#Walk-throughs & fly-bys
32 messages in this thread
Hi!
Is any one using trueSpace for walk-throughs and fly-bys for architects?
I am sort of being volunteered into it and I would like to discuss the problems
involved.
Ken
HI,
I am doing some walkthrough. What kind of building are you doing now?
Ken
Hi,
I am not doing any buildings right now.! BUT a couple of architect friends of
mine are starting a company to make 3D models from architects drawings. Their
idea is that I could then take these images and animate them into walk-throughs
and fly-bys.
They are mainly concerned with large projects, like airports. Some of their
work will be for competitions.
I would like to get some idea of what I'm in for. Which software to use? How
much work there is in re-applying textures etc. since I understand that DXF
files do not contain texture information.
What sort of things do you do?
Ken
Hi,
I am doing a walking through for a Japanese architect. It is a 5500 sf
residential building. I am using TrueSpace for the project. However, if you
want to use ray-tracing for the walkthrough, the time of rendering is very
long. It is about 30 min/ frame for my project (320X240). Ray tracing will
give you a very nice light reflection, shadows or pool water reflection. I had
heard that Truespace is slow in redering. I don't know if that is true. I only
had used Visual Reality and TrueSpace so far. I am waiting for my 3D- Studio
comming. However, TS 2.0 may be much faster.
Ken
Ken,
You are just the man I was hoping to meet!
How is the archiect giving you the files? Are you getting .DXF's with the
textures as seperate .TGA files? How are you finding re-applying the textures?
Are they giving you nice colour prints to help you?
What machine are you using? Actually 30 min for a raytraced image does not
sound so bad. I know lots of people are reluctant to use raytracing because of
the time taken to render.
Are you just going to give an .AVI file or are you going to go to a video?
Do you like 3DS? I have seen lots of demos, but the program looks about as user
friendly as a tax inspector. I want to see how tS 2 works out before I start
worring about alternative software. Actually my biggest gripes about tS is its
lack of hidden line, which seems to be solved by solid modelling in 2, and the
amount of time it takes to navigate around an object. But I think that I am
going to have to be _really_ desperate before I get down to 3DS.
Ken
>> demos, but the program looks about as user friendly as a tax inspector<<
<VBG> :^)
Rob
Hi,
The archiect give me the paper drawing. I started from drawing on the AutoCAD
and import it to TrueSpace. In AutoCAD, you can maker layer and apply material
to each layers in TrueSpace. It is not hard to apply the materials to the DXF.
The project I was or am doing only need 30 min to apply the materials. Making
the paths for walking through takes longer. I already finished around 10000
frames of animation, but I accidently erased the hard drive while trying to
install OS2. Fortunately, the 10000 frames is on other hard drive, but I lost
the animation paths and materials.
I can also render any sence on the building and print it on my Canon Bubble jet
600 with driver from SuperPrint. It gave me very nice print out. I will upload
one frame to the forum, if i figure it out how to do it.
This has been alot of fun for me. Specially the building is designed by a
famous Japanese architect. I am waiting for my 3D studio shipping in next
week. Maybe I will find something more interesting than TrueSpace. I like TS
alot , but the time redering in ray tracing takes a little too long.
Hope I answered your question:)
Ken
Well, if you're an experienced TS user and you are getting 3DS, then I expect
you are the perfect person to give us your impressions of the pros and cons of
the two programs. When your done evaluating 3DS I would appreciate your
comparison of the two programs.
-Matt
>> Well, if you're an experienced TS user and you are getting 3DS, then I
expect you are the perfect person to give us your impressions of the pros and
cons of the two programs. When your done evaluating 3DS I would appreciate
your comparison of the two programs.
Especially since he may literally be the first person to go in that direction,
instead of the opposite! <g>
Hi again,
I didn't answer all in the last message.
I am using P90/ 32meg/Fast Scsi 2 hard drive.
I have Miro DC1 video capturing and output to video. The 4x sampling in TS
helps alot to export to video tape.
Actually, I like to have 3D Studio for windows NT, but I have to buy it now for
Student Discount price. I have not recieved my copy yet, so don't know if I
will like it. However, I had heard alot nice things about it and it is widely
used in the industry.
Ken
Thanks Ken,
It all sounds a lot less painful than I feared it would, architects being such
strange people………
Actually your system sounds much like mine, except that I have not added a
video capture/output yet, I'll get round to that in the after the summer is out
of the way.
BTW I am confused about your comments on 3DS, its a dos program, as far as I
know there are no other versions planned, so you would probally have a long
wait for a Win NT version.
TTYL….Ken
>BTW I am confused about your comments on 3DS, its a dos program, as far as I
know there are no other versions >planned, so you would probally have a long
wait for a Win NT version.
3DS 5 will be Win NT…
>>3DS 5 will be Win NT…<<
That should prove to be _very_ interesting. I wonder if they'll give the
interface a (much needed) overhaul. Any rumors on a release date? I've always
stayed away from 3DS because I prefer Windows programs, and also because the
interface looked like about a million programmers put it together.
Rob
3DS is only a dos program. By the time, when 3DS NT is out, I would no longer
be able to buy it for student dicount. That is why I am buying it now.
good luck on your new company. love to hear more about it.
Ken
Thanks Ken, I will keep you informed on how things progress. It is looking good
right now I should get my first project from them in the next week or so. Good
luck with 3DS.
Do please let me konw how you get on with 3DExpress.
Ken
>> However, TS 2.0 may be much faster.
Plus, you can chose which frames to ray trace, and which to simply scan-line..
Ken,
I'm about to start on a walk through that would have animated objects in it. I
haven't done anything like this before and would love dialog about the process.
I haven't played much with the animation in TS yet, (mostly work with still
renderings) so I don't even know if what I want to do is possible.
The project is an interior renovation and I would like to start the animation
in the elevator, and walk through reception into the main conference room with
assorted glances to the side. The animation would consist of various doors
opening to admit the viewer, with a projection screen descending from the
ceiling as the lights go down and a slide of the clients name coming on screen
to finish.
I'm looking for a fairly high level of detail in the rendering and expect the
whole show to be less than a minuite long. Does anyone have thoughts or
general advice to offer??
Thanks,
Robb
Robb,
What you describe is fairly simple.
The camera movement is easy, just draw a path you want it to follow. tS can
animate as many objects as you want, wherever, and whenever you want, so the
doors and projector are a snap. The client image on the screen will have to be
done with trickery though. It will need to be off camera until it is needed,
and then moved into place in one frame (via animation) to give the illusion of
popping up on the screen (tS 2.0 will allow animated textures, giving you the
ability to actually display an AVI on the screen).
>I'm looking for a fairly high level of detail in the rendering and expect the
whole show to be less than a minuite long. > Does anyone have thoughts or
general advice to offer??
Plan on many hours of detailed modeling and texturing… and make sure you have
a free Gig or 2 on your hard drive. A good AVI editing program (Premiere,
RAZOR…) would help in putting together a quality finished product.
Regards,
Ian
Ian,
>>The client image on the screen will have to be done with trickery though.<<
It never occurred to me that this part would be tricky. Maybe my whole
conference room sequence is questionable. A major point of the animation is to
convice some in the clients company that it is worth spending a lot extra for
some James Bond like technology for disappearing the windows (5) in the
conference room.
In the animation, The viewer would take his seat and look toward a corner of
the room where 2 or 3 windows would be visible with a great daytime view of the
NY skyline outside. A button is pushed (off screen) and hidden panels/doors
begin to move out from behind fixed wall panels to close up the window openings
and cut off the daylight illumination in the room (3 to 5 secs). Once the
windows are covered and the daylight has FADED, the artificial lighting
(wallwashers and down lighting on the table top) would FADE down as the
projection screen descends; after which the slide image FADES up onscreen.
This needs to have great dramatic effect or the concept is lost, and the
animation is close to worthless. Is this sequence possible or should I just
work on my song and dance routine?<G>
Robb
Robb,
> Once the windows are covered and the daylight has FADED, the artificial
lighting (wallwashers and down lighting >on the table top) would FADE down as
the projection screen descends; after which the slide image FADES up >onscreen.
You'll probably want to wait for trueSpace 2.0, since it allows animation of
light intensity.
It is possible now, but is funky to do, and sometimes gives mixed results…
Regards,
Ian
Ian,
>>You'll probably want to wait for trueSpace 2.0, since it allows animation of
light intensity. It is possible now, but is funky to do, and sometimes gives
mixed results…<<
Thanks a LOT for the tip!!! I would have been VERY unhappy to spend the time
on everything else and then find that the finale blows up/falls down. TS 2.0
probably won't make it in time for this presentation (end of May) but I'm glad
that it is on the way.
Robb (polishing tap shoes… rehearsing expansive gestures)
Robb,
One thing we have been discussing a lot recently is camera movement. A lot of
animated cameras are too uniform in there movement in pan and zoom, and then
they stop too abruptly.
It is a little detail which even some of the big studios miss once in a while.
Ken
Ken,
>>A lot of animated cameras are too uniform in there movement in pan and zoom,
and then they stop too abruptly.<<
I imagined handling this with a lot of keyframes along the path, then adjusting
frame count between keys as I establish the pace of the animation. Is this
possible??
Robb
Robb,
<<I imagined handling this with a lot of keyframes along the path, then
adjusting frame count between keys as I establish the pace of the animation.
Is this possible?>>
You could also use the tension and bias controls to get a more natural movement
with the camera.
Ken
Ken,
>>tension and bias controls to get a more natural movement with the camera.<<
Ahh… unexplored waters!! Why is it that we always have to do these kinds of
things in a great rush and can't ? Wouldn't it be nice if just once a project
schedule allowed for the kind of play that enriches both me and the project.
Robb