Contents
● Contents:– Introduction– Case study n°1: LANDLAB– Case study n°2: VIMP– Case study n°3: Teatro Armani in Milano– Conclusions
Introduction
● Purposes: this proposal is concerned around the use of Blender for visualization in architectural production areas.
● We'll examine three different environments, ranging from previsualization to end-user realtime walkthroughs.
● Also the topics will be very different, involving archaeology, historical buildings and contemorary architecture.
Case study n°1: LANDLAB
● LANDLAB is a project coordinated by the University of Lecce for an archaeological museum concerning various locations in the South of Italy.
● Interction and virtuality are main focuses in this project.● The project is currently in development and covered by
commercial secret, so we can show just a few screenshots, courtesy of Universy of Lecce.
Case study n°1: LANDLAB
● The multimedia team, leaded by arch. Davide Borra (www.noreal.it) has to produce the following interactive video totems:– Stereoscopic 3D movie about Salento pre-romanic
villages with on-the-fly hotspots for in-depth popups.– Stereoscopic 3D movie about Cavallino pre-romanic
village with on-the-fly hotspots for in-depth popups.– Stereoscopic 3D interactive walkthrough of a small
rural area.– Stereoscopic 3D interactive walkthrough of Temple C in
Selinunte
Case study n°1: LANDLAB
● Each scenery consists of:– Reconstruction of houses and defensive walls– Trees– Everyday objects (vases, dresses, woodcraft,..)– Walking characters– Lighting (dawn, sunset, night..)
Case study n°1: LANDLAB
● Software used:– Cinema 4D– Blender– Poser– Proprietary realtime engine (SEAC02 ©)– Photoshop– Gimp– Various secondary ones
Case study n°1: LANDLAB
● Blender use:– Modeling of houses, walls, terrain– UVMapping of houses, walls, terrain– Complete creation of small animated cut-scenes– Preview of lighting sets– Preview of realtime scenery
Case study n°1: LANDLAB
● Conclusions:– Pro:
● Fast modeling● Awesome UV mapping● Easy light setting for preview● Easy realtime preview
– Cons:● Big troubles with format conversion● No usable tree generation plugin● Limited preview of maps in viewports● Buggy game engine
Case study n°2: VIMP
● The VIMP Project is a non-profit organization founded by dr. E. Tiemann aimed to raise funds to build a covering roof for a romanic villa in Pompei known as Villa imperiale (Vimp).
● The project has a website made by Noreal showing the villa and the raised funds. Main areas of the website are:– The project– Villa building– Villa paintings– Literature– Working team– The Virtual Walkthrough
Case study n°2: VIMP
● The 3D model for the website had the following guidelines:– Low poly– Small textures (with light mapping)– UV mapped– Ready for simple animations:
● Change of wall texture (degradation)● Metric measures on/off● Figures on/off
Case study n°2: VIMP
● Software:– Blender– WhiteDune VRML editor– Gimp– AutoCAD– Photoshop– Other secondary tools
Case study n°2: VIMP
● The final model was then exported in VRML and edited with WhiteDune to achieve:– Animations– Camera restart– Interactive buttons (3d billboard objects)– World settings
Case study n°2: VIMP● Conclusions:
– Pro:● Fast modeling● Awesome UV mapping● Easy realtime preview
– Cons:● Big troubles with format conversion● A working web plugin would have been better● Limited preview of maps in viewports
Case study n°3: Teatro Armani ©
● Teatro Armani is a theater in Milano made by the famous japanese architect Tadao Ando for Armani. It's main use is for fashion events.
● Our project (R. Covino + Creative Minds) is to create a self-installable CD containing an interactive 3D model of the theater with a photorealistic lighting and mapping simulation.
● The resulting product will be used as a showcase for an architectural low-cost realtime environment simulation.
Case study n°3: Teatro Armani ©
● Software:– Blender– Gimp– Nullsoft Installer– Other secondary tools
Case study n°3: Teatro Armani ©
● Next step was the creation of the self-installable CD.● Future evolution will enanche the user interface with on-
screen commands to allow better interaction.● Conclusions:
– Pro:● Fast modeling● Good UV mapping● Easy realtime preview
– Cons:● Troubles with radiosity solution limits● Troubles with forced merging of meshes● Troubles with 16 materials/mesh limit● Buggy game engine
Conclusions 1/2● Blender's workflow and output quality aren't far beyond
the most famous commercial products.● Blender suffers a bit to cooperate with other commercial
products due to exchanging formats troubles. Users need to insert it in their current software environment without pain.
● Future multiverse ability can help in this area, but a better implementation of some import/export plugins is a must.
Conclusions 2/2● The game engine is potentially a winning card, expect a
growth of realtime interactive environments demand in the next year.
● The game engine lacks some really important visualization features (reflections, realtime shadows, ..) related to architectural environments.
● The bugs of the game engine do not allow to present it as a bullet-proof solution
● The rebirth of a platform indipendent web player would help to spread its use to online realtime visualizations market.
Credits
● All text and screenshots by Riccardo Covino● The LandLab work (case study n°1) images are published
by courtesy of NoReal and the University of Lecce.● The VIMP work (case study n°2) images are published by
courtesy of NoReal and the VIMP Foundation.● The Teatro Armani © (case study n°3) 3D images are
published by Riccardo Covino + Creative Minds, while the real photos are taken from the web on public repositories.
For Contact:
www.riccardocovino.it