1 Sep 2003

Millimeter

www.millimeter.com, online and in hard copy, the professional resource for production and post production, in its 1 April 2003 issue, had S.D. Katz review all landscape generating software, with digital landscape links and photo gallery.

http://millimeter.com/ar/video_build_own/

After an excellent introduction and setting of contexts comes the following;

Digital Landscapes that Fool the Eye (Are we trying to fool anybody?-EHF)

Corel: Bryce 5

E-on: Vue d'Esprit

Greenworks: Xfrog

Onyx: Tree Professional

Digital Element: WorldBuilder 3 Pro

Planetside: Terragen

Pandromeda: MojoWorld

3D Nature: World Construction Set 6

'It all began in the 1970's with mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot...'

What do GPS and DEMs have to do with...

...and there are excellent sidebar pieces entitled:

1. The Algorist's Dilemma

2. L-Systems

3. Smile, You're on Candid Camera

EHF Conclusion: The real digital promise is the opportunity for landscape architects to move beyond the representative reality of 2D plans and perspectives...we are not there yet...but we get closer.

All of these software work to give you excellent ecologically appropriate wilderness, which we, landscape architects, can 'develop' with the likes of World Construction Set and the wealth of architectural modeling/rendering software.

And there is the question of animation, as it sits between photo-realism and the cartoon world. Does this not whet the appetite of landscape architects?

This article and its links are an excellent read.

Edward Flaherty

4:56:18 PM    comment []