Module 2

Student No: 590337 Semester 1/ 2012

Group 16

Stephen Parey

Virtual Environments

Virtual Environments

Natural Process: Water Erosion

Following from the Module I, I decided to use water erosion in rock formations as my natural process. One of the key features I wanted my model to have was fluidity in a solid object. One of the ways I wanted to show this was through lighting and the negative space produced by the water that slowly degrades the rock.

In addition, the layering effect created by the water moving through the rock was an important feature to keep in mind during my project design.

Digitization: Contour Slicing

Virtual Environments

When I digitized my model, I used the contour slicing method to measure and trace the curves to import into Rhino. I split my model into five different sections so it would be easier to trace some of the curves as well be able to visualize in Rhino.

Each slice was about 0.5 mm apart. The total model ended up being 27 mm. When creating the contours some of the sections were hard to cut a straight line across because of the curves in the model.

Digitization: Curve Tracing

Virtual Environments

After slicing up contours on the clay model, I traced them in order to input them into Rhino. I did not use ever slice I made in the clay model in order not to make the model more complex.

One of the challenges in tracing the clay model was the holes I used as the negative spaces. Since branching was hard to do in Rhino, I decided to focus on the negative spaces in the paneling.

Digitization: Lofting

Virtual Environments

Using the contous as reference images, I outlined the curves in Rhino. In addition, I used some other reference images to manipulate the control points on the surface.

In order to reduce the complexity of the lofted model, I rebuilt the surface with less geometry. However, I noticed that the lofted model was very flat and lost a lot of the curve that was in the clay model.

Digitization: Reshaping

Virtual Environments

Using the cage edit command, I was able to make the model retain its fluidity. I could not get the lofted model to look accurate to the clay model because of the complexity of the shape. In areas of the model where the curve was more intense I allowed for more cvs.

Digitization: 2d-Paneling

Virtual Environments

Basic Triangle Pattern

Basic Box Pattern

Basic Triangle with more surface domain points

Custom 2d Pattern

Digitization: 3d-Paneling

Virtual Environments

Trying the simple 2d patterns, I figured I would not get a model that had any negative spaces as well as have much diversity in the geometry because I wanted to create a model that appeared both solid and fluid.

Using custom 3d panels was difficult at first because of the offset points on the surface. However, when I used the 3d custom variable option, I was able to create more diverse panels based on different shapes.

3d variable custom panel 1

3d variable custom panel 2

Digitization: 3d-Paneling

Virtual Environments

Focusing on creating panels that showed negative space I made more 3d variable models with solids that were smooth and would allow the lights from inside to create interesting shadows.

One of the problems I encountered during the process of paneling the lofted model was that if the solid surfaces are not quadrilaterals it would cause some errors with the geometry.

Virtual Environments

Precedents

Looking back at one of the precedents I had in Module I the Guangzhou Opera house, I was drawn towards the way the light interacts with the surfaces both on the interior and exterior. The contrast between the smooth surfaces of the walls on the exterior of the building to the jagged angles of the windows and wireframes seemed like a good idea to show in the paneling of my model. It would help to create more open and closed areas where the light could play a more significant role.

Digitization: 3d-Paneling

Virtual Environments

3d custom variable 1 with two solid surfaces at random intervals

3d custom variable 2 with two solid surfaces at random intervals

Digitization: Lighting To create the effect of negative space and to have both solid and smooth surface, I used two different solid surfaces and used the 3d variable function with the random attribute, which gave some variability to the design.

Then I took the two designs and imported them into Autodesk Maya and created some lights. By putting point lights in the model, I could see how the light played into the design of the 3d model.

Virtual Environments

Prototype

I took the first design and used just a few panels to see how it would work practically. This design might be difficult to achieve in tighter corners of the model and might be easier to use the second model that uses a support beam structure and can be used more flexibly.

Virtual Environments

Reflection

Translating the clay model from a solid surface to a digital model was a more difficult challenge than I had anticipated. Creating a lofted surface that works well with the paneling tools was difficult. The amount of detail that was in the original model was reduced in order to create panels. By using the different paneling tools, I could explore more and put back some of the aspects of my clay model that were lost when tracing the contours into Rhino.

Virtual Environments

With the help of the random attribute in the 3d variable function, I was able to created a more varied structure. One of the things I will have to work on is how to best fit the panels on areas that are very tight and close together like the ends of the lofted model.

References

Virtual Environments

Zaha Hadid Architects http://www.zaha-hadid.com/architecture/guangzhou-opera-house/