Modeling the Environment

A single-source guide to harnessing the power of 3D
visualization tools for analysis and representation of
landscapes

Current technology allows designers to model environmental
phenomena and space in new and exciting ways that go beyond the
two-dimensional plane. The models, illustrations, and animations
that can be created usher in a new paradigm of landscape
representation that can become analytical tools as well as
beautiful imagery. The text focuses on digital modeling methods
that can be used to express rich environments using digital tools
to develop, composite, and animate scenes.

This full-color book provides coverage of 3D visualization tools
for land planning and landscape architecture. The methods and
theories in Modeling the Environment present landscape
representation around a core set of ideas--scene, object,
terrain, environment/atmosphere, time/dynamics, and the
composite--that centers representation on human experience.
Supported by www.lab.visual-logic.com, a website offering tutorials
and forums, the text shows you how to use Autodesk 3ds Max to
create dynamic landscape environments while also referring to a
range of other tools including Google SketchUp, Autodesk Maya, and
AutoCAD Civil 3D. It also demonstrates how to integrate 3D
visualization tools into existing workflows, and offers critical
coverage of intelligent drawings and representations, giving you a
glimpse at the future of the profession. This book:

* Includes sections intended to build upon one another in order to
understand the environment as a composite representation of
multiple systems interacting

* Shows how to integrate 3D visualization tools into existing
workflows, as opposed to offering an entirely new workflow

* Emphasizes modeling, animation, and simulation as both design
analysis tools and presentation tools

Modeling the Environment is essential reading for professionals
in landscape architecture, urban planning and design, architecture,
and related disciplines who are looking to be at the forefront of
technology.