#How to help needed…
9 messages in this thread
It sounds like a great idea. I do believe however, that you will find your
market with contractors and designers rather than the homeowners
themselves. Most homeowners have such difficulty visualizing their ideas
that they get stuck in the 2D planning stage. I see your service really
kicking in once a contractor or designer starts developing plans.
About equipment, why stop at a 386? By the time you add a math coprocessor
to a 386, the cost won't be much less than a 486 with its internal math
coprocessor and it has other advantages over the 386 as well. Also buy as
much RAM as you can afford, then scrape up a little extra money and buy
some more, you'll use it.
We have some real experts here who can give you good advice on graphics
cards and software options, so I'll let them handle that end.
My concern with the homeowner Steven came about when I was thinking of
all the times my wife and I would wonder which pattern looked best
under specific situations? Would earthn tones, and flowers look good
in a semi modern kitchen? Or better in a small T.V. room with
Colonial furniture in it? I was thinking that anyone doing a major
renovation would have an architect who would have access to the same
equipment as me and be able to show the customer what he/she was
getting? Could this not be the case? Do people who build from
scratch never get to see what the house would look like before it was
built? And what about price for such a service? A virtual reality
type drawing where the customer can walk through their dream house
might cost a bit in time. I might also not be able to create very
many such drawings in a week which would add to the cost. Would this
be practicle?
My main concern now is how I would get the pictures of the materials
people would be using into my drawings? Would a VHS or Super VHS
camera be sufficient? Can I resize and copy the images I get from
the camera within Autocad or 3D Studio? I'd appreciate any info that
comes to mind? Thanks again Steven….BCG
Actually I'm working through many of the same questions as you. I market
primarily to architects and engineers, and am trying to interest some of
the larger home builders in the area. As far as architects having access to
the equipment, why shouldn't that access be through you?<G> Many of the
architects I've talked with are interested in this technology but shy away
from the investment in hardware, software, and learning time necessary to
make it work.
Some architects contract architectural illustrators to produce hand
rendered perspectives to show clients what the project will look like.
People are now setting up to offer similar services based on computer
animation and rendering to video. You might also check out your local home
center. I've noticed where some of them are offering CAD based kitchen
layout services and a rendering service would be a natural extension.
For cost of services, you'll need to do some research. Consider what you
need to earn, how much billable time you think you can get, what is being
charged by people offering similar services in you regional area. You may
wish to check books on consulting to understand the relationship between
earnings, overhead, and profit and how these are used to set fees.
For capturing materials, there are others here with a better grasp of the
hardware than me. In short, you can use a video camera, scanner, or create
materials from scratch in ANIPRO. These images can resized and/or tiled
across surfaces in 3D Studio. The best thing to do is experiment and add
equipment as your need grow.
I appreciate your time in answering some of my questions, Steven.
I'm already familiar with some of the business ideas with regard to
pricing. I was just echoing my frustration at not having such
information at my fingertips. Once again I appreciate your
input….BCG
The best method for creating bitmaps for you materials is to use a
scanner. There are two basic types–a 35mm scanner, which scans 35mm
slides, and a flatbed scanner, which scans in anything you can fit on
the glass. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. The 35mm
scanner (such as a Barneyscan) provides the best quality, but costs
the most money. It gives you the freedom of scanning anything you can
get on 35mm slide, but you have to wait for the film to be developed
before you can transfer your images to bitmaps. The flatbed scanners
are coming way down in cost, and their quality is more than adequate
for material maps. You can easily put, say, a floor tile in a flatbed
scanner to create a realistic floor material. On the other hand,
you'll have to peel that wallpaper off the wall if you want to scan
it in the flatbed.
Jack,
Don't overlook the flexibility of having a Polaroid and a flatbed scanner,
snap a photo and scan in it in, all in under 5 minutes. Works well enough
for texture maps…. (and no wondering if the film will come out right.)
But forget super accurate color!
James
That's a great idea. What the industry really needs is a combo
flatbed/slide scanner–at a low, low price.
– J
You can also use an RGB camera on a stand and a video capture card
such as a Targa and get pretty good 'scans', too… The nice thing
about this is your graphics card can do alot more for you than sit in
the corner while you're creating a rendering <g>.
Yes I've been thinking in those terms as well, Craig. I've got to
plan a strategy so I can have money, time, hardware, & software in
one place to begin my learning process. Thanks for the reply….BCG