Flexible Urban Modelling How to Guide

FLEXIBLE URBAN MODELLING

2019 'HOW TO' GUIDE JADE TAN (752875)

JADE TAN

4.0 Mapbox

1.1 Lattice Modifiers

4.1 Mapbox API tokens

1.2 Materials Editor

4.2 Loft/Lathe

1.3 OSM

4.3 Spacewarp

2.0 Urban Analysis

4.4 Terrain forming/Deformation

2.1 Greeble

5.0 Aurin to QGIS

2.2 Photogrammetry

6.0 ALA and Mapbox

3.0 Maproom Spatial Analysis

6.1 Tower-making, Hyperclone, Wire Parameters

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1.0 Introduction

1.0 3DS Max Introduction and Interface Quick Commands: -ALT+W to toggle viewports -ctrl+V to clone -F3/4 to toggle between wireframe and shaded/edged faces

PAN: hold and drag scroll wheel ORBIT: hold and drag scroll wheel + ALT Z to center an object into view, objects need Find this under

to be pre-selected before modify

“Tools”>”Scene Explorer”,

G to turn off grid

useful for closing layers/ changing visibilities

Difference between Copy, Instance and

First set up the correct units Make easy changes with parameters

Reference: -Copy: changing the master object will not change the copied object -Instance: any changes to the master object will affect what is cloned, and vice versa -Reference: changes only to ref. object, applies to modifiers after the object has been cloned

1.1 Lattice Modifier, from geosphere creation

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Add Mesh Select modifier. In 3DS Max, often need to open the drop-down menu to see other options: here to select faces to be further modified. Select faces you want to delete.

Always starting with a driver, we create a geosphere and select hemisphere.

Then create a reference copy, label it lattice and apply the lattice modifier. Make another reference for glazing.

Quick Commands: Hold shift/ctrl to select more than one face, and alt to deselect.

Changing number of divisions in geosphere driver will change the lattice version as well.

3 Cannot simply press the delete key, we need to tell Max to delete the mesh by the modifier: Delete Mesh

1.2 Materials and VRay Rendering Quick Commands: -M to bring up material editor

Rendering> Render Setup>Select Vray Next to indicate which renderer 3DS Max will use

Adjust refraction (more white) to give greater transparency

NOTE: Test render initially will run black; to create a scene, first select Vray Sun and place onto object. First point (circle) is the light source, the second is the target (where the light hits the object)

Select V-Ray Exposure Control, or the scene will become over-exposed. This default setting can be later adjusted by changing the exposure value. Ensure mode is in photographic.

1.3 Open Street Maps

Open Street Maps or OSM is an open source platform for collection of spatial data. Here we can trace out areas of buildings, parks and roads. After which the areas can be labelled and information on it provided and published.

Begin with information from Google Maps or nearmap (other websites with street/map data)

We used nearmap to estimate the heights of the building by measuring the shadows and elevation, and googlemaps to identify key building names.

2.1 GREEBLE, User Customization and Plug-Ins, Boolean Operations

http://max.klanky.com/plugins.htm (download Greeble 2020>extract files>save .dlm file in desktop)

Copy and Paste Greeble plug-in download here

GREEBLE

Adjust widgets to change shape of greeble

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Apply Greeble Modifier

1 Steps to Boolean: 1. Set up two intersecting spheres.

2. Select what is to be cut first.

3. Boolean operation is found under “Create”tab>”Geometry”>”Compound Objects”>pick a parameter (in this case, subtract).>”Add Operand” 4. Select cutting object to complete Boolean. Moving the bigger sphere around the smaller one (although it has disappeared) will change the position of the Boolean.

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Add Edit Poly Modifier and place it below Greeble. Turn off Greeble. Select Polygons under Edit Poly, and upon selecting Greeble again, only the selected polygons will be modified.

Edit Poly> Select Polygons>Find under “Polygon Modelling”> “Generate Topology” This divides the plane into more interesting shapes to be extruded.

Greeble applied only to selected shapes

Use Animate in Edit Poly, so that the settings can be easily changed after other modifiers have been applied Here Extrude and Bevel are applied

2.2 Photogrammetry Exercise with Agisoft Taking images (photogrammetry of site):

I used ScreentoGif to quickly capture images as I orbit in Google Maps.

Chosen software for photogrammetry: Agisoft

Drag and drop folder into Agisoft 121 images captured, selecting all of them and saving them into a folder.

Once images have been loaded, go to “Workflow” Tab> “Align Photos”>set to “high”

Once images have been aligned

Next step is to build dense cloud and mesh

Output as mesh:

Finally, we build texture and export model as a .obj file

Photogrammetry of site opened in Max as a terrain

3.0 MapRoom, using OSM data to construct site model

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After installing Maproom, we begin by looking for a location by name, here the site Ardeer. Maproom will not give the exact location but an approximate landmark in the assigned area.

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Set the area as 4 by 4 km, estimate the zoom level to 15 andupdate map iamges.

Increase this to create a more obvious terrain

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In osm001, ensure area is also 4by 4km, select layers to draw and enter “Download and draw OSM data”. After data is drawn, enter “OSM_Stylesheet” for extrusions to appear.

4.0 Mapbox

Before using Mapbox, we need to set up an account. The icon in the top right corner indicates sign-in and access to the studio

Mapbox offers a range of styles of mapbases under the “Style Gallery�

Before using Mapbox: To obtain data, we go to PedCatch, choose a place and download GeoJSON file of the pedestrian network.

Under “Tilesets� in Mapbox, upload the GeoJSON File from PedCatch. With this information we can visualize the pedestrian network, alongside the Nolli map.

Adjust colour according to zoom range Add layer to select PedCatch Tileset

under “Style�

Mapbox interface showing both pedestrian network, buildings and water bodies

In Mapbox, you can customize icons to be used to mark landmarks and places on the map using Maki, under “Icon Editor”

Create a new layer in Mapbox Studio>Select “Mapbox Streets vb”, and find “poi-label”

Next, go to “Style”, and find “icon”, where you can upload images of the icons downloaded from Maki. -11 marks smaller icons and -15 larger.

4.1 Mapbox token for Maproom terrain Before we can use Mapbox data in Maproom, we need to create an access token. In the home page of Mapbox.

Under “Terrain Heights”, it is important to select “Mapbox Terrain” to reference Mapbox data tilesets. Now we can produce a terrain of our site.

Go to Settings, “Map API keys” and enter the url obtained from

Following which, we can go back to “Home”> select “OpenStreetMap and Satellite”>enter

Mapbox under “Mapbox API access token”

area as 4 by 4 km, estimate zoom level to 15, and update map images.

Back in osm001, drawing the full OSM data and also selecting OSM_ Stylesheet once again creates the building envelopes along with the terrain.

Now this is a contextual site map that can be used for further architectural site modelling and analysis.

4.2 Loft and Lathe, Bezier Curves

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Start with a line, under splines (next to “Create Tab”) and three other splines.

Under “Create”> “Compound objects”>find Loft. Preselect the line and select “Get Shape”, selecting the first shape, a circle.

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Under “Path parameters”, select a point between 0-100. Ensure Instance is selected. Select “Get shape”

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Repeat Step 3, this time select the last shape (a star) after increasing parameters. The lofted geometry

again and pick a different spline. Now half of the loft changes into a different geometry.

tapers off at the end into a star shape.

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LATHE: begin with drawing a spline in front, top or right view. To draw a Bezier curve, hold down the mouse and drag to the next point.

Alternatively, select vertex after line has been drawn, right click and select Bezier.

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Apply Lathe Modifier to the spline to create geometry. As the parameters are defined at 315 degrees, this creates a partially complete geometry. .

4.3 SpaceWarp

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Start with a plane and convert it to “Editable Poly” by right clicking, or by placing an “Edit Poly” Modifier. Select “Polygons” only.

Under “Edit Polygons”, select Inset and set an amount.

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2

With “Animate” turned on, extrude the inset polygons.

Next apply “Mesh Select” modifier, to select the tops of the extruded polygons.

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Create another plane above the extruded polygons. Apply Noise modifier to this plane, and adjust scale of noise. “Fractal” can be turned on

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Draw the plane anywhere near the object. Select the extruded polygons, and we find that “Conform Binding” has been added to modifier list.

For the “pick object” option, select the noise plane.

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Under “Create” Tab, hover over to find “SpaceWarp”, and select “Conform”

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Select the extruded polygons, and select “Bind to Spacewarp� as found in the taskbar ribbon above the model space. Connect the highlighted volume to the spacewarp plane

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Now moving the noise plane downwards, this creates a subtraction of the extruded volume below.

4.4 Terrain, Paint Deformation

Under the “editable poly” option, scrolling down, we find the “paint deformation” section. Select “push/pull” and adjust the parameters.

Smaller “push-pull” creates a smaller deformation force and “brush size” affects how much of the plane can be deformed by a single brush stroke

Holding down “Alt� while painting creates a downward deformation.

If the plane has more segments, the deformation will appear smoother.

5.0 Aurin and QGIS

AURIN, which stands for Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network, is a collaborative network of data providers across sectors. Log into the portal and begin by defining the area study, under “select�.

To create an even smaller boundary use the “bounding box” selection Under “Data”, we can select “Dataset” to input data that we want to visualize on the map. Under “keywords”, we can search a range of terms to narrow down databases, like “street” and “railway stations”. The first dataset is the PSMA Street Network.

Select some or all layers, but make sure to select geometry. Select “Add and open” to load the data.

Under “Analysis”> “Tools” > navigate to “walkability” and “walkability index with gross density (points)”. To compute walkability between railway stations, input “points” as the PSMA railway stations dataset and road network as the same dataset that we previously uploaded. Set the maximum distance, and run the computation.

With the output data already generated into a choropleth map, we are ready to download the datasets, by clicking on the wrench icon next to each data group. Download .shp file.

We need to download QGIS to unwrap the downloaded maps into a 2-dimensional form with accuracy.

With the downloaded .shp files, unzip and save into a suitable folder. Open new QGIS project and drag the .shp files onto the project.

Select the data layer for “Mesh Blocks Census”, and right click. Select “Properties”.

Select the drop down box on the top left and select Categorized Under the Column drop down, select MB_CAT11 Click the Classify Button Click Ok

We now have a map that is colour coded according to land uses, residential, commerical etc.

6.0 ALA, MapBox Heat Map The ALA or Atlas of Living Australia is a portal where we can obtain information about all (crowd-sourced) documented living species of native flora and fauna of Australia.

Gazette the area to limit the data to Victoria, allowing for a smaller file to be downloaded.

Add to the map by selecting a species, such as using a known scientific name. Here the input is Vombatidae, referring to the common wombat.

Export the points and select the classification layer as well. Select CAPAD 2016 Terrestrial, and then export.

Download .csv file and back in Mapbox, go to “Tilesets� and drag and drop the .csv file to upload.

In the previous map on Mapbox, add another layer of data, and this time select the uploaded tileset.

Under “Type” change it from “circle” to “Heat Map”

6.1 Making Towers, Wire Parameters and Hyperclone

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Start with a closed spline as a driver, and extrude it. Set the number of segments and heights of each level in “Parameters”.

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Add “Subdivide” modifier

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Change the size to adjust the number

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Add “Edit Poly” modifier, and select only the polygons that are to be modified later.

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“Mesh Smooth” and select “classic” to change pattern>”Vertex Weld” > and “Delete Mesh” to create openings.

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Turn on “Animate” and set “Inset”

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Add “Crease” and “Shell”, to give the tower a thickness.

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Final form of the tower, with the modifiers all changing according to the new driver spline.

Turn off all the modifiers first and change the spline shape by adjusting the vertices.

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Create a Geosphere and modify its geometry using “FFD 3x3x3”. Once the shape has been finalized, set up a box to represent a floor plate and intersect with geosphere.

Download Hyperclone from ScriptSpot and install in 3DS Max. Select “Box” and add “Hyperclone” modifier. Increase the “Clones 1D” to increase number of clones of floor plate, and increase Z-axis amount under “Offset 1D”. This gives a uniform gap between the floors.

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Apply Boolean and Transparent Material to Geosphere.

We can change the properties of one object by manipulating the properties of another. This is done using “Wire Parameters�, which is accessible by right clicking on one object. In this instance, the position of the first object is tied to the height of the second.

Shortcut key: alt+5 to bring up the Parametric Wiring window. Under the first box, Height can be multiplied to increase the effect, by using *(number) as an expression. Enter “Connect� and move the first object around.

Moving the first object (purple) closer, the second object exponentially increases in height.

Parametric Tower using Spheres

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Create a base tower with a few modifiers: “Twist” and “Taper”

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Add “Edit Poly” to the Tower, and select “Inset” to start making openings. It is important to work in “Animate”.

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Modify further with “Push” to push vertices outwards, creating an inflation effect.

Finalize shape and “Delete Mesh’

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Apply “Morpher” and “Capture

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Go back to “Edit Poly” from previously and change the “Inset”

Current State”. This is the first scene

value by selecting “Settings”. To do this step in Step 3, “Edit

to animate from.

Poly” must be in “Animate”

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Back in “Morpher”, select the second “empty” marker.

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Capture this state and name it.

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There are now two scenes to toggle between and animate

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One alternative is to use “Vol. Select” and objects to create parameters that affect the size of the openings.

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Under “Vol. Select”, select by “Volume: Mesh Object”.

Click on “None”, and select one sphere to assign it Scroll back up to Parameters and select under “Stack Selection Level”: “Vertex”.

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Check “Use Soft Selection:, and increasing “Falloff”, a greater area of the tower is highlighted.

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Now moving the sphere around changes the size of the openings.