Anyway most people here (I think) are freelancer or small studios… we probably will never do high volume production anyway. Most likely a project here and there when client has the budget for it.
You could probably streamline things by having templates and an asset library ready to go then you just need to make the building shell. That’s the approach I plan to take - no custom furniture unless they pay by the piece.
Quoted for truth.
If you know how to drive why limit your employment opportunities to just driving a bus?
There are other industries where the demand for skills in hyper imagery would be more valuable where interaction is a must where a game engine like UE4 could do things that are not already well established. With ArchVis it’s about 1 client and once satisfied the work can be discarded.
An area where skills in vis would be a marketable skill would be in the medical profession. With interaction and VR the next big thing surgical simulators could be made that can accurately represent a surgical procedure for students to practice on.
Flight simulators is another area in need of hyper imagery. Even rides at Disneyland has opportunities.
The employment opportunity is based on how many people make use of your work as a product onto it’s self and ArchVis is limited as to the needs of the one client and once satisfied goes onto the demo reel if not deleted because the storage space is more valuable.
Good advice, I worked at WDI designing theme parks and 15 years ago they were using simulators to design rides. Also, the medical field has more cash than the Architecture field so that’s a good option too.
FWIW a good family friend of my Dad’s who is an architect put it very plainly. The marketing material eg. glossy brochure of a new apartment complex… is there to sell units.
The salespeople set up their kiosks, etc. and are set to flog as many apartments/ offices/ office towers/ industrial parks as possible.
As a layperson it thus such appears that realtime ArchiViz on the marketing side is there to move units. If it doesn’t bring in sales then as mentioned above however cool it is, fair enough, artists deserve to do things passionately, but in terms of finances, the developer, architect, marketing agency, etc. is there to sell real estate.
This is of course a cynical view and I do know the world doesn’t always work like this, but hey, “it’s the economy, stupid”.
True that a good majority of buildings/Architecture is run with that model high end Architecture is a different beast. When you work for a top firm design is a big priority and this is where viz comes into play in a different capacity. Their generated materials can be used in the end to lease, fund, sell etc.
May I ask, can someone explain to me why large corporations spend so much on their own office buildings? Are they really able to recoup their investment on building that massive office tower with all the latest fancy exterior and interior design?
When you consider leasing in most cities building you’re own building makes sense because you can sell it if you need to. Most large scale buildings need a major tenant to be built by developers so that they know for certain it will be occupied and someone paying rent. In addition if they build their own office tower as an example chances are they won’t occupy the entire thing so the rest is leased out. Many projects need to have the numbers work to get built at all.
My cousin is now a worldwide marina sales representative (formerly an industrial designer) and sometimes his company need renders and movies. He told me that’s always in the final stretch, when they need extra power to close a sale, that they’ll consider spending a few thousands dollars (often over 10 000) on 3d stuff. So yea, that make sense, it’s pretty much always for marketing purposes. There is still room for interactive realtime app if it’s something kinda ‘‘new’’ in their market segment. And those rich Qatar people seems to like bling bling so that might be an opportunity here!!! lol (a render I made was for the Qatar boat show btw)
In the 80’s a guy I know did 5 mosque models, physical models, for the Saudi Royal family - price $250K each!
nice hehe!
Um, I was reading this thread and thought I’d chime in. I own a 3d architectural renderings company I founded 5 years ago, called The Render Cafe. (www.therendercafe.com). My first year of work brought in around $60k, getting gigs through the internet using Google ads, generic search engine traffic as well. Last year we cracked almost $200k in work, and the company is just me and another guy working hard for dozens of contracts per year, its H A R D W O R K day in and day out, but I guess if you stick to it and look at it as a BUSINESS, you might do OK if you’re very fast and talented working with 3d. Just my .02 cents. Oh I live in Central America as well where the coin goes a long way… Hope this helps someone out. -Charles
It’s cool to hear success stories!
I would be **** happy making 200k/yr in contracts hehe! Good to hear. Are you guys using or considering using ue4 in the future?
Yeah it’d be nice to have a whole business-oriented section of ArchiViz. Making super-cool stuff is one thing, but as we know, food on the table is another.
If it’s money you want there are easier ways to make it, but if you love doing Archviz and don’t mind working really hard then go for it.
If you wanna do arch-viz strictly for the money I think you’re going to hate it! (any 3d jobs actually).
And it sucks to work on a bad or ugly project JUST because you need money.
Just had a good read through this thread, some really interesting points of view… RI3DVIZ, I thought when I started reading this you were being sarcastic (maybe I’m too used to the people over at Cgtalk!), I’m not going to disagree with anything you’ve said as this comes from your experience. What I wanted to know is if you knew it would be a mistake to head down the 3D road what would you of done instead? - something completely different? - I have doubts myself about what I am doing but being an ‘artist’ I don’t think I could program, I couldn’t number crunch as an accountant and I’m not quite good enough to be a professional footballer! 
I realise thinking what one could of done isn’t going to help much now but would be interested to know
Well, it’s complicated for me. I got into Architecture by accident and after about 8 years started making really good money, close to 6 figures in my twenties. I always wanted to do something else (I’m a musician) but the money kept me hooked. Then things got a lot tougher in the business. So, looking back I would say I should have just went all in on music and made that my life’s work because the money comes and goes.
They say do what you love and as long as you make enough to be happy I have to agree with that.
Everything I have said is to get people to think about what they’re getting into with eyes wide open. People warned me but I didn’t listen.
Though if you’d done what you love you would of made music your career?.. or did you grow to love arch-vis too?.. I don’t love arch-vis, I think it’s more interesting than most jobs but I have not so much as moved a vertex whilst on holiday so I know it’s not a passion of mine. That leaves me with a decision to make, stay and try to evolve in a career I think is better than most or aim to do something I love?.. the problem is the older we get the more responsibilities we tend to have and compromises need to be made - apologies for thinking aloud, I hoped it would help me find an answer but it just poses more questions!