Week 8: Themes of Collaboration

Group Presentation 3: Intellectual Property (Interactive Architecture & GeriAmbiance ) 

For this weeks group presentations, two groups presented on the same topic of Intellectual Property. I found both groups to convey different ideas on the topic which kept both presentations interesting. 

Interactive Architecture took the conventional approach discussing terms and defining intellectual property by breaking it down into these categories:

• Patents 
• Trademarks 
• Designs 
• Copy-Right 
• Other such as Domains, Common law and Circuit Layouts    

Interactive Architecture used various specific example which was good when differentiating the types of intellectual property. These example included the Toyota Hybrid, Apples Retina Display and the apple vs Samsung law suit which were all patents. These real example were most engaging and images accompanied on slides clearly portrayed what they were talking about. Images however where not referenced. 

GeriAmbiance with the second presentation took a very different approach by relating Intellectual property to their project. They proposed as if their project was a running business and the problems/opportunities they would face. For example when using things such as the Microsoft Kinect you need authorisation from its owners (microsoft). Also when using the Crysis SDK the user must also download copies to view projects as you do not have the right to ship and version out. An important point was put forward to Investigate into these permissions. The slides and images were not engaging and not really any example shown on screen. 

Week 7: Themes of Collaboration

Group Presentation 2: Planning (Shades of Black) 

Great presentation, good use of minimal text on prezzi slides. Each group member had a clear format and topic.

Communication is the fluent exchange of ideas and information. Group was very interesting as they are using their project as a public communication tool. They can even see people communicating with them simply by blogger views or You-tube hits. Communication therefore doesn’t have to be a written language.  

Communication was broken down into 4 main parts

1. Responsibilities
2. Methods
3. Longevity
4. Integrity

The group expanded on these well and made me re-think what communication really was, especially in the long run far after the project has finish. Thinking about what you leave behind is very important in a group project.

Images are sourced correctly through slides.

Overall the group developed an understanding of communication that didn’t stop in their immediate group after the process of the project finished. They are just as much focused on communicating a good image and integrity by doing their work to a high standard. They are also working towards the longevity of the project so it effectively becomes a resource for others .

Great use of Video interviews and time lapse of the deconstruction of the Honda CB150. Interviews however seemed staged and always looking down away from camera. 

Individual Major Milestone 

Week 7: Timber Model ( Terrain, Post Grid, Anchors, Post, Bearers, Joists ) 

Terrain Types

I have created 3 separate terrain models in Sketch-Up so that in Cry-engine there is a clear process of preparing the land for the buildings/footings. As you can see there is the original land form followed by an excavated version and finally a terrain model with footings dug out.

 Grid

This is the first Grid I proposed to the group for the wooden posts, beams and rafters placement. This was just a rough estimate using the same slab outline from the Concrete model. After talking with Salli she cross referenced this model with specific standards and told me the correct distances and dimensions of beams,rafters and posts. There are alot of changes to the model such as more posts, double beams and the balcony support posts pushed back so that they don't interfere with the footings of the patio. 

Anchors 

http://www.pryda.com.au/

http://www.pryda.com.au/

This is the post anchor I have decided we will be using to secure timber posts into the ground/earth. It is a High Wind Post anchors as aposed to the other above. The technical dimesions of these anchors are found in the Pryda's March Brochure. Pryda has been an integral part of the building industry in Australia for over 40 years, particularly in timber truss and frame solutions with the development of a diverse range of timber connectors and structural brackets. 

Posts 
 
150x150 locked securely onto anchors 

Bearers/Beams 

75x300 Bearers are then secured to posts using nail plates. May need to ad groves in the post with bolts to make a stronger connection 

  Joists

45 x 240 Joist are placed 450 apart

 Retaining Wall  

Final Model Sent to CryEngine 

Week 7: Concrete Model ( Terrain, Concrete Footings, Rebar and Slab ) 

Terrain Types

I have created 3 separate terrain models in Sketch-Up so that in Cry-engine there is a clear process of preparing the land for the buildings/footings. As you can see there is the original land form followed by an excavated version and finally a terrain model with footings dug out.


Rebar and Concrete Footings 

At this stage of creating the rebars as cylinders I experienced problems exporting them to Cryengine. The geometry was not being exported correctly and sometimes not exporting at all !  due to the extreme amount of polygons

This is why I changed the shape of the rebars to a square and then rounded its edges. This significantly reduced the amount of polygons and their was no trouble exporting to Cry-engine. Little things like this have to be resolved so that you can quickly move on with the project  

Correct spacing was made between rings around the steel. This is to the set standard as told to me by Salli. 600mm is the max distance. 

Floor Slab and Rebar 

Final Model sent to CryEngine 

ARCH1392 Collaboration Studio

Week 6: Planning Presentation

Quality Criteria 

Leading on from the established outputs, when planning we also need to consider the quality of these outputs. Quality is the bar set so that outputs are at a set standard. So you’re probably wondering how we determine the quality or standard of work?

First of all we define what quality is as this will lead to success and completion of the project. Quality is defined by these 5 SMART principles.

• Specific – Clearly defined and precise 
• Measurable – Manage resources, measures for success 
• Attainable – Don’t ask for the impossible 
• Relevant – Always relate back to the aim of the project 
• Time based – Make sure you have enough time to achieve all outputs/aims of the project 

Never promise things without considering the costs - Should consider the people doing the work as they will have an input too. The quality criteria should therefore not be written up by one person but rather a team effort where everyone offers their involvement and feedback

Evaluation of these principles at every milestone of the project will save arguments over the lack of quality produced at the end of the project.

Relation Back to 3rdiConstruct

Relating this to our group project Quality criteria is a very important step in our planning process. As a team we have already dealt with many of these principles and addressed them such as being specific. We are clearly defining and even redefining our specific tasks each week making it relevant to the project aim and objectives. Next we have measurable. Aims and objectives must be set in concrete with measures in order to achieve them. Measures We have set up are primarily by all of us is having the correct programs and plugins (Cryengine, 3dsmax, Sketchup) , resources (situation engine example ) and information (BCA Standards, Australian Standards, Construction Books) needed in order to complete the task. This all comes together on our wiki and weakly meeting we attend. We then have been attainable by limiting ourselves to showing two kinds of constriction methods for time based reasoning and so we can achieve the objectives with high quality criteria. We also set attainable goals for each of our skills sets, for example Tim is great in Crysis so there is not point getting him to do research in BCA standards if he is much more efficient with crisis.

Milestones 

Here we need to think about how we will divide the project in stages. Most projects are quite large so it needs to be deconstructed into discrete sections where related tasks are bundled. This makes project as a whole more achievable and even quality criteria more easily evaluated. A milestone is what is achieved after completing the bundle of task involved in a stage. Overall milestones serve for two reasons 

1. Break the project down – so you know when sections are complete 
2. Manage – Allows you to effectively set time for each stage and got back and evaluate or see where things went wrong. 

Relation Back to 3rdiConstruct

With our project Milestones play a vital role in our progress. We have divided our project into four stages so that there is a clear break down on what to do in a set time period. We each once assigned our roles work together to achieve a stage at a time. We are currently piecing together all of our individual work for stage one (Terrain and foundations) so that our first milestone is achieved. This will then allow us to move on to the next stage and to evaluate or see where we have gone wrong so that we can go back and fix things. I have personally learnt this as after group meetings and evaluations and finishing my work I learn that it could be done a different way and go back and change things so that they are correct. 

References

http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/project-plans-10-essential-elements.html

http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/project-planning.html

ARCH1392 Collaboration Studio

Week 5: Understanding foundations and land-form progress

Due to errors exporting from max to CryEngine 3 the terrain was modeled in Sketch-up. Play Up tools offers a far better collision tool set than max which was needed to be able to walk on a non linear surface. I could not resolve the issues i was having with degenerate surfaces error in max and did not want to waist anymore time. I need to see how it would look in the engine so that i could show other group members and make any changes necessary.

• Uncut terrain 

Terrain before any excavation takes place. I created the terrain around the original model so that all windows and access points are not covered.  

• Cut (no fill) 

The Land form after excavation and trenches for footings dug out. Slope around excavated area is set to 30 degrees so that the land does not cave in and his held back by its own weight. There is also a 2 m walk way around footing so their is enough room for workers and slope terrain does not run off into the trenches.   

• Steel post with concrete pad 

Research into Timber post construction

This is just a draft stage testing ways the timber construction of the Default Revit model within the construction methods of an Australian context.  

Concrete pad footings with steel post anchor to support timber posts. Grid was created according to the original rivet model around  5 m apart.  

Timber posts are then secured into anchors with bolts so that the timber beams can be supported. 

Timber beams are secured to posts ( yet to model the correct detail according to BCA) which will support horizontal rafters.

Rafters are then placed 300 mm appart in a range of lengths that span the floor area and veranda. 

ARCH1392 Collaboration Studio

Week 4: Creating land-forms for CryEngine 3 

In order to show the construction of the house my job in the group was to show the terrain before, during and after excavation. 3 forms need to be created such as 

• Uncut terrain 
• Cut (no fill) 
• Steel post with concrete pad 

Each of the terrain is modeled as a separate component so that in Cry Engine a Flow graph can control its placement at various points in time.  

This task involves researching these methods of construction and modelling in detail what the terrain would look like at these various stages. The foundations are the building block for the rest of the project and as the entire point of our project is to show the comparison of construction methods this is a vital first step.   

While attending group meetings and speaking to Salli which knows all about BCA Standards i was able to understand how to properly model the terrain. For example there must be a 30 degree slope on all walls of the excavation so that the slope is supported and doesn't slide in.

After I have finalized the terrain Tim can then match the existing terrain in CryEngine 3   

ARCH1392 Collaboration Studio

Week 3: Focus spent on the link between 3Ds Max to CryEngine 3 

I discovered this last week that any modelling in max need to be in CM UNITS ! So you need to set up units before any modeling is done 

This is because Cryengine only looks at the number and assumes the unit of measurement is cm (found this out as a 100m x 100m box in max was the equivalent to a 1m x 1m box in cryengine 

I also finally finished a tutorial which explained to me the following 

> Create high quality textures in max that carry through to the engine. 

> Allow your object to have a proximity barrier so you done just walk through it. This was the main reason for me doing this as we need to have objects that we can walk on, or stop us. In max it is very important to apply a material that is a multi/sub (both and diffuse bitmap and proxy subs) with cryshader parameters.

> Learnt that all files created and named need to be the same and placed within the same folder within the engine.

for example if your creating a wall there will be these types of files named accordingly

wall.cgf

wall.dds

wall.max

wall.mtl

wall.tiff

>This folder is in GAME>OBJECTS>YOURFOLDER.

I Pretty much resolved issues I was having with exporting models from max to the engine, Quite a few plugins are needed such as: 

CryEngine 3 exporter for max 

CryTiff plugin for Photoshop - ( allows you to create own textures and apply them to max model which the engine recognizes) 

The tutorial i found useful was - 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgPJjWkLAdo

And this tutorial series 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijUiecfj2w0