Category Archives: Inspirations

Another inspiration (#6)

Posted on January 22, 2012 by | 1 Comment
Posted by Kathleen Moore, CastleView 3D:

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Here’s another entry in my “Inspirations” series — and wow, this one is really inspiring, especially to those of us who do interiors and are always looking for realistic draperies, bedclothes, and the like.

3D rendering by Ramon Zancanaro

Inspirational 3D rendering by Ramon Zancanaro

This is one of a series of renderings done by 3D artist Ramon Zancanaro as a “cloth study” (shared on Ronan Bekerman’s blog).  The cloth was done using a modeling software called “Marvelous Designer” — an app for clothing designers, but obviously put to beautiful architectural use here (perhaps this would be called an off-label use?).

The face count on these cloth models must be astronomical (although I believe Ramon uses some modification to reduce the poly count).  My understanding is that he plans to do a “Making of…” video explaining his process, to be posted on Ronan’s blog.  That promises to be very enlightening, and I will include a link to it once it has been posted.

Here’s another fantastic example of Ramon’s work for you to enjoy.  Look at the cutwork on the tablecloth — fantastic!

3D rendering by Ramon Zancanaro

I’m truly so impressed and inspired by skill and talent like this — I hope you are too.

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Another inspiration (#5)

Posted on November 21, 2011 by | 5 Comments
Posted by Kathleen Moore, CastleView 3D:

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Here’s a wonderful architectural video animation recently shared on the 3rd Dimension blog:

$17.9 million is what you can expect to pay for this 30,000 sq ft luxurious private residence in Florida. 3rd Dimension was commissioned to create a number of aerial photomontages and eye level 3D visuals along with an exterior 3D movie of the proposed development. It was an amazing project to work on — credit to the project architects Yates Rainho in Florida for such a fantastic design. The 3D imagery and animation were used for both planning and marketing purposes…. One neat little trick we used for the 3D movie was the animation of the ocean in the aerial photomontages. Panning the still images and having movement within them such as the ocean and cars makes it difficult to tell that they are CGI.

The design is gorgeous, and I have to agree that animation of the surf and pool waterfall adds realism and an even greater degree of visual interest to the images of this breath-taking mansion.  I would have liked to have seen interiors — but perhaps that’s another project entirely (one for CastleView 3D, perhaps!).

I really do get inspired by looking at the beautiful work that others have done, and I hope you do, too.  If you see work worth sharing on Life Should Be 3D, be sure to bring it to my attention.

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CastleView is a verb!

Posted on September 22, 2011 by | 1 Comment
Posted by Kathleen Moore, CastleView 3D:
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At a party celebrating my recent leap into full-time entrepreneurship, a friend  suggested that one of my goals in building my business should be to make the name of the business synonymous with the product.  In other words, I should aspire to be the defining standard in the 3D rendering business — to become such a known and trusted quantity that people would use the name of the business to refer not only to MY product, but to the entire class of similar products.

Great examples of this abound:

  • kleenex
  • jello
  • band-aid
  • popsicle
  • post-it
  • velcro
  • q-tips
  • frisbee

Frisbee

What else would you call these things?

But there are also company names that go beyond being merely synonymous with a product — they have become familiar verbs:

  • Google (“I just googled myself.”)
  • Xerox (“Could you xerox this for me?”)
  • Facebook (“I’m facebooking that photo right now!”)

or the curious case of

Spam

My friend suggested that CastleView 3D should aim to become not only a noun synonymous with 3D rendering — as in, “does your contractor provide castleviews?” — but also a verb:

I’m thinking of remodeling my kitchen.

How exciting!  Have you castleviewed it yet?

His suggestion made me smile — as it was intended to.  But it also got me thinking… hey, why not?

I wonder if Google or Xerox ever imagined that their company names would become common verbs?

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“Leap and the net will appear”

Posted on September 16, 2011 by | 10 Comments
Posted by Kathleen Moore, CastleView 3D:

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Leap and the Net Will Appear

Today I make my big leap.  I’m trusting that the zen wisdom in the quote above will prove true.

I’ve been employed in the field of higher education full time (sometimes MORE than full-time) pretty much without a break for almost 25 years. Working in higher ed has been rewarding in many, many ways.  There’s a lot to be said for the professional challenges and stimulating intellectual colleagues of academe — not to mention the steady paychecks, health benefits, paid vacations, holidays, sick time, generous contributions to retirement accounts, etc., etc.

But today I choose to leave all that behind.  Today is my last day of job security.  Today I leap into the world of entrepreneurship. After a lifetime of working for other people, as of tomorrow I will officially be self-employed (which some people seem to think is a euphemism for UNemployed).  As you can imagine, I have very mixed feelings about all of this.

It’s not a complete leap of blind faith, however.  I’ve put 4 years into preparing for this drastic life change.  I have plans in place, some big dreams, and an exit strategy, if it comes to that.  So I’ve created my own net, of sorts.  But it still feels like a leap into the unknown.

Butterfly on Lilac BlossomPeople tell me that it takes guts to walk away from the field I spent 8 years training for and most of my adult life working in. I seem brave to some, foolhardy to others.  I may have guts, but my guts have butterflies.

But I’m also very excited, because I have found my passion, work that fascinates and challenges and sustains me like no other.  And just as important for an INFP like me, I believe in its potential to add value to people’s lives.  Embarking on a building or remodeling project can be a big question mark — a big EXPENSIVE question mark — and my visualization and rendering services can help provide a bit more security and peace of mind in a process fraught with tension and uncertainty.

So let the new adventure begin.  I’m ready to leap.

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Another inspiration (#4)… and some thoughts on virtual reality

Posted on September 8, 2011 by | 1 Comment
Posted by Kathleen Moore, CastleView 3D:

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An inspiring 3D rendering by Jon Coles

An inspiring 3D rendering by Jon Coles

Here’s another inspiring example of 3D modeling and rendering that I happened across recently.  The lighting and textures in this image are beautifully done.  The only tiny quibble I have here is with the wood texture on the chair — something’s not exactly right there.  But other than that, it looks pretty perfect to me.  The beveled matte on the painting and the wood grain on the chest are great.

This rendering was done by digital artist Jon Coles, a freelancer in Bristol, UK.  I couldn’t find a website for him, but more information about his work is available here.

Seeing renders like this makes me wonder if someday we’ll get to the point where we truly won’t be able to tell reality from virtuality.  I always loved the concept of the “holodeck” on the Star Trek series — virtual reality so real it felt as though you were actually living it — but it always seemed so unattainable.  But when you think about how far this art-science-technology has come in the past 30 years, and how the speed of new developments only seems to be accelerating, who’s to say that we won’t have created something akin to a holodeck before I depart this world?

I find that possibility exciting and intriguing.  Do you?  Do you think it will happen?

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Another inspiration (#3)

Posted on July 24, 2011 by | 12 Comments
Posted by , CastleView 3D:

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Every once in awhile, I see an example of 3D modeling or rendering that really inspires me.  I ran across one today on the “Architectural Illustration” group on LinkedIn that I wanted to share.  Showcasing 3D architectural work by computer graphics artist Fabien Valour of Switzerland, this short demo reel features lots of cool effects like flowing water, blazing fires in fireplaces, flickering candle flames, a bubbling hot tub — and a unique approach to showing how the final products take shape.

Enjoy!

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Another inspiration (#2)

Posted on May 12, 2011 by | 4 Comments
Posted by , CastleView 3D:

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I wanted to share a 3d rendering I’ve had in my inspiration file for awhile.  I don’t know who did this, and the only identification I saved with the image is that it’s from a site called Renderings.com.

I love the attention to detail in this image.  The lighting is excellent, and the lens flare effect (I think that’s what it’s called) is very effective.  The modelling is virtually flawless.  The fabrics on the sofa look very realistic to me, as does the stone floor.

In fact, if I didn’t tell you this was a rendering, you probably would have thought it was a photo.  And that’s the holy grail for people like me who love photorealistic renderings.  When someone tells me one of my images “looks just like a photograph,” I consider that the highest compliment!

I went back to the Renderings.com site to see if I could find out who created this rendering, but the site has changed quite a bit and I wasn’t able to find this particular image.  The company specializes in renderings for high-end real estate marketing.  There are many other great 3D images on their site of large apartment complexes, condos, and resorts, including some impressive animations.  Check this one out:

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Real, or 3D?

Posted on April 18, 2011 by | Leave a comment
Posted by , CastleView 3D:

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I’m not 100% certain, but I believe this fascinating yacht design, from South Korean designer Hyun-Seok Kim, is all 3d modeling and rendering, not photographs.

Click the photo to see a series of wonderful images of the interior and exterior, published in the web magazine Yanko Design.  What do you think?

I’m not typically a yacht sort of person, but I think I could be comfortable spending an extended stay on this one.

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An inspiration (#1)

Posted on March 22, 2011 by | Leave a comment
Posted by , CastleView 3D:

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Every once in awhile, I see an example of 3D modeling that really inspires me.  Some of them (like the one below that I saw today) are also animated, which makes the 3D effect even more compelling.

This short video by PGK Studios, a company based in Spain, looks like it was designed to sell blinds and shades.  But I’m more impressed by the beautiful home rendering.

They have more yummy stuff on their website.  Enjoy!


August 2010 from PGK Studios on Vimeo.

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