When Luigi Russo needed to create an interactive 3D model for an architectural project, he turned to technology that few of his peers had considered: UDK.
This architectural walkthrough was created by Luigi Russo, a university student in the Faculty of Engineering at Italy’s University of Naples – Federico II. Russo created this navigable environment for a project using UDK and the open-source 3D content creation tool, Blender. Russo had no prior Unreal Engine 3 experience when he started developing the walkthrough and he captured these images and the video below just a few months after picking up UDK.
The walkthrough showcases a home that features modern architectural qualities, such as clean structural lines, lots of natural light and an environmentally friendly design that maximizes space for multi-purpose use. Russo even incorporated a soothing soundtrack as well as day and night cycles to enhance the presentation.
“In architecture, it’s very important to give clients the most realistic representation of the project,” said Russo. “Of course, there are physical models, but they’re out of scale and not very realistic. On the other hand, 3D still images are highly realistic, but you can’t rotate the model and your perspective is limited.”
Enter UDK. Despite having zero experience with game technology, Russo created a lifelike, interactive 3D representation that anyone can access to see his plan in action.
“With UDK, I can create realistically scaled models that you can walk inside, offering the best possible view of the project,” Luigi says. “UDK was ideal for my purposes – and it was a lot easier to learn than I could have imagined.”
Universities all over the world use UDK, which is free for noncommercial use. Unreal Engine 3 has also been used for grand-scale commercial architectural projects.