I just got Graphisoft ArchiCad version 7.0 (came with 11 books and 7 CDs and works on windows and Mac)does anyone use this to design illusions? Looks like it would work great, but I think it is way over my head.

Best

You're probably going to get all kinds of comments on this. So, before they begin...

Programs like ArchiCAD, AutoCAD, TurboCAD, and so forth, are intended for drafting, not for design. The danger with using them for conceptual work is that it's very easy to just start drawing with the "primitives" (i.e., straight lines, circles, cubes, and so on) and come up with something that looks totally mechanical. A lot of today's illusions look alike -- boxes -- and it's probably mostly for just that reason.

I'm a theatrical set designer and have been doing this for around thirty years. I use SketchUp for developing a concept and AutoCAD for drafting. However, to this day, every single one of my sets starts out as a whole bunch of pencil sketches, very small at first and gradually getting a little larger. Besides the fact that that's how we were taught, I find that very small sketches let me free up and think about the overall look before I get into the details. IOW, I focus on the forest before I get to the trees: I design "from the outside in" instead of "from the inside out."

Once I know what I want to do (and of course after several meetings with the director and production team), I go into SketchUp to develop the 3D look, and then do the drafting in AutoCAD.

Now, let the comments begin.

George,

These are great comments from someone who really knows what they're doing. I don't doubt that in several generations people will be fluent enough with computer design programs (both rendering and drafting that the pencils could go away but not for me... I'm just too old!

I grew up doing everything organically but now find it faster to edit and develop some things in the computer but not sketches... I still have to doodle for that.

It's a matter of what tools you're used to. The actual drafting programs have various merits which are personal preferences. AutoCad being the big fish but I've used other as well. It just doesn't mater as much if you're doing small projects for yourself.

SketchUp is a great resource that anyone can get. I just started using it and it is perfect to bring things to life. I'm looking forward to acquiring more time on it.

Pick a program you can afford that you like and live with it for a few months. When I was with Disney, Larry Nikoli one of the great art directors there was one of the few beside me using Photoshop at the time. He had great advice for a beginer... only learn the elements you will use. Otherwise you could spend months on details that just aren't necessary for your projects. As you gain fluency you can always study more details as they are needed.

A tool is only as good as your proficiency allows it to be.

AFAIC Nothing beats a pad and pencil with a good eraser.

Also, heres an example: After completing the pad and pencil process and then the prototype (http://pyroshot.com) we brought in a CAD expert to do the drawings in retrospect for the patent process on our pyro stuff.

Good luck,

-=tabman

Pencil and paper for me. Sometimes a piece of wood.
Ray

I totally agree with Ray that at some point we may be able to dispense with the pencils; right now there are a number of graphic tablets that let you control the pressure and therefore the "feel" of the lines as you draw directly into a computer. But, for me, the technology isn't there yet. I find that if I start drawing with a computer, I get really hung up on the lines, instead of loosening up and seeing where the sketch takes me. I call it being "creatively constipated."

Design is a teachable and learnable skill. I've done both and I'm no rocket scientist. But these programs aren't a shortcut for learning either how to design or how to draw. They're just tools.

One of the things I've been doing a lot is drawing something in pencil (or pen, or colored pencils, or whatever), scanning it, and importing it into either AutoCAD or SketchUp. That way I can "trace it" on the computer, or just use it as is, to get the point across to the builders. It's a real time saver, and I have the benefits of both sketching and the computer.

I'm overdue for another column, so I'm figuring I'll do one illustrating how a design comes to be, from the pencil sketches to the finished product. Ideally, I'd like to do an illusion from scratch, but at the rate I'm going right now it'll take a long time to complete. So I'll just grab one of my recent theatrical projects, scan the sketches and load up the computer models, and describe the process. Hopefully I'll start on it tomorrow.

Yep, that too.

-=tab

I remember working on a few projects with John Gaughan and seeing him sketch the measurements on the plywood. It was interesting to see a master craftsman organically create a project as it would flow from his mind into shape. That's from years of building and designing. Not recommended for most of us!

Okay, I got inspired and did a new column on how the design process works, using one of my recent sets. It's over at the Buffet section.