How can you improve your 3D modeling skills for environmental design?
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Environmental design is the art and science of creating immersive and interactive 3D environments for various purposes, such as games, simulations, education, and entertainment. To succeed in this field, you need to master the skills of 3D modeling, which is the process of creating and manipulating digital objects in three dimensions. In this article, we will share some tips on how you can improve your 3D modeling skills for environmental design.
Before you dive into the advanced techniques and tools of 3D modeling, you need to have a solid foundation of the basic principles and concepts, such as geometry, topology, lighting, shading, texturing, and rendering. These are essential for creating realistic and efficient 3D models that can be used in various platforms and engines. You can learn the basics from online courses, books, tutorials, and mentors, or by practicing with simple projects and challenges.
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Lennart Bertram Pöhls
senior architect | lecturer | researcher
A solid theoretical foundation is absolutly necessary, specially when your goal is to run simulation. Models are always an abstraction and therefore a incomplete, even to a certain degree incorrect, image of the reality. My professor always told us: "Modeling is not science, modeling is art" It seems strange, but what he ment (and is totally correct about) is that you need to get a feeling on how to build models for different purposes. But: it all starts with understanding the basics, because you need to be able to understand the results and read them in order to correctly adapt your model.
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David Gurka
Owner at David Gurka Architectural Illustrations, LLC
If you use SketchUp, select Geo-location to import the map address, then show terrain. That gives a general idea of the land elevation. Learn the "Sandbox" tools by watching SU and Youtube videos. It has helped me a lot.
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Gerard Falla
Technical Author & Illustrator | 3D Generalist | Hard Surface Modeller | Architectural Design Technologist / BIM Coach / Architectural Designer | Graphic Designer
Land 4 works rather well for Landscape Architectural Design with ArchiCAD (world-class architectural BIM software) and if you want not just pretty renders, but CDs with all attendant details, cut / fill calcs etc to come from your efforts, it’s a great route to capture design thinking. One can then take the 3D model output from ArchiCAD into Unity, and in terms of visualisations, the sky’s the limit at that point: interactive open-world exploration, guided VR tours, curated movies and stills…
There are many 3D modeling software options available for environmental design, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Some of the most popular ones are Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, SketchUp, and Unity. Depending on your goals, preferences, and budget, you need to choose the software that suits your needs and style. You also need to familiarize yourself with the interface, features, and workflow of the software, and keep it updated and optimized.
Environmental design is a diverse and creative field that allows you to explore different styles and genres of 3D environments, such as realistic, stylized, fantasy, sci-fi, historical, or abstract. You can experiment with different styles by using different references, inspirations, colors, shapes, textures, and details. You can also mix and match elements from different styles to create your own unique vision and expression.
One of the best ways to improve your 3D modeling skills for environmental design is to use references and assets from various sources, such as photos, videos, sketches, maps, or existing 3D models. References and assets can help you to achieve accuracy, realism, consistency, and quality in your 3D models. They can also save you time and effort by providing you with ready-made or customizable components that you can use or modify for your own projects.
Another important way to improve your 3D modeling skills for environmental design is to get feedback and critique from others, such as peers, mentors, instructors, clients, or users. Feedback and critique can help you to identify your strengths and weaknesses, to learn from your mistakes and successes, to improve your communication and presentation skills, and to gain new perspectives and insights. You can get feedback and critique by joining online communities, forums, groups, or platforms that are related to environmental design and 3D modeling.
Finally, the most effective way to improve your 3D modeling skills for environmental design is to keep learning and practicing. 3D modeling is a dynamic and evolving field that requires constant updating and upgrading of your knowledge and skills. You can keep learning and practicing by following the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the industry, by taking new courses, workshops, or tutorials, by participating in competitions, events, or projects, and by challenging yourself with new goals and ideas.
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Aishwarya Balagopal (Ash)
VR Creative Strategist I XR Designer I Architectural Designer PMP, LEED AP BD+ C
Apart from all the technical aspects of modeling it is very important to remember that these spaces are immersive and interactive. They need to be ergonomic and designers must think about the design impact of these environments on users. Just like our physical spaces, light, texture and usability are key factors to designing good environments in Virtual Reality.
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Gerard Falla
Technical Author & Illustrator | 3D Generalist | Hard Surface Modeller | Architectural Design Technologist / BIM Coach / Architectural Designer | Graphic Designer
As tangentially mentioned earlier, if you’re modelling successfully in. BIM-Authoring tool (like ArchiCAD) you don’t lose any work or effort: the design thinking model becomes the basis for the SD design, becomes the DD design, and all that is captured and leveraged into the CDs - and thus all iterative improvements are documented in process (which can help a lot with justifying design choices to permitting authorities as well as clients) which maximises billability of all time spent on design thinking / modelling - and that then can become a world-class presentational marketing piece later.