Converted | The Foundry

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My initial idea was the concept of democratized access to sophisticated tools, both hardware and software, which could be easily shared in an open, collaborative workspace by creatives. I thought it matched the main theme rather nicely as one of many examples of how disrupted modern lives are, stuck in a perpetual loop of constant fluctuations, changes and conversions. While I was mainly looking at the context of art and creativity, several associations with industrial revolutions came to mind right away, hence, for the background of the scene I picked an old industrial building, typical for a 19th and 20th century warehouse, factory or foundry. I then filled the space with arrays of little customizable offices and workshops, with robotic arms augmenting artists’ tool- and skill-sets. Such a setup was then fueled with the most valuable resources of current and future times – data. That’s how the data crunching clusters were introduced in the middle of the foundry, as a beating heart that keeps everything in motion. Then, as a juxtaposition and balance to the information cloud packaged in the silicon, I put another totem of power, more tangible, probably more powerful too – a giant old tree, dead in fact and yet still dominant, hovering over modest lounge garden, almost residual. Finally I decided that in this version of the future nature had to be reconstructed and revitalized, rebuilt bit by bit in a chain of biome dioramas which would then return to the original environment and convert it back it its primal state.

For the final output I decided to utilize all the potential of real time graphics, specifically in Unreal Engine 4. I produced a set of still images, an animation, a walkthrough video and a real time experience. Images are presented right below and the remaining content is accessible via provided links. I hope you will all enjoy it.

Animation:

Walkthrough:

Application:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10pvYC09lP2_LtPuTrb5AJlI5RxkOtDSe/view?usp=sharing

DISCLAIMER:
This project was design with Realtime Ray Tracing in mind, therefore a suitable GPU is required to experience it properly. Also, it is strongly recommended to use Nvidia’s DLSS 2.0, which implies using some of the latest Nvidia drivers. It is, however, possible to explore the project without RTX goodness, although the experience will be of lower fidelity and most likely with very low frame rate.
I would suggest sticking to resolutions around 1080p with DLSS set to Quality or 1440p and DLSS set to Performance. If you would like to try it in 4K – definitely go with the ultra DLSS settings.
Expected framerate should be around 30-60 fps.

Converted | The Foundry

/in , , , /by

My initial idea was the concept of democratized access to sophisticated tools, both hardware and software, which could be easily shared in an open, collaborative workspace by creatives. I thought it matched the main theme rather nicely as one of many examples of how disrupted modern lives are, stuck in a perpetual loop of constant fluctuations, changes and conversions. While I was mainly looking at the context of art and creativity, several associations with industrial revolutions came to mind right away, hence, for the background of the scene I picked an old industrial building, typical for a 19th and 20th century warehouse, factory or foundry. I then filled the space with arrays of little customizable offices and workshops, with robotic arms augmenting artists’ tool- and skill-sets. Such a setup was then fueled with the most valuable resources of current and future times – data. That’s how the data crunching clusters were introduced in the middle of the foundry, as a beating heart that keeps everything in motion. Then, as a juxtaposition and balance to the information cloud packaged in the silicon, I put another totem of power, more tangible, probably more powerful too – a giant old tree, dead in fact and yet still dominant, hovering over modest lounge garden, almost residual. Finally I decided that in this version of the future nature had to be reconstructed and revitalized, rebuilt bit by bit in a chain of biome dioramas which would then return to the original environment and convert it back it its primal state.

For the final output I decided to utilize all the potential of real time graphics, specifically in Unreal Engine 4. I produced a set of still images, an animation, a walk-through video and a real time experience. Images are presented right below and the remaining content is accessible via provided links. I hope you will all enjoy it.

Animation:

Walk-through:

Application:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10pvYC09lP2_LtPuTrb5AJlI5RxkOtDSe/view?usp=sharing

DISCLAIMER:
This project was designed with Realtime Ray Tracing in mind, therefore suitable GPU is required to experience it properly. Also, it is strongly recommended to use Nvidia’s DLSS 2.0, which implies using some of the latest Nvidia drivers. It is possible to explore this project without RTX goodness, although the experience will be of lower fidelity and most likely with very low frame rate.
Personally I would suggest sticking to resolutions around 1080p with DLSS set to Quality or 1440p and DLSS set to Performance. If you would like to try it in 4K – definitely go with the Ultra DLSS settings.
Expected framerate should be around 30-60 fps.

Bellevue Beach – Wellness Center

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The site is located north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is a a beautiful building from the 1930’s, originally designed by the renowned Danish architect Arne Jacobsen.

I believe that restorations or repurposing of existing buildings is a very subtle art, it is important to come up with a concept that will both respect the original design and add some well deserved functionality to it. This is why many of the changes done are carefully fitted within the existing layout, with no major changes to the structure and the essence of the building itself. Luckily for me, the interior of the building was mostly empty, so organizing the space once I figured out what I envisioned was relatively easy. The exterior is in part restored to it’s original form or very similar to what it was; white panels with thin gaps and white metal windows, but this time I used the modules and the rhythm to create “frames” that emphasize the surrounding landscape (most notably the massive frame facing the sea, where the yoga/meditation practices would take place). As a final touch and to highlight the purpose of the new building, I kept the original standing clock and restored it, but removed the needles. There is also a number of small support modules along the beach that go together with the main building, these are also restored and modified to fit the new criteria and aesthetic, using the “frame” shape as the tying element of the group.

This is an area that people already use a lot for activities related to contemplation, meditation, and appreciation of the landscape. Since I thought this is an excellent aspect to focus and promote (specially after such a grueling last year for tons of people) designing a multi-purpose-wellness-focused building seemed like a sensible approach.

For the creation of this project I used geodata from the Danish government to create a landscape mesh in 3ds Max, then I modeled the rough shapes of the buildings and started sculpting the details. I used Unreal Engine 4.26 as my main tool for visualization, so my workflow was mainly modeling in 3ds Max, then texturing using the Substance Suite (I have to say I’m shocked how easy and intuitive it was to use, specially Alchemist to make textures like the sand, which I made merging many pictures I took on site), and then straight to Unreal. Most of the assets on the scene I modeled and textured from scratch, save a few ones, like the Quixel rocks at the shore and some other nature assets.

ANIMATION LINK

https://sendgb.com/1hTnZv9RcMj

REAL TIME LINK

https://sendgb.com/Z5Y3hp8urLS

REAL TIME Pre recorded footage LINK

https://sendgb.com/l9T87e2diOb

CABINS / pjmielnik : final entry

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Yulio link: https://www.yulio.com/2f6STII6LZ

This is my final entry. As I wrote in the first one, the goal for me, besides creating good quality pictures, was to use this challenge as a motivation to learn Unreal Engine. For me it was also the first time working with Megascans to this extend.
I made two 360 panoramas that show the cabin from two different perspectives. The Tower Studio was designed by Saunders Architecture and it is located on the Fogo Island. I tried to make both panoramas very different from each other and show not only how the building’s shape changes according to where it’s seen from but also how much the island’s landscape can vary.
Additionaly I made a couple of screenshots that show some interesting details. I didn’t do any post processing in Photoshop, all pictures and the panoramas are straight from Unreal Engine.
It was a great learning experience for me and I think I am quite happy with the results. I am still a beginner with Unreal but I think I managed to touch it’s potential and will continue learning it.
Thanks to Ronen for the challenge, I had a lot of fun.