The Aotea study produced a SketchUp model, site analysis and early drawings. I used that material to make a short book, a ten-second walkthrough and a documented method page, then compared where each format was most useful.
Formal review relies on drawings and rendered views. At the start of a project, clients and colleagues often need a quicker way to understand the proposal well enough to respond.
All three outputs were assembled from the same model, analysis and images. That made it possible to compare the work involved in preparing them and the type of review each one supports.
The 28-page book starts with the walk in from the road and the ground conditions recorded at one-metre intervals. It then introduces the references and the two design schemes.
The fixed sequence gives the design a clear context. Readers see the site evidence and early references before they reach the proposed work.
A ten-second camera move follows the route through the door and onto the deck. It uses the same model view as the still images.
Movement makes the height of the deck and the view below the raised shutter easier to read. It can also make a concept appear more resolved, so the walkthrough is presented with the study's open design checks.
The method page brings together the source data, the code used to assess the building pad, the drawings, the cost range and the five checks that remain open.
Each claim is accompanied by a source, calculation or clear statement of uncertainty. This supports a detailed review and gives the reader a record they can return to.
Read the method study →The book, walkthrough and method page share the same model, images and analysis. The project did not need to be rebuilt for each output.
Once the source material was ready, the book took about forty minutes to lay out and the walkthrough took about ten minutes to render.
This gives the project team a practical choice. The walkthrough can clarify a spatial relationship, the book can explain how the proposal developed, and the method page can support a detailed review.
Does the book improve a reader's understanding of the proposal?
The sequence is deliberate, but it has not been tested with clients or colleagues. A reader study would be needed to compare it with a conventional drawing set.
How should a generated walkthrough describe its status?
Motion can make a concept appear more resolved than it is. The status needs to remain visible while the video plays, not only in its caption.
Which format does a reader choose first?
A follow-up study could record the first format selected and what the reader remembers a week later.
How much work is required to keep three outputs current?
Every model change needs to be traced through the book, walkthrough and method page. The next study should record that maintenance time.