Governments requiring Sketchup
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Thanks for the News Nathan. I find it very interesting and
imagine many Municipal Planning Authorities around the Globe
will be adopting SketchUp and Google Earth for Town / City
and maybe even Village planning visualisation.Mike
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That is interesting news indeed. I always feel that the planning process (and construction industry) on the whole still needs to play catchup with available technology. Although a friend did tell me that they were all set to get planning permission on a project, until they submitted the renders done in Sketchup!
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I find that quite a few Planning Officers don't have great 3D
visualisation skills. They tend to 'go by the book' quite a lot
of the time. However when presented with an interactive model
with the surrounding buildings this is often a different matter.I suppose even trained (in 3D) people often have difficulties with
visulatising complex buildings from a 2D plan. A simple 3D get
the message across in an instant.I hope Planning Authorities over here will adopt this procedure
as it would make life a lot easier for us guys on the ground
stuck between Clients and Planning Departments.Mike
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I heard Google contacted the city of Santa Rosa to see if there was anything they could do together. We'll see if it goes anywhere. I'll update when I hear anything.
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Thanks for the post. I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot of this. We now make it a habit to submit 3D images as a part of any planning application. We found that we were getting more positive responses, and appreciation for this, even if the 3D's were minimal.
We now go out of our way to provide reasonable images. -
@swedishnitro said:
a friend did tell me that they were all set to get planning permission on a project, until they submitted the renders done in Sketchup!
I suspect the other side of the story here is until the sketchup renders were submitted the authorities didn't really understand what they were supporting. Once the saw the renderings the fog lifted and they saw a development they couldn't support. The same flip flop can happen when you have public presentations where you present a model. Previous support can erode upon seeing the renderings and seeing better what is 'really' being proposed. You certainly can't count on renderings 'selling' the project. The visualization can galvanize dissension too: "Yikes! Look how big it will be & how it will dominate the street"...
Regards, Ross
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"...seeing better what is 'really' being proposed."
This is a good thing IMO.
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It is interesting that skillful 3d renderings often make something look better than the real thing will look. In that they often "sell" a proposed design by showing it in a romanticized, idealized, representation. It seems as 3d visualizations become more common, many lay people are getting better at seeing through the renderer's seduction game.
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The real benefit is in the sharing of the model, of course.
A big plus is it could also save some poor intern from being forced to: "move your eye height up so it won't look so tall...and while you're at it, move the view over to the left enough to hide that element we haven't resolved yet".
(Not uncommon comments, I'm sure :`)
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"... ah, and could we rotate the sun orientation about 30 degrees to get more light onto these windows? no one will ever know we did..."
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I think it is an accepted practice among renderers to adjust the shadows so they help present the design. That was the same for hand-constructed perspectives as it is today with computer-generated. The goal typically is to make the design look as perfect as possible. Your typical rendering isn't considered, at least by those making them, as a "shadow study". I think most people making renderings do not consider such idealizations to be unethical. (They would likely agree it is unethical to labelled the rendering "July 4th" if the shadows are based on March 2nd). Other rendering 'enhancements' relate to the reflectivity of the glass, not illustrating power poles, wires, garbage dumpsters, the reality of the huge parking lot, etc.
Presenting a real shadow study at a public meeting can be the curse of death to almost any project. People live much of their lives in shadow without even realizing it or having any concern. Yet when they see an animated shadow study, of the kind you can do with a SketchUp model, they get very concerned. Overly concerned in my opinion. The shadow study is presenting information they aren't used to seeing and are unable to evaluate objectively. Neighbours arrive at the public meeting thinking they have to protect themselves from being affected by the proposed project. Seeing that a shadow may fall on the sidewalk in front of the building can be enough to trigger the "you see? It will impact on me - I walk there everyday" even though their own property development is doing exactly the same thing. Once they perceive "it affects me negatively" there is little hope that you can convince them to support the project as self-interest and resistance to change are powerful forces. Unfortunately, in the real world, protecting self-interest trumps fairness.
Regards, Ross
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