3d art

West Pier
In April 2009, F10 Studios was approached by Brighton’s
West Pier Trust to graphically restore the pier and provide
visualisations that illustrated the pier in its heyday. F10’s brief
was to capture the true beauty and romanticism of the much
loved piece of seaside architecture as it was in 1920. Creative
director Glen Bruckland said: “The first challenge was piecing
together the original plans and drawings, some dating back to
the 1860s. Some of these prints had not seen the light of day
in years, and the job of pulling all the information together was
a huge task in itself. Fortunately local structural engineering
firm HOP was also able to provide several digital drawings,
which assisted with the main structural modelling.
In order for the images to be convincing, a high level of
detail was essential. The West Pier Trust also provided plenty
of reference photography from the Twenties, which was vital
for adding all these details. In all it took over a month to
model, with detailing going down to individual nuts and bolts.”
Rachel Clark, general manager of the West Pier Trust, said:
“Being able to preserve and show off to a new generation this
wonderful part of British architectural history is extremely
important to us. The stunning visuals produced by F10 have
done just that, and we are looking forward to working with
them on future projects to help our cause.”
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Nick Homer: We aim to go the extra mile
with both stills and animations, creating
compelling imagery that assists architects
and developers all the way from concept
design through to successful bid
applications and marketing tools.
Is there are particular style or philosophy that
you bring to your projects?
NH: Understanding the key messages and
working out the most effective approach
to each individual project is vital.
We love to create punchy dynamic images
that stand out and grab your attention. To
make images convincing, the difference is
c
in the detail, and we strive to add as much
as possible in the timeframe.
Who are – or have been – some of your main
clients over the years?
NH: Our team has many years of experience
working with many UK and international
architects like Fosters, and has been a
helping hand in some very high profile
wining bids such as London 2012 and
Glasgow 2014. We have also worked together
with LCE Architects on a number of projects.
What is the most interesting/rewarding
architectural visualisation project you’ve
worked on?
NH: Our work last year with the West Pier
Trust, recreating the West Pier in Brighton,
was a very interesting and rewarding project.
It needed to be a very detailed model,
so there were plenty of 3D challenges like
modelling from 100-year-old design
sketches and worn-out black and white
reference photos, and creating many
weathered materials – quite complex V-Ray
blend materials were extensively used.
The reaction that the set of images
received from people, who were very
passionate about the pier, was incredible.
I think people are so used to seeing colour
photos or paintings of it burning down or in
tatters, that to see very positive images of
it in full glorious colour, as it used to be in
its heyday, was a very welcome change.
The goal was to help regenerate interest
in the Trust’s plight, and we feel we did.
What software tools do you regularly employ
and why?
NH: 3ds Max and V-Ray are our primary
weapons of choice and everything we do is
created by them – maybe with the odd help
from another plug-in or two.
We have all been using Max for many
years, and so it is second nature now. Like
most software, it likes to throw in
challenges from time to time, but on the
whole it is a very good bit of kit, and with V-
Ray on top, which has established itself as
the de facto standard in arch vis rendering,
we find we have a very effective tool set.
How many people typically work on
a project, either in-house or externally?
NH: A project can range from one person for
a day or two for a quick CGI, through to
collaboration between ten of us and other
companies in the area, lasting a month or
two. There are many creative companies
based around us, so there are always