If we are the product of a creator, we should get together and formulate a class action lawsuit for incompetent design.

Sounds like a fantastic idea

I love the design - this would make a wicked render-this challenge.

@unknownuser said:

But its a bit out of the range you're looking for.

Unless used camera prices are higher in the US, it's just about possible. I bought a near-mint 350D (Rebel XT) last year for about $230. That included both a 50mm and a zoom lens, case, battery grip, filters and a few other bits and pieces.

I agree with Dave R that it's going to be difficult to get a DSLR on your budget, but with a bit of luck you might be able to pick up a used Canon 350D.

If you can find a cheap one it's a cracking semi-pro camera. The only drawback is that your son may find the 10 MP resolution a bit limiting if he wants to create large prints - I know I do.

Really nice models - I imagine we'll see a few of these crop up in the Gallery.

Thanks for sharing

Ah.....the piping runs around the top edge. I couldn't see that from the previous images.

Cheers

Really nice work

Is there a modelling step missing from the second stool i.e. the piping/steel frame?

@unknownuser said:

Unless I've got this industry all wrong

I quite often see job listings from clients who clearly don't appreciate the amount of work involved.

Only the other day I came across someone who wanted 4 or 5 high quality image sets per week (3-5 images per set), but were only willing to pay $30 per image - and that included modelling.

The worst thing was that they already had a freelance artist producing visualisations for these fees, but were looking for someone else to help with the workload.

The above sites are pretty good but you could also try posting a screenshot - one of us might know what it is.

Is that Sketchup & Lumion?

I've just updated the first post as the URL for the tutorial has changed.

I've got redirects to take care of it, but just in case that doesn't work for some people, I have updated the tutorial links.

Just came across a couple of nice examples of Sketchup being put to use:

www.freshome.com.....

www.dailymail.co.uk.....

Just to be clear, are you talking about background images for use in post-production?

That's the ideal (eg. Sketchup), but for better or worse Adobe's programmes have their best features hidden under the hood.

When it comes to Illustrator I can highly recommend the Clasroom in a Book publications and http://vector.tutsplus.com/ is really great for further advancement.

Being familiar with your great work, I only mention these resources as they can only add to your skills. SU and Illustrator have a lot of potential when used together and it didn't take me long to get hooked on using SU for graphic design.

@unknownuser said:

What about exporting SU to DWG and importing that into Illustrator?

As with .ai export, I thought that this was only available in the Pro version of SU?

To be honest I find your comments about Illustrator a little strange. I started out using PS and admittedly by comparison Illustrator was hard to fathom.

After following a few tutorials things didn't seem so bad and now - after a few years - I'm now in a position where I wish that I had the functionality of Ilustrator in PS......or the funds to output SU to vector format.

@brokenstaral said:

If you don't...you can only call youself architectural designer.

Not necessarily a dirty word in my experience

If I can muster up some new clients, that offer sounds great. I think the SU to Max (to Thea ) process could be a great work-flow!

I would be tempted if I did more hand drawn work. Despite the fact that I can actually draw, these days the only sketches I tend to use are very impressionistic scribbles that serve only as a temporary record of very rough ideas.

Having said that, if Wacom have done a good job when it comes to exporting to vectors I can see some potential in my workflow.....or do I just keep dreaming of getting a Cintiq?