather than later.

The following URLs will download the files:

http://www.mediafire.com/?7lgzxfpxzdx
http://www.mediafire.com/?2k25u1nydx2

You might also be interested in the material which I used in my Revit to 3ds max presentation. It was developed by a friend of mine at Autodesk, Amer Yassine and a collegue James Bartlett. Go to the following link and scroll down to the area entitled Visualization Curriculum.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=8029689&linkID=9243097

Hope you all enjoy this material.

cheers
Roger C.

Realistic Architectural Visualization - Reprint and Corrections

2007-08-28T07:17:00.000-04:00

Good news and bad news.

Good news is the Realistic Architectural Visualization with 3ds max and mental ray book which I co-authored with Jamie Cardoso has now gone into a second printing. We were able to fix a few things in the book but unfortunately one was too late for the print / reproduction process (The bad news). So I'm posting it here and providing you a downloadable file to replace the exising file.

In Appendix 3, there is a file on the CD which is not referenced in the tutorial but which is provided to give you an idea of what the scene and file should look like once you are finished. Unfortunately, there is something wrong in the file which will give you incorrect results. In the file DOF_FE_Final.max Exposure controls have been turned on. To correct the error you can simply do the following:

In the Render pull down menu, select Environment.

In the Environment and Effects Dialog, go to the Exposure control rollout.

In the Exposure Control type pull down list, change the type to no exposure control.

Now you are ready to render the scene and get the same results as when you go through the tutorial in the book.

If you would simply like to download a corrected file it is contained in a .zip file at the following URL.

http://www.mediafire.com/?doukbyydpn0

Siggraph 2007

2007-08-11T10:46:00.000-04:00

Well another year goes by and anther Siggraph goes into the books. Siggraph always congers up memories for me. Going to a show floor, being inundated by demos, stuffing a bag with product literature. Getting home filled with all these crazy ideas, your head filled up as that product literature bag. Then back to work, the ideas and product literature bag remain untouched.

In the last few years, I've tried to be more conservative to Siggraph. Do what is important, meet a few key people, get a few interesting contacts to follow up on, have a few key conversations rather than hundreds of superficial ones.

This year as in many others gone by, Siggrraph was about evolution. Sometimes we forget, how mature this industry is getting. It's about 16 years that 3D Studio has been on the market now. Well I missed anything revolutionary, but if it was happening it probably was in a back 10x10 booth.

It has been years that I've used Autodesk products, never regretted starting my CG career with AutoCAD, then 3D Studio. Last year I figured that the Alias acquisition would only help Softimage. People would turn to alternatives. Well it looks like I was wrong, It has helped Softimage AND Side Effects (Houdini). Softimage sales are apparently up 40%, The Houdini books were flying off the shelves in the Focal Press booth.

This year, Pia & Ken Maffei were kind enough to invite me to stay with them in their home. On Wednesday and Thursday, Amer Yassine and Michele Bousquet joined us for a pleasant day where we participated in a real 3D expereince. Golf at Redhawk.. My favorite..:-)

And.... Another Book... AutoCAD MEP Electrical

2007-07-19T15:57:00.000-04:00

All,

Well here I am again, yet again announcing another book. This one is on AutoCAD MEP Electrical 2008. It's an essentials book. It should be out sometime this week. Another one is in the hopper as we speak. AutoCAD Architecture 2008 Advanced....

cheers
rec.

AutoCAD Architecture 2008 Essentials

2007-06-19T21:54:00.000-04:00

All,

I've just completed working on a new title for Autodesk, AutoCAD Architecture 2008 Essentials. It should be available for purchase from the Autodesk Website shortly. This is an introductory manual intended to get new users up to speed in a 3 day ATC class. It can used by people learning on their own.

It was co-developed by Autodesk, Kristen Smith, our training production group and myself.

Here is the Table of Contents:

L01 - Using the Interface
L02 - Drawing Management
L03 - Adding and Modifing Walls
L04 - Working with Doors, Windows, and Openings
L05 - Creating and Modifing Spaces
L06 - Working with Schedule Tags and Tables
L07 - Creating Details
L08 - Layers
L09 - Object Display
L10 - Modifying a Design
L11 - Grids and Structure
L12 - Stairs
L13 - Floor Slabs
L14 - Roofs
L15 - Ceiling grids
L16 - Ceiling Fixtures
L17 - Curtain Wall
L18 - Door & Wall Assemblies
L19 - View Drawings
L20 - Callouts
L21 - Annotation
L22 - Sheets
L23 - Plotting

Let me know how you like it.

Dimensioning in AutoCAD Architecture 2008

2007-06-05T08:44:00.000-04:00

Well, I have to admit, I am impressed sometimes by small things. Here is something I've discovered recently in AutoCAD Architecture 2008 while working on materials for Autodesk.

AEC Dimensions are really nicely implemented. I used to really hate any kind of automated dimensions, with the exception of Revit. Here though are some really nice useful dimensions. As is illustrated in the first image, first you place a chain of dimensions. As you can see the 2nd and 3rd are the same overall dimension. So the AEC dimension object allows you to add objects, like the interior walls illustrated in the 2nd image.

Now the result gives me 2 problems, one the wall openings chain of dimensions is interrupted by dimensioning the the interior wall partition faces, and second the interior wall dimensions are in the wrong place and really should dimension to the center of the interior partition.

Here is where a variety of grips take over in the AEC Dimension object. One allows you to take one chain and move it, as is illustrated in illustration 3. The others allow you to manipulate the extension lines in the chain, removing extra dimension lines, and allowing you to change the interior partitions dimensions to center (albeit in 2 steps).

So there you go I'm impressed, it's a great improvement. We wrote all about it in the upcoming AutoCAD Architecture 2008 Essentials, and it will be available as an e-learning download to AutoCAD Architecture 2008 subscription customers.

AutoCAD for Architects

2007-05-04T13:01:00.000-04:00

Heya,

Well here is the begining of a series of books which I am working on with Autodesk, Kristen Smith, and the Autodesk TCD team. We have called it AutoCAD for Architects. It is a short book containing 6 lessons designed to get you started with AutoCAD Architecture 2008, or what was formerly known as Architectural Desktop (ADT).

One of the premises of this book, was to allow a student to read and use as little of the book as they wanted to and apply this to their use of the software. Say an Architect likes to use the detail tools but likes to lay out their plans with typical AutoCAD commands. They would be able to flip to the details lesson, and do that one.

This book is available now. Check out

http://estore.autodesk.com/dr/sat3/ec_Main.Entry17C?SID=19515&SP=10023&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;CID=0&PID=917182&PN=1&V1=917182&V2=&V3=&V4=&V5=11033742&CUR=840&DSP=&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;PGRP=0&ABCODE=&CACHE_ID=0

Your 3D Personal Trainer

2007-05-01T09:52:00.000-04:00

I would like to introduce you to an idea which is not new. I would like anyone who is considering training in any software application to consider taking training from a personal trainer. You could call this a number of things, a coach, mentor, or one on one training, but essentially it is some form of training that you recieve from a dedicated person for short intervals over a period of time. What's good about recieving personal training? Well plenty of things;

You can determine the goals of the training and what is being taught.
If you don't like the trainer, you can "bail" without a great investment of time and money.
You set the pace.
You get information right from the source of the information.

Ok, so where do you find these personal trainers? Sometimes you might be lucky to work in a larger company where a mentor or more experienced visualization artist works next to you. But in many situations, you might be completely alone, and find it hard to get someone to help at your location. One of the things that I find most interesting today is using the internet to bring the source of the information and the individual requiring the information together. All the benefits of personal training can now take place using a variety of e-learning tools.

Recently, I provided a training course for a 3D Artist in Texas who used AutoCAD and 3ds max to create visualizations at his architectural and engineering firm. He sent me a few of his renderings which I critiqued, and sent him a plan for a training of 5 sessions of 2 hours each. I'm based in Montreal, so we had a small time difference, some long distance charges to deal with, and we used a Web meeting tool called BeamYourScreen. All in all, it helped this artist who could not find much in the way of training, improve the skills in visualization he wanted to improve at a reasonable cost.

The Books keep Rolling Out

2007-04-20T10:41:00.000-04:00

Just when one book gets done and is introduced, here comes another. This one was the fruit of working with Autodesk over the last 5 months on a product which I am a bit less familiar with. The book Autodesk Architecture 2008 - AutoCAD for Architects is now available, you will probably be able to find in on the Autodesk e-store in a couple of days (maybe a bit of wishful thinking).... I'll get images up here when I get my own copy.

This is a short book, and is meant to get people started with ACA (AutoCAD Achitecture). Covers the UI, the Project Manager, Walls, Doors & Windows, Spaces, Schedules and Detail creation. Kristen Smith, an ADT specialist was the technical expert who contributed her knowledge and a interesting building design to the courseware.

I hope you can get a copy and enjoy. If you are under subscription with Autodesk for ADT and ACA, the there is an e-learning course which covers everything extept Spaces and Schedules.

Arch VIZ book printed and should be available soon!

2007-04-12T09:02:00.000-04:00

Well here it is a final hard copy of the book both Jamie and I have worked on since last May. It is looking really great. Full color, lots of illustrations.

Here is a sample of the interior pages of the book. I'll post some high res photos of the inside of the book for you to see, shortly.

New Book Coming out soon

2007-04-05T06:50:00.000-04:00

It finally happenned, Realistic Architectural Rendering with 3ds max and mental Ray is coming out. Publication date is listed on most major websites as April 15, 2007. I had my hands on an author copy this week but gave it up to the people at Autodesk M&E in Montreal, to show around. Alas, I can't post a picture of the book.

I really like how it has turned out, looks fantastic in full color. plenty of images take advantage of that fact. If you want to see how it looks try amazon's site and do a search on "Roger Cusson". Prices seem to vary a bit from one online retailer to another, so shop around.

cheers

Computer Spaghetti - Rant #2

2007-03-29T21:17:00.000-04:00

This week I had the unfortunate mispleasure to have to do some work on my computer hardware. Nothing major, heck I did not even have to open up the box. Just try to find a few devices plugged into various ports. What did I find? Computer spagehetti..!!! The most jumbelled mass of computer wires I have ever seen in my 20 year career in this industry.

Ok back to the simplicity rant, it used to fairly simple. Power cord, keyboard, mouse, printer, printer power, video cable and video power cable.. that's 7 right..? Wow look at this current mess, and everything seems to need a power cable in itself. I ran out of USB ports in the back of the computer so I had to get a USB Hub, also needs a power source...wires upon cables.... eee gads... and sometimes the USB hub power connector gets loose and the whole hub and all devices that are connected to it become unavailable. Ugh... Someone Help...

Simplicity - Rant #1

2007-02-09T12:44:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm going to try to stay positive here, because that is a good thing.

Over the last few months, I thought about adding some of my opinions to this site rather than only a few tutorials and pics. So here goes, Rant #1, it's target, Simplicity.

Let's start with a question. There is all this technology in your life today, much more than say 10 years ago, but, is your life simplier now than before?

Is your answer no..? Wasn't the promise of technology to make life simplier for us..? I seem to remember that promise.... Do you remember the term "User Friendly", man we are so far from that concept that nobody even uses that term any more. How can a computer be user friendly when I still have to climb under my desk almost everyday to hook up and disconnect something.

So what went wrong? IMHO many things; feature bloat, awful user interfaces, lack of effective training, and acronymns...:-).... It's like learning a new language... IMHO (In my humble opinion)..Aie.... People, really, let's say once and for all, humans use their computers generally above on top of their desk.

I think everyone can come up with examples of something they simply hate and something they can't live without. For example, I almost dread opening a new gadget these days because I know what's coming, "The Manual". You know when you get down to it, do you think there is something wrong when I have to read a manual to make a phone call..? I have a 200 page manual in my car, but when I picked it up at the dealer, they took 2 minutes to show me a couple of things different about the car and away I went... Only cracked the manual when I had to change the clock for the radio / DVD player (Don't get me started..)

I have to admit though, There are things I can't live without, such as spell check and Google. I could not do my job without spell check. I don't know how I would find answers to things so quickly without a search engine like Google. When I think about it I could probably do without these things but they sure would take a whole lot longer.

Seems to me that we could make our gadgets work in a simple fashion, Spell check is simple, Google is simple, Switching from one car to another is normally simple. Why can't cell phones, digital cameras, and the holy grail of simplicity - computer hardware and software -- be simple.

Just the other day, I picked up my son's iPod, and played back some music, navigated, turned it on and off, all in a few minutes, no frustration, no manual. WOW.

New Images from Upcoming book

2006-12-09T16:04:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to post a couple of images which are up and coming from a book which I am working on with a 3ds max artist in England. Jamie Cardoso is a phenomenial 3D Artist who has used 3ds max and Mental Ray for a long time. His work is so exceptional that Autodesk hired him to contribute his images, and know how, so a book like this could be created.

More Information on the book can be found at:
http://books.elsevier.com/us/focalbooks/us/subindex.asp?isbn=0240809122&country=United+States&community=focalbooks&ref=&mscssid=HLWWVGB00PCQ9K3XB3W98GRGMQDL22N5

Photos from NYC

2006-11-07T19:31:00.000-05:00

This summer I visited New York and took a few architectural photos. I thought I'd share them with a few comments.

Ground breaking architecture during my formative years learning architecture at McGill. Phillip Johnson designed it. started a movement called post modernism. Building was originally comissionedand occupied by AT&T.

Chrysler building lobby, unfortunately this is as far as you can go. No access to the upper floors.

Rockfeller Center plaza, great place to chill on a hot summer afternoon. The Rock as it has been labeled has a new vocation as an observation deck. Much less crowded than the Empire state bldg. You can see the empire state building from the Rock's deck....

Bit of a hazy day, but the Empire State Building in all it's glory.

Recent Images

2006-10-12T15:57:00.000-04:00

This image was created to work on a landscape in front of a building. The building itself did not get much attention. A bionautics tree was used in the foreground, and mental ray's Arch + Design material for the water. (October 2006)

This TV unit was done for a local furniture manufacturer. the wood was of particular interest to the company. pictures of the actual wood grain were incorporated into the Arch + Design material in mental ray. (September 2006)

This image was created for Autodesk's 3ds max 9 essentials courseware to show an introduction to the new mental ray Implementation in max 9. (August 2006)

Photocomposite image created in 3ds max 8 (Summer 2005)

Vertical Compound Walls - Revit

2006-06-04T16:52:00.000-04:00

Changing Wall Materials Vertically.
I decided to write out the following simple exercise because I found it difficult through much of the documentation to figure out how to create a wall which changed from one material to another vertically. There appears to be 3 different methods of creating walls which change materials vertically.

Example 1: a fairly simple transition where the wall profile and thickness does not change. For example a bathroom wall which has tiles to about 3’6” (1050 mm) then the remainder of the way gypsum board.

1/ Create a new project in Revit using the default.rte imperial or metric template file.

2/ Select the Wall Tool in the Design Bar.

3/ Select the Properties Button on the options bar.

4/ In the Element Properties Type List Select the Interior – 4-7/8” (138mm) partition (1-Hr.) wall.

5/ Click Edit New.

6/ Click Duplicate.

7/ In the Name Dialog Enter, Interior - Bathroom Partition.

8/ Click on the Edit button next to the Structure parameter.

9/ Click on the Preview button in the lower left of the Edit Assembly dialog.

10/ In the view pull down list, Select: Section: Modify type attribute.

11/ Change the Sample Height to 5’-0” (1525mm).

12/ Right Click in the Sample area and Select Zoom to Fit.

13/ Select the first row (#1) of the Layers of the wall.

14/ Click on the Split Region button in the Modify Vertical Structure area.

15/ Click in the section view on the highlighted side of the wall. Approximately 3’-6” (1050mm) from the bottom.

16/ Click on Row number 1 in the Layers area.

17/ Click on the Insert Button.

18/ Change the Function of the new row to Finish 2 [5].

19/ Change the Material to: Finishes – Interior – Tile.

20/ Change the Shading color of the Interior Tile material to blue.

21/ Click the Assign Layers button in the Modify Vertical Structure area.

22/ Click on the lower section of the region you split earlier. The New Tile Material is assigned to this area.

23/ Click Ok until you exit all dialogs.

24/ Draw a Wall Using this new wall structure and view it in a 3D view.

25/ Set the shading mode to Shading with Edges The blue shaded area is the area is the area with the tile finish.