360° architectural views with Unity & Cinema 4D

Language: German

360° architecture views with Unity and Cinema 4D

Illustrate and visualize even before the first brick has been laid. In this course, 3D artist Andreas Fülscher will show you an efficient process for creating interactive views of buildings or other products. Viewers can zoom into the models, rotate them 360 degrees and switch individual elements such as roofs or imported trees on and off - all from the browser. In a video tutorial lasting over 2.5 hours with 21 lessons, you will learn how to prepare objects with 3D software such as Cinema 4D and then add interactive elements to them in the Unity development environment.

21 lessons in over 2.5 hours of video training on the interactive visualization of 3D objects
Get to know efficient processes to achieve fast results with 3D software, Unity and without scripts
For an even faster start, the island is included as a model in C4D, FBX and OBJ formats
By 3D artist Andreas Fülscher, expert in high-end modeling and three-dimensional imagery

Architecture for virtual tours - send a link that will inspire customers with an all-round view!

Details

Usable with:
content: 3 h Video training
Licence: private and commercial Rights of use

Introduction

free of charge

360° architectural views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 01 Introduction

In this movie I would like to briefly introduce the course. In a quick run-through, I'll show you what you can expect. You'll be amazed at how easy it is to implement this project in Unity. We will be working with Cinema 4D for modeling. Of course, any other 3D program can also be used for this.

Preparations in Cinema 4D

360° architecture views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 02 Modeling in Cinema 4D

We start modeling our island in Cinema 4D. I'll show you several ways to get there and an efficient method for quickly creating new models if the customer still has lots of new ideas. The content can basically also be reproduced with other 3D programs and only two of the methods shown are only available from Cinema 4D R16 onwards. Otherwise, the modeling is also easy to understand with older versions of Cinema 4D.

360° architectural views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 03 UV layout in Cinema 4D

For most people, UV layout is the least popular in the 3D sector. Many also think that Cinema 4D is not yet fully developed in this area. However, you can create a very good UV layout very quickly in Cinema 4D without having to use plug-ins or other software. If you adopt this workflow, the UV layout will no longer be a headache.

360° architectural views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 04 Texturing in Cinema 4D

We will import our UV layout from Cinema 4D into Photoshop, work with textures there and adapt them to our UV islands.

Prepare models for export.

360° architecture views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 05 Model export and Unity import

We will export our model and import it into Unity. There are a few things that should be taken into account.

360° architecture views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 06 Architecture: import and export

In Google SketchUp, we're going to pick a house model and quickly prepare it for Unity. We're going to be pretty rough with the model here so we can quickly import the house back into Unity. In the end, this method will also work without having spent many hours just on the model.

Working in Unity

360° architectural views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 07 Add camera functionality

We don't want to script. For our example, we would have to script quite a lot. For this reason, we invest 10 euros and let the script do everything we need for us. This script can also be used in many other projects. We won't spend a second on the script itself. So no knowledge of scripting is required. It will simply work. We promise.

360° architecture views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 08 Add button

How do we add custom buttons in Unity? And how do I add functionality? I will show you in simple steps how to solve the problem very quickly.

360° architecture views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 09 Add graphic for button

A simple text as a button is not very nice, but we would like to insert our own graphics for our example. If you know how, it's very easy. No scripting is needed here either. The workflow is very simple.

360° architecture views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 10 Add graphics for second button

We repeat the step from the last chapter with another button. We want to hide our second roof. The next functionality is created with just a few clicks.

360° architecture views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 11 Import tree

We want our example to be more beautiful. We will add some nature and import a tree. There are many ways to import trees. We search the asset store and don't want to spend money on it.

360° architecture views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 12 Animating a tree

It would be nice if our tree was a little animated and the leaves moved a little in the wind. No problem with our imported tree. But there is something we need to consider first.

360° architecture views with Unity and Cinema 4D - Create 13 buttons for the tree

Sometimes it could also be that the customer wants to hide certain things because this distracts from the actual model. For this reason, we will create another button so that we can also show and hide the tree.

360° architectural views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 14 Creating and inserting an advertising sign

When the architect presents his building, he naturally wants to see his contact details directly in the presentation. In this step, we will model a simple advertising sign in Cinema 4D, texture it, export it, import it into Unity and add functionality with a button. After this step, you'll be ready to handle buttons and functions.

360° architectural views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 15 Global Illumination

Since Unity 5, "Global Illumination" is now available on the house. With this movie you will quickly understand the GI. We will add "Global Illumination" to our project to make the visuals more appealing. I will explain the GI with a simple example.

360° architectural views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 16 Working with HDRI

HDRIs are now a dime a dozen. For this example, we will export an HDR image from Cinema 4D and use it in Unity. The Global Illumination will react to our HDRI. At the same time, while we want to illuminate with the HDRI, we want to have a simple color in the background and not the HDRI. Here I'll show you how it works.

360° architectural views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 17 Add camera effects

If you want to try to add a gradient to your background color, you will be surprised that it is not that easy. Of course, you can use scripts for this. But we want to completely dispense with scripts and see if we can fulfill our wish using the camera effects. We can even achieve many more looks here.

360° architectural views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 18 General adaptations

In this short movie, we change a few things that still bother the project. Adjustments to the brightness, move the graphics and a few other small changes.

360° architecture views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 19 Export for the web

We have reached our goal. We will now export our project from Unity. We will export our example for a website. Of course, many other formats can also be set for the export. I'll show you how easy it is in this movie.

Bonus: Short introduction to Cinema 4D and Unity

360° architectural views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 20 Short introduction to Cinema 4D

If you have never worked in Cinema 4D before, you will find a short introduction here to make it easier to follow the tutorial.

360° architectural views with Unity and Cinema 4D - 21 Short introduction to Unity

This short introduction is for people who have never worked with Unity before. After this video you will be able to follow the course more easily.

Details of the content

Bring architecture to life
Give your customers the full 360 degrees and replace many words and complicated presentations with a link that lets the viewer become an actor! Interactive models that invite you to take a tour!
In this 2.5-hour course with 21 lessons, you will learn how to generate interactive 360-degree views using 3D software (here using Cinema 4D as an example) and the Unity development environment. 3D artist Andreas Fülscher will work with you to build an island on which buildings are brought to life.
The course is divided into 21 lessons. The aim is to learn an efficient process for generating three-dimensional, interactive views of architecture or other products quickly and in the simplest possible steps. This makes it possible to make any necessary changes in a short space of time. Therefore, no scripts are written - everything should be carried out using the basic functions of the programs used.
First, an island and the corresponding UV layout are created in Cinema 4D, on which the 3D object will later be positioned. Photoshop is then used to apply textures and the model is exported and prepared for use in Unity. An architectural example is obtained from Google SketchUp and also prepared for Unity. In combination, this results in a visualization worth seeing, in which a building has been placed on an island.
The rest of the course will then focus on the viewer's interaction with the model - rotation, zoom and the ability to show and hide individual elements. The camera is functionalized and buttons are created and added.
In addition, work is being done to enhance the visualization and create an appealing look . A tree is imported and animated so that its leaves blow in the wind. You also add an advertising sign to make the virtual tour even more personal. Finally, further improvements are made - the objects are given a new shine using global illumination and HDR, the background is given an attractive gradient and small details are refined even further. Finally, the visualization is exported and prepared for viewing on the web.
In addition to the actual course content, you will find two bonus videos in which the essential basics of Cinema 4D and Unity are presented in short introductions. This means that even beginners can easily follow the training.

What will you gain from this course?

You will learn an efficient process that will enable you to present products and, in particular, architecture in a special virtual, three-dimensional and interactive way. This allows you to create a tangible tour for customers that can be done easily and directly online. The process also allows you to make quick changes. You will combine the functions of different programs and learn how to prepare elements for use in Unity. The course also offers beginners two bonus lessons, in which the necessary basic knowledge of the programs Cinema 4D and Unity is also taught.

Detailed notes on compatibility

In order to follow the content in practice, you will need the Unity program, which you can download here as a "Personal Edition" free of charge. In addition, 3D software such as Blender or 3ds Max is required. Although the course itself is based on Cinema 4D, other programs are also possible at this point. The basic modeling can be done in all versions of Cinema 4D or in other 3D programs, only two briefly mentioned and not necessarily required methods refer to Cinema 4D R16 or R17. The same applies to Photoshop, which is essentially used here to create buttons and apply textures - alternative graphics programs (such as GIMP) with corresponding functions can also be used here.