Documentation / Image Studio
Model Photography
The crit-table model you didn't have the week to build.
A physical model makes a design legible in a way a render doesn't. Model Photography turns a capture of your massing into a photograph of a handmade model: white card, basswood, greyboard or a 3D print, on a plinth, under a studio lamp. It keeps your form especially well, because a clean Rhino capture already looks like a white model.
Styles
| Style | What it looks like | Starts from |
|---|---|---|
| White card | A crisp white card or foam massing on a clean base, in soft studio light. | A capture or image (recommended) |
| Basswood and birch ply | A warm laser-cut timber model with engraved facade lines. | A capture or image (recommended) |
| Greyboard sketch model | A quick chipboard and cork working model with visible cuts and glue. | A capture or image (recommended) |
| 3D print | A matte resin or PLA print in one material, with subtle layer lines. | A capture or image (recommended) |
| Timber in white context | The proposal in timber inside a white model of the surrounding blocks: the classic competition model. | A capture or image (recommended) |
| Contour site model | Stacked contour layers for a sloping or landscape site. | A capture or image (recommended) |
| Lit from within | The model in a dark room, glowing from inside. | A capture or image (recommended) |
| On the workbench | A documentary shot of the model half-made, with tools around it. | A capture or image (recommended) |
Choices
| Choice | Options |
|---|---|
| Camera | Overhead three-quarter · Eye level (periscope) · Top-down · Macro detail |
| Base | Clean plinth · Engraved site base · Seamless backdrop · Studio table |
| Scale figures and trees | On · Off |
| Light | Soft studio · Raking lamp · Window daylight |
| Shallow depth of field | On · Off |
Starting from your model
A Rhino viewport capture in Arctic or Pen display mode (white, soft shadows), no grid or axes, context in a lighter grey, from the camera you want.
For Eye level (periscope), capture from about 1.6 m at the model's scale. Name what the model shows, and a material if it isn't the style's; the form comes from your capture.
Try these
- White card · Overhead three-quarter · Clean plinth with an Arctic capture: "three linked courtyard blocks stepping down a slope"
- Timber in white context · Engraved site base · Raking lamp: "a timber concert hall among white neighbouring blocks"
- Lit from within · Seamless backdrop: "a translucent pavilion on a pier"
Keep in mind
- A model that was never built: scale and proportion are implied, not measured.
- The lamp is photography, not a heliodon or a sun study.