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56 comments:

  1. Hi is it possible to upload the whole modeling process for your architectural building in Sketchup???

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    1. I know this isn't as detailed as you would hope for, but this video:

      http://www.ramyhanna.com/2011/05/modeling-in-sketchup.html

      shows my process of modeling in SketchUp from start to finish. Even though there is no dialogue and it's sped up, it should give you a fairly good idea of my process in SU.

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    2. Do you have other videos of arch modeling in SU?

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  2. Dear sir
    my name is punith kumar from manglore. i have been complited bsc.in interior designing . i have seen your designing of 3d. it is very nice . i need your guide line . i wanted to know which are the sowftware it is easy and best design ..

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    1. To start off with...SketchUp is a great program to get back into. Then when you're comfortable with that, I'd move onto 3dsmax....also learn v-ray, it's a great rendering engine.

      good luck!

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  3. Hello Ramy,

    I have been going through your site after getting stuck in my work. I am a beginner and used sketch up to model and imported it to 3D max to put materials and render. After import, none of the phases are separate. Like in a room of 4 walls if i wanted 3 walls one color and 4th wall different, I cannot do it as its all a single object. For different finishes, how to work? The model I am working on has several rooms but when imported to sketch up shows as one single object not allowing to give finishes. I have been trying since 3 days to get this work but in vain. Hope you can help me and I look forward to hearing from you.
    Thanks
    Rhea

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    1. What you're describing is the technique I used in this post:
      http://www.ramyhanna.com/2008/09/sketch-up-to-3ds-max-does-work.html

      If you would like to break the model up by material, export as a .3ds, and go to options before you export. Choose Export "by material", and it will break your geometry up that way. Hope that helps.

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    2. Hello Ramy

      Thank you for your input. I will try out your method and will let you know in detail.

      Thanks again!
      R

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  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  5. Hello Ramy,

    I have been visiting your site over and over again after being stuck in my work since 3 days and still issue remains unresolved. I modelled a building with several rooms in sketch up pro and imported it to 3d max 2012 to put materials, furniture, lighting and then render. but the whole scene has turned into one single object (into a single group) rather than all phases separate to give different finishes for my interiors. How can I do this? Like have 3 walls in one color and 4th wall different color or feature? Is there a specific mistake thats been repeated here?

    I hope you can help me and I look forward to hearing from you.

    Thanks
    Reshma

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  6. Hello Ramy ,

    I am an architecture student and interested in the field of 3D Architectural Visualization and Rendering.
    After finishing my school, I have decided to go to a school in the US to study Architectural Visualization and Rendering in Depth ....

    Do you know any good university or school in the US that can help me become a master in this field ?

    PS: I really enjoyed your works. Fantastic !

    Thank you

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    1. Thanks for the comment and kind words. There are plenty of good schools in the US that focus on rendering and graphics. I personally studied architecture at Texas A&M with an emphasis in visualization. I also studied computer art at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Both great schools. There are other schools such Ringling School of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, and USC film school. You can also look at the Art Institute, which has campuses all over the nation. These are all good options, but in the end if your passionate about it, you will push yourself to learn the these skills well. The schools were just tools that made the resources available.

      good luck!

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  7. Hello Ramy, I just read yor tutorial "Ambient Occlusion with Transparency!" but i can't make it work... Would you please can explain it again with more detail?

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    1. A more current way to do this is to add the render element "mr A&D Raw: Ambient Occlusion". This will render all object and respect their transparencies from the opacity maps. Just be sure to save it as a png (or a format that supports alpha) so the background gets ignored and you can add to your beauty pass correctly.

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  8. Ramy,

    I know this is a 'legacy' question :-), but suppose someone modeled a building in SketchUp, then imported it into 3DS Max and applied material etc., then the customer wants to change the building to one degree or another - how do you import the change to an existing 3DS model and commute the materials to the revised portions???

    Thanks in advance

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    1. Essentially here is the process in simple terms:

      -import the new geometry into 3dsmax

      -With the new and the old versions in the same scene, copy and paste (instance) your old materials onto the new geometry

      -You may have different ID's assigned to the new geometry, so be sure to paste each sub-material and never paste the multi/sub-object material as a whole.

      Here's one of my posts on this process:
      http://www.ramyhanna.com/2010/08/re-importing-sketchup-models-into.html

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    2. Thanks Ramy!

      Now that you have reminded me, I recall watching that tutorial once, some time ago.

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  9. Hi Ramy Hanna,

    just now I was following your tutorial 3ds max lighting interior spaces, where you use the room.max file. In the second part you are placing lights on the ceiling and I did this also in my own model.(I use Max 2013) but my lights are shining really really bright and yours are spreading soft light... I used the same settings as you do in your room.max file and I also use your photometric map, but I still get eye blinding lights in my scene... Can you help me with this?? Thanks in advance!

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    1. The only thing I can think is to check the exposure settings. Make sure your EV value is correct.

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  10. Hi Ramyhanna,

    Loved ur 3d work, each n every still and and your all three walkthru's are superb.......loved it........specially the use of rpc models in training room.........i have been working as a 3d visualiser since 3 years i everytime think of making something new but i end it making a simple walkthru ......since last few days i was seeking for new things to implement it in my walkthru, i found it here.....i too will start using rpc models in my walkthru .........thanks to u ..........thanks a lot

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  11. Dear Sir.,
    Loved your work..
    Is there any kind of online trainings you avail.?

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    1. you can find training here:
      http://au.autodesk.com/au-online/classes-on-demand/search?full-text=ramy
      http://blackspectacles.com/topics/3d-rendering-tutorials-training
      http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/category/240/

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  12. Hello. I've been modelling and texturing a house in sketchup and now I want to export it to 3ds max for rendering. But once imported I don't know how to convert those standard materials into vray ones. Wold you please help me?

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    1. You can use a script that I often use to convert materials:
      http://www.motivacg.com/en/material-converter/

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  13. Hello Mr.Ramy
    I just want to ask if you know institute in united stsate related in Architectural Visualization, cause i want to get courses to develop my skills
    Regards..

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    1. I don't know of a school specifically for architectural visualization. My suggestion would be to study architecture and computer visualization separately. Texas A&M has a Visualization Sciences program in their college of architecture. This is a rare example though.

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    2. I also forgot to mention that cgarchitect.com has a great program through thecgschool.com

      Currently they are having a 50% off summer sale!

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  14. Hi,

    I am trying to render a SketchUp model in 3ds Max but parts of my components disappear when I render. I have tried to change the materials and reload the file but no change. I would love to understand why this is happening and what to do about it!

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    1. Sharon,
      make sure your textures in sketchup are on the white faces when you're in monochrome mode.

      For more info: http://www.ramyhanna.com/2008/09/sketch-up-to-3ds-max-does-work.html

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  15. Hello Ramy.

    I've started digging into archviz a couple weeks ago when I started working on my Landscape Architecture portfolio and searched for how i could make it shine. As i already know how to model in SketchUp and, honestly, 3DS Max is too time consuming (modeling wise) i just followed SketchUp + 3DSMax + Vray workflow. I managed to do the import and geometry seems fine (it's a pretty simple model), and i'm starting to learn about materials and shaders. It's being hard as hell... I've tried following Grant Warwick lesson 4 about materials to try and recreate what i have in mind for the structure material (it's a metal too, although not as complex as the one he creates) but it's hard to get that real feeling and crispy texture into it. And now i've stumbled across another problem: when applying a material to the floor (wooden planks) it looks cool in the material preview but it looks just like a plain color in VP and in renders (reflects a bit but nothing more than that... I tried applying the same material to a 3ds Max box in a new scene and it worked as intendend.

    I know it might be a bit hard to self teach how to work with Vray and 3ds Max to achiev those awesome images from the masters Peter Guthrie, yourself, Bertrand Benoit, etc., but i'm eager to learn and i've already spent a good number of hours over the past 2 weeks doing my research. I want to kindly ask you if you can share some of your knowledge and advice for a novice. If you know how to solve the problem i described earlier i would also appreciate!

    I hope you have the time to read this loooong post, and keep up with the good work!

    Best regards,
    Tiago

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    Replies
    1. Perhaps I should do a post with basic vray materials. Thanks for the comments.

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  16. Might be a good idea!

    Anyway, i've managed to achiev the goals in Grant Warwick's lesson 4. It took me a bit to learn about all the sub materials but i'm it will pay off.

    Best regards,
    Tiago

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  17. Hello Ramy, I enjoyed your post on export SketchUp for 3DSMax .
    I have the Train Simulator , I want to model, locomotives, freight car, stations, houses, etc ...
    It's super simple model with SketchUp, and to export to Railworks before, it is necessary to export for the 3DSMax .
    I modeled a station, follow their instructions, but to open within the 3DSMax, the floor and the walls are black, where is the problem ?
    Best Regards,
    Kaesar Kesler

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    1. Make sure your faces in SketchUp in Monochrome Style are white and not purple/blue. If they're blue, then you will need to reverse the faces. This means your normals are backwards and when it imports into 3dsmax will bring in the material that is on the backside of the face rather than the front side.

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  18. Hi Ramy, thank you for your quick answer.
    I already knew about this detail of blue faces, I took care to check, even within the tiles on the roof.
    Only one of the four walls appear normal, even with the "texture".
    The ground around the model (the station), is also black, and the face is correct, white.
    Best regards,
    Kaesar Kesler

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  19. Hi Ramy, on the second try, it worked out, I could export to 3DSMax, was perfect, ok?
    Thank you, again, for your help, only to your site, found the solution to export SketchUp to 3DSMax.
    Best regards,
    Kaesar Kesler.

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  20. Hi Ramy, I have been using your tutorials and have found them to be extremely helpful and informative, as I am making the switch from rendering our SU models in podium to 3ds max with mental ray. One thing I haven't been able to figure out is how to incorporate updates into the sketchup model once I have it pretty well set with materials, lighting, etc. in max. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks for your help!

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    1. There is not really an easy straightforward way to do this. Materials from SketchUp come into 3dsmax as Multisub Object Materials, so as you tweak the model in SketchUp, the material ID's could actually change in 3dsmax so you just have to be careful when re-applying materials.

      Best way to handle this is to only import the new areas that have changed and delete the old version from 3dsmax.

      good luck!

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  21. Any ideas for using the grass shader on large scale scenes?.. tried it in my scene but doesn't look correct...Great Galleries by the way!

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    1. The trick with larger scenes is to make it look right from far away. If you have close up cameras as well as far away cameras for the same scene use a falloff map to control the diffuse parameters with a distance blend. This allows you to have 1 map for close up and 1 map for far away. Hope that makes sense.

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  22. Hi Ramy, I am Deepak. Am working with hotel project, in that i need to give cove lighting for all through the way from reception to lift. Nearly 100ft long. My problem is cove lighting isnt straight. Lots of curves are there. I tried with self illumination but went vain also enabled fg. I saw an website http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/3ds-max-3ds-max-design-general/yes-object-light-in-3dsmax2014/td-p/4290469 . I made lots of trial and errors only thing is their sample file is working not mine. There is a shader called wom arch light in that there is an option for linking object but it is not working. Or if there is any other for curve based cove lighting. Please help me rammy

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    1. I would use the A&D material and turn on glow using FG. If your FG calc is high enough, it will use the material to light your space....Vray has a very good light material that works well with objects, as well as the ability to create lights from shapes.

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  23. Ramy - you tutorial on skp to max is great. I'm having trouble though with the camera matching. I am putting the focal length I'm getting in sketchup (35mm) in my ma camera's lens field but I am not seeing the same thing. The cameras look essentially the same but I am getting less of the image in Max...can't figure out what I'm missing

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    1. Make sure your SU scene view is not Two Point Perspective...if it is, it won't correspond to 3dsmax.

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  24. thanks for writing - I have the same problem even with those views that are not two point pespectives. One things that I find incredibly confusing - in sketchup it says focal length whether I am using the zoom tool or the field of view tool - they are doing two different things and yet the little field in the lower right corner of my screen says focal length for both. Essentially, I suspect I am making a mistake of some kind when I copy the number from sketchup over to max

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    1. Check out the materials from this presentation that I gave that may solve some of your problems:

      http://au.autodesk.com/au-online/classes-on-demand/class-catalog/2013/3ds-max/av1529#chapter=-1

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  25. Hi Ramy,
    i am Serge i have a Master in Architecture, i come from Florence (italy). i would like to have some information about v-ray certification or 3d max studio. i am not registrate in ARB yet and i would like to work as an architect/cad technician for the moment.
    Thanks

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    1. You should checkout blackspectacles.com

      It has alot of resources for 3dsmax as well as rendering and V-ray. In fact, I just created a course through their website and it should be coming out very soon.

      Thanks,

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  26. Hey there!

    The reason I'm here is because I saw that, back in 2005, you had the same problem I'm dealing with right now:
    http://forums.cgarchitect.com/12866-vray-glass-problem.html

    I'd love to check 'Override MAX' but I can't seem to find it in C4D. Is there any other way to fix it?
    Thanks in advance and keep up the good work,
    Elias

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    1. Elias,
      honestly this workflow does not apply anymore in 3dsmax as that post was more than 10 years ago. You may want to check the C4D forums...my guess is the process is different than 3dsmax.

      Good luck!

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  27. Hi Ramy,

    I'm an architecture undergrad student at right now and am wondering if this is a viable (or even convenient) path for getting into the entertainment industry. I am wondering if I will learn enough of what I need specifically for video game/film studios as a modeller or concept artist (still figuring out which way I want to go).

    What's your take if I were to on my own study additional subjects online or at community college?

    Thanks

    Patrick

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    1. Patrick,
      thanks for the question. It definitely is a possible path to get into entertainment. It has happened before where artists in the architecture field work their way into VFX and feature films. It's not as much about the path as it is about your artistry, skills and software knowledge...also who you know helps alot, so be sure to network and start reaching out to other artists asking the same questions as to how to hone in your your skills.

      The internet is a huge resource of knowledge, and you can definitely teach yourself the skills you need.

      Best of luck!

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  28. Hi Ramy,
    Please do a tutorial on SketchUp-3ds Max-VRay workflow. Please let me know where it is available if you have one out already!

    Thankyou

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  29. Hi Ramy,
    I saw all your work and I am very impressed (especially that your name sounds Egyptian, like me). I'm a dentist that partially changed careers and 2 yrs ago I got a certificate of architectural interior design from UCLA extension. i've taken 1 class in sketchup so I know what gets me by but nothing too amazing. I ran out of my subscribtion so I'm not sure whether to buy sketchup or 3ds max. I am currently using a mac but I have access to a windows computer if I need to switch( I know 3ds is not supported in mac). Can you advise me what to do? I just started my interior design business and it will definetly help to have the right tools. Thanks!
    Mary Dimyan

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    1. Mary,
      thanks for the kind words. Starting out, and for interiors, I would suggest using Sketch-Up. It's much easier to learn and the price is not nearly as expensive as 3ds Max. You can get V-ray for Sketch-Up, and this will allow you to create photo-real renderings from within Sketch-Up. Also you can use it on a mac!

      Best of luck!

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