First (semi) completed building

The first building is now complete (in as much detail as I want it to be at this stage). A few others have been started but the Bellagio is done for now.

Here's what the real thing looks like:
(My own image, which is why it's more than a bit blurry!)

And my SketchUp version:


Although it looks a bit simple and bare at the moment there were more than a few frustrating moments when it came to the finer details. I'm happy with how it turned out though.

The next step is to use this model to experiment with the process of exporting a 3D model to Flash which isn't as straightforward as I'd like. There are a few possible ways to do this which I'm looking into. Another reason why I didn't add too much detail and colour at this stage is that some of this detail may be lost while I'm exporting it.

Update

I'm working on the map of the city at the moment. The book I talked about earlier has been a big help - I've found a lot of tips in it which has made the process easier, I've learned how to import screenshots from Google Earth into SketchUp as guidelines and it's also helped me to learn how to export the SketchUp map to Flash. This seems to be quite a complicated process and I'm planning on doing some more research into this very soon and try to export some more simple models into Flash to see how it works.

One problem I've been having with SketchUp is that it has been very slow already and this will probably get worse as I add more detail. I'm thinking of splitting the model into individual files - one file per building and combining them at the end.

Google SketchUp Blog

Google's SketchUp blog is an interesting read and really useful for SketchUp updates!

reacTIVision

For the past few days I've been thinking about how the user will interact with the map. I had planned on using RFID tags and a reader to translate the user's movements to the map on screen.

I decided to focus on the use of the webcam to track movement for the moment. I heard about fiducial markers and using them with a webcam to track their coordinates. While I was researching this I came across reacTIVision which Nora had talked to us about earlier this semester. It's open source software which is used to track fiducial markers and has been used for a lot of really interesting projects. The reactable seems to be the most successful use of the software.



I think this would be a great way to track the user's movement using the fiducial marker and map the X and Y coordinates to the Flash map.

So far, I've downloaded reacTIVision and printed some of the packaged fiducial markers to see how it works. I held up a random marker and it did recognise it! I'm really enjoying using it at the moment and think it could befinitely be something I would like to use. Unlike most of the other projects I've seen that have used it, I'm not planning on projecting anything onto the table. I'm not sure if this will make using it more or less complicated but I'll soon find out!

SketchUp book

One of the parts of the project that I'm most looking forward to is learning more about SketchUp. I'd like the map to look as realistic as possible and to do the location justice so I've found a great book to help me: Google SketchUp for Dummies by Aidan Chopra. I haven't had a chance to read much of it yet but from what I've seen from flicking through it I think it'll help a lot. There's a lot of small tips and tricks that will save me a lot of time. Aidan Chopra's official site for the book has a list of the chapters and links to really good video tutorials. He also has a YouTube account for the videos.

Even looking at the simplest tutorials I've picked up some tips so I think I'll be working my way through all of them over the next few days before I get to the more complicated parts of building the map. I think video tutorials are the best way to learn any software and it's one of my favourite things about YouTube. Here's a simple tutorial of Aidan's for beginners as an example:

Bill of Materials

A list of the equipment and materials I'll need for the project:

Software:
a Google SketchUp Pro 6
a Adobe Flash

Equipment:
a Webcam
a Computer
r RFID tags and reader

Other:
• 2D / 3D model - architectural materials


To date, I have all of the software I need (SketchUp Pro 6 educational license!). I also have the webcam and computer, obviously. All I need to get my hands on now are the RFID tags and reader (and learn how to use and program them of course!).

Important Dates!

Below are tentative dates for important milestones and deadlines of the project:

13 June: first draft outline to supervisor.
18 July: Draft thesis + demo to supervisor.
15 August: Final draft of thesis + demo to supervisor + pdf of thesis
1-2 September: Examination including presentations, questions & answers, demos.
2-5 September: DAWN 2008