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What We Do

Introduction

Pepperchrome provides both presentation graphic services and landscape architectural services to architects, engineers, real estate developers and individuals. Our specialty is architectural illustration. We are located in Portland, Maine, USA.

Our products include:

  • Animation streamed on the web

  • High quality digital graphics

  • Printed illustrations

  • Master planning

  • Site planning

  • Planting design

Work techniques:

  • 3D computer modeling and rendering

  • Photo editing

  • Vector graphic illustration

  • Photography

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Please contact John Gutwin of Pepperchrome - As a team we help ensure success.

Phone: 207-773-3314
Mail:
Pepperchrome
150 Middle St Apt 4D
Portland, Maine 04101-4175

Architectural Illustration

At Pepperchrome, we believe that every design must be clearly communicated. We specialize in producing presentation graphics that highlight the key features of your project. We strive for artistic excellence and accuracy to engage your audience and deliver your message with impact.

Excellent design illustration comes from a process of communication. We listen when our clients tell us what they hope to accomplish and who their intended audience is. Provide us design details in the form of plan and elevation drawings or even in words, concept sketches or 3d models.

Our primary method for producing design illustrations is to build a three dimensional computer model of your project and then compose and render illustrations and animations from specific viewpoints and camera paths chosen to meet your needs. This method provides tremendous flexibility for making changes and improvements throughout the process. It allows most of the work to be re-purposed across the spectrum of use:

  • Design development through approval drawings

  • Marketing and promotional material in print

  • Multimedia of the Internet and television


Computer Generated Rendering

A computer generated rendering starts with a computer model. To maximize flexibility we actually use many separate models all brought together in a scene. Each building is a separate model, each car or tree is a separate model, and the site is a separate (and sometimes very large) model. A virtual camera is positioned within the scene to control the view of the final rendering. When the models and camera are complete we begin the rendering process. This process can take less than a second or more than a day depending on the qualities that have been programmed into the model and the virtual camera. Most renderings take between 5 minutes and an hour.

Animation

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Animation is particularly useful for communicating a complex three dimensional space to an audience. This technique helps us get closer to experiencing a design without physically building it. As an added bonus, people like watching animations as they help the viewer understand the project three-dimensionally and in greater detail.

Animation is a simple extension of the process used to render a still image by rendering a series of images following a camera path. A high quality, smooth animation has many frames and a carefully laid out camera path taking advantage of key viewpoints throught the project. By gracefully transitioning between key viewpoints the viewer stays oriented and spends more time focused on the most important views.

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360 degree stereoscopic rendering

Stereoscopic 360 degree renderings are labled "VR360". Click on the text on the lower half of the thumbnail view and it will open a wider and more detailed view just like the other illustrations on this web site. Click again on the two icons in the lower right hand corner of the image and the most detailed version available will load. To go all the way to full screen or enter stereoscopic cardboard mode you must click the icon in the lower right corner one more time.

VR 360ICU - Patient Room

The same modeling process is used in creating VR360 view, but with a very different virtual camera. Using a script provided by Google to embed them in a web page these images respond to the sensors in modern cell phones and tablets and rotate to match how you point your viewing device. With the addition of a virtual reality headset, even as simple as Google Cardboard, the stereoscopic effect gives the scene depth. The experience of the viewer feels more like actually being there.


Landscape Architecture

We provide site planning and planting design services with a visual emphasis. Because our renderings inform our design process, projects turn out very well when we are involved in both design and illustration as the synergy between the two creates a visual feedback loop. We have designed several commercial sites in Falmouth teamed with FST Inc. (formerly DeLuca Hoffman Associates) We most often work as part of a design team.

Conceptual Site Design brings focus on major issues and rapidly compares alternative designs. We focus on visual issues and the user's enjoyment and utility of the site. With over 30 years experience we explore various layouts and project approaches striving for simplicity, utility and visual beauty. Master Planning provides a framework like an outline in a narrative, that links various parts and various uses into a cohesive experience for the user while striving for efficiencies benefiting the owner.

Visual Impact Assessment

Visual Impact Assessment services examine a proposed development's visual qualities and the extent of it's visibility within a region. Key viewpoints are identified and visual simulations are prepared using computer graphics. Where impacts are judged adverse, impact mitigating additions or design alterations are proposed and illustrated.

Photo-Composite

Photo-Composite images are an accurate and captivating composition showing what will be built. The end result looks like a photograph.

There are projects where the location or context surrounding a site are as important as it's other features. Photo-composites or visual simulations (as they are sometimes called) are an effective part of visual impact assessment. Sets of "before" and "after" pictures help us see and demonstrate the visual impact of a proposed development.

The accuracy of a Photo-Composite is persuasive. It is challenging as well since the viewpoint and the camera features have to match with precision. If an angle is off by even a fraction of a degree it can be a mess. Over years of experience and with modern tools we have mastered the issues of the camera match to provide consistent convincing pictures.

Pricing

Since 1994 we have provided many design illustration projects with a wide range of fees. We provide cost estimates or fixed fee quotes on request. If you need an approximate fee for budgeting purposes browse through all types of images in our gallery or by theme to find illustrations depicting a project similar in type or scope to your own. Then contact us by phone or email to discuss similarities and differences and what you might expect to budget for your project. Many illustration packages for small commercial developments range as little as $300 to $700.

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