More renderings

Renderings & Drawings

New direction for Arch design

from sddrawings.com

In this next part of Renderings & drawings, Sherrod Drawings has found fast and accurate renderings to be an integral part of architecture.  Before the pen hits the paper (or in our brave new world, the first ray is drawn on a blank digital canvas), we have to have an idea of the best way to go about drawing in 3D.  The entire process is far more complicated than just making a pretty picture or straight up 2D drawing.

I basically begin with the foundation in a group and draw up from there.  The model itself is always the base point, keeping as many pieces as possible as components for easy modification during and after client meetings.  There have DEF. been client meetings where we are designing on the fly and completely changing the direction the design is going to head on screen, during the meeting.  This is a far cry from the typical "This is what I came up with and this is what you are going to get" mentality.  A lot has to do with the climate of business in a busy beach town.

I want to stress that accuracy is of the utmost importance in my craft and my work. Something I will always continue to excel in, any problems in field always stem from changes made in field; except one instance a few years ago (2013) where extenuating circumstances caused a slight hiccup during construction, and I'll say the house still came out absolutely beautifully.  (For the record, 4 separate professionals should have all caught the computer error, my faux-pas for being so trusting).

Irregardless.... the end product of any CAD system and drawing mechanisms (which ever you choose to use) should be a beautiful useful end product.  Then comes the next fun part: renderings.  Renderings are life like visualizations of your product (in my case, architectural design).  Below, you will see two times of day, the first is a night scene with the house illuminated, probably for a dinner where the host is having a dinner party.  The next, is where the guests have obviously left all the lights on in the early morning hours.

Starr Sanford Architecture, Sherrod Drawings Technical & Artistry

Starr Sanford Architecture, Sherrod Drawings Technical & Artistry

I personally love the twilight scenes, getting to see the houses during those magical moments of the day when the light is just amazing.

All photographers know there are 2 hours a day... those magic hours when the sun is rising or setting, and the lighting is most dramatic and casts the best shadows.  SO in these renderings, what I can point out is my flaws.  Less flaws and more time constraints.  If you look at the trees on the left had side of the screen (background foliage), they are cut off and look irregular.  The palm trees are not high enough quality and the lighting is a little blown out in both renderings.  It's a trial process, using different plants, creating new ones in photoshop type software and importing into the 3D world. I also think the clouds in the dawn photo are flat and do not give off enough depth.

So to get these 2 renderings probably represent about 12 hours of time rendering, processing, rendering again, fixing mistakes, rendering and processing again.... It's a vicious cycle, though if you love it, the process and the end product, then it's nothing to keep at it.  Thanks Starr Sanford for using my services to help create another beautiful residence!

Design & Drafting techniques

Another week: sddrawings.com In Keeping with drafting techniques for the beginner. Again, another post about keeping to the basics, keeping it simple, and keeping it accurate. I hope that even these ideas can be used in what ever job you may go into; whether it is design, pet sitting, auto mechanics, climbing telephone poles, etc…

Every Engineering firm & Architectural office has their own way of producing CAD drawings.  Just like every artisan has their own way of painting, every mechanic has their own way of fixing a problem and every telephone lineman has their own way of placing strand and cable.  The old saying goes at 'Ma Bell', you send 6 linemen out to do a job, you'll have 6 different ways for it to get done.  Whom ever you work for will have their own set of rules and ways of drawing.  A big secret I've used for years was to ask an Architect or Engineer for a copy of their work to reference.  Even a paper copy will give away secrets to their drawing style, though paper copies will not show advanced CAD information such as 'layers'.  Having a paper copy of a similar project as a reference handy, will help you on matching the office standards.

 Some Designers tend to have a lax approach to their drafting techniques.  They opt to simply get their point across, making the design being built their main focus, while they see CAD drawings are simply the means to make that happen.  Where they are lax in drawing techniques, they usually have a more hands on approach to the final outcome of the project.  The Contractor will usually find this designer in the field more often.  This designer is also more apt to make calls to check on projects and verify everything is going the way it should.  As a draftsman working for this style of Designer, you will probably be called upon to make field visits and document the progress or verify dimensions.

 Other designers are very meticulous about their drawings.  They will have every element fit on a page precisely.  This can provide for very quick drafting and allow for modifications easily.  Usually these designers are very detailed orientated and have greater success through release of their drawings to be built correctly, with little or no further input from the Designer.  Even during construction, a builder will have fewer questions regarding this Designer's intent (which I will address in the future).

 I personally like to use a mix of these two drafting techniques.  My goal is to find a happy medium between art and giving instructions on how something should be built or compiled.  One aspect of any design work, is the use of 're-usable' content.  This spans across all industry.  It is rare to find a car where every bolt is a different size and thread count.  The same goes for any of my designs, whether that is drawing a house or designing a web site. 

if we look at a few of my latest web site designs:

sddrawings.com   hikealabama.org   habitat2012.org (Just to name a few) 

You'll see a common element in all three of these.  That element is the menu bar (as of Sept 2012), is essentially the same across all 3 sites.  I did this to simply save time.  Not that I can not go back and change it later, but an initial place holder with a product I know was designed correctly the first time saved me days of fiddling with html & css code.  Just like one of my past posts about getting things drawn right the first time see http://sddrawing.blogspot.com/2012/09/its-all-in-dimensions_9.html, once you get a detail or drawing element correct, it's easy to reuse it across many drawings, or in this case a web page.

The bonus of this 're-use' of an element or detail, is that my finished product is completed much quicker as there is less drafting & design work to do.  The entire point being; learn what works for your office, learn how to reference other work to mimic or match what has been done in the past & be accurate with your work as it will make it much easier in the future to reuse your own work.

Feel free to email or post your own thoughts. sddrawings.com

It's all in the dimensions…

       In this week's installment: I'm going to keep with drafting techniques for the beginner, since this blog is so new. So this post is about keeping to the basics, keeping it simple, and keeping it accurate.

       Construction drawings are intricate.  There are many parts and pieces to them.  A highly qualified builder will take your drawings and make something using them as an instruction book.  This is not an Ikea instruction booklet, you want to be detailed; though more importantly, you want to be accurate in your CAD drawings.  It's part of your job, like showing up every day & on time.  As a draftsman, you will be using a computer, it's good at counting to the "umpteenth" degree.  Take advantage of this tool.  Be accurate with your drawings.

Your reputation is on the line with every line you draw.

       Every line should be placed and set at a "good" dimension.  Just drawing a line to what "looks" good will not be good enough.  Use exact dimensions, have a reason why pieces in your drawing are a certain length.  We don't want any funny dimensions.  The same holds true for modifying your drawings once you've layer out a few lines.  Tools like the "move tool" or the "reshape" tool are powerful and important features.  We want to use them, but use them accurately.

       One drafting technique for moving objects & lines is the "click and drag" technique.  Whether your dragging a line to another location, or a point in a polygon, snap is your friend.  Use those quick keys (or set them up) End point, Center & intersection snaps will help your accuracy. Learn to use them.  The move tool is a great tool in helping your click and drag drawings, though not the most accurate.

       The next technique is the "move command" (depending on the CAD system & what it is called).  The move command is far more accurate than the select and drag style, even using the move tool.  Typically with move, you choose your object, key in the command to move the object in an X or Y coordinate. This is your best bet when you want accuracy. The reason this is more accurate has to deal with the way the CAD system thinks.  In snap and drag, the system is trying to guess at what you want, with the move tool, there is no guessing.  The computer adds up the numbers before your finger comes  off the "enter" key.

      Eventually you will work on enough drawings where you will use one component over several different jobs (say you draw a door, you may copy & paste that door from one job file to another).  Be accurate to start with, inaccuracies breed.  You should be able to measure anywhere on your project and have even decimals.  The jobs where you have a measurement of 1.235432443", is fouled.  It will radiate through the entire drawing set.  Take pride in your work, be an artisan, be a craftsman.  Let the office brag about you so you don't have to.

The image on the left shows a dimension that is fouled...


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