BY A STUDENT FROM TAYLOR'S UNIVERSITY
Computer Applications
Project 1
Revit Modelling & Documentation
Both projects for this module are inter-related. The first part required us to create a Revit model and documentation sheet of our Architecture Design III building, to get us trained and familiar with the program and understand the importance of building information-based software. No longer were we limited to what we could do on physical paper, but now we were able to learn how to harness the potential of such a powerful digital tool as Revit.
Project 2
Exterior & Interior Renderings
The second part of the project was smaller but required us to take the model from Project 1 and render it in 3DS Max. Aside from familiarizing us with the program, it helped us to understand how to arrange and compose a pleasing photo/render graphic, as well as encourage the use of post-production software such as Photoshop to pretty up our images.
The progress of both projects are recorded together in the section below, as part of our assignment requirements.
Project 1 - Work-in-Progress
For this project, we were tasked with creating a building model in Revit that complied with LOD 200 requirements. The model was to be a scale reproduction of the design outcome of our Architectural Design III Project 2A individual submission.
The following pictures document the progress of the model and the stages it went through to reach its final form.
October 25 2021 - Wall Placements (2)
Placement of the basic exterior walls of the structure, to carve out the general form first.
October 25 2021 - Upper Floor Placements (4)
The creation of the upper floors, before connecting them with more custom ramps.
October 27 2021 - Addition of External Pathways (6)
The external pathways were added and the gateway underneath was cut out of the wall.
October 28 2021 - Creation of Doc Sheets (8)
Creation of documentation sheets. The floor plans and roof plan were the first to be inserted.
October 28 2021 - Exploded View and Room Schedule Sheets (10)
Creation of the exploded isometric view and the room schedule list, with area tabulation.
October 28 2021 - Callout Annotations (12)
Text annotations were added to the callouts for both sections.
November 25 2021 - Trees and Benches (14)
Added a few benches on the topmost level and some trees in the surroundings.
November 25 2021 - Import into 3DS Max, Placing Cameras (16)
The model has been exported as an FBX file and placed into the 3DS Max platform. A camera and sun positioner was placed into the views.
November 25 2021 - Render Outcome (18)
Render exported. A background needs to be added.
November 25 2021 - Interior Edit Testing (20)
I proceeded to move on to the interior rendering. I liked this view from the seating section looking towards the outside so I went with this view.
November 25 2021 - Interior Render Post Edit (22)
Background site added to the interior render, as well as humans for scale.
October 25 2021 - Initial Mass Import (1)
A mockup mass was created in SketchUp prior to the modelling to allow for a general idea of the form to be understood. This would allow for precise measurements to be used and to check the scale of the final outcome.
October 25 2021 - Use of Ramp Family Component (3)
The first use of the Revit ramp family to connect the ground level to the first level of the structure. The ramp was given a custom maximum length to reach the upper level.
October 26 2021 - Editing Wall Profiles, Completion of Ramps (5)
The walls were cut and edited to follow the desired form of the model and all necessary ramps were placed.
October 27 2021 - Roofs and Seating Area (7)
The roofs were placed and the seating area was added.
October 28 2021 - Elevation Documentation (9)
Elevation sheet creation.
October 28 2021 - Sections and Callouts Sheet (11)
The section views were created along with their corresponding callouts, and placed in a new documentation sheet.
Project 2 Work in Progress
November 25 2021 - Site Addition (13)
The earlier part of Project 1 had been submitted for evaluation and there was a breakpoint in which I had to focus on my other architecture modules. I returned to Project 2 of this module today, beginning by adding a small site perimeter around my model in Revit.
November 25 2021 - Lighting and Editing Wall Profiles(15)
Added some gestures in the walls to allow sunlight in and some lamp posts/wall lights in the structure.
November 25 2021 - Render Testing (17)
The camera settings were tested and adjusted to make the render appear nice and proper.
November 25 2021 - Post Editing (19)
I decided to add a background of the site context, as well as some human figures for scale.
November 25 2021 - Interior Render Outcome (21)
The interior render was exported. It was time to move on to post-editing.
Project Model Documentation
3DS Max Final Renderings
Reflection
Honestly, I feel that my performance for both assignments in this module could have been significantly better.
I found it difficult to understand both programs at first, but thankfully was able to grow accustomed to Revit's complexity and potential to create intricate structures.
Even so, I cannot overstate how much of a learning curve I feel like I have to climb in order to truly become a master at the software. For now I am only able to create relatively modest and basic structures, but with increased usage in my next semesters I hope to be able to understand the program better and be able to produce results that I am truly proud of.
3DS Max was the much harder of the two computer applications to learn. The menu was incredibly daunting to navigate, and even after learning placement of sun positioners and camera views I struggled to get the desired render I wanted. My exposure would often be too high and tinkering with the camera options would yield mixed results.
It does not help that I felt as if my model from Project 1 was very basic and had a large amount of flaws such as incorrect room placement and missing lines. I attribute most of my underperformance in the module to being mentally daunted by both programs and also still being in the initial stage of exploring them at the completion of both assignments.
Overall,
I am at the very least grateful to have been introduced to these programs in my third semester. I feel as if I would have missed out on crucial skills in drawing conventions and board layout if I had learnt Revit in my first semester, so it was appropriate that we learnt to tackle physical mediums first as they had a much lower barrier of entry.
Even if I feel as if my project outcomes for this module were lackluster, there is still much time left in my course and after university for me to continue exploring both applications, to understand them better and therefore create more detailed structures than I could currently imagine. I understand that Revit and 3DS Max when in the right hands are extremely powerful in constructing architectural structures and drawings and I look forward to building my capabilities with them over time.
Skills I have built from this module include:
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Learning usage of building information software such as Revit and 3DS Max
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Adapting my drawing conventions and board arrangement from previous semesters to a digital medium
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Building confidence in approaching digital programs, and to feel less duanted when approaching seemingly insurmountable tasks (i.e. getting started in spite of fears that I may produce a bad outcome)