Trans RINA, Vol 153, Part C1, Intl J Marine Design, Jul - Dec 2011


THE USE OF SUPERCOMPUTING TO SUPPORT ADVANCED VISUALISATION TECHNOLOGY IN SUPERYACHT DESIGN


J Tabor and A Pedcenko, DIAV Research Group, Coventry University, UK T Thompson, EBDIG, Department of Industrial Design, Coventry University, UK (DOI No: 10.3940/rina.ijmd.2011.c1.5)


SUMMARY


Advanced visualisation methodologies and technology from the automotive industry offer a significant opportunity for transfer of innovation to the marine industry, to support spatial awareness and enhanced immersive experience for design clients through photorealistic stereo viewing animations. There are two key challenges in the implementation of this technology, both relating to the processing time required to generate each render frame of the animation. Firstly the number of frames required for a walk through animation, given the size of the interior. Secondly, when modelling the exterior of the superyacht in the marine environment, the vast number of polygons required to produce the sea surface.


This paper presents a benchmark analysis of a HPC's rendering performance using different numbers of nodes, being compared to conventional desktop workstations currently used by the industry. The computing time required to produce an animation sequence for a superyacht is compared. The performance and rendering capabilities of a range of CAD packages are also discussed. Both open source and industry standard CAD packages are used to create high resolution stereoscopic 3D animations that can help potential owners to fully visualise and explore their vessel as part of the client/designer design dialogue. The technology shows the potential to enhance spatial awareness in the design process, and also to be a useful tool in the ergonomic resolve of the vessels interior.


1. INTRODUCTION With the ever evolving nature of main stream


commercial animation software being utilized by the almost every major motion picture release throughout 2011 for CGI (computer-generated imagery) and special effects purposes the question remains, ‘How can other manufacturers and industries utilize this already developed technology to enhance both their


design


practices and visual virtualization methods in order to communicate their products to potential clients?'.


One of the main problems faced by users of current high end animation software is the computational time required to achieve high end photorealistic animations with minimal post production work.


2. THE CURRENT STATE OF CGI


The current state of CGI is the result of developments in two areas in computing - improvements in algorithms for computer graphics and the increasing


density of


integrated circuits. The software innovations have made it possible to generate and animate complex, photo- realistic scenes, while the improvement in hardware has meant that the calculations required to render each frame of such scenes now take minutes rather than years. One key stimulus for invention in the field is the annual SIGGRAPH conference, one of the largest computer conferences held each year, whose film programme acts as a showcase for the latest innovations. Throughout the second half of the 1980s, John Lasseter's short films for Pixar (Luxo Jr., Red's Dream, Tin Toy, and KnickKnack) were key highlights. Another equally important stimulus


©2011: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects


Producing a CGI scene involves three basic steps. First a 'wire-frame' geometric model of every object in the scene must be developed. For animate objects that move, such models include the underlying skeleton and joints as well as the surfaces, since variables that control


these define the


One of the most important developments in CGI within the last two decades is the development of advanced algorithms that are capable of


producing realistic


movements for large bodies of information (such as flocks of animals or large bodies of water) that require animating in such as way that looks more natural and random that previous algorithms could achieve.


Not only have these new algorithms managed to produce more realistic life like effects but when combined with the latest software it is now possible to model, animate and render incredibly complex and


natural looking


scenes that only ten years ago seemed seemingly impossible to achieve without decades of computing time.


comes from the computer game industry, which has had a profound effect on computer graphics.


articulation the object's gait. As might be


expected, special software tools have been developed to simplify this task. The second step involves defining the surface appearance of each object; its colour, texture, reflectivity, transparency and so on. Again there are specialised tools, known as 'shaders', to help.


The final step is to 'render' the scene that is to calculate the colour of all the pixels. As well as the models of all the objects in the scene, rendering also requires definitions of the camera and the light sources. Then the


C-39


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66