Rendering and Lighting - Sketchup

Virtual Reality

From lectures:

"3D Input and Output" from The Computer in The Visual Arts by Anne Spalter, Addison Wesley Longman Inc. 1999,pp 297-316

" Virtual reality and digital modeling go on trial for a federal courtroom design" by Alan Joch

http://archrecord.construction.com/features/digital/archives/0501dignews-1.asp

These two lectures are very related in terms on content. The first lecture, “3D input and Output “explain in a detailed manner the inputs and outputs challenges within three- dimensional computer graphics. During the second lecture I could learn how some of the design tools previously explained in the first lecture can be applied in real life to accurately simulate interior spaces.  

Some of the information in “3D input and Output” lecture was totally new for me; I have seen this kind of tools on books or TV but not in real life.

Theses devices require great technical expertise and patience to use and are currently too expensive for most artists and to the general public.

 

The first lecture provides an overview about 3D Input devices and 3D Output devices. Input devices are those that give users control over motion in three dimensions by allowing the users to move the device in a three dimensional way, hence, translating gestures into correct motions on the screen.

Some of these devices are:

3D Mice and Trackballs: The first one uses sonar cordless mechanism to track the mouse and it moves in 3D space. One of the reasons for these mice not to be very accurate is that they can be altered by noise interference. Trackballs are able to respond to pressure, pushing, pulling and twisting but the ball does not actually move.

Joysticks: This device is mostly used for games. The majority of the joysticks are capable to control 2D motions but more games have required 3D navigation. For this reason, these devices have been adapted to control 3D navigation with the incorporation of a twisting option.

Gloves: Which is a tool that uses fiber optics to register finger bending. These are used to perform predefined gestural motions or hand positions called Postures.

Dials: These devices can be programmed to manage 3D properties such as: xyz location, rotation scaling and surface quality and color.

Force-Feedback Devices: These are expensive and experimental devices. They provide the user a sense of interaction with tangible forms, feeling the texture of virtual 3D object bringing a sense of reality.

Head and body tracking: Trackers are used to record the position and angle of a user’s head; at the same time trackers can be used with gloves and other devices. Body trackers are able to capture gestures and motions by placing multiple sensors on or in the moving object to gather location data.

Another important topic within this chapter was the Virtual Reality Section. Virtual Reality can be present when the viewer can effectively step in to the virtual world of the computer image. Some of Virtual viewing devices are the “Virtual Research Flight Helmet “ and “ Fake Space BOOM”

It is very interesting to see this kind of information embedded in a real life project; during the second lecture, The federal court has been part of a pilot project led by the General Services Administration (GSA) to use virtual reality in the design process of this building.

They used red and green 3D glasses (previously explored in the first lecture) to view stereographic representation of the building space before its construction. They also used a CAVE (Computer Automatic Virtual Environment) (also explored in the first lecture) that stereoscopically reproduced a life-size virtual model of the courtroom. Judges were able to walk trough the interior space of the room and give their feedback. After the building was constructed, people who were involved in this practice testified that the CAVE was a valuable experience since results helped them to improve their design and virtual reality was able to accurately simulate the courtroom space.

I believe that these kinds of tools are very helpful at the time we design any space, designers and artist can take advantage of this type of technology to accurately represent our future design proposals. On the other hand, I believe that this kind of technology should be developed in a way that can be affordable for most designers and art practitioners, at the same time this should collaborate on having a more accurate and cutting edge architectural design process.

Project Investigation

How do new technology, forms and materials affect our sensory experience and the architecture of today?

 Through the utilization of modeling software I would like to explore different ways to represent new forms capable of meeting the worldwide challenges in the construction of habitability in the early 21st century.

 During this semester I am expecting to make a proposal for the front façade of My sister’s house, a project undertaken by the UNCG urban studio.

I’ll be seeking for different ways to work forms, materials and textures capable to generate this facade in an organic manner.

It is my intend to create a double-sided façade hence I will study the way light is affected by these forms and textures and what kind of experience do these components generate in the inner space of the house.

 Different forms and pieces will be modeled in order to generate this proposal in a digital manner. I will probably use different materials such as wood, plastic and metal to generate forms and textures prototypes in a smaller scale. 

Trip to NC State University

On February 11th, our class made a trip to NC State Furniture Manufacturing Center.

We visited three different rooms in this department; the first one was the Product Testing and Evaluation Laboratory, here designers can test furniture's durability.

 

Another room that we went was the Rapid Prototyping Lab, where different objects and materials could be made. Some of these machines worked for making plastics and titanium objects. 

We also visited the Wood shop where we were able to see the five-axis CNC Machine and some other tools like a laser printer for wood.

The last room that we visited was the metal working room. This room had a variety of huge machines capable to bend and cut metals of bigger dimensions.  There were also some machines that could work with plastics.

Modeling an object

For this assignment I've explored SketchUp  software to model a simple object: an IPod. Although modeling in SketchUp software is fairly easy, I found that using Podium for rendering this object was quite hard to me.

For this reason I decided to render another object which is a teapot on 3D Studio Max software.

The four different materials used for this exploration reflected the light differently due its properties.

The plastic material  allowed me to use a more intense type of light since is not a very reflective material; in contrast to the metal material which is very reflective, i could not use the same light effects since it generated a lot of reflection and glossiness in the scene.

SketchUp explorations IPod.

Reflective and Shiny material 

SketchUp explorations IPod.

Modeling explorations on SketchUp

Matt Metal

3D Max Rendering

Transparent Teapot

Plastic Teapot

Matt Metal Teapot

Shiny Metal Teapot

Once and Future Graphics Pioneers. Assignment #4

From lectures:

"Rendering 3D Worlds-3D Geometric Graphics II" by Anne Spalter, Addison Wesley Longman Inc. 1999,pp 257-293

" Once and Future Graphics Pioneer", B.J Novitski . http://www.architectureweek.com/2000/0913/tools 1-1.html

"Once and Future Graphics Pioneer Part II", B.J Novitski . http://www.architectureweek.com/2000/0920/tools 1-1.html

As a reader, these three lectures provided new information to me. Once and Future Graphics Pioneer gives detailed information about the photorealistic quality that architects are able to give to their renderings of proposed buildings and projects.

This lecture makes special emphasis on one of the most notable labs dedicated to the field of Program of Computer Graphics (PCG) that takes place at Cornell University in the city of Ithaca, NY. From 1974, this program has been guided by its director Donald P. Greenberg, this lab has been developing algorithms for photorealistic rendering by simulating the behavior of light and understanding the human visual perception system, bringing the latest technologies for design education. Some of the most outstanding developments performed at Cornell’s PCG was the creation of Lightscape, which is a rendering program able to create realistic lighting effects.

 

At the same time, Thanks to Greenberg’s initiative to create software able to display results graphically, the PCG turned into a multidisciplinary program; Artist, psychologist and engineers have joined this program in order to seek a rich research environment that values human perception, the aesthetics of light , physics  and precision computation.

 

The researches that take place in the PCG are focus on: improving the users interfaces for architectural application in a way that can be more appropriate for designers; Develop methods for improving image capture and the quality of image-based rendering; and to develop conceptual design tools to enable architects to design in context and enabling collaboration over the Internet.

 

Examples of these developments can be seen with the creation of a system that works with a drawing board sized, which functions as both sketch pad and display device. This equipment consists on a transparent digitalizing surface, cordless pen and a high resolution, rear-projector display driven by a powerful microprocessor.

D.Greenberg and professor Moreno Piccolotto have developed this system in order to create a new way for designers to express their project ideas. This system enables two or more designers to work on the same sketch collaboratively on the Internet.

This particular machine can lead the design field to a huge progress since architect and designer can be able to express their ideas regardless their locations in an effective and accurate way.

 

Another PCG’s research area is studying the behavior of light at the wavelength level, where no other architectural research lab in the world is exploring the light at this level of precision.

 

The second part of this lecture explains another research made by the PCG at Cornell University that consists on “image-based” techniques. This technique means that a digital photograph of an object can be “texture –mapped” which is a method for adding detail, surface texture, or color to a computer-generated graphics or 3D model.

 This lecture makes special honors to Cornell University students who have been pioneers on developing theoretical basis for many of the practical applications that architects now use routinely. Four of these students have created Wavefront software that is sold by Silicon Graphics subsidiary Alias/Wavefront.

 

Personally, I was aware of the existence of the software mentioned in these lectures, but some detailed information was new to me like for example the ITI VisionMaker PS digital drafting table. I believe that this is a great invention, as an architect, this can be a great tool to develop our sketches and ideas and discuss them online with some other colleagues; also, it allows us the opportunity to sketch but at the same time we are able to rotate and navigate in three dimensions.

I can see these software developments as great inventions and very productive for the interior design field since we can represent our 3D digital models in a photorealistic manner. Having realistic lighting effects and textures’ surfaces, architects and designers can show their interior spaces and ideas in an accurate and more realistic manner that can definitely help and improve our ways of representation in the architectural field.

SketchUp

Assignment #3. 3D PRINTING

The 3D printing lecture gives a wide overview about the latest techniques in printing machines and techniques.

The term automatic fabrication entails all automated process for fabricating 3d objects from raw materials; Rapid prototyping (RP) is one of the most popular machines used by artist for the creation of their objects, they are very accurate and can create any geometrical shape. These machines use additive, layering technologies rather than subtractive process that remove sections of materials (milling).

Another type of machine for creating 3d objects is the computer-numerical-control (CNC), this kind of machines are more expensive and hard to master, and at the same time they are much bigger, just the control panel is as large as the entire RP machine. These machines are specially designed for sculpting metal and plastics parts used for industrial purposes and for this reason they require the assistance of specialized designers and technicians to make them function in the proper manner.

 

The main technologies for automated fabrication are:

 

Stereolithography which is a process for creating three-dimensional objects using a computer-controlled laser to build up the required structure, layer by layer, from a liquid photopolymer that solidifies. The result is a model made of epoxy, amber-colored, lightweight and translucent. Artist Michael Rees is mentioned in this lecture (pg. 318) since he is able to accomplish his surrealistic anatomies pieces of art throughout this type of 3D system. ( Computer-controlled laser machine below)

 

Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM): which is an example of stacking and laser cutting. LOM starts with solid layers and cuts away the unnecessary areas.

 

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM): Is a robotically guided extrusion machine. Extrudes plastic filament or other materials through a nozzle. This is put down in layers where the object should be solid and cross-hatching (using a different substance) for areas that will be removed later.

Rubber and wax are also materials that can be used in FDM machines.

( See picture below)

 

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). This is a laser sintering process and it consists of sintering cross sections of an object from a layer of powder. This process has huge advantages and it can be used with a wide range of materials from metal powders and glass to nylon.

 

B.J Novitski’s lecture: Scale Models from Thin Air is very related to the content in the first lecture (3D printing). Here, the author recalls the rapid prototyping options that designers have and their advantages. He also remarks how high cost is not longer an obstacle for creating this type of models since prices have dropped dramatically at the time we decide to acquire this kind of tools. Today, more architectural and Industrial designers firms can own one of these machines and make their work faster and more accurate.

 

The lecture: Morphosis Models, shows evidence of how architectural firms are taking advantages of these machines to develop their designs and ideas. During this lecture they explain how do they make this models and  how the model is used. To prepare the model they break the digital model into pieces, carve voids into solids to save material and subtract parts that will be built manually. The lecture shows pictures from Morphosis models using the process of powder removal. After generating their models out of powder layers they bake this printed model in a small oven for about an hour at 200 degrees to finish the curing process. They also apply a coating of epoxy or cyanoacrylate to stiffen all models’ parts.

 

This kind of technology has been evolving in a rapid manner. Many architectural firms such as Morphosis use this kind of techniques as a primary medium to study and analyze their building geometry and spaces.

This kind of technology is definitely a great advance at the time we are designing any interior space since we are allowed to test not only geometry but also structures in the building.

Also, Designers are able to send these files via e-mail, which enable team partners at any location to print this information and work effectively. This is the way it works at the firm Morphosis, they can send their models around the globe to their clients and design team partners regardless their location around the world.

Assignment #2

I think these two articles:  Geometric modeling and Building 3d worlds-3D geometric Graphics I, are very related with each other. They both provide a wide overview of different techniques to create 3D objects in a 3D computer program.

 The geometric modeling lecture deeply explain three general categories for representing geometric shapes:

Wire Frame Models: This is the simplest and oldest approach used to represent 3d forms. When we use a wire frame model we can only see the figure’s contours alone.

Surface Models: These models represent the vertices, edges, and faces of an object.

Solid Models: These are the most complete and well formed, they can support computation of intersection and difference of two objects.

Since I use AutoCAD as my main tool for modeling I’m very familiar with all these concepts.

I’ve also used the Constructive Solid Geometry representation whenever I need to model different parts of a building, like columns (cylinders), walls (blocks) combined through union, intersections and differences.

 On the other hand, the Building 3D Worlds-3D Geometric Graphics I lecture explains a detailed overview about 3D modeling and its advantages. During this reading I could recognize many of the concepts since I’ve used them to do 3D modeling work.

This lecture also accentuates the rendering method after the 3D modeling process is finished by first, creating simple model elements, assembling them into more complex objects, arranging objects in a 3D scene, choosing its materials, choosing its viewpoints and rendering methods.

At the same time I recognized different 3D tools such as Primitives and sweeping, which is like an extrusion tool: a 2D shape can be extrude in a straight line to become a 3D solid or it can be curved path around an axis to make a revolved form.

Boolean operation is also a tool that I’ve implemented. This approach has allowed me to make operations such as: union, difference and intersection on 3D objects. I could also recognize the Digital Clay and 3d Sculpting concepts. I few years ago I experienced using Maya Software; I particularly used it for character modeling. During this course I learned how to use splines curves and patches to create for example the face and body of a particular character. This option allows you to move each of the vertex that shape the patch in order to deform the surface and create a variety of contours. You can also increase or decrease the resolution of these patches, creating more vertexes and allowing the modeling process to be more accurate. At the same time we wanted to model the body of this character, the legs and arms were cylinders and later modeled into a more realistic manner. Hierarchy in 3D computer graphics, Joints and Slider were also very familiar to me. During the Maya course we used these tools to create for example the bones of the character. The hierarchy would organize the model components by their ability to control each other. This structure is also the basis for the Joints, which are the relationship among the model parts that determine precisely how one part can move relative to another. Figure 7.27 (page.237) explains the Slider tool (which is related to the Joints), which is able to move along one axis but not others. (For example: a wrist moving up and down).

Particle System is also a concept that I’ve worked with. These are self-similar forms and I was able to use this tool for creating samples of fire and explosions using the Maya Software.

Concepts such as Algorithmic Form Generation were new for me.

These kinds of 3d modeling tools are very effective and helpful at the time we seek to represent any interior space. We could model walls, stairs, furniture, and finally renderer it to obtain an outstanding representation of these future spaces. It is an excellent way to show our work either to clients or professors in a realistic manner.