This week I had to put the continuation of my modeling on hold in order to get a machine that is properly able to handle Unreal Engine 4. That being said, I took advantage of this time to give myself a primer of the software and ArchViz process so that I’m better equipped to follow along with my model when the time is right. It allowed my to watch through each of the YouTube Tutorial playlists that I posted about last week. I also know have a better understanding of each and where I need to focus my attention.
I decided to watch this series by the IMAGENEERS first and I must say that I felt that the creators of the series have taken an approach that I find to fit my style. They show you the steps while also providing some of the theory behind each decision. Personally, this is my favorite type of learning since it creates a basis of knowledge that is better applied in the future and in different circumstances. There was also tons of external references to useful articles and tools throughout the series. For instance, in order to use the GPU to calculate the Lightmass an extra plugin/config is required in order to offload that process. The creators of this series went through the steps to install and also showed the benefits that this provides in a workflow.
The next tutorial series by Steve Biegun also provided a wonderful introduction into this process. I really enjoyed getting two different workflow perspectives. And I felt that Steve’s also provided a bit more insight into the professional side of this pursuit. He starts with Revit files which are becoming more of the norm due to their ability for collaboration between all the important parties on a build, especially from a commercial perspective. In instances that require not only an architect, but multiple engineers, contractors, designers, etc.
Obviously watching these two series with the speed at 1.5 did not consume my entire week and I was able to do some professional work for a client that is testing out AR filters for advertising purposes. It’s been a while since I’ve taken on freelance work due to the commitments I have with school so it was a welcome change of pace. I had done some basic AR work in the past but the functionality that they required was a bit more advanced, however it didn’t present too much of a challenge. I feel that this is mainly due in part to the fact that the Spark AR Studio is a patch programming based software and I am well versed in that approach because of Max MSP. It even allows for the encapsulation of multiple patch objects in order to create custom and more complex functionality. Which I must say was my favorite part of working with Max in the past. In creating these filters, I stumbled down a rabbit hole of other filter creators and found a couple that have made some really cool stuff. I’ve linked to their channels below!
Lenslist – List of other creators