Book Image

Unity for Architectural Visualization

By : Stefan Boeykens
Book Image

Unity for Architectural Visualization

By: Stefan Boeykens

Overview of this book

Architects have always relied on drawings, renderings, and sometimes even movies to present their design concepts to clients, contractors, and other stakeholders. The accessibility of current game engines provides new and exciting possibilities to turn any design into an interactive model that anyone can experience at their own pace. "Unity for Architectural Visualization" explains how you can create compelling, real-time models from your 3D architectural project. Filled with practical tips and in-depth information, this book explains every step in the process, starting from the very basics up to custom scripts that will get you up to the next level. This book begins with a general overview of the Unity workflow for architectural models. You will start with a simple project that lets you walk around in your design using basic Unity tools and methods. You will then learn how to easily get convincing lightning effects on your scene. You will then set up a basic navigation system in your project, and not only this; you will also cover some tips and tricks to take navigation to the next level. You will quickly learn how to fine-tune the shaders and how to set up materials that are a bit more advanced. Even when you finish Unity for Architectural Visualization, this book will make scripting easier with reusable examples of scripts that can be applied in most projects. After reading this book, you will be comfortable enough to tackle new projects and develop your own.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
Unity for Architectural Visualization
Credits
About the Author
Acknowledgement
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Acknowledgement

This book was a culmination of three years of teaching Unity, learning alongside my students, who weren't always keen on learning "gaming technology" as future professional architects. I thank them for their openness and critical standing, as long as everybody stays positive and constructive. There is more to life than 2D drafting, after all.

I learned a lot from online forums and some of the other Packt Publishing books on Unity, with a special mention to Will Goldstone. I was also inspired by the work of Jon Brouchoud on archvirtual.com, and got some valuable advice from Ivan De Boi and Pieter Jorissen from Karel de Grote University College in Antwerp, and from discussions with former students of mine Thomas Van Bouwel and Berno Bosch on the use of Unity. Several master students are currently applying Unity in some form or other for their master theses, which means I can teach and learn at the same time. The attention to one of my papers on digital reconstruction and the use of game engines was also a clear sign of a growing interest in this subject.

I thank Packt Publishing, especially Akash Poojary and Meeta Rajani, for this opportunity and hope that you, the reader, will really gain something from this book. Sincere thanks to Pieter Jorissen and Sebastian Koenig for their constructive and detailed review. I even learned a thing or two that wasn't clear to me before. Please send me examples of what you were able to accomplish from this.

Finally, I have to express my gratitude to my wife and my three sons, for their support, their love, and their patience. Life in our house is often hectic and time is precious but limited. It is so inspiring to see the unlimited creativity and openness of young children and how they adapt to technology and new concepts. There is no limit to what they would like to create, be it with Lego bricks or in drawings and improvised constructions using whatever they can find in and around the house.

Thank you, all.