NOVEDGE blog

The Edge: Ilan Gabai's Epic Animation

Novedge: Tell us about yourself and what you do.

Ilan Gabai: Hello! My name is Ilan Gabai, and I am an effects animator (technical director) located in NYC. I earned my BFA in digital arts in 2007, and have since worked in the entertainment industry. I began my career working on TV shows and live action film, but over time shifted towards feature animation. Today I work as a full time effects artist at Blue Sky Studios/20th Century Fox. I have previously worked on projects such as Ice Age 4, Rio, Fast & Furious, Lost, Fringe, Rescue Me and more. I like to teach in my spare time, I have lectured and taught courses at Gnomon, SVA & Pratt. I gave my first SIGGRAPH presentation last year in L.A.

As an effects artist I am responsible for developing techniques and creating appealing visuals to support the story. My favorite part of the job is that I am involved with both development and animation of my effects work. Some examples of effects work include Oceans, water splashes, smoke, fire, dust, magic, explosions, destruction, etc.

Ilan Gabai - 2012 FX Reel from Ilan Gabai on Vimeo.

Novedge: You have worked on TV projects, films and animated features. How similar and how different is to work in these different fields?

Ilan Gabai: Short answer: The amount of time you have to deliver your work.

More elaborate answer: While the goals and type of work may be similar, there are quite a number of differences between the project types. They are all pretty demanding in their own unique way. Working in episodic television can definitely take a few years off of your life span. Other than pilot shows and season premieres, you have on average 2 weeks to complete all of the visual effects for an episode. Your studio is generally hired as a visual effects vendor for a larger production company. There really is no room for screwing up. So you look for the least time consuming, most aesthetically pleasing solution. Because you have very little (if any) time to develop ideas, it is best that you rely on prior experiences that have proven results. In episodic television, your development time is during the pilots and premiers which generally have longer deadlines.

I find live action films to be closer in nature to episodic television pilots, with higher aesthetic demands. So you generally have more time to work on a shot, but you are expected to create a visual effect at the highest level of realism. You are still hired as a vendor to work on a larger production. Visual effects for films usually get distributed over a number of studios simultaneously. So there are a number of vfx vendors completing work on different sequences for a larger production studio. Also, as many of the readers are probably familiar with this, the vfx industry is going through a serious struggle right now. The flat rate bids definitely add pressure to the work environment when your employer is trying to stay within budget. Artists are frequently forced to relocate in order to stay employed. These pressures create a more challenging work environment, which made my decision to shift towards feature animation an easier one.

Working at Blue Sky Studios has been a great experience for me. It has been a breath of fresh air. The studio is family oriented, and a pretty fun place to work. Like all work places, we have deadlines and crunch times; but somehow they feel much easier to meet here. Most likely because we have a good recipe for making film production work. Unlike in live action, here at Blue Sky we make our own films. Everybody gets credited for their work here, including babies that were born to artists during production. I think that the fact that our movies are made in house also makes us feel more attached to them. We take the success or failure (but mostly success) of our work very personally. Another big difference between working in feature animation vs live action is our ability to create more stylized visuals. While we do have art direction, artists are given plenty of opportunities to share their ideas and creativity. We usually have time dedicated to developing new ideas and techniques between films or at the beginning of a new production.

Novedge: What is a recent project that you worked on? 

Ilan Gabai: I just completed my work for the upcoming film Epic, and am currently working on Rio 2.

I can only share what has already been publicly announced about Epic. The film is based off the children's book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs by William Joyce. and is directed by Chris Wedge (Ice Age, Robots). The story is described on Wikipedia as a "battle deep in the forest between the forces of good and evil, and tells a story of a teenage girl who finds herself in a secret world, where she must help a team of fun and whimsical characters to save their world, which also saves the real world."

Back to my opinion: visually, the movie is amazing! Everyone here at the studio really pushed themselves artistically and technically to the next level. You can get a bit of a taste of that by viewing our trailer, but most of the exciting work won't be seen until the film is released. And we are all very excited to share this with the the world this coming May.

 

Novedge: What software do you use? 

Ilan Gabai: I work with a variety of software packages. My main software for effects work is Houdini. I use Houdini for its procedural and non-destructive workflow. While other software packages are slowly catching up, Houdini has been the first to go fully procedural, and is designed from the ground up to work in that way. We maintain a close relationship with the developers at Side Effects Software, and work closely with them to figure out ways to tackle new challenges. The level of support that sidefx has shown us during our productions has been second to none in my experience.

For liquid simulations I sometimes use RealFlow. RealFlow is a great stand alone liquid simulation package. It does actually offer more than just that, but liquids are what they have become known for. After creating your simulation in RealFlow, you can easily export your results to any major 3D package. The company that created RealFlow, Next Limit, is a small and friendly company located in Spain. They are very personable, and work closely with their clientele. For me it is always a huge plus to see that a company goes out of its way to make user experience a high priority.

For general 3D usage, I work with Maya. Maya is the 3D package that I was taught to use in college. It also seemed to be the most wide spread package of choice amongst the US based studios that I have worked for in the past. So until I arrived at Blue Sky, Maya was the main software package at the studios I worked for. It is a strong general package for all contexts of the 3D pipeline such as modeling, texturing, animation, effects and lighting ( with the help of external plugins).

Novedge: What would you say to young people who want to work in the visual effects field? What skills, both technical and personal, are in demand in the industry?

Ilan Gabai: This is a very competitive field of work, which requires an artistic eye and a certain degree of technical know how (it varies depending on the area of specialty).

With technology rapidly improving, it is important that you stay on top of things. I personally read, and practice a lot in my spare time. The industry is filled with extremely passionate people, so it is hard to compete against them if you are less dedicated than they are. For those of you currently earning a degree in the field, just holding a degree isn't enough. You really need to go the extra mile on your own and gain a professional level of knowledge these days. For effects work specifically, it's important to have an eye for detail, a creative thought process and a technical mind set. Finding an artist that excels in all of those areas is sometimes a challenging task.

With all that aside, it really is a rewarding field of work. It doesn't feel like a job when you enjoy what you are doing. I still get excited every time I start a new film, or even a sequence of a film. Also, for me, my work environment is a big plus. We enjoy lots of little perks, game room, film screenings, guest speakers, studio parties, etc. It definitely beats a 9-5 office job!

 

Would you like to see more of Ilan's work? Check out his Vimeo channel.

Are you on Tumblr? Follow us on The World is 3D!

And don't forget that Epic opens in US theaters on May 24th!

The Edge: Matus Nedecky's Flying Architecture

We are proud sponsors of FlyignArchitecture's new contest, Architecture Unchained. To participate, you have to upload your work in progress of an architectural structure free from the constraint of gravity. Franco Folini, Novedge's President and Co Founder, is one of the judges and we are keeping a close eye on the competition. 

So, why not start by learning a bit more about FlyingArchitecture's founder, Matus Nedecky?

Novedge: Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do

Matus Nedecky: Hi all! So first of all, let me thank Aurora Meneghello for giving me this opportunity to be interviewed by Novedge. It's an honor!
My name is Matus Nedecky, I am originally from the small Slovak village of Zelenec. When I finished my high school in a nearby city, I started to attend the BUT - Faculty of Architecture in the Czech Republic. After gaining experience in three architecture firms (full-time during my studies), I decided to go my own way and become an architectural visualizer. There's still a long way to go, even if I have reached some milestones already, which can be seen on our studio's website.

 

Forest house - project postproduction breakdowns from FlyingArchitecture on Vimeo.

Novedge: How did Flying Architecture start? And how has it evolved?

Matus Nedecky: FlyingArchitecture started as a simple blog back in summer 2009. As I started to work in Rhinoceros 4, and I was working on some basic commercial visualizations, I needed to use the same 3D assets over and over again. Unfortunately, there was no website dedicated to Rhino assets at that time, the only package you could get was McNeel's Savanna3D... and I thought I could do better. So I started producing my work. First I created fifty 3D models in Rhinoceros and then I published the website on social media. Leo Bonilla, a great guy from Colombia, and Rendy Himawan, a designer from Jakarta, contacted me right away. These two (and many others afterwards) gave me great support, they shared my passion for this project and they also shared some of their 3D models. And this is where it all started :)

Then many people from all over the world started to share their own 3D models, and FlyingArchitecture grew rapidly.

I believe if one does something with passion, he will undoubtedly do a great job. And I can proudly say I loved doing this! It was and still is such a great feeling seeing all our own models and our fan's in visualizations all over the world (I have seen some models in visualizations by BIG)... it's an honor to serve thousands of people and to offer them something they need.

 

Well, free 3D models were just the beginning... since 2009 I also added other features, like the forum, materials and tutorials. Besides the website itself, I also work on architectural visualizations for commercial clients.

 

Then on December 28, 2009 everything changed. That's when I first talked to Veronika Nedecka, when she was an interior design student (now my wife and the mother of our child) - since we knew each other, we also started to work together, so our professional services went much more pro! Thanks to our images, which were getting better and better, we were offered to teach a workshop on architectural visualization in Barcelona, Spain, and we accepted. Since then, we led workshops in Barcelona, Vienna, Rome and some personal courses in Bratislava. Now we're are planning some more events, so if you are interested... stay tuned! :)

 

Advanced Vienna workshop 2013 from FlyingArchitecture on Vimeo.

I can't forget to mention that our new online store with 3D models is the first marketplace where Rhinoceros users can get truly realistic, high quality, 3D models ready for use in their 3D scenes. Take a look here.

Novedge: What are the rewards and challenges of having your own business?

Matus Nedecky: It's not really a walk in the park.... But of course it has many more pros than cons. However you are responsible for everything - you have to care of PR, marketing, the job itself, bookkeeping, etc. There is so much to think about, that it may sometimes seem unbearable. Just don't give up! Even if you think it's not worthwhile and sometimes it is a struggle, there are always better days coming :) For me, better days came with Veronika and my co-workers, Lukas [Filip, interviewed here] and Fabio.

 

The biggest challenge is time management: it's extremely hard to balance it all - work, family, free time, eventually school and also other projects.

The biggest reward for me since I started to work alone has been the lack of stress. I have to admit, I work longer hours than before, but I do not have someone standing behind my back checking what I am doing. Oh and also as an artist I have the opportunity to express myself, my own style and feelings, not just the opinions and style of my team leader... That's the biggest satisfaction!

  

Novedge: What surprised you the most?

Matus Nedecky: Well, I'd say it's the positive feedback! I started working on the FlyingArchitecture website just for fun, and to create something that I needed. You should see the mass of positive feedback I received, it's such a great feeling to receive hundreds of emails that say "Thank you"... That was the best award I could ever get :) So Thank You all, who supported me and who said Thank You... You gave me new energy to continue.

 

Novedge: What is a recent project that you worked on?

Recently at the FlyingArchitecture studio we are working on tens of residential/commercial buildings for our clients... mostly new buildings for commerce or flat units. From time to time we also have a great opportunity to work on something very specific, like museum designs, firemen stations, hotels and so on.

What I appreciate the most are personal projects. At the moment, I am running about 5 of them, but I can show you some I finished recently. It is very important for me to take a break from commercial work (for most of them we sign an NDA, so they cannot be published) and to create something in my own style with a touch of artistic feeling.

This is the Norwegian house, design and visualizations by FlyingArchitecture:

 

Aluminium house, some romantic idea of where I'd love to live:

 

FlyingArchitecture, our future office design. We jut have to wait a bit for the technology to catch up :)

 

Novedge: What software do you use?

Matus Nedecky: Haha, that's a long and painful story... At university, they taught us how to use 3ds Max, but I gave a try to Cinema 4D, Blender, Modo, SketchUp and Rhino. I have to say that polygons just aren't my blood type. That's why I was so amazed by the NURBS technology in Rhinoceros, which I chose as my primary 3D software.
Since then, I use it on a daily basis. It worked great in college for all architectural drawings and also for 3D modeling and rendering. Its stability and extraordinary user-friendliness just amaze me. And that's why I stick with it :)

 

Besides Rhinoceros, I use V-Ray for Rhino and Photoshop. The combination of these software solutions give us extreme flexibility to finish all daily tasks in a very effective way and within reasonable time.

Novedge: What makes a good render extraordinary?

Matus Nedecky: The most important thing is to be original. That's why I try to keep Rhino as our primary 3D software in FlyingArchitecture. The worst thing that can happen is that  somebody starts to take shortcuts and just mindlessly copy and paste assets to their 3D scenes. There are tons of CGI artists working like this these days... So the direction we are taking is to use custom 3D models and our own photos for exterior postproduction, so we stay original all the time.

Generally speaking, it's always up to the artist, everybody has a different point of view. There is an artist in all of us, we just have to release him :) Don't just copy... create!

 

Novedge: What are your plans for the future?

Matus Nedecky: I always have big plans! I would need several lifetimes to accomplish them all... Of course, there are some particular plans for FlyingArchitecture, mostly regarding the website itself, so we can get bigger and better with our free 3D models database. I'll have more news soon, so stay tuned! And of course, we are doing our best to offer better visualizations to our clients every day. You can check our current visualization portfolio here.

Want to see more? Check out FlyingArchitecture's website.

Ready to share your Architecture Unchained? Read all about the contest here.

And don't forget to get in touch with us on Twitter and Facebook!

The Edge: Bill Eubanks's Urban Edge

Novedge: Tell us about yourself and your role at urban edge studio

Bill Eubanks: I am a landscape architect with a little over 30 years of experience, which is really hard to believe because I feel like I am still learning. I am the Creative Director at urban edge studio. This is supposed to free me up to mostly design and not manage projects. It works better on some days more than others. I love public meetings, public workshops and the energy of a design charrette. It was a super cool day for me when I became a Fellow of ASLA.

 

Novedge: What drew you to work with the public rather the private space as an landscape architect?

Bill Eubanks: Actually, we do a lot of both. I prefer public work, though, because it benefits and affects so many people. I also love the public process. But some private work can be really rewarding and oftentimes the private sector has a huge impact on the public realm.

Novedge: There are four fun videos on Vimeo around the issues of walkability, community, frontage, land use and traffic. Can you explain your studio's approach to them?

Bill Eubanks: I think we place a lot of emphasis on the public realm -- especially streets. This includes how architecture addresses the street and helps form the public realm. It includes how a pedestrian feels on that street. However, we do very little traditional streetscape kind of work. We prefer to get them right the first time. While we avoid "isms" for the most part  most of our work boils down to what I would consider form based not because it's a trend but because it works and makes sense.

 

Novedge: What software do you use?

Bill Eubanks: Our favorite software is our brain. We try to use that the most. Daily if we can. We use lots of trash and sharpies. Markers are still part of our world. When we do go digital, we use Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, SketchUp, and AutoCAD. We also abuse things like Excel to do things that are very graphic - not just spreadsheets.

Novedge: What is it like to work at urban edge studio? What do you look for in an intern and/or an employee?

Bill Eubanks: We work hard but we try to keep balance in our lives. We have fun. We joke around a lot. We also collaborate constantly. It's like breathing for us. Our studio is open, literally and figuratively. We are highly creative and that sneaks out in all kinds of ways. Right now we are listening to the new Sunvolt album, Honky Tonk. We listen to a lot of music. We don't really like cheap beer. Ever. Pretty much, if an intern can hang in that kind of environment and has the ability to make us laugh and to make us think, they will fit in just fine.

 
Novedge: As a small studio, what has been most important in developing and growing a successful practice?

Bill Eubanks: I think consistency in who we are and what we do is so important. We have a reputation to maintain, whether we like it or not. And we live and die by that reputation. So, integrity, ethics, creativity, and professionalism are key to our existence, every day.

Novedge: What innovations do you find most exciting in your field?

Bill Eubanks: Urban agriculture, eliminating food deserts, introducing green infrastructure, embracing urbanity, density, walkability, complete streets, repairing sprawl. These are some of the things we talk about and try to embrace in our practice.

 

Check out more of Bill's work at urban edge studio and connect with him on Twitter.

Would you like to be interviewed for our blog? Do you know a passionate artist or innovator that would be a good fit for The Edge? Tell us on Twitter at @Novedge!

Novedge Webinar #69: Q&A with Chris Stringer - Working with Shaders in Artlantis 4.1

Our 69th Webinar, Working with Shaders in Artlantis 4.1, left us all wanting for more! Here Chris Stringer answers all the questions he couldn't get to during our live Q&A session.

 

Q 01: Can a render from Artlantis be used as a Postcard? 

A: No. A Postcard is a specialized type of low-resolution (400x300 pixel) JPEG rendering with additional information about the scene's materials embedded into it, created in Artlantis using the menu/command Tools/Create Postcard. By contrast, a regular Artlantis rendering created using the menu/command Inspector/Render does not contain this type of information...See also Q 2, Q 12 and Q 24.

Q 02: Can Postcards be moved from one PC to another? Must the Shaders be shared on both rigs?

A: Yes, Postcards can be moved, shared, emailed, etc. Yes, the original Shaders that existed on the computer/project where that Postcard was created must also exist on any other computer where that Postcard is going to be used, if it is to work properly. To ensure that Shaders and other media files used in a specific project travel safely with the project when it is being sent from one computer to another, always remember to save the project using menu/command File/Export as Archive… See also Q 1, Q 12, and Q 24.

Q 03: When you re-assign materials, will it be saved that way when the document is reopened?

A: Yes. Those settings are retained in that Artlantis file. See also Q 9.

Q 04: What are the limitations in Artlantis if a texture is pulled from the web? Do you lose any feature rich operations if you apply your own texture?

A: The limitations really depend on the quality of the texture and the set of accompanying image maps, because your goal in Artlantis shouldn’t be just to use good textures…it should be to use good Shaders. So,what’s the difference? A texture is a single bitmap image that defines one aspect of a material’s appearance. They can get assigned to the material in the 3D modeler or later in Artlantis. The most common type of texture used isa color (diffuse) image map, which are typically made by photographing a real-world material and often digitally altering them to create seamless edges. A material that only has a single texture map assigned to it is going to appear “flat” and less realistic…i.e. more computer-generated. A Shader is a combination of one or more separate texture files(typically all based on the same color image map as a starting point) that work in combination to define a material’s appearance in ways that cannot be accomplished with the use of a single color image map alone. Shaders typically make use of additional supporting image maps to add effects such as bump, reflection, shininess, normals, etc. These maps interact with the scene’s light and reflections to add life-like qualities to the materials. In Artlantis, it is possible to create a custom Shader that has all of the advanced settings of the high quality default Shaders in Artlantis, since they are offered to you within the menu/command Tools/Create Shader From... But, you either need the skill to create the supporting image maps for the shader (if they don’t already exist), or you need to find someone who already has those skills and has created those image maps. You can learn a lot by using the Create Shader From command to examine some of the existing Shaders’ settings and their accompanying image maps.

Q 05: Is there a specific relationship between values of the bump to the normal maps?

A: The bump and normal maps are both typically derived from the same starting point: the diffuse (color) image map. Both can be used to create the illusion of enhanced depth or relief in a Shader by affecting the way light interacts with the underlying color map, however, the normal map can be used to accomplish more than what is possible to achieve with the bump map. The grayscale information in the bump map can only scatter light in the direction of one axis: the Z axis.The normal map is a more advanced type of bump map, using the RGB color information it contains to scatter light in the X, Y, and Z axes. As an example, when creating a slate floor tile Shader, you might start with an 8 x 8 tile grid for the color map.

Giving it a Reflection of .7 and Shininess of 700 would create the following appearance:

You might use a bump map to simulate the depth of the grout lines and provide a rough textured quality to the slate surface. The lighter areas in the bump map will result in that area of the diffuse map appearing raised while the darker areas will appear to be recessed.

The normal map could have some of those same qualities as the bump map. It could have the same basic texture, accentuating the rough texture of the slate surface (below top). However, it could instead be created to scatter light in a simpler, profoundly different way…to make the individual tiles appear as if none of them were laid completely level (below bottom), so that the reflections of the background do not line up perfectly on each tile.

The combination of the bump and the normal maps could be used to both enhance the natural texture of the material and create more of a random appearance to the reflections in the tiles.

Q 06: Chris, can you show us how to use light on interior at night views? Thank you.

A: Lighting will be the subject of a future webinar. In the meantime, you can watch these videos available on the Artlantis YouTube channel: Adding Lights and Physical Camera and Automatic Light Adjustment.

Q 07: How can we make realistic renders like those in 3D Studio Max using Sketchup with Artlantis?

A: The built-in Artlantis radiosity engine strikes an excellent balance between quality and speed. However, if you need something that goes beyond the capabilities of the Artlantis radiosity engine, check out the Maxwell Render engine for Artlantis. By default, it is installed with Artlantis 4.1 in a 30-day demo mode (can be activated with the purchase of a separate serial number) and is accessible from the menu/command Artlantis/License/Maxwell Render Engine (on Mac) or Help/Edit License/Maxwell Render Engine (on Windows). Licensed from Next Limit Technologies, the developers of the standalone version of Maxwell Render, the engine is an optional product that excels at creating hyper realistic renderings with physically accurate lighting behavior. The renderings take significantly longer to produce, but if that level of quality is needed, it is possible to do so without having to leave the familiar and extremely easy-to-use Artlantis work environment. That’s a powerful combination! Normally,you’ll want to use Artlantis for your preliminary renderings (and most of your final renderings, for that matter), then use the Maxwell Render Engine when is has to be perfect. You’ll note that there is a dedicated family of Maxwell Render Shaders in the Catalog of mostly reflective and refractive surfaces. You’ll want to apply those in a different version of your Artlantis project before doing a Maxwell rendering.

Artlantis Radiosity Engine:

Maxwell Render Engine:

Q 08: I had difficulties customizing interior views using white walls in Artlantis. I use the "china", "basic" shader, but never got the realistic view as you can see in this if it's possible.

A: If you want to achieve brighter whites, here’s what to do. In our example here, we’ll be changing the walls. First, you’ll want to have probably either the Basic or Expert Shader applied to your surface. The color doesn’t matter, but just to keep things simple, make it white. Locate the blanc.jpg in the Catalog/Images and drag it onto the surface (the walls, for example) in the 3D Preview window. In the ShadersInspector/Material list, select the blank.jpg texture. In the settings for that texture, mark the Rep. checkboxes so that it tiles horizontally and vertically. At this point, you probably won’t notice any visible changes in the 3D Preview window yet.

With the blank.jpg texture still selected in the Shaders Inspector/Material list, adjust the Ambient slider to the right to maybe around 0.20 or so. You should see the white areas of the walls brighten considerably. If you take the Ambient slider all the way up 1.00, it will increase the white to a very unnatural looking pure white, which you wouldn’t normally do. Note that the ceiling in the next image next has not been changed, thus becoming a point of reference compared to the brightened walls.

Q 09: Is it possible to apply a shader texture in just one face of the imported model? Or do we need to import another model with that face in a different shader?

A: Yes, you can apply a Shader to just one face using the re-assign material command. There is no need to import another model. First, select the face by activating the selection tool in above the material list.

Change the selection method to single face.

Click on the desired face in the 3D Preview window to select it. The selected element will temporarily be highlighted. Then, click on the Apply Material icon, in the Shaders Inspector palette.

A dialogue will appear. In this case, you will want to apply a copy of the currently selected material to the surface. Give the new material an appropriate name.

The final result is a new material definition for that surface, which now operates completely independent of the other elements in the scene that shared its previous material. You can then apply Shaders to this surface as you normally would in Artlantis…just drag and drop a Shader directly onto the surface in the 3D Preview Window.

See also Q 03.

Q 10: How can we use HDRI files to get shaders affected within the environment?

A: While it is true that HDRI does affect the appearance of Shaders in the scene, that’s a lighting/background topic really best left for a future webinar. In the meantime, you can watch this video available on the Artlantis YouTube channel: Artlantis 4.1 - Adding HDRI Background.

Q 11: When we render the "white" shader from native Artlantis there's always a little bit of gray aspect. How can we control this shader to put it more with and apply to interior walls?

A: See Q 8.

Q 12: Since the Postcards are just jpegs, do they have to be generated from Artlantis?

A: Yes, they must be generated from Artlantis, because they are not “just” jpegs, they are specialized jpegs with additional information embedded into them. See also Q 1, Q 2 and Q 24.

Q 13: Can you do paint on the surface, like graffiti effect?

A: Yes. While there is no paint brush tool in Artlantis, this can be easily achieved if you add an alpha channel to an image in Photoshop to mask out its background. In the alpha channel, dark areas will mask the image and light areas will remain visible. Export as a TIF or PNG, then drag and drop that image file directly into the Artlantis 3D Preview window. Scale, reposition, and check the Use Alpha Channel checkbox.

Q 14: I have problems with 3D plants from version 1.2 looking very rough when rendered in 4.0. Do you know why that would be?

A: That would be a question for the Artlantis technical support team. We would need to know what plant files you’re using, a few things about your system and setup, and might possibly need an archived project file to diagnose the cause and offer a solution. To submit a support ticket on artlantis.com, use this link.

Q 15: Is there an easy way to use alpha channels in Artlantis, so you can make realistic looking grass for example?

A: Yes, but Shaders might not be the best option. The problem with many grass textures (and even high quality grass Shaders) is that from a far distance, they appear too repetitive, while from a close distance, they appear too flat. You could start with a grass Shader, and drop one or more subsequent grass textures onto it (with various bits masked out using an alpha channel to show the other underlying grass texture) to create a more randomized appearance to the grass texture, but this does nothing to resolve the problem that in real life, unless you’re on a golf course, grass normally doesn’t look like low-pile carpet.

Grass 1 with alpha (goes on top)

Grass 2 (goes underneath)

Grass textures 1 and 2 combined. The blend creates more randomnessthan using one texture alone, however it still looks pretty flat.

Grass is a material that is really difficult to simulate through just a texture and some bump and normal maps, because in reality it is a highly volumetric type of surface. Yes, you’ve got to put some kind of ground material in your project, but rather than taking great pains to create a Shader to simulate grass or using a high-poly 3D grass object, you could instead make a composite for your final image. Artlantis provides the option to save out a rendering as a Photoshop file. The resulting file contains 5 separate, very useful layers: MODEL_FRONT (the foreground elements), BACKGROUND (the background elements), MATERIAL (a materials map, differentiating the materials in the scene by unique colors), OBJECT (like the materials map, only for objects),and ZBUFFER (a grayscale depth map of the scene). The first 2 layers combine to create the finished rendering, but it’s the last 3 layers that can be very useful for post-process editing.

If you don’t already own Photoshop, stop what you’re doing and order it now. If there’s one other tool you need to create great renderings, it’s Photoshop. We can open this rendering in Photoshop and quickly use the magic wand to select the ground plane in either the OBJECT or MATERIAL layers. We create a grayscale mask from this, then apply a glass distortion filter to it to give it more of a rough edge.

Next step is to combine the rendering with a real image of the site or a photograph of a neatly manicured lawn (via a quick trip to a stockphoto website). I located 2 suitable images, used the content-aware fill to extend and touch up some areas, blended them by setting one of them at 50% opacity, then brightened the result with an overlay layer. Grass is brightened by adding a new solid green layer, set to overlay at 28% opacity

The final result of the new grass added into the overall composition is pictured below. Much more convincing! Since this is a tutorial about adding grass textures, I won’t discuss the additional compositional elements, cropping, and other adjustments that could be done to this image in Photoshop to make it a fully realized architectural rendering.

Q 16: What is a good practice to make good use of those different mapsto make better looking gaps or displacement?

A: See Q 5.

Q 17: We've had a lot of problems with swimming pools in particular. If in the modeler the solid element (slab) for the water actually touches the walls around it then Artlantis shows a black surface when rendered. We've been doing a work around which is leaving the water short of the walls and floors of the pool by about 1 cm inorder to not have the black surface. Any suggestions?

A: Sometimes, a simple work around is the best solution! You might also try just using a flat plane for the water. I once talked to a person who was rendering an interior and was puzzled by the way that the exterior looked wrong through the windows, even though everything was oriented properly and set up correctly. As it turned out, she was using the “glass” refraction option in her windows’ glass Shader settings, which was warping the view of the exterior like a magnifying glass. This was quickly and easily resolved by simply changing the glass refraction option to “air.” Your issue might be related to something like this…some weird refraction happening at the water’s edge. If you think this is a bug, you should create a support ticket with the Artlantis technical support team. They would probably need an archived project file to diagnose the cause and offer a solution. To submit a support ticket on artlantis.com, use this link. Another option might be to try posting in the Artlantis forum.

Q 18: Good afternoon, in my experience with Artlantis I have a problem with exterior renders. In general, is there a simple way to make the default shader to look more natural, I mean imperfect, weary or grayed out?

A: See Q 13 and Q 15 (first half)…stacking alpha channel images on to materials. The repetitiveness of the brick wall in the example from Q13 is definitely broken up by the graffiti, but in your case, you will probably be using a more subtle pattern (maybe a light layer of patchy dirt/grime that is applied across the surface), with maybe a few additional one-off textures applied here or there to resemble pockmarks or imperfections. You can apply as many textures as you want over top of a material, and you can opt to have them simply operate as one instance, or repeat to tile across the surface. Also, keep in mind that when a texture is applied to a material, that texture can then be set to be 100% transparent and used as some other kind of map (such as a Bump map) by adjusting the relevant slider (such as the Bump slider). So, you can really stack up or layer a whole series of graphic effects onto a material to achieve just about anything you want for imperfections or weathering.

Q 19: Can you render the pool image we're looking at?

A: Here’s another look. Sorry, the high resolution version stays with me!

Q 20: Are Artlantis 4 and Artlantis Studio separate applications that need to be purchased separately?

A: That depends on what you need. Artlantis 4 is available in two separate packages: Render and Studio. Render creates still images only, while Studio creates still images plus dynamic content like animations, VR object movies, and iVisit 3D panoramic VR presentations. You can start with Render, and if you ever need to create any of the dynamic presentation content, you can upgrade to Studio for very close to the difference in cost between the two applications. Incidentally, they both use the same file format interchangeably, so an office team could easily use both Render and Studio on the same project files.

Q 21: Can ImageCels be incorporated in Artlantis?

A: Yes. According to the imagecels.com FAQ, their “images (people,trees, etc.) are 2D in the 32 bit .TIF (LZW compressed) file format with embedded alpha channel masks. They are placed against a 0,0,0 black background. Textures are 24 bit .TIF (LZW compressed),seamless and tileable.” TIF is one of the many file formats that Artlantis supports, including support for embedded alpha channels.

Q 22: What are good websites to get HQ textures?

A: There really are a ton of them. Our store, objectsonline.com, sells 6different volumes of Artlantis Shaders, but we do not carry any stand alone texture files. Marlin Studios is one old favorite. Another is TurboSquid. But, even with a site as huge as TurboSquid, I will often start my search by using Google image search, and then happen upon professional texture websites along the way, once I find the best example of a texture for whatever specific material I’m trying to create.

Q 23: I was an Artlantis user for many years and missed the latestupgrade path. In 4.1 can we re use all the shaders that we have for the past versions? (vol 1-10)

A: Artlantis has been around since the days of big hair and spandex (although being a French product, I’m not sure what was popular in Paris back then). When Artlantis was completely recoded and released in 2005, Abvent reset the version numbering to 1.0 and split the product into Render and Studio. Users of the legacy version, which had reached v.4.5, had a period of several years during which they could upgrade at a discount. Currently, users on Render or Studio v1.0 or later are eligible for a discounted upgrade to Render or Studio v4.1. Regarding the legacy Shaders, if the disc they came on is copyrighted year 2000 or later, there is still a chance they might work. Backwards compatibility was available for the legacy Artlantis Shaders volumes1-10, if they were released on or after year 2000. Although many of them still might work, they are not officially supported anymore. I’m not sure if yours will still work for you, but you could test that out by downloading the Artlantis 4.1 demo version, which runs without a serial number for 30 days. You would just need to copy your legacy Shaders into your programs folder…Artlantis/Media/Shaders/.

Q 24: Are postcards embedded in the project file, or do we need to transfer postcards to other computers where the project file is being worked on?

A: Postcards are separate JPEG files that are created in a project, but are saved outside of and operate independently of that project. Do not rename or edit them! They should normally be stored in your program's folder…Artlantis/Media/Postcards/. You will want to keep copies of the Postcards on any computer where you may later want to access them.You should also ensure that any Shaders referenced in a postcard also travel with the Postcard. See also Q 1, Q 2, and Q 12.

Q 25: What is the difference between reflection and fresnel settings?

A: The Reflection setting of a Shader controls one aspect of the Shader’s appearance: its ability to reflect light. The Fresnel Transition can, in effect, dynamically override or exaggerate the Transparency and Reflection settings of the Shader. In order for Fresnel to have any noticeable impact, there must be at least some level of transparency and/or reflectivity assigned to the material in the Shader settings. Fresnel will increase a material’s apparent reflection/opacity as a surface is oriented more obliquely, angled to face away from the observer. Conversely, a material’s apparent reflection/opacity is reduced as a surface is oriented more tangentially, angled to face toward the observer. When a material is assigned a low Fresnel Transition value, the apparent differences between the material’s reflection/opacity, when viewed at different angles, are exaggerated. When a high Fresnel Transition value is used, the differences are minimized. The following images illustrate these differences.

High Fresnel setting viewed at different angles…minimal differences

Fresnel Transition: 8.50 Transparency: 100% Reflection: 100%

High Fresnel setting viewed at different angles…minimal differences.

Fresnel Transition: 8.50 Transparency: 0% Reflection: 100%

High Fresnel setting viewed at different angles…minimal differences

Fresnel Transition: 8.50 Transparency: 100% Reflection: 0%

Low Fresnel setting viewed at different angles…major differences.

Fresnel Transition: 0.50 Transparency: 100% Reflection: 100%

Low Fresnel setting viewed at different angles…major differences.

Fresnel Transition: 0.50 Transparency: 0% Reflection: 100%

Low Fresnel setting viewed at different angles…major differences.

Fresnel Transition: 0.50 Transparency: 100% Reflection: 0%

 

Looking to purchase your own copy of Artlantis? Check it out at Novedge.

And don't forget to connect with both Novedge and Artlantis on Twitter, to stay in touch!

The Edge: Ryan Swanson and The Urban Conga

Novedge: Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do.

Ryan Swanson: My life began in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where I went to high school for architecture. I then moved to Tampa about 7 years ago to attend The University of South Florida School of Architecture and Community Design where I will soon receive my Masters in Architecture.  I'm an aspiring architect, designer and creator. I like to make things and make things for a reason.  I hate making something that has no back story or reasoning for its existence. I try to live by this quote from Jim Henson - "When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world. My hope is to leave the world a little better for having been there.” It's kind of cliché but I believe if I'm alive I might as well make it worth it.

What do I do... Well I try to dip my hand in just about anything I find interesting. I coach and play volleyball, dj on my spare time, and pretty much just try to live life as much as possible.  Which is a hard task to do while in Architecture School. I recently have really gotten into emergent technologies and how they can be used in a large scale realm to push urban activation. So I spend a lot of time learning and designing. I never want to stop learning.

Novedge: How did you become interested in architecture and the public space?

Ryan Swanson: I think my interest in architecture kind of came about when I was young and asked my mom what I could do that involved math and art and she was like "architecture." That started me down this crazy wild path to where I am today. I didn't really get into public spaces until I went to Europe about two years ago. Me and some friends backpacked around for 5 weeks going to about 7 different countries. I began to see what a real public space was and actually be a part of their activeness. It's one thing to read about how a space is in a book than to actually experience it. I saw how people began to come together and interact with one another through the space. It was something that I never really saw in Fort Lauderdale or Tampa in the urban environment.

When I came back to the States I had just actually moved close to downtown Tampa and began to ride my bike there quite often into downtown. Before I never had a reason to drive the 20 min to downtown because there was never anything going on.  I began to ask myself why Tampa was unsuccessful when it came to public spaces.  It had some of the same parks, spaces, and open areas that I experienced in Europe. I began to realize people just either didn't know that the spaces existed or that it was ok to hangout in an empty grass lot. Or, it was just that there was nothing going on for them to want to hang out there. If you look at any big city you can walk down a street and feel like you are alive. Something is always happening or about to happen. I wanted to make this happen in downtown Tampa. I felt it had the potential and wanted to begin to create a change in the social interaction downtown.  Public spaces are a way for people to escape and with the way our world is looking these days people need any way they can get to escape the harsh realities of life and come together.

Novedge: What is a recent project that you worked on?

Ryan Swanson: I'm actually working on a couple of different projects right now. One is this interactive projection installation I call Projecting Fun. The idea for the projection installation is that it is something that can be easy to transport and it can be as big as you want it. The installation is done using the xbox kinect and processing, an open source code driven software.  Right now I have a simple script that reads movements of the body and allows one to dance and play and see themselves projected at a large scale doing it. The idea of this installation is to promote interactive activity in inactive spaces. It draws people in but also makes people begin to appreciate and notice the space they are occupying. My goal is to give people a good time and break up their typical route, but also make them appreciate the space they are in. I have done this installation in two locations, one on the side of an old facade and the other under an overpass. So this is something I have done but I am still working on making it different and more playful.  

The next thing is a prototype for this thing I call the Space Manipulator. The idea is that it's this cube that is placed within an inactive space and it can be broken down to a multitude of spatial arrangements for people to interact with. The idea is to get people to begin to play and work together on something and to create this idea of public interaction. The whole concept is to get people to come together in a space that isn't regularly used but is an interesting public space that should be activated. So when bringing this installation in I hope to not only give people something they can hang out on and move, but something they can begin to discuss and figure out. Public spaces are about bringing people together and creating a place for people to be interactive and become a part of the space. It's about creating a conversation between the human body and the space around them.
The Urban Conga is working on a bunch of different projects right now and they can be seen on our website. But something that has recently fell into our arms is helping design, create, and run a Fab Lab in South Tampa. Essentially we are working to create a place for learning and collaboration. The idea is that the house is always developing projects done by people coming to the Lab to learn and create. We hope to set up a studio in the Lab and begin to collaborate on a lot more public installations with creators from the Tampa area.  

Novedge: What software do you use?

Ryan Swanson: Software is something I told myself I want to have a vast knowledge in. It's like being a painter; you don't want to paint with just one color. Through architecture school and 3d modeling I have become really familiar with 3ds Max, SketchUp, V-Ray, AutoCAD, and Photoshop. I use these programs for prototyping ideas and mostly for rendering and setting up files to be laser cut or CNC routed. 3ds Max is also good for animations for showing how interactive installations work or for getting accurate prototypes to pitch ideas.  When showing people what you plan to do it's all about making it as pretty as possible and 3ds Max can do that for you. Rhino, with the Grasshopper plug-in, is probably the program I use the most for modeling and designing ideas.  Rhino is great for parametric modeling and also it has an endless supply of plug-ins and can do a multitude of functions. Grasshopper is a generative modeling tool for Rhino that uses algorithms to create form. It also can be interconnected to Arduino which is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. The two can be used together to create real world interactions and create a digital model from that interaction.  Another program I use for interactive projection installations is Processing. It is another interactive open-source software that runs off of Java. The great thing about Arduino and Processing is that everything is open source, so everyone is willing to share ideas, code, and help. The idea is to keep pushing the limits and for an idea to keep growing. So if you make something maybe someone else can make something cooler with the thing you created and then so on. I believe technology is important to keep up with the ever growing society we are in. So I keep trying to find new software that I can learn to make things better and bigger with.

 

Novedge: What is the Urban Conga?

Ryan Swanson: The Urban Conga is a collective group of creators activating urban spaces through interactive installations.  We stimulate urban spaces through exploration, activation, and above all interaction. The objective is to spark a conversation between the public realm and the human body through interactive installations. Our mission is to start The Conga Line!  We want to collaborate with other creators and begin to start a movement in inactive areas.

 

We are not a group of artists that create static public art to make a dollar. Our philosophy is to inject care into local communities by accentuating and enhancing the beauty of the current urban conditions! With like-minded passions to better communities, we are turning unused and overlooked urban spaces into interactive places to live, learn, and love your city. The Conga started in September 2012 when I and a couple of other students at the University of South Florida School of Architecture realized we were interested in solving the problem that our downtown is having with activation. So in doing my thesis I tried to incorporate my research into The Urban Conga in how to interact with people and what they best respond to in order to begin to activate these unused spaces. Our goal is to start a movement! We hope there will begin to be an Urban Conga group everywhere just giving people something to do and interact with and have fun. Our whole motto is "Come out and play!"

Novedge: What are the rewards and challenges of being part of a collective, such as the Urban Conga?

Ryan Swanson: Everyone works in groups in school and hate it. I feel this gives a false reputation on collaborations or working in a collective effort.  In the working world this is something a majority of people have to learn to accept and deal with. I think working with other people is how to make something better. If you lock yourself in a room you are only getting one perspective on the thing you are doing and that is your own. When you put together a bunch of people that have different skill sets something amazing happens. IDEO is a design consulting firm that solely believes on creations through a collaborative effort. They are one of the top design consulting firms in the nation due to this mind set.  If you look at any online open sourced software, people collaborate everywhere. Someone puts up some code that does a basic function and someone else takes that basic function and makes it fly a rocket ship.  Maybe that's a bit extreme but my point is that things grow from a collective effort, every time being pushed to be better and different. At the same time you do run into problems with communication and people not being on the same page,  but I feel in the end the rewards out way the some time bickering and arguments over how things should happen.  The way the Urban Conga is set up is anyone can come to us with an idea and the motivation to make the idea happen.  What we want to do is make that idea for an interactive installation happen. Either through helping that person with funding or just helping them build and design it. Ever since we started this collaborative group so many artists, performers and creators have reached out to us to make stuff happen. People need something that is actually out, doing stuff that they can sort of latch onto. Collaborating with these people just helps me learn more of their specific skill set.

 

Novedge: What advice would you give to people looking into going to college to study architecture?

Ryan Swanson: If you want to study architecture in college make sure it is something you are truly passionate about because it takes over your life!!! Keep your mindset open when it comes to what design and architecture are when starting. You will realize that the knowledge you learn in architecture school can be used in so many different ways of design not just in building buildings.  Also architecture school is all about teaching the art side of things and not the real side of architecture so make sure you study how things functionally work and about coding and all that jazz as well as the fun stuff. Architecture school becomes a part of your life you kind of begin to realize no one outside of architecture school really understands what you are going through. It makes you feel sort of like an elitist in the college world but also excluded. Learn to love the studio and make it your home. Working in the studio is the most important part of architecture school. It goes back to the whole idea of putting different skill sets into one room and learning from one another. The main thing is just to hold on for the wild ride architecture school will bring you!

Want to see more of Ryan's work? Check out his website and Vimeo channel.

And here's a link to The Urban Conga's website.

The Edge: Kelly Nedderman, Forging Community

Novedge: Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do.
Kelly Nedderman: Well, I do quite a lot of things. I am a surface/textile designer (mostly commercial work in fashion and home), artist, jewelry designer, and I teach metalsmithing at The Crucible and Academy of Art University. My work has been included in a handful of publications and I have exhibited nationally. I came to the San Francisco Bay Area over a decade ago for school and never left. For the last several years I have been self-employed and really thrive on the multitude of possibilities that it offers with regards to projects and people.

Novedge: What are some of the rewards and challenges of owning your own business?
Kelly Nedderman: Some of the best parts of owning your own business are also the most challenging parts. Schedule flexibility is a huge plus for me. It is also a huge challenge to hold yourself accountable and stay on track. The ability to choose projects is wonderful, but when you are in between things and the paychecks are not rolling in, it can also be nerve racking.

Novedge: What is a recent project that you worked on?
Kelly Nedderman: One of my current projects is a collaboration with a local wallpaper company. The pieces will be for commercial interiors such as restaurants and hotels. While I create repeating imagery every day, this project is a bit different. The patterns will end up being 52” across with no vertical limits, so I can design something to float in the center of the wall or something that is 15 ft tall. It’s exciting.

Novedge: What software do you use?
Kelly Nedderman: In my line of work, I primarily use Photoshop, Illustrator, and Nedgraphics. Nedgraphics is a CAD program specific to textile design that facilitates the development of repeats, wovens and knits. These programs allow me to draw and develop repeating patterns ready to be printed by clients onto thousands of yards of fabric or wallpaper. I also do hand illustrated artwork for graphic t-shirts.
Recently, I took two great courses in Rhino, and am learning to model jewelry designs that would be very difficult to execute in metal, mainly because of their crazy shape and size. I have also been playing around in Hex Fiend, GIMP and Audacity and using them to “break” tiff and jpg files in interesting ways to produce new imagery for my designs.

Novedge: Where do you find inspiration for your work?
Kelly Nedderman: Just about everywhere. Magazines, blogs, photos… even just walking around, but the more offbeat the better. I have a soft spot for silhouettes, textures and magazines from the UK.

Novedge: You are the Co Director of Programs at the San Francisco Bay Area Metal Arts Guild. What is the Guild and what does it do?
Kelly Nedderman: The Metal Arts Guild of The Bay Area is a non-profit organization that focuses on promoting the recognition of metalwork as an art form and offering Bay Area jewelers and metal artists a network of information, education and support. That’s the official answer, but it is so much more than that. It’s a community, support group, and network of friends. We organize artist lectures, museum tours, exhibits and workshops all aimed at inspiring the group. We have around 250 members of all ages and backgrounds. From the student to the retiree and the hobbyist to the large business owner… The guild provides a common ground for all of those who love making and exchanging ideas.

Novedge: How important is it for professionals to be involved with their community?
Kelly Nedderman: I think it’s incredibly important. We were all beginners once. I was very lucky to be able to work with and learn from people making their living doing what their passion was. It had a huge impact on me. I try very hard to encourage students and professionals to get involved. Another great benefit of community is feedback and interaction. Our lives and creativity do not happen in a vacuum... I think people forget that even just being in an office environment is still a community. The office community is the one most people are familiar with, but we need to branch out past that. I have had some amazing brainstorming sessions with new people whom I have met at events and many of my clients have found me through word of mouth and my network. Take the time to get outside of your bubble!

Novedge: How are new technologies changing jewelry design?
Kelly Nedderman: One of the most obvious ways is that a fine jewelry store can have most of its inventory exist digitally now. They will have some great samples that customers can touch and try on, but without having so much money invested up front.
For someone who is more into the sculptural aspect of jewelry, like myself, 3D printing and laser cutting allow for an amazing level of experimentation. Forms that are extremely challenging or maybe impossible to create in metal, can be worked out with relative ease and then manufactured in a huge variety of materials. This grey area where traditional skills and new technologies meet is very exciting right now.

 

See more of Kelly's work on Flickr and don't forget to join our Rhino Jungle community, if you are a Rhino user.

 

The Edge: Electroblooming

Novedge: Tell us about yourself and what you do.
Mark Bloomfield: I'm a designer and a maker. I've always worked with jewellery as I like the scale and the idea that I can set up and make anywhere.Traditional tools are very important to me and how they are used to connect with different materials. I strive to have the same relationship with digital tools. I established electrobloom to specifically explore digital processes to both design and make on demand.

Novedge: You have created wearable accessories for film, fashion and luxury brands including, Titanic, Vivienne Westwood, and Virgin Galactic.  What was it like? What did you like the most and what was most challenging?
Mark Bloomfield: I feel very fortunate to have worked with some really inspiring and talented people over the years and have enjoyed the challenge of applying what I do to very different industries, from film to fashion, luxury to hi-tech. It has always been jewellery but ranging from jewellery as costume to jewellery as technology. It's been particularly challenging working with traditional craftsmen and introducing them to digital processes. When I bought in a 3D printer at one company the entire model making team thought they were going to be out of work, it took a lot to convince them otherwise, but by drawing out the best in them so that their skills complemented the digital processes it strengthened our competitive edge.

Novedge: Your website, Electrobloom, is all about custom work. Are we heading towards a future in which consumers will want the option of customizing all their purchases?
Mark Bloomfield: I wanted to include a customisable component to the work which would engage the customer in the process, allowing them to participate and create pieces of jewellery unique to them. Many companies include a customisable element with some of their product lines. When showing my jewellery collection to customers they get very excited when I explain that all the components are interchangeable, they then start putting together different combinations making the jewellery their own. I also like the idea that the customers collection can be updated with a new charm rather than discarding and replacing, as your personal collection grows then so do the options. Once you start it does become very addictive! Customisation is also the main reason for using 3D Printing as the production process, I can make items to size and introducing new elements becomes cost and time effective. I believe we will be seeing more and more customisable options applied to the things we buy as the production processes become more able to handle it. It's worth remembering that most PCs and smartphones are already being customised, I'm sure that my devices are customised with software, apps, photos and covers that are very different to what you've chosen to install and use. Customisation already happens!

Novedge: What is a recent project that you worked on?
Mark Bloomfield: The last couple of projects have been exhibitions, the first was the Kinetica Art Fair in London which represents artists whose work moves or uses new media and encourages user interaction. I'm also exploring how to design complexity into the items of jewellery by making them move or change shape. Some of the charms have rotating elements or open up but are 3D printed in one go, no assembly required.

 
It was a great opportunity to talk about my work and show customers first hand how everything works, something that's difficult to get across on-line, I've started to use animation and will be making more films to get across the collections character. One of the interesting aspects of the jewellery collection is that I can reinvent it every time I show it and I can also tailor it according to which customer I'm selling to.
The other exhibition is in Canary Wharf in London and runs till the end of the April. I enjoyed thinking about the space and tailoring the collection accordingly. I've gone for very bright colours as this area of the city is the new financial district and I wanted to brighten up the suits!

Novedge: What software do you use?
Mark Bloomfield: I've used many pieces of software, 3D Studio, Maya, Rhino but settled on Blender in 1999 as I loved the interface. It was a challenge at first but I somehow knew it would be worth the effort. I feel confident that I can design anything with Blender and as it's continually being updated there's lots of new tricks to learn. Being able to link files is very useful as I'm often improving the designs as I go along and having all instances update is a real time saver. I tend to also link objects to paths and duplicate using modifiers, you can start to create complex forms that are very easy to edit.

I have also started to use the physics simulator as it's a real easy way to animate chains and get a feel for how they will work before being made. I want to continue to use animation to show not only how the jewellery works but to also come up with new designs, you can use the animation features in Blender as modelling tools. I'd also like to revisit the game engine with the intention of making the virtual models interactive and responsive, so much to do!

 
Novedge: What are some of the rewards and challenges of owning your own business?
Mark Bloomfield: Running your own business is very rewarding, I've always enjoyed jumping from one task to the next while attempting to use design to make the processes easier to manage. Maintaining momentum continues to be a challenge as there's always distractions which pop up daily, but in the words of Walt Disney, "Keep moving forward..."

Novedge: If you could go back in time, what would you say to your younger self before entering the workforce?
Mark Bloomfield: I feel that everything you do makes you the person you are now, the experience is important as you are then better equipped to deal with new challenges.

 

See more of Mark's work on his website and connect with him on Twitter.

And don't forget to stay in touch with us on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Novedge Webinar #67: Q&A with Brian Benton

Brian Benton delivered a great webinar on AutoCAD Sheets for Project Management and many of you had questions for him. Here are his answers to those questions that couldn't be answered during the live Q&A session.

Q: How do you add a sheet to the Sheet Set?
A: With the Sheet Set open, click, hold, and drag a Paper Space Tab for the file you want to add and drop it into the Sheet Set you want to add it to.  You have to have the file opened and it must be current.  The Sheet Set you want it in must be opened and current.  A second method is right-click on the current sheet set and click on the Insert Sheet option.  Browse to the file and select the paper space tab you want to insert.

Q: What is the difference between the sheet view tab and model view tab?
A: Both tabs reference saved named views in files.  You can save a named view in a file and list it here.  Clicking on the saved view in the Sheet Set Manager will open that file and zoom to that view.  Model Views are for views in model space.  Sheet Views are for views in Paper Space.

Q: Can you import excel data into sheet set?
A: No. You have to enter Sheet Set data manually.

Q: Do sheet sets work with AutoCAD WS, ADT, and MEP?
A:  They work the same way in all AutoCAD Verticals.  AutoCAD WS cannot handle Sheet Sets, but if you upload your file (that was using Sheet Sets) to AutoCAD WS it will bring the current Sheet Set data with it in the mobile platform.

Q: Is there a way to automate the updating of the Sheet Index after it's generated and new sheets are added, or they are rearranged, renumbered, etc.? Currently, the only way I know is to select the Index, rt-click and select to update the data links.
A: Yes. The command is "datalinkupdate".  Add it to your acad.lsp or acaddoc.lsp file like this:

(COMMAND "datalinkupdate" "u" "k")  

When AutoCAD opens a file it will run this script and will automatically update the data links.

Q: Does Sheet Set only work for Paperspace? Will it also work for model space?
A: It only works for Paper Space and you can only assign a tab to one Sheet Set file at a time.  A Tab can not belong to more than one Sheet Set.  If you have a model space file that you want to add to your Sheet Set (I do this with area base files) create a paper space tab for it anyway and add that tab to the sheet set.

Q: Can we use SSM with a file document manager where we check drawings in and out? When
checking in files they are removed from our local drives.
A:  I do not know about third party Document Managers, but it will work with Autodesk Vault.

Q: Will renaming the Path to the drawings mean destroying the link in Sheet Set?
A:  Yes.  Sheet Sets are path dependent.  If the path or file name changes you can repath the drawing by right-clicking it in the SSM and changing the path that is saved in the properties option.

Q: Can I export Data-information from Sheet Set to an Excel document ?
A:  No.  If you have created a Sheet List Table it can be extracted to a spread sheet.

Q: What about a link between Data-information of Sheet Set and BIM database?
A:  No.  Sheet Sets can’t link to other data bases.

Q: Looks like Sheet Set acts similarly to Autodesk Inventor project files or are they different? How?
A:  They are similar but are limited to simple data and file references.

Q: re: SheetSetPlaceholder and ViewportScale placeholder type -- I can automatically display the
viewport scale within a View Label block, but cannot control the format. AutoCAD has 7 built in
formats for viewportScale, but none are the one I need. I also tried copy/pasting the field expression into the "formula" field, but the block then returns "####". Is there any way to customize the viewport Scale format? Is there a "trick" to getting the formula field to work? Thanks.
A: I have also struggled to get the formula field to work in a block.  I have also had little luck with place holders.  I have set up my template file (.DWT) and the Sheet Set file I use as a template Sheet Set file to work.  My DWT file looks at my default DST file.  I don’t use placeholders.  This tends to work more often than not for me.

Q: Please note that dragging a layout tab into the SSM does not work if the SSM is docked.
A:  I learned something from this.  I did not know that but I tested it and you are correct.  It will not drag and drop the drawing unless the SSM is undocked. I typically don’t dock my SSM so I have never run into this issue.  Autodesk, please fix this.

Q: I recommend SSM Properties Editor by JTB World for extra SSM editing power.
A:  JTB World produces quality products and is one of my favorite CAD based websites.  I have not tried this product myself but it has been recommended to me several times.

Q: What is the limit of sheets you can have in a sheet?
A:  I do not know if there is a limit.  I have not reached it yet.  Right now I have a Sheet Set open that has about 50 drawings and 7 subsets.  So it will handle at least 50.  I apologize for not having a more definite answer.

Q: When two people are using two different sheets in the same sheet set and one is xref'd into the other, how do they affect each other?
A:  They affect each other no differently than if they were not in a Sheet Set.  The rules of xref’s govern their behavior.

Q: Can you have custom fields in subsets?
A: No but that would be a great idea.  Autodesk please make this happen.

 

Looking for more webinars? Check the complete series on our website.

And don't forget to visit Brian Benton's CAD-a-Blog and to get his full training program.

The Edge: Lukas Filip's Fairy Tale Houses

Today we talk to Lukas Filip, a member of our online community, Rhino Jungle. The dreamy quality of his renderings caught my eye and I asked him to share a bit more about what he does.

Novedge: Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do

Lukas Filip: First of all, I’d like to thank you for choosing me for this interview and for giving me this opportunity. My name is Lukas Filip, and on the forums I am known as “Yosi”.  I’m from Slovakia, and I am 27 years old and live in my hometown Kosice. After finishing Secondary Technical School of transport I decided to get a degree at Technical University of Kosice in Civil Engineering, which is where I found out all about CG.  As for what I do, I am currently at the end of my part time job as seller and designer at a kitchen studio, and beginning official cooperation with Matus and Veronika Nedecky’s at Flying Architecture visualisation as a CG artist.

Novedge: Your work has a certain "dreamy" quality: can you talk about how you approach your images to create this effect?

Lukas Filip: I’ve never thought about it that way, this is kind of hard to explain... Generally, I follow no strict rules.  I usually go with my feelings, instead of relying on exact repeatable steps. My melancholic nature might be the cause of this "dreamy" quality. I’m a lover of cold weather, frosty days, dense fog, and mountains half-clad in heavy clouds and so on. Not that I dislike sun or anything.

Novedge: What is a recent project that you worked on?

Lukas Filip: That would be Traditional Housing in Slovakia. After visiting one of these houses I got enchanted by the simplicity of this project, use of raw rood, this so-called "return to our roots." I am starting to feel a bit fed up with glossy and flashy looks in architecture, and prefer simplicity over complexity, use of neutral-coloured matte materials and so on. 
My main objective was to create something that would make you feel you are part of the nature and give it certain fairy-tale feel (what is better suited for a fairy-tale scene than a lovely wooden cottage at the edge of a forest?). The moment I decided to work on this I knew what the scenes should be about, colours, composition and all.

The early morning scene is my personal favourite; it has everything I love – the time is just before sunrise (I am an early riser), it has my favourite colour tones - shades of blue/cyan with rich green grass, dense fog engulfing the valley and so on...  The day scene is more traditional, lots of light and a little girl chasing a deer. Who wouldn’t want to live in such environment?
I have to be careful though, for this could backfire just as well; some people might actually imagine a lonely wolf instead of a lovely deer, with the chase thing being the other way round, that would be a big no-sell material!

Novedge: What software do you use? Why?

Lukas Filip: Some six years ago I made my first render using Archicad. Continuing to Artlantis Studio 2.0 I tried to gain more knowledge and enhance my work. Experimenting led to passion and I found myself craving for more, constantly unsatisfied with my results. During this time I learned most of the basic stuff, the need for good lighting and the basics of texture mapping.
I eventually ended up using Rhinoceros 4 and V-Ray. Why? It is very user friendly, it doesn’t require a NASA-built power station, it is stable enough, and when a new version comes out, it actually is a new version, not a bunch of service packs packed into a prettier coat.  With a V-Ray plugin for rendering and Photoshop for post processing it gives me everything I need.

Novedge: Where do you find inspiration for your work?

Lukas Filip: I’d say everywhere: just observing life around me. While shopping, sitting at cafeteria, trekking, reading books... And of course in works of famous CG artists, like matte painter and concept artist Raphael Lacoste, or Viktor Fretyán  (MIR).

Novedge: Can you tell us a bit about your upcoming projects?

Lukas Filip: As I mentioned before, I’ve never been satisfied with anything I created in my CG portfolio, some I even dislike.  There are several personal projects in my mind right now. Some I hope to finish by the end of this year, maybe even a re-mastered version of one of my older projects ;-). Then there are one or two much more complex projects, in terms of time, research and skill needed that will require several years of mere preparation.  The theme itself is very famous and if actually finished, it would not be part of my usual architectural portfolio.

If you want to see more of Lukas's work, check out his online portfolio and connect with him on Rhino Jungle.

Learn more about Artlantis, V-Ray and Rhino on our website.

The Edge: Michiel Cornelissen's 3D Printed Happy Birds

Michiel Cornelissen is an independent designer who "combines work for clients with the creation of his own range of products, such as jewelry, housewares, and electronics accessories." His work has been featured in Gizmodo, Wired, Designboom, Core77 and more. And the Museum of Modern Art in New York has even bought some of his products.

 

Novedge: Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do

Michiel Cornelissen: I am a designer. Sometimes I design whatever pops into my mind and seems like a good idea, sometimes I help clients with products they’re working on. Sometimes the two meet halfway.

Novedge: On your website you mention learning in school and then while working for Philips Design. Can you talk about learning in school vs. learning on the job? What advice would you give to young people who want to follow in your footsteps?

Michiel Cornelissen: My education in Industrial Design Engineering at Delft Technical University was a very general one: I know very few people from my year that are actually still in design. Some are in engineering, or are project managers, or researchers, you name it. I came away from it with a general idea of how to approach almost any problem, but with very little classical design skills. I mean, I hardly knew what a fillet was, let alone how big I should choose it in any give project. Fate somehow placed me in Philips Design, where I met all these "real" designers, from all kinds of backgrounds and often with wonderful insights in how to create and detail designs. So yes, it feels like a post-doc education to me. Something similar is happening now since entering the 3D-printing community;  a whole world is opening up to me. It’s just great to be able to keep on learning and growing in your profession.

Novedge: What is a recent project that you worked on?

Michiel Cornelissen: The dilemma is always that there’s so much I can’t talk about yet, as much as I’d love to. Just recently a health care product I worked on was introduced in Asia, which I’m very happy with (unfortunately, I don’t have good images of that yet).

Of course the Mesh Matryoshkas were introduced in the beginning of the year and I’m really happy with Zesch too, although manufacturing it in larger quantities is a challenge.

Novedge: What software do you use?

Michiel Cornelissen: When it comes to designing, I do almost everything in Rhino. I started using it when 1.0 was still in beta, and I still haven’t found a compelling reason to switch to something else. I still think it’s a Godsend, I’m not even sure I would still be in design if it wasn’t for Rhino…  And since about a year, I’m exploring the Grasshopper plug for generative modeling in Rhino – that’s the future! Both Zesch and the Mesh Matryoshkas were almost completely defined in it. I’m not saying it’s the only way, but I might have given both projects up without Grasshopper. For rendering, I now love Keyshot – it’s just so much fun, and the results can be great. Oh – and don’t forget pen and paper! I don’t see myself scribbling on tablets anytime soon, I love the simplicity of a white sheet of paper and a nice fat Pentel sign pen.

Novedge: You have embraced 3D printing. What are some of the benefits and challenges of using this technology?

Michiel Cornelissen: One of the main benefits of 3D printing is that anyone with some modeling skills and an idea can make a product available anywhere in the world. One of the main challenges of 3D printing is that anyone with some modeling skills and an idea can make a product available anywhere in the world… What I mean is, that there is an inevitable explosion of 3D printed content in the works, and one of the difficulties will be to find the few useful, qualitative items in that outburst. Other than that, I’m still intrigued by the geometric possibilities that are opening up through 3d-printing, some of which I’ve tried to highlight in products such as Happy and Merry Bird, The ExChange collection and the Mesh Matryoshkas.

Novedge: What's in the future for you?

Michiel Cornelissen: I really enjoy working with clients, also when it has nothing to do with 3D-printing, by the way. That’s some of that stuff I can’t talk about… Just recently, I visited a manufacturing facility in Switzerland where men and women were creating beautiful items from wood and metal and other materials, in ways that haven’t changed much over 100 years. It was awe-inspiring, and it’s one of the things I sincerely hope won’t disappear with developments such as globalization and 3d-printing. Crossing my fingers that the project I’m planning with them will happen!

 

You can learn more about Michiel's work on his website. And don't forget to follow him on Twitter!

To buy Rhino and Keyshot, visit Novedge. And send us your questions and feedback in 140 characters or less at @Novedge. Grasshopper can be downloaded here.