3D World magazine features Paramount Bay
04.20.2006

Architectural visualisation goes Hollywood in this stunning animation for the Paramount Bay development from Miami-based studio, SPINE3D.
By Mark Ramshaw

Buying property that hasn’t even been built has traditionally required a real leap of faith, but as architectural visualisation becomes ever more elaborate, potential purchasers are now more than merely well informed – they’re also entertained. It’s this ability to deliver animation and still renders combining architectural accuracy with visual fl air that has helped Miami’s Spine3D build up a client list that includes real estate giants such as Donald Trump and Arquitectonica in a short space of time. In fact, company founders Eddie Leon, Johann Beckford and Kevin M Smith only got together five years ago.

“I was training students in 3D visualisation at the Florida International University,” said Smith, the company Chairman. “Eddie was also at the University, while Johann was working at one of the largest architectural companies out there. We started working on more of a freelance basis, and then made a big jump in 2003, just as the market started to heat up.”

Smith said the fact that they possess architectural degrees, and a team well-versed in the art of animation, helps give them an advantage: “Many studios use general computer technologists, whereas all our staff are formally trained.”

The company’s use of freelance artists also sets it apart from the crowd. In addition to an in-house staff of 22, there’s also a worldwide talent base of almost 300 that the studio can call on. “It allows us to take advantage of diverse range of talents, customizing the team to suit each project,” said Smith. He pointed out that architectural firm tend to lack the firepower or capacity to create animation at the level required for marketing, and so find it easier to hand off this work to a specialized studio like Spine3D. “And because we often come onboard during the design development stage, we’re able to actively work with them,” he said. “Well start with the exterior, using a correctly scaled model to show them what the building will look like, and to make accurate adjustments. By placing a virtual camera inside, we can also help the interior designers.” For the animation created to help Royal Palm Developments promote its new Paramount Bay development, Spine3D used two different solutions. The first was to blend its CG version of the building with real footage of the Miami waterfront location. “We shot from a helicopter to get the environment, and then camera-matched with boujou,” explained COO, Johann Beckford. For lower-level shots, it wouldn’t have been possible to obtain live footage, so for these, and also for the night-time sequences, a virtual 3D environment was constructed around the main Paramount Bay model. “We took as many photos as possible, using these to create maps for buildings in the distance, and then we did a lot of shader work to match up the detail closer to camera,” explained Beckford.
 

TOOLS OF THE TRADE
With all modeling and animation carried out in 3ds Max (ensuring easy compatibility with AutoCAD), Spine3D rendered high-resolution stills with either V-Ray or Mental Ray, For animation such as Paramount Bay, the studio made use of Max’s own scanline render. “ We go in and place a lot of lights in the scene by hand, to fake the effects of global illumination while keeping the render time down,” revealed Beckford. “The night-time shots took the longest to put together, with more than 500 lights in some of those scenes.” Plug-ins helped further “humanize the animation, with Tree Strom used for modeling and animation of the flora and fauna, and Real People providing digital characters for the plaza and pool deck scenes. However, it’s the art direction as much as the 3D work that makes the animation such a successful sales tool. With its saturated colour schemes, vibrant musical score, quick camera cuts and dizzying views of the property and environs, the Paramount Bay animation sells the dream of the a sun-kissed, dynamic lifestyle as much as it does the actual real estate. “We wanted this to be more like movie trailer,” emphasized Beckford. “I don’t think it’s any coincidence that we had more freedom than ever with this particular client, and this is the animation that people have been most impressed by."