In the recent years, we've reached a point where visualizations have become widespread in the architectural profession. Whether we like it or not, stylized imagery is seen as a commodity, and ultimately, renderings win competitions and commissions. Architects have become taken with beautiful renderings because clients understand pictures better than plans, and yet, the tools used to produce these attractive glitzy images are changing faster than our industry can keep up. And with technology constantly evolving, we are nowadays facing a new wave of visualization techniques, as the same render engines used to produce the tantalizingly realistic visuals in movies and video games are, for the first time, easily within our reach and for Architecture use too.

 

 

The lines across industries are blurring and companies behind the rendering engines for the most popular video games are now marketing their software directly to ARCHITECTS. The world of visualization is changing. Unreal Engine 4 is a common language between all these common fields. Creating a common language between the presently disparate fields of architecture, film, and video games, for example, suggests that the industries themselves may begin to hybridize and learn from one another. For instance, video game developers may look to architects to understand how to construct 3D buildings, while architects may learn from the navigable virtual environment of video games in order to discover new means of representation. Add to this the fact that these software packages are capable of producing lifelike animated walkthroughs and we are left wondering, why is this not an industry standard?

 

Real-time rendering is the process of using the same techniques you’ve been using for years for visualization—modeling, materials, lighting, and animation—but with the traditional rendering process replaced with a render engine that has the capability to render on the fly, in real time. It gives you the ability to see what the final result will look like right away. Even special effects like fog and depth-of-field can be viewed instantly rather than waiting for a lengthy rendering process.

 

 

According to the latest studies, 95% of architects are interested in adopting real-time rendering solutions as a means for reviewing and editing designs with customers. Architects said they want to use real-time rendering to reduce the time from concept to high-fidelity rendered images and animations. They are more encouraged to use Unreal Engine since it is offered for free as part of Unreal Studio, a suite of tools for importing CAD, 3ds Max, and SketchUp to Unreal Engine while retaining unit scale, metadata, assemblies, and other data specific to visualization processes.

 

 

Companies discovered the use of tools like Unreal Engine Blueprint for processing large bodies of data, therefore we can expect to see real-time technology being used in new ways to process geographical (GIS) data for mapping, sales/customer data for interactive analysis of buying patterns, and any number of other ways to show Big Data in visual media.

By initially sacrificing time to learn and navigate these new ways of producing renderings, the quality of the final images could be substantially elevated and one may discover new benefits to using 3D environments throughout the design process. Ultimately, it is likely that future architecture software packages will allow us to take advantage of video game quality engines in an environment specifically tailored for the clear representation of architectural spaces. The question is, which architects will take the first steps?

 

Stay ahead and book your place for the Architecture, Engineering and VR with UNREAL Workshop this November 28th till 30th.

 

Architecture, Engineering and VR with Unreal Engine is a series of 3-day long workshop with an aim of providing insight into combining diverse digital design methodologies and the use of Unreal Engine as an aid in design exploration by looking at Complex Designs as an inter-relationship of intrinsic and extrinsic parameters.

 

This workshop is an opportunity for architects, designers, artists, students of Architecture and Art interested in developing contemporary design strategies made possible through the use of digital techniques. Building up technical skills will provide the attendees with a solid platform from which to start rethinking and exploring innovative architectural ideas in collaboration with the team and the tutor.

 

 

 

Date: 28, 29 and 30 Novemver 2019

Timings: 09:00 AM - 01:00 PM | 02:00 pm - 05:00 PM

BIM-ME will offer two coffee breaks and one lunch break.

 

• Introduction to UE4.

• Preparing geometry for UE4

• Creating effective assets

• Creating an Unreal Engine 4 project

• Defining your target platform

• Importing assets into UE4

• Assembling a scene

• Placing assets in a scene

• Adding collisions

• Lighting concepts: static vs stationary vs dynamic lighting

• Working with textures

• Creating materials

• Adding atmospherics

• Postprocess volume

• Creating landscapes

• Introduction to blueprints

• Creating blueprint actors

• Scripting basic interactivity

• Using UMG for creating UI

• Introduction to sequencer

• Saving stills and animations

• Packaging project for distribution.

 

 

BIM-ME will provide each participant one laptop with the Unreal Engine 4 software being installed. However, if you wish to bring your own laptop, kindly advise our training team.

If you don’t have the software, Unreal Studio is now offered in free beta period and can be found at Unreal Engine company’s website. We will send participants links to the required software, trials and plug-ins for download. Please have the software installed prior to the workshop. If you have an issue installing software, we may be able to help you before the workshop.

 

 

 

Jose Pareja Gomez. Born in Mexico City/1986: Bachelor in architecture by De La Salle University in Leon, Mexico and M.Arch in Architecture and Urbanism by the Architectural Association in London UK. He has been a lecturer on diverse technology and architectural forums in Latin America and Europe. His architectural work has been featured in art galleries such as the Maison Mais Non and the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Since joining Zaha Hadid Architects in 2013 he has worked on a series of Urban and Architectural projects specializing in the use of computation within the design development process. He is currently working as a Lead Designer at Zaha Hadid Architects as well as Senior VR Developer for the ZHVR Group, VR research and development group within ZHA.