This mini-folio shows progress images from several projects which, for one reason or another, never reached a complete renderout from me.
Some were those where my mandate was only producing context models, and exporting them to the final 3D format being used by my client; some were projects which were canceled due to budget or committee decisions.
The best stuff is down lower, in the Trinity Cathedral project.
CalFire
This first example project was for a landscape architect working on the remote Calfire Headquarters and training site - we had a very old and inaccurate Site CAD file, the client's photos and estimates of dimensions, and what little we could glean from satellite imagery, which was not much.
My client needed rough massing to be exported to SketchUp to use with LandEffects to produce his presentation images, and it's far faster and easier to rough mass this kind of thing in Modo than in SketchUp - something he had seen me do for Trinity Cathedral (lower in this mini-folio) with good speed and great results. However, Trinity had the advantage of being in a city streetgrid, so where the client-photos provided fell short, I could easily supplement via Google Streetview or Apple Maps: CalFire had no such fallback; as a result the LOD (Level Of Detail) was far lower.
Calfire Overview: 3D Modeling Window; you can see here the building footprints came from a very rough site CAD file.
All the building massing was assessed from photos provided by my client, who had to perform several site visits to get all the details needed for decent level of detail models.
Truck Building
Trinity Cathedral Base.
As well as the main modeling for the entire Trinity Cathedral campus, I needed to generate a context model base on which to place that final render-ready model - this is an empty streetgrid, with correctly-proportioned streets, sidewalks, radii at corners, and streetlights for that area of Sacramento.
These first few images are of that base, with no textures applied, and no project model emplaced: the intent was to have all the context elements remain blank whote to make the project pop out more and seem more vibrantly alive.
Trinity Cathedral Project
This project was my first major collaboration with a Landscape Architect, rather than my more typical Architectural Visualisation client types: Architects, designers, interior designers or developers.
This involved a lot of development of detailed plant models far higher in accuracy, both generically and species-specific traits, both background and hero levels of detail, as the plants in a Landscape Architecture presentation are the focus, rather than the backdrop selling the buildings.
Initially, I proposed not texturing even the project buildings: leaving them also white and stark like the context model to help the plantings and hardscape pop more, and focus the viewer's eye naturally on the object of design intent, but my client determined that the character of the specific very old bricks was vital to some of the interplay he was hoping to achieve with the plantings closest to the buildings.
This required some pretty detailed and advanced materials development - two very different brick characters, separated by colour, texture, pattern, coursing and even basic brick dimensions, as more than 100 years separated the production of those bricks.
As we had only very basic and inaccurate Site CAD (done years ago by church volunteers), most form and proportion was assessed from a plethora of site photos, site visits, satellite imagery and so on.
All architectural modeling was accomplished in modo - no BIM tools used at all; some plant modeling was done with The Plant Factory. Most texture work was accomplished with basic digital darkroom tools, or directly in modo - some advanced textures were developed in Allegorithmic's Substance Painter.
Rough massing start.
Rough Fenestration, start on ironworks at gate, storefront roughed in.
Massing of Exterior Floodlights
Better Materiality
Rough Massing of Cathedral Spire.
Detailed massing of spire.
Better Material for all Trinity bronze - heavy patina.
Spire emplaced in main model.
More detailed massing, with further details of entry.
Wisteria modeled in The Plant Factory.
Massing of remainder of major buildings.
Massing of arcade beneath minor belfry, next to wisteria.
Massing of bow window at alley.
Detail of board covering stained-glass rosette window at alley: rails and lights also.
Wisteria and trellis emplaced with arcade.
Dead tree trunk from main façade; exterior spots mounted as shown in extant conditions. Not only is the tree trunk surpassingly unsightly, at night the lights are so bright as to create massive glare from several blocks away. Trunk modeled with The Plant Factory.
Project walks, visually-impared truncated domes, curbs, inbuilt curb planters, and planting strips.
Crucifix from above front façade at main entry.
Entry crucifix emplaced in main model.
Large elms, modeled in The Plant Factory (with some elements from Xfrog plants) emplaced - 3D Modeling window screencapture.
More trees, first-pass massing of monument sign - quick progress render.
High detail grass render test.
Skylights in roof between Main Cathedral Building and assembly building / store.
Test render of mid level of rosemary for front entry planters and long streetscape planters; working to achieve a balance between enough detail to sell these shots, but low enough a poly count to not slow renders to a crawl.
Rosemary emplaced in main model.
More plants in main planters per planting plan.
Cathedral old brick texture applied.
Complex area of old brick texture, alpha channels and modeling to achieve cruciform voids in low wall.
Massing modeling of Statice floret.
Florets populating correct form for statice flowerhead: replicators used to keep polycounts down.
Statice plant completed.
Tensile structure main sails.
Tensile structure upper sails.
Full tensile structure from below.
Improved brick texture: roof texture started from photo reference and painted in modo.
Brick texture for more modern buildings - very specific coursing and pattern, flashed bricks with markedly different specular reflection and textures, as well as being both offset and off-angle. Photo ref and painting.
Final brick texture for Cathedral and finalised roof texture.
Gas meters, modeled from photos of extant conditions.
Backflow preventer modeled from photos and site visit of extant conditions.
Main Model with Site Context model referenced in place.
Planting inside courtyard; gas meters, monument at corner.
Pear trees emplaced at alley elevation.
