July 25, 2012
Scotland
Scotland
Architect exposes wind farm CGI dupe
www.bdonline.co.uk 25 July 2012
A new book out next month claims that computer-generated images of wind farms make the structures look smaller than they actually are.
The book, called Windfarm Visualisation: Perspective or Perception, by Scottish architect Alan Macdonald, who runs Inverness computer-generated image firm Architech, is due to come out next month.
Macdonald, who has worked on close to 50 wind farm projects, said CGIs of how planned wind farms would look are often compromised because they are created from 50mm shots with the turbines in the middle of a panorama.
The architect blamed a trick of the brain for giving the impression of a small development on a large landscape.
“It’s due to the way the brain interprets photographic images, that’s what it boils down to,” he said. “The 50mm shots under represents the landscape scale. A panoramic image can only be viewed from one point. There is an undersizing aspect.”
He dismissed suggestions councils were being conned by CGIs submitted to them as part of the planning application. “It’s not deliberate at all [but] it’s an advantage for the developer.”
He said 75mm shots would give a better representation of landscape scale. In May, a report by Stirling Univeristy on wind farm visualisations said: “Single frame images produced at 75mm focal length should be used in most circumstances.”
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/07/25/architect-exposes-wind-farm-cgi-dupe/