Believability survey
To take part in the believability survey please click the link below
Thanks
http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=KMOOHO_124cdc6e
Southbank Centre Skatepark Photoshoot
A gallery of the shots taken has been created. See the links on the right or click : http://gdma.wordpress.com/london-embankment-photoshoot/
I just want to record how useful LinkedIn has been to me in the last three weeks. If you need to contact people in the field, this is the way to go.
Phone Call
I made contact with a director of a high brow Architectural Visualisation company this afternoon. I asked him what he feels is important when creating believable scenes. His answer was short and to the point. Detail. So I asked him about the materials that the company uses and he said that they buy in some materials and photograph others but he said that after ten years of being in the business they have an extensive library already. I asked him about the render that they use and he confirmed that they use VRay. I had read about this earlier. He went on to say that “correct lighting is important too, but its not the materials, lighting or the renderer its the artist that makes the scene”. “Not many people can do it!” which was an interesting comment. He didnt sound like he was being bigheaded and the wide variety of the quality of work available to view on the web seems to support his claim. I asked him whether they model just the building and place it into a photograph in post production and he said “We don’t montage the model into a photgraph unless the client requests it. Everything is modelled”. This last statement makes me realise that they must use a lot of ‘flats’ to reproduce some of the incredibly detailed backgrounds as I really don’t think that 3D Max is up to dealing with the mega high poly count of modelling everything.
It was a short conversation, but it was really worth it.
Research
I am in the middle of a write up of my research surrounding Intimate Metropolis, Non-Places and How Buildings Learn. All three books are interesting in their own right. I am pulling them apart and adding Bachelard to the concoction. It seems to be working at the moment, but a second opinion at the next tutorial on the 25th will probably prove useful.
Rough Questionnaire to send to those who work in / know about the field
- Do you believe that using signs of occupation in a 3D visualisation makes it more believable? Y/N and Why box
- Tick one of the following two methods that you think makes a 3D visualisation more believable :
- use of objects in a space to show that the space is occupied (without actually using people).
- Use of images of people in a space to show that the space is occupied.
- Do you think that clients would like to see images of their proposed building showing what your building may look like in use five or ten years from now? Y/N and why box
- Do you think that 3D visualisations are more effective than 3D card/wood models for showing clients what their building will look like when constructed? Y/N and why box
- Which method of visualisation do you think that clients prefer: [Why box after this question]
- Card/Wood model
- 3D Visualisation prints/walk-throughs
- They like both
- How important is it to clients that 3D visualisations are photo-realistic? Not important 1 to 4 extremely important
- How important is it to clients that 3D visualisations are believable? Not important 1 to 4 extremely important
- Which do you think is more important. (Tick only one.)
- The photo-realism of the scene due to the quality of the model, materials used and the rendered output.
- The believability of the scene due to the additional elements added such as objects, people etc.
- What do you think makes high standard architectural visualisation stand out? (comment box.)
- Do you think that the following things have value in a scene in terms of its believability?
- Wear & Tear Y / N
- Clutter in peoples lives Y / N
- Graphitti Y / N
- How do you feel about adding provocative elements like these into your work? [Comments box]
- Do you think that a 3D Visualiser is obliged to make allowances for what people may do to the building during its life? Y/ N [why box]
- Should the 3D Visualiser be concerned with the mutability of the use of the building? Y/ N [why box]
I need to assess whether the questions are worth knowing the answers to before committing to them.
[update] I have re-read them several times and altered the wording in places. I think a second opinion during tutorial will seal it. Once they are ok I’m going to post the questions onto Survey Monkey.com and send a link to the groups I’ve joined on LinkedIn.com most of the people in the groups are either working in the field or are students wanting to. So they are appropriate people to ask these questions.
[update2] The tutorial raised some nice extra questions (10 to 12). I’m going to check the wording finally as I put them into the online questionnaire system.
