USA Banner

Official US Government Icon

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure Site Icon

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

General

Legacy ID
431

Realtime Interactive Models

Realtime interactive tools allow the user to navigate through a model environment at their own pace and to go wherever they want to go. Console games are a good example of interactive model environments. Objects in the scene can be set up for interactivity as well- the user can be allowed to...

Compositing / 2.5D Animation

2.5 D refers to visualizations that use a layer of animation over a static view where the base image doesn't change. These images are essentially photosimulations where one or more of the layers is animated. A good example would be a view of a road where the new road surfaces and the background...

Bautista Canyon - Modeling

The Bautista Canyon photosims are a good example of photosimulations produced with Microstation and a paint application. A 3D model of the road design was produced in Microstation, as well as the surrounding context as a 3D DTM. the road surface was texture mapped with an image of asphalt and...

3D Rendering Applications

This section discusses issues with exporting 3D Microstation files to other rendering programs, as well as some of the visualization techniques possible with those programs.

Converting Models to other 3D Programs

There are two key things to keep in mind when...

Advanced Paint Techniques

This section covers some of the more advanced paint techniques used for photosimulation and image retouching. The tools discussed are all in Photoshop. Camera matching is covered at the end of the chapter, the technique shown could be done in any 3D application that displays a background image...

Basic Innovative Techniques

This section introduces some very simple but innovative ways of presenting design data. These techniques require third party applications that are free or very reasonably priced. Links to vendors can be found in the Links section and demos are available by clicking on the indicated images (or...

Advanced Presentation Techniques

This section covers a few of the more innovative tools and techniques that will help the designer better present digital images. Most of these tools will be available to the designer or to someone within each of the FLHD offices.

Layering Elements

A very...

Image Acquisition / Photo Technique

This section covers methods for acquiring digital images and some basic tools for image manipulation and correction.

General Photographic Technique

Lighting

Natural light is usually best for shooting human subjects and natural...

Basic Image Issues

Generally, the goal when determining what image resolution and compression (file type) to use for presentation images is to find the most appropriate balance between image quality, file size, and file type usability for the type of presentation planned. An image may look great, but be too large...