| Traffic Simulations Enhanced by 3D Animation |
 Working with engineers, we can capture the output of traffic simulations and link them to detailed 3D urban simulations. This allows us to "drive" vehicles in our animations.
In 3D Studio Max, our 3D modeling and animation software, we then fix errors in
the simulation and employ sophisticated modeling,
animation and rendering techniques than is possible in a real-time
application. Combining these tools allows us to produce
animations that accurately illustrate both what the design looks and
how it works.
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Spokane Regional Transit Project, 2003 We have developed import routines in MaxScript to bring traffic data from traffic simulation software such as Vissim and Synchro. These applications allow traffic engineers to develop detailed models of traffic networks with signals and transit interactions and to run simulations in real-time. In Vissim, you can watch traffic jams develop on-screen in 2D or 3D and adjust the parameters to optimize the simulation. Vissim can export an ASCII file that lists the XYZ position of every vehicle in the simulation any time interval we choose. We import that to 3D Studio and run a physics simulation on each vehicle to get proper turning and then assign 3D vehicle models from our library. Most recently, we have been using a global illumination renderer, VRay to improve the realism of our traffic animations and we have also begun to add animated 3D characters. The need for realism varies with the application. A traffic simulation illustrating the operation of an intersection may not require a detailed context model or advanced rendering techniques, as the point is merely to show how the intersection works, not how it looks. However, most of the projects that we work on combine traffic and transit operations with urban design, and in these cases, the visual quality of the simulation can be very important.
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