By Robert Cassidy, Editor-in-Chief; Jay W. Schneider, Senior Editor; Dave Barista, Managing Editor; and Jeff Yoders, Senior Associate Editor
August 1, 2009
Building Design and Construction
HKS used its ARCHengine virtual environment to allow season ticket holders to see different views and angles of the $1 billion Cowboys stadium project.Architectural Visualization through Gaming Technology
Before 3D walkthroughs for client presentations were popular, HKS manager of Advanced Technologies Pat Carmichael and his team were working to marry gaming engines with 3D building models. "What's being tasked to us more and more is not just to show design, but to show function," Carmichael said. HKS's in-house-developed ARCHengine allows realistic architectural visualization in an interactive virtual environment. It includes the ability to show real-time shadows and light, moving figures, operational mechanical equipment, and animations that run at 30 frames per second. Utilizing the polygonal structure of Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3, ARCHengine delivers textured details and immersive graphic environments that can show how a building will work to clients and potential buyers. For the new $1 billion Dallas Cowboys Stadium, ARCHengine was able to show different views from different seats and allow potential season ticket holders to walk, or fly, through the stadium. Now, other visualization programs are following Carmichael's lead and using gaming engines to show architectural design.
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