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Alias SurfaceStudio
Rachael Taggart
April 2005
Even when you work at the cutting-edge of design, it's not everyday that you get the opportunity to apply your talents to a ground breaking 74m motor yacht, and play a pivotal role in bringing such a large project to successful manufacture.
But that's exactly what happened to Alias® training and design consultancy Bluesmith, when Kerry Kingston took a call from Redman Whiteley Dixon (RWD), the award-winning UK marine design agency.
Setting New Standards With SurfaceStudio
The commission from RWD was for the exterior design of Ilona 4, a luxury motor yacht developed for experienced mariners who have circumnavigated the earth four times, which would ultimately set new standards in technology, innovation and elegance. SurfaceStudio™ - part of the StudioTools suite of industrial design solutions from Alias, the world's innovation leader in 3D graphics technology - played a major role in the development of this landmark vessel, from the visualization stages to exporting data for final manufacture.
Founded in 2002 by Kerry Kingston and Lee Irvine, both former Alias employees, Bluesmith specializes in using Alias software to create accurate 3D CAD models for the automotive, packaging and product design industries. An authorized Alias training centre and StudioTools beta-tester, the company takes its Alias expertise and equipment into clients' offices and works side-by-side with their creative teams.
"We are both compulsive Alias sculptors and image-makers," says Kingston. "We started Bluesmith because Alias software is used by some of the best designers in the world to develop the most innovative products. Working on those projects and training those designers mean that we are constantly developing and stretching our skills. We get to work in some great environments and with some really talented people."
Design Pedigree With Alias
Bluesmith enjoys a distinguished client list, including packaging and product design consultants Design Bridge Structure, Siebert Head and Frog design, corporate giants such as Philips and Unilever, marine designers Dubois Naval Architects and Redman Whiteley Dixon, and Jaguar Cars, Land Rover and Bentley Motors. It was an automotive connection that led to the initial contact from RWD.
"They had heard about us through the car design grapevine, and knew we had the surfacing skills and technology they needed for Ilona 4," says Kingston. "The elegant, rhythmical forms of RWD's deck designs were similar in complexity to the lines on a luxury car. RWD had a really strong vision of how the design would come together through the visual relationships of the three decks, and the shapes that were created as you moved around the yacht."
SurfaceStudio - Great for Marine As Well As Automotive
"Traditional yacht design CAD systems are great for laying out complex deck designs, but for this job we had to give the designers detailed control and visualization of some very complex doubly-curved surfaces. For RWD, the ability to get their `hands on' an accurate representation of such huge surfaces and fine tune the contours was a revelation. They were passionate about their design and determined to create a stunning visual impact. With SurfaceStudio software we were able to give them an unprecedented level of control," she adds.
Ilona 4, which has set the marine design world on fire, incorporates an afterdeck helipad and hangar, a 33m master suite, accommodation for 18 guests in six staterooms, and a cosy 14-seater cinema. She also houses 28 crew and staff. An elevator connects all five of her decks. Only a cutting-edge exterior would do this impressive specification justice.
Before approaching Bluesmith, RWD had initially worked with Bumblebee Studios, a 3D animation house in Rotterdam, to visualize Ilona 4 for the owners. There, Maya®, Alias' Academy Award-winning 3D animation system, was used to create and refine the shape of the exterior design.
It All Started With Alias Maya 3D
RWD then called on Bluesmith to develop and deliver the full 3D CAD models for the boat builders in Holland. Bluesmith were provided with the native data from the Maya models of Ilona, plus detailed 2D CAD drawings of the decks, and a physical model.
"The animation was a great starting reference for us," says Kingston. "We were able to take the yacht design straight into SurfaceStudio and quickly build the detailed 3D CAD models from there. The beauty of working with SurfaceStudio is that we could apply the same high-quality surfacing techniques to Ilona that are deployed daily in the automotive industry."
In particular, it was the ability to directly sculpt the CAD surfaces in SurfaceStudio, in the same way that clay or foam models can be honed in the real world, that enabled Bluesmith to quickly get the main surfaces blocked in. The detail blends were then crafted in using the advanced surface tools, particularly the Curvature options in the Bi-Rail tool.
"The key to it all though was the visual feedback you get with SurfaceStudio," says Kingston. "We could tumble smoothly shaded models on the screen to assess the highlights and relationships of the surfaces, and then use the analytical tools to examine every small blend and feature for the perfection that the designers demanded."
When it came to outputting the data for Ilona 4's manufacture, Bluesmith were confronted with a novel problem.
"Mobile phones, and shampoo bottles are easy to mill out as prototypes or final mould data, but you can't do this with a 74m yacht," she says. "So, we worked closely with the boatyard in Holland and developed a technique where we sent out finely cut, full-size, cross-section data from SurfaceStudio that they could use to accurately implement the design."
SurfaceStudio Fires The Imagination
Kingston says that Bluesmith worked "on-and-off" for about a year on the project. "Quite often we'd camp ourselves and our machines at RWD's offices and develop the designs on-site. We all worked together very well: the designers' demands for the perfect surface pushed our skills to the limit. The control and interaction that SurfaceStudio offers really fired their imaginations, and gave them the ability to try out lots of ideas and alternatives."
On her maiden voyage, a "shakedown cruise", Ilona sailed from Rotterdam to the Straits of Gibraltar, enduring a Force Eight northwesterly gale on the way, before stopping off in Cyprus so that the owners could board. Then it was on to Israel for a 3-week cruise.
"RWD have kept me up to date with the progress of Ilona 4 through her build and launch," concludes Kingston. "I was working on a small shampoo bottle project when I received the e-mail with the photographs of this huge beautiful yacht, and the contrast of scale sank in! It was a real treat to see how she looked at sea, and to see the forms and shapes we labored over come to life so successfully on the water."