Professional Documents
Culture Documents
15 SECRETS
TO MAKE AN
ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre
INTRODUCTION
You’ve been making still images for some time and you know what steps you have to take since you start
modeling until you finish the image.
It is possible that you have never faced the realization of an animation or you have done it but with a
certain disorder.
I’m going to explain the 15 steps I’ve been doing for more than 25 years to plan my animation works from
start to finish. Are the following ones:
MY 25 CONCLUSIONS
I believe they will serve you to have an orderly and progressive method.
Let’s begin!
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
Let us begin!
There are many types of customers and, consequently, many ways to focus an animation work.
Psychology in dealing with the situation is fundamental. The experience guides me to understand how to treat
each customer in each case.
My starting attitude is to explain to him that the more confidence he has in us,
the more satisfactory the result will be.
For this reason, we must ask the right questions in the precise moment.
For this purpose it is advisable to send them a questionnaire that reflects their needs and expectations.
Let us transmit the aspects of the project that they consider fundamental to show.
He wants to give his opinion at the beginning but let us do our work.
Yes, I know, you are going to tell me that you are alone and you are able to carry out visualizations
of very complicated projects.
Time management
I’m going to discover all the parts of the process and it is very possible that you will be able to develop each one
of them, but you will have a problem for sure with the deadline. Even if you take out 20 hours a day, you will not be
able to meet a reasonable delivery time for the client if you work alone.
As you know, the visualization process, in a simplified way, is based on the succession of tasks:
modeling, rendering and postproduction.
If you can not overlap in time doing these tasks, you will not be competitive in this type of job.
| end of secret 1 |
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
It is needed the guide for the development of the work. It is useful for two reasons:
Not only with words, supported by drawn cartoons or with photographic references,
we will show you the “skeleton” of the video.
It will serve to convey the trust you need. To show you that we have understood what you wanted. He will feel
understood and the relationship will be fluid.
Talk to him as often as necessary but also explain that the agreed final SB is a point of no return.
That is a commitment on both sides to keep moving forward.
Both of you will feel calmer to move forward without fear of the changes later on.
As we have already decided WHAT, WHEN and HOW are we going to show the project,
we have the script to make decisions in each of the tasks.
The modeler can now be started. You can begin to model the spaces to be displayed.
The renderer, with just a few simple first models facilitated by the modeler in a few days,
can begin to do camera tests, lights and texturing.
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
The direct consequence would be an increase of time in the accomplishment of a work that, could end up in the
trash since finally, the cameras did not arrive to visualize that part of the project.
| end of secret 2 |
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
Be intelligent
There is no point in further modeling.
Therefore, after the definition of the SB, it is necessary to maintain a very comprehensive meeting of the whole
team. In it, after understanding how the cameras and their movements will be, we will come to agree which parts
of the project are to be modeled and which are not.
As you know, the animation is the succession of 25 frames every second. When you make your first animation,
you will see that there are invisible errors in a fixed image that they are not in an animation.
There will be a stage in the process in which the work of the modeler is finished and the other two team members
still have tasks to perform. But, until then, it must be available to them, as we have said, to progressively model in
more detail the scenes and solve the problems that appear.
| end of secret 3 |
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
For this, with the first simple models of the modeler, the first thing to do is to plan each and every one of the
cameras. After that, without any lights or textures, he has to perform the animation on wireframe.
In this way, even after changing details, the post producer will be able to perform its first task: the pre-composition
of the complete animation.
With these sequences in wireframe, the post producer will make a first composition. It will serve to confirm
that what is imagined in the SB works properly. Likewise, you can perform transitions, titles and start thinking about
the soundtrack.
Everything is modifiable in this stage. We will be able to corroborate that the rhythm is correct and we will
establish the previous corrections opportune in terms of durations and points of view.
TIP: It is very interesting that the file names of the different sequences are kept from beginning to end of produc-
tion. In this way, as we get the final sequences, we will only have to replace the wireframes and the composition will
remain intact.
Like the SB, this first composition, makes us control the process and the result from the beginning.
Assuring the final composition by skipping this step is risky and avoids last minute surprises.
| end of secret 4 |
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
“The best music is the one that helps sell before and better”
You already know what it costs for your computer to calculate an image of a complex scene
with millions of polygons at a certain resolution.
But what number of frames and resolution do I need to calculate to make an animation?
If we assume that, on average, video architecture visualizations last between 2 and 4 minutes, we will consider for
our calculations a duration of 3 minutes.
HD
If the media is your web page, the HD format (1280X720 px) is more than enough. The decision is limited by the
player. That is, even if it is a presentation with a large screen, this format will meet expectations.
FULL HD
Nowadays, early 2017, the standard resolution format is this: FULL HD (1920x1080).
If we perform the previous multiplication:
FULL 4K
Unfortunately for our interests, the trend does not reduce the quality of the image,
rather the other way, increase it more and more.
It has been long time since the televisions are able to show this format (4096x2160) in the market. Let’s recalculate
the operation:
That is, the same resolution we need to print a paper image in DIN A3 format.
Buffff ... yes, that’s right, it’s too much.
So ask yourself this question, if on your computer (which for sure is not a bad one)
you need 6 hours to calculate a complicated scene, ...
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
How much time will I need to calculate one minute of full 4K animation?
25 x 60 x 6 = 9600 hours = 375 days = 1 year
It is no time to get depressed. But yes, we must be aware of our limitations before committing ourselves to our
client.
The conclusion is obvious: to do animation we need and we will need more and more computing capacity.
That forces us to invest money in machines and ram or to contract the services of calculation in the cloud.
Compression codec
My recommendation is that you use the Apple ProRes compression codec.
I think it’s the perfect balance between image quality and file size.
It is the one we use both for the delivery of the final work and for the entire production process.
| end of secret 6 |
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
You must get rid of the head that, once modeled the scene, you will put the lights, you will move the camera and
you will have to wait. No, it is not what happens.
Well, this is essentially but what happens is that if you want your animation to go beyond an obsolete walktrough,
you should think about the preparation of multiple scenes and multiple cameras.
The result of your work depends on these numbers; I do not say that the more scenes, more cameras and more
lights the video will be better. There are many examples of work in which, with very low numbers the result is won-
derful.
Try to get all the juice you can to the visualization of the project.
IWe will explain to you the method that we usually use and that always adapts to the needs of each project.
We usually distinguish between the outer space and the interior of the project.
When we talk about different scenarios we do not have to think only about the 3d model,
we must also distinguish them depending on the lighting conditions we want for that scene.
The light
Likewise, if we make the analogy with the needed work to make a still image we find the supplement of effort that
supposes to realize an animation.
You are the artistic director and you decide how the different scenarios are illuminated.
Always think in terms of the balance between quality and time of completion.
It is not only the calculation time, it also counts with the preparation and checking time.
| end of secret 7 |
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
It is no time to get depressed. But yes, we must be aware of our limitations before committing ourselves to our
client.
Currently, the usual thing, depending on the customer and the final product, is that your animations must have HD
resolution (1280x720) or, at best, full HD (1920x1080).
In our experience, with a small render farm consisting of high range and well-loaded ram computers,
every scene that is between 20 and 30 minutes of calculation per frame, falls within a reasonable result.
My recommendation is a hybrid:
3 powerful nodes in your studio and count it in the cloud for projects that require a lot of power.
| end of secret 8 |
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
Thus, it is understood that it gives the same an animation of Pixar that an architectural visualization.
You already know that it is not the same.
In both cases, it is necessary to prepare the lights and the camera movements but all the animation work
of characters in our case and fortunately for us, disappears.
We can make a great visualization without animating any object of the scene.
But there is no reason to give it up.
Animating certain objects can give a plus to the production that marks the differences with a boring and standard
result.
There are many and I will talk about them in another post.
However, in this case, the limitations are only two:
Your imagination and technical limitations.
People
What could be the extras in a traditional film.
The most common used program to generate crowds of people walking, running,
talking is ANIMA of AXYZRENDER.
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
Cars
Trees
One of the most expensive elements to incorporate into your scene, especially if we talk about quality trees with
millions of polygons and moving. The preparation process can be very long and the calculation too.
| end of secret 9 |
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
If problems arise in a still image, imagine those that can arise in an animation.
For this reason, it is very important that in the project calendar there is a time’s slot to solve them.
The patches
If you are lucky, the error can be “patched”, that is, you do not need to recalculate the whole of each frame.
Whenever possible you should choose this possibility to save calculation time in correcting the error.
Interior lights require a lot of preparation time. In addition, they usually mean a very important increase in the
calculation time.
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
The alpha channel
In order to have freedom of action in postproduction, I recommend that you always calculate your animation
sequences with alpha channel. This will allow you to add funds into the post-production process.
Maybe at the time of the render you had an idea, but as the project progressed, maybe that sky is not what you
need anymore. If you have the alpha channel, you can do as many tests as you want without being destructive
with your rendering job.
The two enemies that are waiting for you: flickering and noise
There may be partial errors that only affect a portion of the image. However, there are others that can affect the
whole. They are the derivatives of the rendering process, of the settings used.
These problems are not present in the calculation of a still image since there is no need to visualize several
consecutive frames and therefore the differences of result between one and the previous do not become evident.
Both problems have a solution, what happens is that it is very costly in terms of calculation time.
| end of secret 10 |
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
The project is advancing on its different facets and it is time to check the progress.
Once we get to this point the person in charge of the final composition has to perform 4 tasks:
Music
We are working on the creation of an audiovisual piece, audio-visual.
It is too frequent, especially at the beginning, that people do not give importance to this fundamental
part of production.
Always, I repeat, ALWAYS, we have to think about the final receiver of production.
Not even in our direct client. We must think about our client’s client and it little matters how much we love it.
Titles
In any case, we must have previously asked our client to provide us with the most basic data:
If we did not do in the first composition it is now when we should insert the titles.
This insertion must take into account several aspects related to style and brand.
Unless they are famous architects, it is not usual to incorporate this data in the video.
But of course, if they are and add value to the project, the developer will be happy to presume. In certain cases,
it may become a determining factor for the sale.
| end of secret 11 |
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
SECRET 12 | Make the difference that will lift you to another level
For years, the post production of an image or an animation was understood as something pejorative.
The same thing happened when he said:”Of course, it’s retouched in Photoshop.”
No doubt there were comments from people outside this industry.
Giving up post production is giving up the possibility of improving our rendering work
and that would be unforgivable.
All the nuances of the image or animation can not be achieved with the render just finished. We must work them
later on. In addition, there are jobs that do NOT have to be done in the render, that have to be incorporated to
the production later. I’ll tell you about all of them now.
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
Color correction
The current digital processes, allow this modification AFTER the image has been taken and, in addition, being a
non-destructive process.This is an advantage that opens up a multitude of possibilities.
The author has absolute freedom to retouch because the final result, although depending on the original, occurs
AFTER and not BEFORE as in analog photography.
As I said before, things do not always go well at first. We could forget to incorporate an element to the scene or
simply an object was not well textured and we did not realize until the scene was fully calculated.
We do not have time to repeat the scene with the error fixed and we will have to resort to calculate only
the affected part. We will have to mount that patch in the affected sequence and get the result fixed.
it is a task that happens in all studies either you are GAYARRE infografia or PIXAR.
| end of secret 12 |
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
We would be idiots if we did not take advantage of the possibilities of post production.
The philosophy of work has to follow two criteria: effectiveness and quality.
Regardless of the big decisions answering this question, related to the modeling or not of an environment,
we should also ask the same question for what I call “action brushstrokes”.
But, what if I tell you that you have a faster alternative and more realistic results?
Yes, it exists. It is none other than to film them and place them in my scene.
You will be saying that this process also takes a lot of work, they are also many hours and the results, moreover,
are uncertain. I do not know if I’ll find the birds I need.
Make a calculation and tell me how much money you would value doing for yourself.
Now visit our STORE and tell me if it’s worth it.
I will be happy to buy birds or any of our resources but the reason to take as an example is that, for yourself, you
find that there are many times when it is much more profitable to buy a resource than to do it for yourself.
As I said at the beginning, the search for efficiency and quality is what should govern your decisions.
Time and money are the factors that affect your effectiveness. Think about it.
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
This is another good example to look for a solution outside the 3d world.
And yes, Bingo! You will also find resources of moving trees in my STORE. You will save a lot of time and you will
get optimum results as you will find footage of REAL trees in motion.
I invite you to discover how to implement these films within your work following this guide.
In our hands will be, use those skies in motion as we are interested, taking advantage of the alpha channel of
our scene. It is simply to show the passage of time in an accelerated way or the simple delight that is to enjoy this
phenomenon visually. Again, non-destructive post production will allow us to do tests until we find the effect
we are looking for. Yes, you will also find all kinds of skies in our STORE ;)
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
From my point of view, it is more dignified not to put people in motion than to place them and not fit.
In this case, the work is surrounded by a certain halo of “mystery”. It seems that we have seen a space when there
is nobody else there, just us and our camera.
This can be a defensible solution when we make the film of a home but, it is difficult to maintain if what we visualize
is a soccer stadium.
Normally, depending on the degree of ambition of each project and its corresponding budget, we will take
the most appropriate option.
Things sound
Go to the street, stand and listen.
Normally, we do not fall into the account of the sounds that surround us. Let’s think about our things and do not
look.
When we talk about post production, you will not only think about image.
You will think about how to squeeze this choice of sounds beyond the background music you have chosen.
In fact, the best effects, whether visual or sound, are what you do not see, those that are not appreciated. If it is so
and nothing stands out is that we will have done our job well. But, yes, it also uses these “sonorous brushstrokes”.
| end of secret 13 |
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
There are few days, even hours for the deadline to come inexorably.
Usually you are exhausted.
You have to finish the job and finish it the best you know and you can.
You have already automated the reception of content, thus you have the structure so that each individual file,
as part of a whole, fit into the general puzzle.
It’s time to re-enter your editing program and make the latest adjustments.
As you have been ordered (each project you do will be more) it seems that everything fits and works in “autopilot”
mode. It is not by chance.
At this point, you have seen the video hundreds of times. Without realizing you will be fed up and begin to see
more defects than virtues.
Therefore, the two most common options are to host the video on Youtube or Vimeo and, obtaining the link, insert
it on your client’s website.
In these links you will find the recommendations of each platform to upload your work to them.
Vimeo settings
YouTube settings
During the development of the work, in the rush, you have not dared to do cleaning due to the fear of losing a
fundamental file and now you are surrounded by a certain chaos.
My recommendation is that you do not touch anything, absolutely anything, until they have passed, at least two
weeks since you delivered the work and your client gave you feedback that everything was fine.
After those two weeks, the customer is less likely to want something from you.
Surely it will be you who wants something from him: to pay you.
You have already rested. Your body has slowed down and it’s time to start ordering your chaos.
There is no hurry. Do it calmly and in case of doubt never delete.
It’s time to move the entire project to an external hard drive or, better, to a cloud storage system.
The set of files linked to the realization of a project of animation of three minutes of duration can occupy
between 80Gb and 100Gb.
My recommendation is that you keep this information for two years and then you will have the final files
erasing the intermediates.
| end of secret 14 |
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
You’ve already delivered the work and, physically, your defenses are low.
You’re exhausted because you’ve given everything.
A moment has arrived, in which you are not even happy with the result.
Give yourself a margin. Perception of work will be more objective as time passes.
It does not matter if it is your partner or your children or both at the same time.
I love hearing their honest and direct opinion.
They are very valuable opinions. In my case, my wife, is the female point of view.
Imagine the transposition to a couple who wants to buy a flat. It is one of the most important opinions.
Children are the hardest. They have no piety. They focus more on technical considerations. In my case they
were born less than 20 years ago and their language and understanding is fundamentally visual.
Basically, even if they are devastating, I know that if I pass their filter, the video is very well technically speaking.
MY 15 SECRETS TO MAKE AN ARCHITECTURAL ANIMATION
by Juan Gayarre, architect and visualizer store.gayarre.eu
But of course, we need to know the opinion of the one who pays
It is very likely that, once you have done your work fairly well, the customer’s first response is very positive.
It is true that an excess of anxiety on your part or very high expectations, provoke a reaction of rejection.
Do not be afraid of it. He hired you knowing your trajectory.
My recommendation is that once you have passed that initial phase of receiving the job,
send him a satisfaction survey.
Think of a short questionnaire (no more than 5 questions) but attack your area of pain. It will serve you. It is not a
process to receive the customer’s applause.
Be clear and honest by saying that you do not mind being tough in your answers.
Wait at least 2 or 3 weeks and, in the meantime, do not see any project material again. One Saturday at home,
after having slept well, put it on your living room TV and watch it alone. Make the effort to try to see it as if it were
the first time. Obviously you will not get it but you will see it with different eyes. Look at it once.
When you are going to start a new project, review the test you did on your last 3 productions and make a list of
the 5 things you do not want to happen again and the 5 things you want to happen for the first time.
MY 25 CONCLUSIONS
We have used these steps for more than 25 years and every day we are looking for new improvements.
As summary, I have created this list with my conclusions from the process.
I would love to meet yours.
I hope that at least it has helped you to have an overview of our process and help you to create your own.
Juan Gayarre