Chapter 2 - Composition (3ds Max 2010 Architectural Visualization

by Ernest Burden

Architectural renderings often fall somewhere in between informational reporting and subjective instruments for sales. At its simplest, a rendering can be a visualizing document to help people understand an architectural proposal. It can be quite accurate in scale, material, and lighting. It can be informative and clarifying, even exciting and persuasive. It can be beautiful. It can also be muddled, confusing, and uninspiring. The difference comes from the artist having an understanding of the project and the best ways to present it. The artist must recognize the various aspects of the work as visual tools he or she employs to describe, simplify, and, especially, clarify the subject. Composition is the art of arranging the scene or image to give the best visual presentation possible for the needed purpose.

A rendering is not the real building, of course. It is a translation, an interpretation. A rendering transforms a work of architecture—a three-dimensional object—into a flat illustration, a medium that has always been about telling a story. The best works catch the viewer’s attention and draw them in. But what are the tools and techniques architectural artists can employ to do that? That is the essence of good composition, and what this chapter is about.

44 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 25, 2012