Access the Best Articles about Architectural Visualization. Learn about all aspects of crafting images that tell stories.
Making Of's Case Studies WorkflowsShare your work and get immediate appreciation through discussion, feedback, and a possible nomination for the…
A weekly experiment, exploring the creative minds in Architectural Visualization and more. Find out what makes us all tick and push the limits.
Listen Now! Subscribe on iTunesOut with the old and in with the new! In Converted, I’m asking you to take an in-depth look at existing architecture near you or one you love worldwide and introduce something new.
See Entries & Join! About Converted
I’ve started to identify specific repeating elements throughout exterior and interior as I begin blocking out the building. Starting with the exterior façade; roof and interior will soon follow. I intend to bring them into the engine for assessment once the building itself is set.
The Great Dragon 
The current progress shows roughly 40-50% of the exterior façade blocked out this weekend with wire color depicting instanced meshes. I hope most, if not all, of the exterior can be blocked by next week before any work on the interior. Nothing fancy with these, pretty basic modeling process. The stone details are just guides for now as I utilize reference photos to achieve some level of accuracy.
Another night of update. West wing (visitor’s entrance) and general roof structure are now blocked out along with adjustments to previously modeled façade elements. Some holes to be filled out in the upcoming updates, e.g. fenestrations, eaves, etc.
An modeling update showing progress on the adjacent buildings outside of the compound, laying out utility facilities on site, and working through the fenestrations. I started with the west wing since most details are concentrated here with metal bars and main entrance; but, the plan is to work around through the building facades on the other wings tomorrow.
A few things that need attention include by not limited to:
One of the challenges I knew I had to deal with from the start was working with limited references. Site information, in particular, was lacking despite my effort collecting from public domain; therefore, some estimates and eyeballing had to be made in order for me to keep pushing forward.
Here is a quick camera match I mocked up during the process. The intention wasn’t to produce the most accurate photo match but to assist in figuring out the location of utility buildings around the compound (smoke stacks, sheriff’s residence, etc). You can see some minor discrepancies, but I know it’s a compromise I had to make given lack of information on hand. The focus is the building and the interior, so a 5 minutes attempt should be sufficient to get the lay of the land.
Continuing with more railing work.
haha, they are actually Unreal mannequins from in-engine, but i think i will start calling them iron man from now on