I can also provide animated walk-thru and fly-by presentations in a variety of formats. Most people would think this is a bit of a luxury, but it's worth noting that in the real world we get a lot of our sense about a space by how objects in it appear relative to one another as we move around. We effectively enhance our depth and spatial perceptions in this way.
The downside is that when it comes to animated walk-thru and fly-bys things get a little more processor intensive. The minimum frame rate for smooth animation is 12 frames per second (fps), but we really want to see more in the neighborhood of 15-24 fps (note that commercial film is shot at around 30 fps). Each frame is individually rendered by the computer, so If you do some simple calculations; rendering 15 frames (still images) for each second of movie time, with the average frame taking 4 minutes to render, a simple 60 second movie can require 60 hours of rendering time.
One option is to use a commercial render farm to turn out the final product (imagine 1000 computers just sitting there working on your movie), or to simplify the majority of the frames using a monochrome appearance, then interlace higher resolution and color images at strategic points of interest (see the sample animations).
With animations, the bottom line is pretty simple. I like to tell people that they can have anything from Loony Tunes to Spielberg. Just bear in mind that if you want Spielberg, you better have his bank account too. Now, if you can handle a mostly Loony Tunes with an occasional Spielberg, maybe we can work out a plan.
Click on the image below to download the sample animation (requires a Flash Viewer).
[Please note that these samples are low resolution for the sake of conserving bandwidth]
Not long ago, architectural renderings were the province of high end commercial projects with bottomless budgets. The software needed to create the images cost more than a European vacation, and the limited processing power available could result in it taking days to render a single image. Today, most architectural design software packages offer some kind of built-in rendering capability, and the abundance of cheap powerful processors means that even a small operation can dedicate a dozen processors to collaborate on rendering frames in a matter of minutes.
There's no discounting the value of this type of virtual reality imaging - even those of us who read flat two dimensional plans for a living gain valuable insight into the spaces and how they interrelate from studying this type of image. Many architectural review committees, environmental agencies, and homeowner associations now require some form of rendering to evaluate the impact of a project on its surroundings, and/or adherence to aesthetic standards.
Images below are of buildings that exist only in my computer. They're studies in space, texture, color, light, and frustration (the software I'm running often leaves me wishing I'd opted for the Euro vacation).
Click on a thumbnail below for a higher resolution image (opens in a new browser window):
With the addition of photo compositing, we can overlay the proposed structure on the existing building site and provide A-B comparison points.
Roll the cursor across the images below to see the before and after effect.
Copyright 2010 K B Anderson
All Rights Reserved
Architectural Rendering
Image Compositing
Birdseye, Cut Away and Section Views
Granted, you're not ever going to see your home from any of these perspectives. If you do, start looking for Auntie Em and Toto, say your prayers, and stay away from the poppy fields. But just as you won't see your home from this perspective, neither can I or anyone else (short of ILM or Pixar) show you a home from the perspective you'll eventually enjoy with complete accuracy.
It's just too complex a process at the residential level to put realistic stereoscopic perspective, motion, light, texture, and random access together and pipe it into a set of virtual reality goggles. It would cost more than your home, and then some.
What we can do, is generate multiple images from any perspective, with layers of the structure peeled away. This gives us a different type of access to the inner workings. The more varied our perspective views, the better the overall mental image we develop of the spaces and their interrelationships.
Similarly, we can strip away an exterior wall, like a big doll house. In this case, we strip away the right side to get a clearer picture of how the garage, greatroom, and mater suite layout works.
The covered walkway depicted below was one of several design options proposed to the homeowner, and concurrently to one of their neighbors. There had been some concern on the part of the neighbor regarding the impact on their view shed. We used the simulations in their rough initial state to work through the issues with the neighbor, and later developed higher resolution images for the HOA's Planning Committee. While not specifically required by the committee, the added visualization aides greatly reduced the amount of discussion and study needed on their part, smoothing the path to approval.
Roll the cursor across the images below to see the before and after effect.
