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Sharing The Vision
Interview: Tom: It's been more than a year since we've spoken to you, how have things been going?
The plans to build the version 2 of Titanic3D are ready. The new project is ambitious and will require 6-7 coders and artists full time for 6 months. The new ActiveWorlds engine will allow for a recreation of the sinking itself, with the body of the Titanic bending, splitting and diving into the abyss with avatars on it. Tom: The Lafayette project has come a long way, tell us a little about where it is now.
Some started to support us with their own technical advisors, some asked for studies to implement their equipments in the monospace. In this way, the Lafayette prototype has evolved into an experimental platform for new transportation technologies!
I like making architectural designs, and trueSpace is a very pleasant tool to use for creating buildings - I simply load the 2D plans from the architect's software via the Post Script format into the basic layer in trueSpace, which I then lock. Then I create other layers for the walls, plants, furnitures and lights, and I build over the imported 2D plan. With layers, we can build very complex scenes up to 50 mb with no slow-down in the display in trueSpace6.6.
Tom: How does truePlay help in architectural projects?
The new design has several levels, with stairs and bridges, and the grass for the sport area even covers some the flat roofs of some rooms! This was a nightmare to describe with 2D plans! The design used all dimensions in 3D space, and was not a flat building. Also, the challenge was to build the new school within a year, with the old school still in activity. I made several renders, some with sliced models, and put it all together in PowerPoint, with animations of the camera moving around the building to give a sense of the 3D space. At the first show we did, I realized that it was not enough though. Some people need to have a human point of view to understand how things are layered in space - they need to cross the bridges, climb the stairs, walk through the entrance to the bicycle park, and so on. In other words, they don't "see" with a camera making pre-defined loops in the air; they need a more interactive camera.
widget to move to the right place for that question, and showing how it looked from the ground at that location, backing up his answers with the display.
At the end, a lot of people - and other architects too - came up to the dais and tried to have fun with it on my laptop! It was something that everyone wanted to try for themselves.
Tom: How would you like to see truePlay evolving in future? Emmanuel: As I mentioned at the start of the interview, when looking at the Titanic world, 3D is an unknown territory for many people. People like 3D rendering and animation, but they are comfortable to just sit and watch. That is what they have learned so far, so that is what they are comfortable with. Today, only the people playing games like "Half-Life", "World of Warcraft" or "Far-Cry" find it natural to go inside a 3D space and move around in the world for themselves. truePlay is intended to be used by the masses, and I know developers have picked up on the request of myself and others to give an alternative user interface which is close to what people are already familiar with, something like the games mentioned above, so people can walk around, with gravity and collision detection, using the keyboard and mouse just like in a game. That will make it easy for people to adapt to using it! I look forward to seeing that interface made available in truePlay. In architectural projects, for example, the architect could send his client an email or a CD which contains truePlay and the house scene. The client can then view it in real-time. Of course, if they connect together via the internet, then they could walk side by side all around the house and discuss the plans in real time with each other. I'd like to see navigation between scenes and worlds improved, with things like "Next", "Previous" and "Home" links, like Internet Explorer's toolbar. A Bookmarks list would be good. Maybe a sort of Explorer tree with a root scene, main scenes, sub-scenes, would be useful for navigation too.
Tom: Any other architectural projects happening right now? Emmanuel: I am working on several projects at the same time, and I often switch between 2 or 3 of them in the same day. To improve the workflow, I send screenshots of the work in progress to my clients and wait for the feedback to validate some design/texture choices before I go farther. Until that response comes through, I can work on another project. This way, I optimize my working hours and reduce the "start over again" experience. Right now, I am working on an old people's home project, a villa, and a traffic circle! I started to experiment with the new V-Ray render engine in interiors. In this scene of the villa, shown below, originally built in Lightworks, there were 12 infinite lights and 5 spotlights. In the V-Ray version, I removed all the lights except one infinite light to simulate the sun and set the Global Illumination to on.
A comparison between V-Ray (left) and Lightworks (right) - click either image for a larger comparison Now, although the sunlight does not directly reach the interior, due to the canopy over the terrace, the bounces from the Global Illumination lets the light fill the interior. I used the Very High preset settings. It took some time to render but it was worth the calculation! I am very impressed by the accuracy of the lights and shadows, it really looks like a photo. Textures look more true to life, and the furniture gains a feeling of solidity and density. V-Ray's Global Illumination revolutionizes the way I "think" lighting in 3D : now there is no need to create and adjust a dome of spot lights, or to make a "hedgehog" of infinite lights to fill a scene with natural lighting! I can simply turn on Global Illumination, add one infinite light, put some local light in to support the Global Illumination in the interiors and smooth out the noise, and hit the render button.
Tom: What would you hope to be telling us about if we come back and interview you again next year? Emmanuel: I would like to see the long-term projects started this last year being brought to a successful completion in the next 12 months. But I also know that my life is full of surprises, so I simply hope that trueSpace will continue to lead me into more 3D exciting experiences to report!
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