Google Sketchup Tutorials April 1, 2009
Posted by James in Tutorial.1 comment so far
Lately I’ve been trying to learn some new 3D application to add to my skills. My major problem in self learning is I lack the patience and time in learning complicated programs.
I’ve tried looking for tutorials on some of the 3D programs available here in the office and realized that a lot of the things this programs provide can be achieved in Max. One program though has caught my attention. Google sketchup is a very easy to use and powerful program, another advantage is it has low minimum requirements.
I’ve posted some links on some tutorials on my other blog “Art and Architecture”, If your interested in learning this program check out those links.
The right path to choose October 19, 2008
Posted by James in Architecture & Art, Daily Thoughts.Tags: decisions in life, right path
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A couple of months ago I was faced with a big life changing question which would ultimately dictate my career. I had to finally decide whether I would pursue a double career which would increase my chances in getting a good job, or concentrate on a single career and put my whole focus on it.
This really gave me a big head ache since I’m the type of person who can’t easily let go on something I already started. My parents and most of the people who are close to me want me to proceed on law school since they saw the potential in me to become a good lawyer someday. Maybe its because of my attitude towards arguing something which really interests me and my unquenchable thirst for knowledge. The only problem with this is that I am not a confrontational type of guy. I am more of a diplomatic type of person.
Even though I could not imagine myself becoming a trial lawyer I somehow knew that there were other fields in the practice of law that I can perfectly fit in. I could still use it for our business and my parents and brother’s real estate brokerage. If I were to continue on my studies and maybe become a lawyer someday I would have a lot of opportunities to earn more in addition to my practice in architecture.
The only drawback with that plan is I would sacrifice the profession that I currently have and my development in that field will be completely be put on a hold. I will have lesser time to develop and improve on my designs and in the practice of architecture I am still in the vital stage of learning the ropes of private practice. The projects we do at this particular stage is essential for us to establish some clients and gain contacts which our needed for our future projects.
Taking this into consideration I tried to delve deeper on the consequences and rewards on the decision that I was about to make. What made it hard was the risk of choosing the wrong path and end up failing and regretting the decision I made. If I did not decide then I would also risk on failing both on my studies and on my practice. I kept on thinking about the outcome of both of the situation and realized that none of the two had a certain chance of really happening. Both decision presented the same chances of succeeding or failing.
After all those deliberations, I recalled what my former mentor kept on telling me during my apprenticeship. “Pursue your passion stay focused on it. It is only when you do something you like that you can never fail.” , although i thought about it a couple of times I was always apprehensive about what the future has in store for me that I always did what I thought was good for me and I usually ended up stressed out, frustrated or unhappy.
After I analyzed what he was trying to tell me, it was only then I truly grasped what his message was and that was I could never fail if I do something I am passionate about because I will enjoy the things that I am doing and be happy and have the satisfaction doing it.
Jubilee Church by Architect Richard Meier June 25, 2008
Posted by James in Architecture & Art.Tags: Architecture, artnarchitecture, Church, Jubilee Church, Richard Meier
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The Jubilee church designed by architect Richard Meier is one of the unique masterpieces of church architecture. It is rich in form, function and theory a perfect example on how innovation can create extraordinary designs. Check out my post on this in my Art and Architecture blog for more details.
3D Paper Models and Crafts June 12, 2008
Posted by James in Architecture & Art.Tags: 3D paper model, models, paper art
3 comments
I visited this blog which features some pretty neat paper models. There are some paper models which looks so realistic it really doesn’t look anything like paper. The blog has a wide variety of models from simple to the super intricate I bet it really took a large chunk of his time doing it. I admire the patience of these people making those paper models, It really takes a lot of dedication, patience and love for it in order to finish those models. Here is one of my favorite paper model from his blog.
For more pictures and projects on 3D paper Models visit his blog at papermodeluniverse.blogspot.com
Minimalist House May 29, 2008
Posted by James in Architecture & Art.Tags: 3d rendering, Architecture, architecutral rendering, Design, dream house, minimalist house
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Take a look at what Me and Zenia envisioned for our house. Visit my art & architecture blog for more images.:)
Grass Tutorial Using Vray Fur for 3Dmax May 25, 2008
Posted by James in Architecture & Art, Tutorial.Tags: 3dmax, Grass tutorial, Tutorial, Vray, VRay Fur
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please click on the picture to forward you to my tutorial. I hope you’ll find it useful
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.
Green Architecture May 23, 2008
Posted by James in Architecture & Art.Tags: Architecture, Chicago City Hall, Commerzbank, Eco friendly design, Environmental friendly design, Green architecture
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After watching the inconvenient truth on HBO I saw how fragile our environment is right now. I made a promise to myself that I would be part of the solution and would do my part in my everyday life. Last week I saw an episode by national geographic channel showing environmentally friendly buildings. I realized even in my profession I can help save the environment.
That episode inspired me to be an advocate of environmentally friendly designs. If all countries of the world would follow the example set by the state of chicago in US. They made a choice to embrace green designs of their city hall. Not only did it improve the aesthetics of their roof deck. In a way it also improved the value of the adjacent office spaces from the roof garden. They were also able to lessen there over all maintenance cost for the air conditioning of their building. This is one example of how designing environmentally friendly building can be beneficial and at the same time aesthetically sound.
Another amazing environmentally friendly structure I remembered was the Commerzbank on Frankfurt, Germany. This amazing tower was designed by Pritzker prize awardee Architect Lord Norman Foster. This tower was unique since the it had nine large sky gardens on different levels. It is also designed to take advantage of natural lighting and air circulation. The sky gardens integrated in the design of the tower enhances the beauty of the tower and offers the users of the building a spectacular view of the sky gardens. This tower is a perfect example of a successful eco friendly designed structure. It reminds me of a modern hanging garden which is both beautiful and functional.
It is obvious that environmental friendly designs is the future of architecture. The world is slowly recognizing the importance and benefits in embracing this movement. All around the world architects are incorporating green architecture into there designs. It is always a win win situation since as an architect you will be able to create innovative designs and at the same time you will be saving the environment.
Culture in Architecture May 21, 2008
Posted by James in Architecture & Art.Tags: Architecture, Construction, Culture, Designing, Philippine Architecture
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Whenever I pass by a new building I always wonder what was the concept of the architect for the building or what was his intention for coming up with such design. Whether it’s a good or mediocre design I always ponder how culture affects the design.
I must admit that here in the Philippines we are way behind in terms of building technology. One of the reasons for that is, our culture is not receptive to change. We are still stuck on what most filipinos call the “traditional way” of doing things, I call this the old method of doing things. People here fail to realize their misconceptions with regards to new technology.
They fail to see the big picture which is new methods of construction are more efficient than the “traditional way”. Even with this strong resistance from the majority of our society I am glad to say that there are still some who go against the flow.
There are some architects who are also going against the traditional way of designing and some of the Philippine architects whose works I personally admire Architect Alexius Medalla and Architect Ed Calma. Their designs are edgy and revolutionizing architectural designing here in the philippines.
Photo Mosaic May 16, 2008
Posted by James in Architecture & Art.Tags: art, digital art, graphic art, Mosaic, photo mosaic, Phototile
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One disadvantage of having zenia work for a media based company is that she is very hard to please regarding graphic art. When I was still dating zenia I gave her a photo mosaic of her made up of flowers and to my surprise she didn’t reacted on my present. Her response was just a simple “hmmmm ok, you can do this on photoshop”. What she didn’t realize was that what I gave her could not be achieved with photo shop. I used a Phototile for that specific art.
The downside for that program was that I had to download a lot of picture just to make the mosaic a bit clearer. I had to look for different colors of flowers to give a more precise match for the tiled image. The good thing about it is that you are able to tweak and adjust the tiling so that you get the results you want.
I tried many other programs which advertise that they can produce photo mosaic, but none of the programs I tried were as good as this. It was either their programs were to complicated to use or it was to simple which didn’t allow me to tweak some stuffs. Anyway if ever your interested on learning how to make photo mosaics. I suggest you try phototile, it has a free trial.
