Filed under: architectural resources, archvirtual, community, engineering, machinima, real estate, rl architecture, Unity3d, virtual architecture | Tags: architecture, archvirtual, city, downtown, dubuque, funding, game, iowa, kickstarter, main street, MMO, multi-player, multi-user, real, realtime, Unity3d, urban
We’re raising funds to launch Main Street MMO, and we need YOUR help as a founding supporter!
There are so many incredible sci-fi, war games and medieval adventures available today, with amazing complexity, detail and realism.
Main Street MMO seeks to combine the fun and interactivity of video games with real cities to promote local businesses, showcase city initiatives, visualize architectural designs, and a lot more.
We need your help!
Here’s a link to our Kickstarter page where you can pledge your support for our project:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/keystone/main-street-mmo-real-cities-in-realtime-3d
As a founding supporter of Main Street MMO, we will engrave your name in a cornerstone, add your name to the credits, name an NPC after you, or even kickstart an MMO of your city (other creative award ideas are welcome! =)
Even if you can’t afford to back the project financially, please consider sharing this within your network to help raise awareness! Your tweets, facebook updates, and blog posts are the stuff a successful Kickstarter project is made of, so please help us spread the word!
We’re just getting started! For the past year, we’ve been partnering directly with local businesses in our premiere city of Dubuque, Iowa to determine which features they feel would be most useful in a technology like this, and have compiled a list of features and functionality we believe will take this project to a new level, but we need your help!
Please consider backing Main Street MMO! Your support is very much appreciated. If you think your city would be interested in something like this, or if you have ideas for new features we should add, please get in touch with us!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/keystone/main-street-mmo-real-cities-in-realtime-3d
Thanks SO MUCH @openingdesign @epredator @pbroviak Derek Barrett @samdriver and @moirah for stepping up as our first backers! We can’t thank you enough for your support!
Filed under: architectural resources, archvirtual, city planning, collaborative design, real estate, rl architecture, Uncategorized, urban planning | Tags: 3D, animation, AR, arch virtual, architecture, archtech engine, augmented reality, autodesk, BIM, CAD, cities, city, collaboration, community, design, downtown, dubuque, education, game engine, geography, GIS, google, government, historical, interactive, iowa, jon brouchoud, kml, main street, maya, planning, realtime, replica, resource, simulation, tour, Unity3d, urban, virtual, walk-through
Introducing Virtual Dubuque, a premiere development of our new Realtime Cities initiative by Arch Virtual, built with ArchTech Engine.
Read the full post HERE.
This new community resource will provide free and easy to access windows into interactive, customizable 3D models of cities. To learn more about how we can build a realtime model of your city or architectural project, send us a note here. We’re currently seeking development partners to build new features, create custom content, and build out additional architecture and cities around the world, so please send us a note to learn more.
Over the past year,we have been partnering with local businesses and organizations in Dubuque, Iowa to develop features and sponsored content, including a project in the Historic Millwork District for a local real estate developer (coming soon!), as well as the Masonic Temple, where international members of Demolay will be working with industry pioneers in developing a world-class learning environment, using Virtual Cities as its core platform.
Read the full post HERE.
“We’re harnessing the same technology used to make the latest iPad apps and XBox 360 games, but we’re not making a game, we’re building dynamic and ever-changing models of cities that are designed to serve as true community resources that can be easily accessed directly from a website,” said Jon Brouchoud, Founder of Virtual Cities.
Using ArchTech Engine and the Unity3D platform, we’re now able to transforms buildings, geography and entire cities into realtime 3D environments that are easily accessible, and can be embedded on your website, or deployed to a tablet. These interactive models can be geo-referenced to real-world coordinates, dynamically linked to databases, and layered with interactive content.
As visitors explore virtual cities, links to websites and additional information about nearby buildings, parks, and businesses appear automatically. For example, when you approach a restaurant, you can click through to read their menu. If you’re near a historic building, you can learn more about its past. Businesses and organizations can customize and enhance their space in the virtual model, layering it with more information or interactive features.
Read the full post HERE.
Proceeds from sponsorship and custom content are then re-invested in the ongoing development of the city model, enabling Realtime Cities to add more features, build new parts of the city, and refine models with more detail.
But a virtual replica is just the beginning.
“If you’ve ever experienced the Voices Gallery in the Millwork District of Dubuque Iowa, for example, you’ve seen how a building can be completely re-imagined into a destination that celebrates the unique architectural character of a place, yet transcends it to become something completely unique,” said Brouchoud.
“That’s really what Virtual Dubuque, and the Realtime Cities initiative is all about. A replica of the city as it is now will certainly have interesting use cases, but I’m looking forward to seeing how cities can be re-imagined within an environment where anything is possible.”
Read the full post HERE.
Read the full post HERE.
Filed under: architectural resources, architecture, autocad, real estate, Unity3d, urban planning | Tags: 3d environments, AEC, animation, arch tech engine, arch virtual, architectural drawings, architectural visualization, architecture, archtech, BIM, building, CAD, cg, city, collaboration, communication, computer, construction, education, engine, engineering, game development, geography, interactive models, learning environments, military, military simulations, multi-player, planning, prototype, simulation, training, Unity3d, urban, video, virtual, voice, voip, walk-through
[Intro video] I am very excited to announce the launch of our new ArchTech Engine, a technology that transforms buildings, cities and geography into realtime 3D environments that are easily accessible, and can be embedded on your website, or deployed to a tablet.
Read the full post HERE
These interactive models can be geo-referenced to real-world coordinates, dynamically linked to databases, and layered with interactive content.
Transform your architectural drawings and 3D models of almost any format (including CAD and BIM) into information-rich applications that are perfect for architectural visualization, and city planning, as well as learning environments, military simulations, historical recreations, training environments and more. Students can interact within a more memorable learning environment, and achieve much greater retention over reading a textbook. All within a web browser or tablet.
Your application can be customized to suit your project’s specific needs. Make it multiplayer with voice and video communication or a single player experience and add non-player characters or an entire crowd of people to bring it to life.
To learn more about Arch Tech Engine, or to get started on your own project, visit www.archtechengine.com Arch Tech Engine is built on the Unity3D, and was developed in partnership between Arch Virtual and Tipodean Technologies.
Read the full post HERE
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 3D, animation, architectural, city, collada, dae, design, import, mesh, model, planning, second life, SL, urban, walk-through
(Read the rest of this post on http://www.archvirtual.com !)
This long awaited ‘holy grail’ feature in Second Life has now finally arrived on the main grid! The subject of numerous false starts, April fool’s jokes, and much controversy – it is now possible to import 3D models directly into Second Life. The implications from an architectural urban design and city planning perspective are obvious. Having to rebuild architectural models with a patchwork quilt of 10 meter prims was only feasible for the most dedicated and patient developers, and the frustration of abandoning 3D models that already existed as a matter of daily practice in architectural software in order to build the same model all over again with prims just wasn’t an easy sell to most would-be SL residents hoping to use the platform for architectural visualization and collaboration.
(see the rest of this post on http://www.archvirtual.com !)
Filed under: Unity, Unity3d | Tags: animation, architecture, design, documentation, elevation, engine, game development, how to, plan, prefab, quality settings, rendering, section, teleport, toggle, tutorial, Unity, Unity3d, urban, visualization, walk-through, waypoint
Check out Architectural Beginners Kit 2! If you’re not a programmer, this is a must-have toolkit for architecture and design visualization projects built with Unity3D.
Here’s a video showing the kit in action: http://vimeo.com/17939173
Here’s a demo build: http://archvirtual.com/ABK2.html
Here’s where you can purchase the kit for $45: http://bit.ly/fx4TPQ
Here’s what the kit includes:
Click to Look: instead of having to lock and unlock the mouse to click buttons, this kit now includes a ‘click to look’ setup, where the scene doesn’t move unless you want it to.
Scene Switch: Load several models, and let visitors switch between them. For example, you might load several iterations or options for a design project you’re working on. Visitors will now be able to simply click a button to switch between them.
Waypoints: Set up various waypoints in your scene, and enable visitors to access those locations just by clicking a button. For example, you might have waypoints set up for the Lobby, Offices, Cafeteria, etc. so visitors can quickly access those areas without wandering through the model trying to find it.
View Switching: The default mouselook view is great, but sometimes those traditional Plan, Section or Elevation views are helpful to understand the design. With this feature, you can set up those views, and enable visitors to your project to switch between them.
Quality Toggle: You never know what kind of computer your visitors are using. With Quality Settings toggle, they can adjust it to suit their own computer’s performance. If they’re on a netbook, they can toggle it way down to ‘Fastest’ – which won’t look as great, but it won’t lag as much. If they’re on a super fast machine, they can enjoy the highest possible quality settings.
Detailed Tutorial Documentation: As with the previous kit, the tutorial documentation is just as valuable as the prefab elements themselves. You can drag and drop the prefabs into your scene, or you can dig deeper, learn how they work, and customize them to suit your project’s specific requirements.
We hope you enjoy the new Kit! We’re already brainstorming the next kit, and welcome any suggestions for specific features you would like to see included. Send us a note at info (at) archvirtual.com if you have any questions.
Architectural Beginner’s Kit 1 is available here: http://archvirtual.com/?p=2950
The ARCH 