Do we do pools? Sure we do pools!

Looking to add a pool to your house? Maybe you're working on a resort or even a public recreation area. Nothing is as dramatic in selling your concept as a photoreal rendering. Water is dynamic. You can't communicate the full experience of a pool without physically accurate reflections and refraction. Give us a call so we can help show your pool design in its best light!

New pool for Tamarack Lodge

We have been helping Tamarack Lodge to visualize their Northern Michigan resort since early 2005 when it was just a dream.


With the first building now complete and operating since 2006, we were again called upon to create a rendering of the indoor pool planned for building #2.

If you haven't been there, Tamarack Lodge is well worth the visit. A very classy place!

Home Improvement Options

To our regular customers, it's obvious what we can do for a project. However when people we know ask us what we do for a living, it can sometimes be difficult to explain. Once people actually see examples of what we've done for others, they usually can see the implications immediately. And whenever we run into someone who has recently completed a project, they know all too well the time and money spent that could have been avoided just by seeing it ahead of time. Hopefully this slideshow will give you some ideas of ways we can help you.

Church Setup Video

Video showing conversion of church gym into worship space.





You can see it a little bigger at YouTube. Click on "Watch in High Quality". It seems to play a little better that way.


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LEED certified building in Birmingham

JSSVD created several renderings for a proposed building in Birmingham, MI to help them evaluate colors and materials. Their website for 735 Forest is now live.

More info excerpted from Metromode:

Birmingham's new Triangle District plan calls for building taller, denser and more mixed-use buildings. The idea is to create a vibrant, urban district that complements its downtown across Woodward.

Meet the first development to fit all three criteria: 735 Forest.

The 35,000 square foot mixed-use structure is best broken down by floor. The first is set aside for the Forest Avenue Bistro, a 65-seat restaurant. The second story is dedicated as office space for the Birmingham-based developer and tenants who are currently negotiating their leases. The third floor will become 11 rental lofts, averaging 1,100 square feet each.

The cherry on top is that the building is going for LEED certification.

The building replaces three old single-family homes that had been converted to businesses. The developer razed them to make room for the project. The streets surrounding the new building will also be redeveloped in a downtown style that emphasizes walkability and openness.

735 Forest Avenue is one block east of Woodward Avenue, next to the new AAA building, in the middle of the city's Triangle District.

Interactive Product Renderings

Sometimes it's nice to let your customers experience your products from their own home. Until the holodeck is released to the public, this is the closest you can come. These are relatively quick and simple to create, whether for existing products or for things you are still dreaming up! I have posted two we have created as samples. Give me a call so we can put your products online, in 3D!

For some past examples, click here.

Big Changes at South Church

Last week I was contacted by South Church of Lansing. They are expanding their services and need additional space, so the decision had been made to convert the gymnasium into a temporary worship facility. This necessitated a remodel that was almost entirely mobile. They had a church meeting scheduled for yesterday evening to present the plans to the membership and vote on the budget increase to cover the equipment. JSSVD was called upon to create visualizations to assist in this presentation.
Those images follow:

Bookstore interior

Just finished a sample image of the interior of a bookstore. The layout and fixtures were based on designs by Design Identity for one of their projects. We made some adjustments and populated the shelves with books and CDs to make a photoreal presentation. Let me know what you think!

Other render styles

In the business, we usually call these non-photoreal, or "NPR". They could be a traditional media style replicating a hand sketch or a painting, or they could be very basic 3D images without reflections or even textures. Sometimes they are requested as a matter of preference - and sometimes because of the lower cost and turnaround time. And sometimes they just work better than a full photo-realistic rendering due to their simple presentation and high contrast.




Whatever the look and whatever the need, NPR renderings still make up a fair amount of our work. Because of the lower time requirements, we can sneak these in between other jobs pretty easily. But because they are not as glamorous as our photoreal renderings, they usually do not get the same attention. So I decided to use today's blog post to highlight these images. If you want more information or more examples on any of our NPR styles, give me a call!

New render slaves!

Meet Kevin, Angela, and Ryan. They just finished their first full week of rendering!

With Intel quad-core processors, they join Dwight and Andy as the fastest render boxes in the office.

JSSVD project revisited

Got a call from a client going before the city with a revision to a project we did last year. Rather than 6 houses, they wanted a version showing only 5. Also, he asked us to create a 2-story option to present. Given the work already created previously, this was pretty easy to turn around.

Traverse City's coming YMCA!

At JSSVD, we've been working with the YMCA and CWS Architects to help them visualize the new YMCA. They have considered a couple of sites and a variety of design options. We have been involved since 2006. Here is a sampling of the work we have done for them.

COMPARE: Ugly Kitchen

Ok, so the Ugly Kitchen was completed and revealed last week. Very cool!

Click here to see the 'before' pic and the JSSVD rendering.

Here is a photo of the real kitchen by Dave Speckman.

COMPARE: Porch in Historic District

In 2006, a local builder approached me who was having difficulty with the local municipality. He was wanting to add a porch and just generally improve a house he owned, but the house was in a "Historic District". In such a district, there is generally a board that reviews all proposed changes to make sure they are in keeping with the character of the neighborhood. He had sketched up his concept, but it wasn't enough to sell them on the idea.

He came to us, and we created a 3D model of the porch he had drawn, as well as a number of alternate options. He chose one and we slapped it on the house and sent him packing to the city to get his approval.









I assume all went well, because I just noticed the house as I drove by the other day. Looks pretty close!

Know MAX? VRay? Photoshop?

HELP!!! We're hiring. Do you know 3D?
Check out this link for the skinny.

JSSVD at wfx 2008 in Indy!

We've been back for a bit, but only just now taking the time to post some details.


JSSVD had booth #749 at the Spring wfx conference in Indianapolis April 30 - May 1. All of us were able to go to the show except for Andy - he was sad.

As I reflect on the journey, it seems more a tour of restaurants that Nick had never experienced than it did a trip to a trade show. First on the list of Nick's tour was White Castle. You should have seen the excitement on his face! It soon left though, with his first bite of steamed meat. I always heard that their burgers were tiny, but Aubrey could barely even lift hers!

Next was my favorite discovery of the past few years: Famous Dave's! Yummmmm. Highly recommended! Every time I'm in a biggish city I look for one, as they have not yet made it to the northlands. It was late and we couldn't decide on individual meals, so we split the giant trashcan lid platter. Very excellent!

I'm not sure what she did that she is smiling about, but here you can see our den mother and navigator, Aubrey. Although soon after this was shot, her navigator status was put on probation however. You see, she is always talking about this restaurant "P.F. Chang's" that she wants us to try. So one night at 10:45 she searches Google Maps on my cell phone to find them. When she is told they close at 11, she was trying to find out if we could still make it. The lady seemed confused since they were just starting to serve the dinner menu, but said "Yes - you should have plenty of time." So, we head to town. When we get there, sure enough - they are closed. I took my phone back from her and looked at the last screen. Click here for a clue why we didn't have Chinese that night.

Well, at one point we actually did man a booth at the show. Here are a couple of pictures as evidence. As usual, Scott is working, Nick is sleeping, and Aubrey is nowhere to be found.

It may not look like it, but these things are exhausting. The first day we were all incredibly busy talking with people. I didn't sit down that day. Thursday gave us a few breaks, but still steadily busy right to the end. After teardown Thursday, we all went back to the hotel and crashed until very late.

While I was busy trying to establish relationships with prospective clients, Nick & Aubrey went on a swag expedition. (For definition of "swag", watch "The Office", Season 3, Episode 2 - "The Convention") After nap time, Nick laid out his takings.

Before commencing the journey home, we stopped at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I guess that is the thing you are supposed to see in that town. Pretty cool to see the cars in the museum. A lot more impressive on race day though, I'll bet. Nick is ready, although I think a helmet would be prudent.

On the way home, we came thru Fort Wayne to see the new Sweetwater headquarters. I can sum it all up in one word: "Huh?!" Let me first say that Sweetwater is an incredible supplier of pro audio gear, musical instruments, etc. They have probably one of the largest warehouses of its kind. However, their new digs feel like a strange dream, or one of those spy movies where someone wakes up in a strange facility, having been extracted from their normal lives and trained to work for the government. The place is immense, and when we went - absolutely empty. There were LCD panels everywhere with various shows playing that all seemed as if they were showing propaganda to make us feel like everything is ok. Yet around each corner was a new and strange thing that we could not relate to. A free video game arcade including virtual golf, a movie theater, an exercise room, racquetball, restaurant, concierge, recording studio... Crazy! They did have some music gear in the front of the store that we had to explore, but I couldn't believe how little the showroom was given their reputation. After playing around a little, I was forced to push Nick thru the glass to the showroom floor.

I'm sure it looks like we mostly played while there, and this is partly true. But when we were working, we were just so dern busy that we could not accurately capture it. Besides, all of the pictures of us "working the booth" look pretty much the same. The bottom line is, it was a very encouraging trip, garnering a number of new leads, and a lot of fun!

Sample matchmove

This is a quick animation I did some time ago to test our tracking software. Put simply, tracking allows us to identify the path a camera followed while recording, the lens used, and other characteristics. This information is then used to create a virtual camera in our 3D scene with the same parameters. Then, we can render an animation of something that does not exist, and match it into a real-world setting. You have seen this done hundreds of times, but may not have known it. This is how Gollum in Lord of the Rings , King Kong, and the recent HP and Levi's commercials were made to name just a few.



This test is poor quality, but that was by design. Rather than using a pro-level HD video camera, I used an inexpensive digital camera that shoots mediocre video. I figured if I can get a good track on a jerky 320x240 at 15fps, I can get a great match on smooth HD. After tracking the camera move, I dropped in a building from a past job, planted some trees, and added some moving cars.

Certainly not a product quality I would deliver, but proof that we can make very convincing matches with proper footage.

Building a garage

Cleaning off the network today and found this video I did a while back. Besides showing the progression of construction, it's interesting to see how the various options affect the lighting in the room.

JSSVD Clients - Nationwide!

Where are you located? Where do you work?
Some of the more common questions we receive here!
Believe it or not, we do far more work out of state than we do locally.
I just threw together a quick map to show the communities represented by our clients.
Pretty cool, eh?
(Always looking to stick more pins in the map, so give us a call!)

Ugly Kitchen rendering complete!

Click here for a 3D tour of the existing kitchen
(You may be prompted to download a plugin in order to view it.)

Photo Composite of Existing Kitchen




Rendering of Proposed Kitchen

JSSVD chosen for renderings of Ugly Kitchen Contest

According to their website, "the contest aims to make over the kitchen most in need! The ugliest kitchen will win a $35,000 custom makeover, including new cabinets, countertops, flooring, lighting, appliances, and other amenities of the perfect kitchen. All products and services will be provided by top area businesses."


Click here for a 3D tour of the existing kitchen that is about to be completely remodeled!!
(You may be prompted to download a plugin in order to view it.)

For more info, and to keep up on the progress of the project, visit the Ugly Kitchen Contest website.

2100 chairs!

What if a customer wondered what 2100 model XYZ seats with red fabric would look like in their room?

Why not show them?!
















And if they liked it, we could add their colors, materials, and fixtures to complete the vision!