Research Assignment

Research Assignment Question – Will computer gaming technology become a widely used tool for architectural purposes?

Assignment 1 – Weeks 1-6

Sketchup => Crysis

Using sketchup as an architectural modelling tool is a great way for beginners to learn the basics of modelling programs. It also proved to be a fairly easy tool in regards to how you can import them into the crysis editor. Throughout the first six weeks of the semester we started off with modelling a world within the crysis editor. We learnt how to modify the environment, its features and atmosphere. Through using the editor I did come across some obstacles with the textures which were generated through the program. It seemed that every time I would close the program down and reopen my file, I would lose the previous textures. I later found out that there was a problem with the file, and the only way to fix it would be to start again. The textures however weren’t a major part of my assignment, so I decided to let it go.

Overall Sketchup was very easy to use when modelling. Although the simplicity of the model is what lets the program down, with nearly every other modelling program, providing alot more accuracy with the model.

Assignment 2 – Weeks 7-13

For this assignment I decided to model up my town hall station in a program called Revit. Revit for me was able to give me the accuracy which Sketchup lacked for such a large model. Another main reason for modelling up the station in Revit, as Revit has an option to export the model into 3Ds Max – which is what the Crysis editor needs to export geometry. In week ten I did successfully export my town hall station into crysis with the help from the tutors, to make my level a multiplayer level. Having done this successfully with the materials and model I was quite confident that I would be able to replicate the method.

However, once I had completed my final model through Revit and into 3ds max, I found no matter what I did I was unable to import it into crysis. I later found out that the file I had was corrupt,and that there was basically nothing I could do about it. I was forced to resort to use the model which I had completed in Week 10 – which isn’t nearly as detailed as my final model, but it did allow me to portray the message which is evedent throughout my second assignment.

Research Question

For my research question I asked 10 of my fellow students and 20 people from outside the architectural community, if computer gaming technology will become a widely used tool for architectural purposes.

Remarkably all 10 of my fellow students believed strongly that this is where Architecture is heading towards. Not only did they believe that modelling such as what we have been doing for the past year will become common place, but also that architectural programs will catch up to what these computer gaming engines allow us to do.

From the 20 people outside the Architectural community which I asked my research question, 15 out of 20 beleived the same way in which my fellow students did – with the remaining 5 thinking there was way too much work involved in creating these environments.

I found the workflow for assignment two to be the better – this mainly due to the precision in which I was able to make my 3d model of townhall station. I would choose sketchup however, for smaller models. As for myself, I believe the same way in which my fellow students do in regards to my research question – I believe that we will be seeing more and more of these in the years to come.

Assignment 2 - World without Vision.

For this assignment I was affected greatly by the recent stroke of my grandfather, who lost a fair bit of his abilities. It made me think, how would we interact with an environment where one of our senses did not work, or we could not rely on. For this the obvious choice was eyesight – something which changed the way we see the world dramatically. My environment has been designed to test the abilities of the observer, and find another way to navigate through the environment – whether it be by sounds, touch e.t.c.

Filefront link.

Multiplayer town hall!

This is a video of myself and a couple of mates having fun within my town hall environment!

Realism

Realism as it is, is an important part of our course. It plays a big part in our lives also as people rate programs, images based on how real they are in portraying real life. What kind of buildings would be built nowadays if we didn’t have anything to refer back to. Having realism play a big part in the design of these buildings allows the consumer to make a better informed decision in these designs.

Realism throughout the lecture is portrayed as a leading factor in how games today are made. The expectations for computer games today are so high, that if they person who is interacting with them isn’t convinced of this realism they are more than likely not going to be inclined to play.

Realism relies heavily on our perception of the world and what we are being presented with. Without perception, realism is meaningless as we would not have the thought processes to deal with certain things.





These are some pictures of my town hall model within the environment. These pictures show my model in progress and it is no where near finished.

3Ds Max test

These are a few screenshots which I have taken withing 3Ds Max, just for my own benefit to make sure everything works! Such a relief that it has!!

Model!

I have decided to use the 3d modelling program Revit as my method of creating the model. This is mainly due to the fact that my computer for some reason will not allow me to open solidworks without it crashing. Also I am familiar with Revit as a modelling program, and as it is I am able to import my model into 3D studio max a bit easier.

Measuring tools

I have come up with some tools which from the tutorial I have decided would be the best ones to use in measuring up the town hall subway station. The 5 main aspects in which I am to take into the consideration of the site are : geometry, materiality, light, sound and interaction.

Photographs
The most obvious choice. These will allow me to measure such things as:
-Lighting – through different photographs I will be able to find where the light sources are coming from, how might light they give off, how strong the light is, how it interacts with the environment.
-Geometry – through having photographs of the site, I will be able to work out the geometry which has been used through the station. Things such as signs, vending machines, ticket booths e.t.c.
-Materiality – the photos will allow me to gather the colour of different objects, if they have certain textures.
- Interaction – the photos will also allow me to monitor the interactions throughout the station, such as the flow of movement throughout the station, where people are more commonly bound to move around.

Video
Video gets me the same advantages of a photograph, but with one added bonus -
Having video of the site will allow me to measure the images along with the sound that might be coming out of the station. Moving around with the video camera will also allow me to measure how strong the sound is in certain locations.

Measurements
I am also planning on taking a tape measure to measure out such things as small walls, tiles, doors, heights of certain things, e.t.c.