WEB site design

Notorious as a main cause of security breaches, CGI scripts are very popular and almost certainly are running on every Web server. The CGI (Common Gateway Interface) protocol itself is secure, but CGI scripts are very often not written by programmers with security in mind. As a result, Web Masters frequently install them on web sites, oblivious to the risks they are taking.

This is one example of where CGI companies can manage the impossible. By creating a detailed 3-dimensional representation of the section of the city desired, and superimposing data from the Shard's plans, it is possible to make a life-like model of the area that can be viewed and assessed from anywhere inside it.

This means that the full impact of the building can be understood - both in terms of its impressive height, and in terms of any problems that might need addressing before construction actually started. Such use of CGI is vastly preferable and far superior to creating individual artists renderings, which by their nature are costly, time-consuming and restrictive.

This composite approach to combining 3D visualisation and photography can wield some very powerful results. If say you wish to display or promote a new product design or prototype that has been modelled, why not stage a setting for your product and photograph it. You can then render out your model and using Photoshop, or your photo-editing software of choice place the render into the scene and tweak it to your heart's content, if needed.

This approach is often adopted by ad agencies in order to market a product that perhaps is not in full public production, or to place it in a setting that would be of high cost in terms of logistics and transportation/hire of photographic crew and equipment; or to simply add a visual aesthetic to an image post production. Obviously it opens up new opportunities using techniques like image manipulation and photomontage to create custom worlds or settings which can then be combined with your 3D visualisation renders, giving you quite literally a multiverse of opportunities.

As I mentioned earlier the adoption of new techniques by artists and designers, gives us the chance to explore new realms and ultimately create exciting and fresh new works. Bearing this in mind it is easy to see the wide possibilities of combining 3D visualisation and photography when it comes to graphic design in general. For example, by using a combination of 3D renders, say abstract geometric forms and portrait photography you have a very solid base for a striking piece of album artwork or a promotional poster or flier. Of course that is just a drop in a vast ocean of creative possibilities, the key is experimentation.

As designers we have a responsibility to search for new ways to communicate messages and ideas, and as the technology around us develops we need to embrace it. Developments such as augmented reality and WebGL will soon allow creatives the opportunity to incorporate 3D visualisation and models more easily and dynamically into interactive space, so it goes without saying experiments such as combining these 3D visualisation's with photography can only serve to push the boundaries and possibilities of visual communication forward.