Google Sketchup Tutorials April 1, 2009
Posted by James in 3d modeling, 3d rendering, Programs, sketchup, sketchup tutorials.1 comment so far
A couple of years ago, my office mate introduced me to a 3D software developed by google. I was surprised by its versatility but was dismayed about the fact it didn’t support some lighting plug ins back then.
I practiced on some of the online tutorials back then and found the program to be very user friendly. It only takes a couple of days for someone who has no background on 3d modeling to learn this program.
I never realized the true potential of the program until I saw most of my former classmates using the program in their renderings. As a matter of fact in my list of programs to learn, sketchup was at the bottom of it.
Lately I started using sketchup again. Its been a while since I last used the program and I needed to practice on it again. I’m relearning the things I’ve learned back then and discovering some new things along the way.
If your someone who is interested in learning 3D modeling and have no patience to go to school and study I suggest you learn this program and do some online tutorials to help you along the way. Its easy to use and a great tool to help you in your designs.
Here are a couple of links to some tutorials in sketchup:
Landscaping with a twist February 26, 2009
Posted by James in 3d rendering, Landscape.add a comment
I’ve been working on sample renderings on landscaping projects in the past few weeks. Our online marketing at LazyAnimation has been asking me to make some sample renderings cause he has some potential clients who are asking us if we are capable of achieving landscape renderings. So I started looking for some pictures on some gardens and landscape on the net. I didn’t have any idea what type of landscape I would model so I made a random search for landscape pictures.
I saw a lot of beautiful Japanese gardens which really caught my attention. Below is my attempt to produce a rendering of an existing Japanese garden. It still need a lot of improvement especially the texturing of the plants
I continued browsing for some photos on some aerial photos of parks on google and I saw this thumbnail picture of a surreal landscape. I opened the link and found a couple of interesting landscape pictures.
When I enlarged the pictures I was surprised to find out that the trees were actually broccoli. The artist made some great shots of the food that it made the broccoli look like large trees. After browsing through the photos I could finally imagine how an ant world looks like.
for more foodscape photos visit http://www.amazingincredible.com/
House K Interior September 25, 2008
Posted by James in 3d rendering, Architecture, Design, Interior Design, Residential Interior.3 comments
A couple of months ago I was commissioned to design an interior for an interior renovation of a house. I must admit the house was in such a bad condition my brother told me that the owner would be better off building a new house instead of salvaging that house. I would definitely agree with him if it wasn’t for some of the areas of the house which I thought were still sturdy enough to retain. I saw a lot of potential of the house after we could apply some changes on the interior and exterior. I saw it as a challenge and began thinking of ways on how to restore and improve it to its former glory.
I had to find ways to adjust my designs according to the clients needs and taste. The most challenging part of this project was the total rearranging of spaces in the house. I had to change certain functions of some areas in the house in order to meet the desired results which the client wanted.
Although some restrictions from the client were not met, I some how convinced him that there were other alternative design solutions to achieve his wants. Some areas of the house were a bit too cramped and there were other areas which were too large.
Even though my clients original plan was to limit the changes on the existing walls, there was something missing in the original layout of the house. It did not have any dining area in it. The kitchen was also situated in a corner where it eats up a lot of space leaving no room for the dining area. The garage on the other hand was impractically large and comprised almost a third of the footprint of the house.
My solution was to balance the sizes of the spaces with regards to the house. Large areas such as the garage were divided to make room for the kitchen and dining area. Small bedrooms were merged to create a larger master bedroom.
The reuse of existing concrete structural walls and columns was vital to the design to maintain the structural integrity of the house. We are currently in making the construction drawings for the interior, the exterior of the house needs a lot of work. The non existence of any landscaping is due to the fact this house was used as a factory by the former owner. I still have a lot to improve on the exterior of the house and I will probably post some more photos on the future.
Proposed Restaurant and Internet Cafe August 2, 2008
Posted by James in 3d rendering, Architecture, Bore - X Internet Cafe, Design, Restaurant, Rose Cakehouse, Sun Architects and Associates, Yatz Burger.1 comment so far
This is a design proposal of a restaurant for my uncle and cousin. They are planning to begin construction within this year. This is the second proposal for this project because there was a lot of changes to the required spaces. Construction will be in three phases and will depend on the viability for the expansion.
This is the first phase of the project. I utilized the roof deck for an outdoor restaurant which can also be used as a restobar during the evening or as a function area for birthday party or for wedding receptions. 
Houses June 25, 2008
Posted by James in 3d rendering, animation, free 3d models, houses, lazyanimation.add a comment
Here is a sample animation for Lazyanimation. These are some of the houses we modeled for our clients. For more details of our services visit www.lazyanimation.com
Minimalist House May 29, 2008
Posted by James in 3d rendering, Architecture, Design, architecutral rendering, dream house, minimalist house.5 comments
I’ve always wanted to design a house of my own, even when I was still a student in architecture. I always wanted to design a house which is perfect for me. Zenia on the other always told me that she already visualized her dream house. She told me that she was more into minimalist design and that she wanted some plants or garden inside her house.
One morning while I was sketching some drawing I somehow got a stroke of inspiration on a design of a house. I suddenly visualized a house with pocket gardens inside it. I started sketching out the basic design of the house and As soon as I reached the office I made a model of it. Little did I know that my design also fits Zenia’s concept of her ideal house. I continued to develop the design and here are the results.
Free 3D Models May 26, 2008
Posted by James in 3d rendering, free 3d models.1 comment so far
If ever your searching for 3D models cars and trees for your exterior architectural renderings or for furniture and appliances for your interior renderings, I suggest you visit these sites they have a wide array of free 3d models.
http://archive3d.net/ – a large archive 3D models. Models are categorized according to type and brand.
http://www.archibase.net/ – a large archive 3D models. Models are categorized according to type and brand.
http://www.3dxtras.com – limited to 15 downloads per member
http://www.fritzhansen.com/chairs – a furniture company which offer free 3d models of their products
http://www.creative-3d.net/free3D.cfm
http://modelsbank.3dm3.com/
http://gfx-3d-model.blogspot.com/ – I visited his blog and I really found a lot of good quality models in this blog. I really like his cars and architecture collections.
Grass Tutorial Using Vray Fur for 3Dmax May 25, 2008
Posted by James in 3d rendering, 3dmax, Grass tutorial, Tutorial, VRay Fur, max.2 comments
In order to use this tutorial you should have VRay plug-in installed
1. First thing you should do is make a plane about 4m x 4m for your vray fur
2. You then go to create menu>geometry>vray
3. the vray submenu will then appear.
4. click VRayFur and you should see something like this
5. adjust the values of the highlighted portions accordingly
6. Hit render. You should see a result like this.
7. Apply some grass materials to the VRay Fur and plane
8. Hit render. There you have it a grass using VRay Fur.
Just some minor notes:
1. If ever your using a larger plane for your grass add a 1M subdivision to your plane.
2. You cant use uvw maps on Vray fur.
