CPD: Training
in the use of 3DS MAX.
Subject area: Computer graphics for architectural illustration.
Institution:
A municipal organization for education and culture.
Year of attendance: 2009
As,
a professional architect, I need to know a set of tools and techniques in order
to be able to illustrate effectively several design ideas and to present them to
clients, journals, blogs, portfolios etc. After a considerable searching,
experimentations and comparisons between several representational methods, I
concluded to invest time, effort and money, in order to learn 3D Studio Max by
Autodesk, which is considered one of the most
popular computer graphics software.
The
decision was not easy and straightforward, since on the one hand I was hearing
controversial suggestion by other colleagues, while on the other I had my own doubts of whether I should
focus my professional development on the acquisition of technology skills (advanced
digital media) or on the improvement of art skills (traditional media).
With the traditional media (drawing, sketching, painting, etc) I could express
myself intuitively while with the digital media (virtual reality, 3d animation,
etc) I needed systematic training in order to learn to use them creatively.
Nevertheless, I was aware that digital technology could offer powerful and
advantageous features to my professional practice, and probably would replace,
in the immediate future, the traditional media in almost all the stages of the
design process (conceptualization, drawing, presentation etc.).
In
addition, I became aware, conducting a small personal research (asking
employers and colleagues, searching job ads and newspaper articles), that the
majority of the employers esteem the acquisition of high technological skills,
while clients are impressed by new media presentations (virtual tours in future
buildings, photorealistic views, digital effects etc.). Thus, considering on
the one hand the market requirements and on the other the powerful
characteristics of the digital media, I opted to focus my learning on the
acquisition/improvement of several technology/computer skills.
Reasons for focusing my learning on the
acquisition/improvement of several technology/computer skills.
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Basic reason
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Sub-reasons
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The
next issue to be resolved was the selection of the most appropriate software. I
finally opted for 3DS Max, because it was generally considered one of the most
promising and well-known platforms, suggested by many architectural firms.
Finally,
I had doubts, of whether I should learn 3DS Max by using a self-education
method (books, tutorials, etc) or by attending a typical face to face course. I
opted for a face to face seminar because I was afraid that I couldn’t manage to
learn this complicated software without the contribution of an expert teacher.
In
brief, from this CPD episode, I was expecting to learn the use of 3DS Max, in
order to improve my professional expertise and consequently to make an opening
to new customers, services, employers, etc.
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