Individual Milestone

As you will see from the various posts below in this blog I worked on the SituationENGINE project. The SituationENGINE is an environment where clients, students, architects, builders, or anyone can go to learn about the necessary processes involved in constructing a building. This environment is one that is virtual, interactive and informative in a way that you experience the same elements as if you were on a real site.

Our project delivers a number of things that could be useful to know about a certain construction. When in the SituationENGINE you are able to walk up to objects that you may not be familiar with and gain certain information about these. Information relating to the BCA (Building Code of Australia) and the NCC (National Construction Code) can be called to screen, the ability to measure certain elements is available and  the ability to see the stages of construction in order is also possible.

My Contribution

Over the course of the project I was involved in a few different areas to enable better work flow and progress. At the beginning of the project I was designated the ground work and slab area for modelling. This involved modelling the footings, the cages as part of the form work for the footings, the waterproof membrane layer, the chairs to support the form work for the slab, the form work itself, the timber framing which the concrete gets poured into to form the slab and the slab itself. I then also modeled the required plumbing for the ground floor amenities. With the little previous knowledge that I have of construction I also suggested and guided the other team members on what they were to model. When it came to importing the models into the SituationENGINE we found that my model had too many polygons and so I worked for quite a while with Fei trying to get these models into the Engine. After numerous hours of trial and error we eventually got the models into the Engine but the materials were then playing up on us. I helped the team with manually re-applying all the materials from inside CryENGINE.

Throughout the course of the project we have had to present on a number of occasions. Especially for the Intellectual Property presentation I was very much in control of organising the presentation and organised a few team meetings where I did my best to explain the different areas of Intellectual Property. I provided the other team members with information on specific topics and designated a topic to each team member. We had a few trial presentations and I helped where needed.

For the final presentation of the project I am again organising the prezi and the content that we will present on.

Time Lapse Videos

Getting my model of the base structure from 3dsMax to SketchUp was quite annoying as the model would not import at once. There were too many polygons for SketchUp to handle and it would crash each time at around 65% when importing. I had to find a way of reducing the polygon count and I did so with a quick Google search. I found a plugin called polygon cruncher (this can be found using the link below). This worked quite well as I was now able to import the model into SketchUp

http://www.mootools.com/plugins/us/polygoncruncher/



In this video I am modelling the plumbing for the downstairs amenities. As you can see it took quite a while to get it right. I had to watch a number of tutorials in order to complete this part. By the end of this video the plumbing is almost complete for the ground level.

At the beginning of this time lapse video I am attempting to export from 3dsMax to CryENGINE 3 but failed to do so. I continue to model the plumbing until complete. After completing the modelling I import it to SketchUp.

In this Time Lapse video I test whether or not the chairs that support the formwork will export from SketchUp to CryENGINE 3 as I have previously had problems exporting them due to their high polygon count. All seems to be fine as you can see the chair imported fine. Only problem is that I will have to export them one at a time which will be a very long process.

In this video I am preparing the components ready to be exported to the CryENGINE. The computer freezes for quite a while so click the button on the screen to skip through that.

In this time lapse video there were problems with the scale therefore had to re-scale the model to fit in with the rest of the building. This took quite some time as SketchUp kept cashing when ever I tried to save the file meaning I also had to turn auto save off.

In this time lapse video I test my model in CryENGINE and successfully get all components exported from SketchUp.



In this time lapse video I was attempting to fix a bunch of problems that we were having with our model and getting it into the Engine. I didn't end up using anything that I did in this video.



In this time lapse video I am working on configuring the materials in the CryENGINE as some did not come through properly from SketchUp and arranging the model in the SituationENGINE.



In this video I am sorting out more issues with the materials and arranging the model into the landscape of the SituationENGINE. There are still some material and placement issues to sort out but most of it is completed.



This is a video of me working in the SituationENGINE with Fei continually coming to me with some input and direction. You can also see Fei walking around checking on everyone in the group to make sure everyone is working well. 



In this video I spend quite a while taking screen shots of the model as it would be constructed. This was somewhat hard to do as the polygon count held me back from copying the model enough times. As the model of the building is arranged in components according to the type of material and not necessarily the stage of construction some parts are not in the exact placement of order of construction.



In this time lapse video I am finishing off the Final Presentation

Week 9 - 10

CONFLICT PRESENTATION

Group 1

The Presentation given was very straight forward and basic for the whole class to understand. It communicated clearly what conflict is and the different types of conflict. They also went into describe the different ways to go about resolving situations where conflict arises. 

Week 8 - Presentation

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

This week there were two groups to present on IP (Intellectural Property).

One of the groups being mine.

Below is a copy of the presentation

Geriambiance Presentation Review

Their presentation on Intellectual Property differed from ours quite significantly. The main focus of their presentation was to explain what intellectual property issues they were having or would have to deal with within their current project. Although they did go into some detail about what intellectual property is and the different types of intellectual property I feel as though some group members lacked own knowledge. The reason I say this is because some group members were just simply reading of a sheet of paper which suggests that they have little knowledge on the topic. 

The presentation itself lacked in quality. The presentation was done in Power Point and was not very engaging, the colours did not work well together. On top of this there was a lot of text and not many pictures at all. 

Overall it was a sound presentation on intellectual property but they did a very good job at explaining IP issues that they would have to face if they were to take on this project in the real world.

Week 7 - Presentation Preperation

PRESENTATION - COMMUNICATION

Unfortunately due to another courses requirements I was away in Canowindra for this class meaning I missed the presentation on communication.

Below is a Letter explaining and confirming my absence.

As my group is presenting on Intellectual Property next week we have to get prepared. As I have previous experience and already know a fair amount on the topic I am taking the lead at getting this presentation organised. We have organised to meet up two times over the next week where I will go through the basic of Intellectual Property with the other team members so as they can try get a better understanding of the topic.

Week 6 - Themes of collaboration

PLANNING PRESENTATION

This week the presentation was done by 3RDiConstruct and they presented on the topic of Planing. Throughout their presentation they explained in detail different strategies and techniques of planning.

The clarity of the presentation was average as there was a lot of text with only a few images to break it up and give the eyes a rest. The presentation was given using the 'prezi' tool which could have been utilised better as it is a tool that helps engage the audience, however this was somewhat not achieved to the fullest extent.


PROGRESS

Week 5 - Progress Update

This week there is no class as it is the FBE non teaching week but I have continued to work on modelling the concrete slab.

So far what has been completed:

• Construction Formwork
• Waterproof Membrane
• Reinforcement (Cages for strip footing)
• Reinforcement support chairs for the reinforcement bars

What is still yet to be completed:

• Finish off the reinforcement bars
• Pipework for the wet areas on ground floor.

Below is a couple of screen shots of the progress in 3dsMax.

Week 4 - Group Meeting

This week I continued with the modelling of the base form work and slab section. Below I have added in a few screen shots of where I am up to.

In the above photos I have shown where I am currently up to with the modelling of the base concrete slab. So far in these progress shots I have used 3dsMax to model the formwork in the strip footings and the water proof sheeting. A few measurements may need to be adjusted but will wait until it has been tested out in the cryEngine. In the above photos the framing and form work have been put in place as well as the water proof sheeting. Next up will be the rest of the formwork in the slab.

As a group in yesterdays class we had a discussion and decided that in order to speed up this modelling process we each needed to take on a role in the modelling stage. Having this discussion has changed our whole time line for the project. We have categorised the modelling into different parts and they are as follows:

• Base Structure and other elements
• Internal Stud walls
• External Walls
• Flooring
• Roofing

Week 3 - BACK BRIEF

Today In class we had to present our BACK BRIEF as a group. The point of this was to check each group understood what it was they were meant to be doing and what was required from them. Below is the presentation that our team gave to the class.

Through the preparation of this presentation we established our roles and objectives for this project. I have been put in charge of overseeing the modelling stage of this assignment. I also took it upon myself to start setting up an organised way to manage our files through the use of DropBox. 

In terms of communicating between each other we have set up a Facebook group so that we can remain in contact at all times. This week we also set up our Wiki page. Link to be provided. 

Once we had distinguished each of our roles I decided to get started into researching the way in which a concrete slab would be constructed in Australia according to BCA and standards. The site which the standard Revit model is on is quite similar to the site of which my house is on and with it only being constructed recently I decided to look back through photographs to see how it was done. Below are photographs of the form work and slab being constructed. 

From the use of these photos and previous knowledge I began to set up and model the framework for the concrete slab. 

Week 2 - Project Allocation

SITUATION ENGINE

During today's class we were placed into groups and given more detailed information about what was required for each project. As a group we discussed our strengths and weaknesses in the programs that were going to be used. From that discussion we talked about possible roles that each of us could take on and the focus/aim of our project.

As a team we had to come up with a team name and a logo for our team. During the class we decided that we wanted to have a name that related to what we were doing. IA was the name we decided to use, Interactive Architecture. I then went home and spent some time coming up with a few logo ideas.

Week 1 - Introduction to ARCH1392

In today's class we were provided back ground information on each of the upcoming projects that we were about to take part in. We were asked to provide a CV and a Cover Letter stating our Strengths and Skills so that we could be divided into groups for the projects. Below is a link to my CV.

http://www.gamefront.com/files/23043218/z3378073MatthewCowle_CV.zip