Compositing Help Please

[thickly]

I need to composite some architectural elements into a photograph but I have no idea of the dimensions of the existing building and no plans to work from so I am having a lot of difficulty laying out the 3d elements I have modelled -- they are columns that need to follow the radius of the existing building facade in the photo -- normally I have a plan to work from so I can position all the elements accurately and then adjust the camera until they match the background photo and render, I seem to be struggling with this without the plan though.

 

Does anyone have a recommendation on how best to set this up or approach this?

 

Thanks in advance

Sean

[Horhe]

1) What sort of building is it; what is its function? This can help as in architecture certain buildings have certain heights.

 

2) Have you got any objects in the photo from wich you can estimate a module? Then you could measure the building using that very module.

 

3) This could be done drawing perspective lines and estimating the depths and dimentions.

 

Can you post a photo? It would be really easier if we knew what we are talking about

[thickly]

thanks for your reply, here is the image - the client wants to have columns with a roof structure in front of the radiused portion of the building (the section with the upper balcony). There will be approx. 4-5 columns that are offset from the building about 10'-0" that follow the same radius as the facade creating a covered walkway below. I tried estimating the building size based on the bump-out up front with the curved window and came up with about 30' tall by 25' wide -- created a box at that dimension and then tried to set my camera angle and tried to position the columns accordingly, but nothing was looking right to me, trying to get the columns spaced correctly and aligned with the building radius just wasn't working.

 

Any thoughts?

[rnx]

thanks for your reply, here is the image - the client wants to have columns with a roof structure in front of the radiused portion of the building (the section with the upper balcony). There will be approx. 4-5 columns that are offset from the building about 10'-0" that follow the same radius as the facade creating a covered walkway below. I tried estimating the building size based on the bump-out up front with the curved window and came up with about 30' tall by 25' wide -- created a box at that dimension and then tried to set my camera angle and tried to position the columns accordingly, but nothing was looking right to me, trying to get the columns spaced correctly and aligned with the building radius just wasn't working.

 

Any thoughts?

 

If you look at the car beside the black glass arched doorway, assuming its 4.5 to 5 feet in height the building would be closer to 40 feet i think. If you are matching stuff with a stad-in box, it should work ( with some pain, admittedly). What camera focal length are you using? The picture could well be taken at 25 or 28 mm. Instead of putting in the columns directly, maybe you could again use a stand-in curved wall first? Match it to the radiused portion? Best of luck!

 

rnx

[thickly]

score!! -- the client was able to dig up the original plans for the site -- in ACAD! Thanks for your replies, it sounds like I was moving in the right direction though using the stand in geometry -- it sure was a pain in the a**, probably would have been less so if the building didn't have such a complex footprint. I'm sure I'll be seeing more work like this so after I complete the project I'll try to go back and match it without using the plans.

 

again, thanks for the replies.

 

SD