How police use 3D software?

[anejo]

I recently read a news article about how police and law agencies have used 3d architectural software to help in their investigation of a crime scene. But the article did not go into detail about how the software is used.

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of how police investigators could use a program such as max to help their investigations? I would guess that it’s more than just creating a simple layout of the area of where the crime took place.

 

If you do have experience it would be nice to tell us about it.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 27, 2012 by anejo

[Scott Schroeder]

It's crime scene or accident re-creation. I've done it during my research for the forensic department while attending graduate school, and it's usually a nightmare. Reactor is often used to show how a car bounced around, or a person fell, etc. Bullet trajectory and blood spatter is also shown for murder cases. If you have a weak stomach, you won't want to see the crime/accident scene photos.

 

You have to be VERY specific about things, or else the court case can be dismissed due to faulty evidence. You want to guess who will take the massive amount of heat if you lose the case due to faulty evidence? You'll be blackballed forever.

 

Depending on the case, if it's going to trial, you may/will be called in to testify as an expert in the viz field. Your knowledge and skills as an artist will be put to the test during your testimony. If you don't know the software forwards and backwards, even the nuts and bolts, you can be broken and your evidence will be tossed.

 

Usually you have very little time to create the scene, and it's almost always rendered in scanline or even in a max viewport. You don't have to show it all pretty or even have textures. It's the context that counts. You have zero creativity (you can't go all Scorsese in the Departed on this stuff) and the pressure is immense. I'd never do it again.

 

Just my 2 cents.

Edited February 27, 2012 by VelvetElvis

[Joel Gray]

There are companies that are devoted to this kind of visualization and while it's not all about the gore that Scott describes, most of it can be. From my experience your files (not the output) are also part of the evidence, so another 3D person can look at them and judge your accuracy, which as Scott points out, makes you the fall-guy. If you're more into 3D as a technical tool than a creative tool, then this might be the career path for you, but for most it's not.