Solar Bio-Reactor
My former employer, Terra Domain, had ambitions beyond oil & gas exploration services and software. One of these was creating a hybrid power generator for remote locations with abundant solar energy. I was tasked to create 3D renders and animations to help explain the concept.
It involved a centralized solar tower combined with a giant algae tank. The solar tower would generate electrical power while the algae tank would be used to generate bio-fuel for portable energy.
However, I had nothing to do with the design of the concept. I was merely hired to make the pretty pictures.
Details
Pretty much all the modeling in this project was done in 3D Studio Max. It relied heavily on ray-tracing to demonstrate some interesting ideas involving the mirrors. They were capable of both focusing on the power-tower and de-focusing to cast softer light on the algae tank.
These mirrors were all rigged up using inverse-kinematics to be realistically aimed in order to bounce light onto their respective targets. I had to create a control script to populate the scene with mirrors, as well as aim them according to the current position of the sun in the scene.
A really fun piece of software called World Machine was used to generate a Tibetan-style landscape, which was apparently one of the locations this idea was thought to be practical. The various texture maps it produced were used to add variation to the terrain; little touches like erosion and snow all played a part.
There were also ideas to use the installation for food and water production, so a couple of greenhouse designs were also included in the renders. One greenhouse had a more mundane design to it, while another was much more complex with the idea of integrating a water desalination system into it.
When the videos and images produced were shown in China while searching for investors, I was told that a few attendees asked where this installation was located. I guess that's some high praise, but I always felt the terrain needed more love before it deserved comments like that.