 |
|
| FAQ |
back to main |
| Here
are answers to some of the questions wehave been asked about ourwork ....................................
What software and hardware do you use in your work? What method of modelling do you use? How long have you been doing 3D work? How do you make your textures and lighting? How much will a project cost ?
Q:
What software and hardware do you use in your work?
A:
Depending on how "techie" you are you may wish to skip this......... Hardware: For our 2d/3d work we use a series of overclocked sgi 320's which even as pc technology pushes processor speed into the 3ghz+ mark we find that they still do the job required plus they still have the best monitors on the face of the planet ( for those of who love the blue box, and there are many of us this link is a good place to start all about sgi320. Software: at the moment we use in no particular order autocad 3ds max & viz photoshop and premiere along with pianessi rhino and lightscape. Also we intend to begin using maya in 2003 on the irix platform in order to get the extra effects it offers out of the box for video work
Q:
What method of modelling do you use?
A:
Over the past few years we've tried most methods for 3d modelling, polygon,
nurbs, patches, spline,s sub-d surfaces, etc however as the aec industry
is a key player in our working portfolio most of the high end modelling
techniques don't really apply. What we have developed is a series of worklfows
based around poygonal techniques coupled with sound cad inegrity to enable
export to third parties if so required. produce the" best bang for
the buck".
Q:
How long have you been doing 3D work?
A:
Since 1995, we started 3d modeling as a logical extension of 2d draughting
in autocad begining first with lightwave and migrating to 3dsmax/viz platforms
later on mainly due to the autocad import plus we ue a lot od custom scripts
and routins geared to get the best output for aec work. However given
the constant upgrades in software and hardware coupled with the constant
"boning up on your chops" it feels a lot longer.
Q:
How do you create your textures and lighting?
A:
We try to use as many variable combination of bitmaps and proceedural textures to maintain true to life content but without the tiling patterns that so oftern are a giveaway of poor computer images. We also use a lot of renderman based textures where possible and constantly try devolop and pick up new methods and materials. Lighting really depends on the project, external architectural visuals, we use the skydome principles and variations of that to which much virtual paper has now been written on net. Interna,l procduct, shots etc we will try and light primarily using a majority of real world lighting data.The rest if it is a case of if itlooks good it is.
Q:
What do you render with?
A:
Due to the often complex lighting rigs and deep material assignments 90%
of our work is rendered out using the renderdrive
dedicated hardware raytracing boxs although we also use piranssi and
the default max/viz scanline renderengines as and when given projects
require.
Q:
How much will a project cost ?
A:
Ah the $64,000 question. Projects are priced on a time charge estimate simply ecause every brief is different,To appreciate some of variables we consider have a look at this chart. Also we must consider:
|
|