The course will address various topics within the field digital imagery and CG production. By introducing advanced tools and techniques and through productive experimentation we will also address the ongoing discussion around the digital realm, image sciences and the iconic turn. Students are invoked to further develop their technical abilities as well as define/refine an attitude towards their style of visual communication.

CGI production overlaps the domain of architectural production although approaches and methods are slightly different. Where architects need to measure and keep a consistency between the existing physical space and the artifact, CGI production just operates in the realm of visual content.  CGI tools are more derived from sculptors painters photographers animators than from constructors or engineers.  CGI production needs to be fast, imaginative, consistency is needed just when you can see it. Think of a set design from the movies.

• S01451 – Architectural Computer Generated Imagery (SEW)
• 07.03.2023 – 10:45 bis 12:15 | Seminarraum 09 (OKPV, 1.OG)
• 14.03.2023 – 10:45 bis 12:15 | Seminarraum 09 (OKPV, 1.OG)
• 21.03.2023 – 10:45 bis 12:15 | Seminarraum 09 (OKPV, 1.OG)
• 28.03.2023 – 10:45 bis 12:15 | Seminarraum 09 (OKPV, 1.OG) Desk-crit First Tutorial!
• 18.04.2023 – 10:45 bis 12:15 | Seminarraum 09 (OKPV, 1.OG) Deadline first Tutorial 24.00h!
• 25.04.2023 – 10:45 bis 12:15 | Seminarraum 09 (OKPV, 1.OG)
• 02.05.2023 – 10:45 bis 12:15 | Seminarraum 09 (OKPV, 1.OG)
• 09.05.2023 – 10:45 bis 12:15 | Seminarraum 09 (OKPV, 1.OG)
• 16.05.2023 – 10:45 bis 12:15 | Seminarraum 09 (OKPV, 1.OG)
• 23.05.2023 – 10:45 bis 12:15 | Seminarraum 08 (OKPF, 1.OG) Final Presentation (state of work)
• Submission Deadline 01 : 27.06.2023
• Submission Deadline 02 : 03.10.2023

Links

Step 1 Getting Started

Our first tutorial is about modeling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jHUY3qoBu8
This tutorial by Stefan Persson is quite a comprehensive guide into low poly modeling. Techniques and tools explained here cover key techniques when working with Blender. So please get started with Blender right now! Try to follow the tutorial and try on your own. I know it is a bit fast specially all the different shortcuts maybe hard to remember. Make your own “Cheat sheet” for some of the common keys. Using a standard PC-keyboard also makes life easier.
Becoming comfortable with Blender needs some while, so we will focus on the basic modelling mainly. You will find out when projects become complex that many tools and techniques build up on proper geometries and scene management.

After some training you can apply your knowledge on a series of simple Low Poly models:

• The Box – like in the tutorial
• A tree – like in the tutorial
• A displaced landscape – like in the tutorial
• The stone…
• And we need a TOWER! in our scene. Whatever kind of tower, you decide, but not a lighthouse!
• Ok. Finally we compose a scene out of the elements we created within this tutorial. Maybe design some extra objects, setup the environment, cameras (at least 2!), do some lighting, render out two+ images, done!

Keep all out-comings including variants (and failures too) in one file so we can discuss it during the course. I want to see you “Hands On” at least once! In case you are stuck please come back to me as often as needed. As soon as you own the basic skills and your “Masterpiece-Landscape” is finished, I will tell you to go on with your project…
For this “training phase” there is a deadline : see above!

Rules for the Tutorial:

• Keep the style of the tutorial: We want a comic style not a photo-real image!
• Geometry must be done on your own, modeling in lo poly style.
• Check the scale of your scene. Scale must be “real” 1:1, Units are meter!
• No modifiers no extra plugins or complicated shaders. We don’t need any textures besides a sky (maybe)

Step 2 EXPOSED to the Ultimate Realities Challenge

In 2021 a youtuber called “pwnisher” launched an animation challenge, based on a template scene which artists should use as a starting point to develop an animation with a length of 150 frames or three seconds. More than 2400 artists/studios contributed to this challenge and submitted their work, which was then composed and presented as a collective movie (not showing all of the contributions).
Link to the movie – You find plenty of material about this project in the web, mostly on youtube.

I want you to watch this movie first. And then find out what it does to you. Imagine this was not an animation challenge but an architectural competition. 2400 architectural projects presented in a corridor, printed on panels 1m wide each. Imagine walking along the gallery of projects 2400m or better 2.4 kilometers. How would you cope with this fact. How would you contribute.

We can not contribute any more, but I got the template files, so we can redo the challenge on our own.
Same setup same task. How will you cope with this task? How will our movie look like as we are not game/fx/movieCG artists but architects. Will it look different. It is (just) an experiment…

Out of context here is another movie i stumbled upon when i was doing this research:
Linkt to the movie
Not sure if this is relevant for us.