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

Summary


In this chapter we have talked about the Unity Asset-based workflow. Getting this workflow organized properly is required for working efficiently.

Many architectural projects start from a 2D CAD drawing, in which case there is little you can do inside Unity. If you have a 3D model, made in 3D CAD or BIM software, it is still advised to use a DCC application to pass the model through, to allow fine-tuning of the conversion. At best, this supports a workflow where changes to the design model can still be incorporated in the real-time model, without losing applied interaction inside Unity.

We explained common problems and pitfalls, and collected several tips: apply supported software workflows and formats, use meters as units, set up normals correctly, always apply textures, export models in chunks, and avoid excessive geometry.

Further chapters will explain the actual process in more detail, from simply getting started, to full control over graphic quality and interaction.

So without further delay, fire up your modeling software of choice and ensure you have a copy of Unity installed and activated, either the free or the pro-version. In the next chapter, we will load our project in Unity and add the necessary interactivity to walk around in real-time with very little effort, using functions that are installed with Unity.