{"id":10125,"date":"2022-01-28T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-28T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/?p=10125"},"modified":"2022-06-15T11:48:38","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T16:48:38","slug":"taking-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/28\/taking-shape\/","title":{"rendered":"The quest to make digitally rendering easy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cEverything is a shape,\u201d said Ergun Akleman, Texas A&amp;M professor of visualization, as he considered questions about his years creating digital modeling software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEverything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Residential structures? Matchboxes? Cars? Water? They\u2019re all \u201cjust\u201d shapes. All of \u2018em.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Akleman is on a mission to make it easy to digitally model all manner of shapes, a heroic endeavor that could potentially be used for everything from designing the perfect coffee mug to predicting where cracks will cause a building will fail over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-prototypes-and-problems\"><strong>Prototypes and Problems<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Before the digital age, any sort of shape that designers created, a model of a commercial building, or something much smaller and mundane \u2014 a fob for a key ring, perhaps \u2014 was drawn by hand, then rendered in hand- constructed models made of wood, foam, or whatever substance best fit what was being conceived or developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Physical renderings of these designs required gathering raw materials and either possessing the skill to create a model, or hiring someone to do it. Of course there wasn\u2019t just one design and one model for a project \u2014 new models and renderings needed to be created to reflect each design change, a time-consuming and potentially costly process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Digital technology offered the promise of simplifying and speeding up this workflow, but the complexity of \u201creal- world\u201d shapes and the lack of easy-to-use software was a daunting problem during the early days of consumer- grade computing, said Akleman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Digital modeling would be practical if one could easily move, for example, a handle on a coffee mug or manipulate \u201choles\u201d \u2014 such as doorways in a building, or virtually examine an object by turning it this way or that. But that software didn\u2019t exist yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen I first started digitally modeling objects it was difficult and complicated to do this,\u201d said Akleman. \u201cI wanted to be able to change things in an extremely simple way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With a background in mathematics and computer science, and funding from the National Science Foundation, Akleman and a team of computer scientists, software engineers, and computer graphics specialists created TopMod, an open- source application that was released in 2005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"an-instant-hit\"><strong>An Instant Hit<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>TopMod was an instant hit with users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPeople came up with so many shapes!\u201d said Akleman. \u201cIt was really beyond my imagination what users created. Then they shared the shapes with each other and discussed how they created the shapes. It was incredible work and very exciting to see what TopMod made possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-future-of-digital-design\"><strong>The Future of Digital Design<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since TopMod\u2019s success, Akleman has been looking for ways to take the next step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI want users to be able to produce all possible shapes,\u201d he said. \u201cNot just a few shapes. All possible shapes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s an ambitious-sounding goal, but it\u2019s one that Akleman is shooting for. Whether it be architects, medical researchers, clothing designers, or anything in between, designers in any field should have easy-to-use software that will help them create whatever shapes they need to, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To that end, he and a team of mathematicians, software engineers and developers have their eyes on the next prize: shape modeling 4D software that will render time-based changes in objects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a big step, but not a simple step,\u201d said Akleman, who is part of a team of software developers seeking funding for their idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rendering objects in 4D instead of 3D can be thought of as the difference between rendering a running person and water, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPut simply, if you\u2019re modeling a person running, the action of running doesn\u2019t change a person\u2019s topology; there are certainly changes in the runner\u2019s body, but there\u2019s still two arms, two legs. The number and kinds of elements of a person in motion don\u2019t fundamentally change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBut if you\u2019re modeling water, a 4D approach is the best way to render the changes water goes through,\u201d he said. \u201cA 4D application will show time- based changes in the amount of water, its shape as it crashes onto a beach, for example.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"life-saving-practical-application\"><strong>Life-Saving Practical Application<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In architecture, 4D modeling could also \u201csee into the future\u201d by rendering cracks that would eventually appear in a building after years of use. \u201cCracks can be very complicated, and might not even necessarily cause a building to collapse,\u201d said Akleman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, as is the case with 3D rendering, Akleman is looking to create software that will allow users to easily make changes to shapes, and then show the effects of those changes through time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"card-grid card-grid--three-col\">\n\t\n\t\t<div class=\"card-grid__col\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"card\">\n\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/staff\/ergun-akleman\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"card__img-link\"\n\t\t\t\t\taria-label=\"View Ergun's profile page\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"card__action\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"t-eyebrow card__action-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tView profile\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"card__action-icon-wrapper\" style=\"background-color: var(--color-blue-viz);\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"fas fa-user card__action-icon\"><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"far fa-arrow-right card__action-icon is-hidden\"><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"card__img\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\trole=\"img\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\taria-label=\"Photo of Ergun Akleman\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tstyle=\"background-image: url('https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/app\/uploads\/staff\/photos\/akleman-ergun-640x440-c-default.jpg');\"\n\t\t\t\t\t><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"card__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"t-heading-4 card__heading\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tErgun Akleman\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"t-body-small card__body\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tProfessor\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"card__link\" href=\"tel:979.845.6599\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"fas fa-phone card__link-icon\"><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"t-body-small card__link-text\">979.845.6599<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"card__link\" href=\"mailto:ergun.akleman@tamu.edu\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"fas fa-paper-plane card__link-icon\"><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"t-body-small card__link-text\">Email Ergun Akleman<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/section>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ergun Akleman seeks to help designers in any field easily model any object. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":10126,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[62,63],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.12 (Yoast SEO v20.12) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The quest to make digitally rendering easy - Texas A&amp;M University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tamupvfa.juiceboxint.com\/news\/2022\/01\/28\/taking-shape\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The quest to make digitally rendering easy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ergun Akleman seeks to help designers in any field easily model any object.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tamupvfa.juiceboxint.com\/news\/2022\/01\/28\/taking-shape\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Texas A&amp;M University School of Performance, Visualization &amp; 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