7/26/2016

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Cornucopia3D"Makingof"
Each week, Cornucopia3D is turning the spotlight on a member of the Vue
community. There are so many interesting people doing wonderful things with the
Vuelineofproducts,wewantedtosharethewealth!
Architecturalvisualizationisacriticaltoolforarchitects,designers,landscapers,and
clients to see how a proposed structure or building will look in it's environment.
Lighting, vegetation, and even terrain features can be very important to how a
projectprogresses,andVueisacrucialtoolinthearchitect'stoolbox.RichardLyall
shows us an example of this, concentrating on an individual style that would fit
perfectlyintoafirm'spresentationapproach.

Makingof"TheArtofSpace"byRichardLyall

Ihavealwaysbeenfascinatedbyformandstructure,soarchitecturalvisualisationisanaturalcreativeangletobeexploring.Vue
andSketchupformastrongpartnershipinthisfield.Sketchupisusedtocreatethearchitecturalforms,andVueisusedfor
texturing,lightingandrendering,andforaddingallkindsofinterestingdetails,suchasplantsandvehicles,toenhancethe
composition.
TheArtofSpaceistheproductofanumberofsoftwaretoolsworkingtogether,withVue7.4Infiniteatthehub.
TheBasicStructure
IbeganbydevelopingthebuildinginSketchup.OnceIwashappywithit,Iselectedacameraangle.Thisisimportantatthisstage
becausethecompositingtechniqueIusedtoproducethefinalimagerequirestheSketchupandVuerenderstobeperfectlyaligned.
HereisascreenshotoftheSketchupmodel:

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BeforeleavingSketchupacoupleofkeystepswereneeded.
IranaSketchupRubyscript(Camera2VuebyAlexJenyon)whichexportstheSketchupcameraparametersasaPythonScript.Later
wewillrunthisscriptinVuetopositionthecameraatanidenticalposition.Seehere(Sketchucationforum)fordetailsonthis
techniqueitsabitinvolved,andisbeyondthescopeofthisarticle.
IcreatedanumberofSketchuprendersusingdifferentdrawingstyles.Thesewillbecompositedwiththeotherrenderslateron.

BuildingtheScene
ModelImport
InormallyimportSketchup(SKP)modelsdirectlyintoVue,butthecameramatchingtechniqueusedhererequiresadifferent
approachinvolvingaColladaimport.
Simply,exportSketchupmodeltoGoogleEarth(KMZ).ChangetheextensiontoZIP(KMZisaZIPfileindisguise),andinthe

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modelsfolderisaCollada(.dae)fileoftheSKPmodel.ThisisimportedintoVue,anditrequiresauniformrescalingby3.937to
compensatefortheVueunits.
ItsalsoimportanttomatchthecameraFieldofViewbetweenSKPandVue,butagainthisiscoveredintheSketchucationarticle.
IaddedafewlowpolyPoserfiguresindifferentposes,maleandfemale,torepresentarandomassortmentofvisitorstothe
building.AcoupleofVueplantswereaddedtoo.
Hereswhatweget,afteradjustingthecamera,andaddingfiguresandplants:

Materials
Now,IneededtoretexturetheSKPmodel.OnegreattipherewhenbuildingyourmodelinSKP,identifyalltheSKPmodelsurfaces
thatwillshareamaterialinVue,andpaintthemwiththesameSKPmaterial.Thiswillcreateashadingdomainthatcaneasilybe
assignedamaterialinVue.DothisforallthedifferentmaterialsyouwillwanttoapplyinVue.AfterimportingthemodelintoVue,
simplyassignanewmaterial.HerearesomeexamplesofmaterialsIusedinthisscene:
Aglassmaterialforthemainsculptureinthefoyer:

Theslightlyceramicwallandfloortexture,basedonafreehirestexturemapfromtheexcellenthttp://www.cgtextures.com/

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Thetiledfloorinthefoyer,basedonaFilterForgetexturewithanaddednoisebump.

Andfinally,theglassusedforthemezzaninefloor.ThisisoneofVuesstandardglassmaterialswithaveryslightGrainyFractal
addedforalittlebitoftexture:

Atmosphere
TheatmosphereisanEnvironmentallightingHDRI(foundsomewherefreeontheinternet),withaSunadded,andGlobalRadiosity.
Herearethekeysettings:

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Rendering
Forlatercompositing,itsimportanttorenderoutfromVueattheexactresolutionoftheSketchuprenders,soinRendersettings,
selectFree(Userdefined)andenterthesizeoftheSKPrender.
MyrendersettingsareprettysimpleFinal,butwithacoupleofchanges.(1)Computephysicallyaccuratecausticsthisgivesa
lovelylightstreakthroughthemainsculptureinthefoyerandisgenerallyimportantfordaylightrenderingwithtransparent
materials.(2)IncreasedAAwithCrispmode:

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Itsimportant,Ithink,touseCrispAAforarchitecturalrenders,toseeasmuchdetailaspossible,especiallywhencreatingakindof
modelminiaturelookasIhavehere,asaclientwouldwanttoseeasmuchdetailaspossible.
CreatingNaturalMediaLook
ItooktheVuerenderandimportedintoCorelPainterEssentials,anddidanAutoPaintwithaDetailedWatercoloursetting.

BringingitAllTogether
ThefinalstepinvolvedcompositingeverythingtogethertheVuerender,theSketchuprenderscreatedearlier,andthenatural
mediarender.Howyouchoosetodothisisamatteroftaste.Myaimwastocreateablendedstylethatlookedbothpreciseand
technicallikeanarchitecturalmodelordrawing,butalsoblenditwithnaturalmediatogiveahandpaintedlook,buttodothatina
subtleway.
ThisisdoneinPaintShopPro,withtheVuerenderasthebaselayer.Otherlayersarebuiltontop,usinglowopacity(normally10
30%)withamixtureofScreen,Multiply,BurnandOverlayblendmodestocreatethedesiredlook.
Titlingisaddedtofinishofftheimage.Ichooseathinplottertypefontthatlookslikesomethingdrawnwithaplotter.

Andhereisthefinalresult:

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Thanksforreading,andIhopethisinspiresyoutothinkcreativelyabouthowtocombinedifferentsoftwarepackagesincreative
ways.
RichardLyall

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