Architectural Visualization

Camera Match-Moves and Live-Action Integration

The video posted on YouTube (click on the image below right) shows examples of James Rowell's work on various architectural visualization projects. These shots were produced for clients needing aerial footage of future building sites for a variety of reasons such as presentations to local oversight committees and government permitting-agencies, as well as promotional videos for sales offices and web sites.

Orange Imagination & Concepts (OIC) specializes in (but is not limited to) the following areas when undertaking such architectural visualization projects:

• Directing shots on set from within the helicopter and on the ground;
• Creating the 3d camera match-moves (the step that creates the virtual-camera in the computer that mimics the motion of the real camera);
• Lighting and rendering the 3d model to match the live footage;
• Digitally compositing the computer renderings over the live footage to create the seamless final image.

In the sample video to the right, the wipes across the frame were created for the purpose of this demo reel in order to show what was added. Viewing the shots in their original form (without the wipes) it is virtually impossible to distinguish the CG apart from the background image; For example, prominent construction cranes were removed that poke up far beyond the border of the cg elements in several shots - see if you can find them.

Animation Production

Architectural visualization firms are usually strong when it comes to creating beautiful still images, but their abilities don't always translate to their animation projects - in some cases a discernable difference in quality can be observed between their still image production and animation production. While at Virtual Sciences, as the Visual Effects Director, James supervised improving the quality of all of VS's animation projects so the quality was at least as high as their still image production. It is well within the means of all architectural visualization firms to experience this same leap forward in animation production quality by contacting OIC to take advantage of our expertise.