AutoCAD and nXtRender Combination: Tools for a Stellar Career

In this case study we chat with Warren Nordfors, Principal at Nordfors Architecture, a full-service architectural firm based in New Jersey, US. Warren uses our nXtRender for AutoCAD rendering plugin.

Warren Nordfors

Nordfors Architecture works with a diverse range of clients and project types, regionally, nationally, and internationally, producing “spaces that inspire, work with the environment and work for the people who use them”. Clients include homeowners, large and small businesses, governments, developers, colleges, and others. Nordfors deliver design solutions that clients are able to view from all sides through photorealistic 3D rendering and physical models using 3D printing.

Hello Warren, please give us some background on your industry experience.
I am a registered architect licensed in New Jersey, South Carolina, North Carolina, The US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and have been active in the field for 37 years. During my career I’ve work throughout the world, from multi-family housing in Czechoslovakia, to paint manufacturing plants in Taiwan, to pharmaceutical laboratories in New Jersey. I have completed design-based projects at Princeton University, Trenton State College and Rider University, and worked on multi-million dollar homes in Martha's Vineyard and around New Jersey in Princeton, Bay Head, Bernardsville, Far Hills, Pea Pack, and Bedminster.

I was involved with the design competitions for the 9-11 memorials at the World Trade Center and Pentagon. I was also heavily involved with rebuilding the New Jersey Shore in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in October 2012. As a result, house lifts, home renovations and additions to make homes FEMA compliant have become specific areas of interest and expertise, although I do not limit myself to one specific architectural discipline. There is no design project I will not tackle.

What sets your business apart from others in your niche?
I do not have a specific niche in the industry. I find being known for one type of work limits the possible projects you are presented with from potential clients. I spent the early part of my career working for many different types of firms because I had a skill set that many did not yet have. That skill was teaching and using AutoCAD in the industry at a very early point in its development. Very few people had the skillset at that time to use AutoCAD to its full potential.

When did you start using AutoCAD and nXtRender?
I started using AutoCAD and other Autodesk products very early in the fall of 1984. The AutoCAD version was 1.44 or 1.66, and the entire program fit on two 360k 5 1/2" floppy disks and did not require a hard drive. It was based on Zenith's version of DOS and the screens were monochrome. If you chose a command to use that wasn't on the current active floppy disk you had to pull it out of the drive and switch it with the second floppy disk. As I said, I was at the very beginning!

Why did you choose nXtRender?
I began using Accurender, now nXtRender, back in the mid 1990’s. I found that it was a great tool for use with 3D AutoCAD models. I still like to develop many of my models in AutoCAD as it’s more cost effective.

What do you like about nXtRender?  Are there any features in the software that you find especially useful?
The lighting is simpler to use than other software like Revit, and can be set up to do sun studies easily. You can pick a longitude, latitude date and time of day for your project’s location. This was a huge help in some of my memorial designs since they acted as sundials marking the events of the day with shadows crossing over specific elements.

What elements do you pay most attention to when rendering?
I pay the most attention to glass and siting (location and lighting). I currently have to make or modify many of the materials so that they are closer to the actual materials I am specifying, but that is par for the course when creating 3D models in AutoCAD as everything has shifted to Revit or BIM and the materials are just not available for AutoCAD. 

Please give us some background on a recent project you’ve done for which you’ve produced renderings using nXtRender.
I have just done an office renovation and addition where the renderings were used for the planning board meetings to get the variance approvals needed. They were a huge help in getting the design approved and variances passed. They were just design studies so not fully finished with landscaping yet, but they are going to be for the next planning board meeting.

Photo of the original building to be renovated ...

Did you receive any other feedback from the board?
They were very complimentary about being able to see the idea in 3D. Using the Autodesk DWF model viewer, they were able to spin the model around in any direction, or cut sections through it so they could see any part they needed to, for full understanding of the project. 

Here are a couple of other renderings I’ve done, in this case a design for a new house.

Thank you, Warren! We appreciate your continued use of nXtRender to support your varied design projects, and wish you continued success.

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