Council Building Models
Krishneel Kumar
Paraparaumu College
Year 13, ICT Technology, Full Year
Teacher: Tricia Winter
Kapiti Coast District Council wanted a visually appealing way to advertise its services to their community on the web. They asked Year 13 student Krishneel Kumar to design a professional looking and informative graphic-based solution, using files of modest size that could be easily downloaded.
After consultation with the council, Krishneel decided to create a series of 3D models of KCDC amenities, each with a pop-up window showing its location and the services provided. Services were identified using easily recognisable icons. As a basis for his models, Krishneel downloaded a series of models stored in the Google 3D Warehouse. The council's Sustainable Development Adviser showed Krishneel some of the council's existing computer models and helped him with Google SketchUp . The adviser also helped Krishneel come to grips with principal legislation that applied to the the task, such as the e-government's requirement to provide website access to the disabled community.
Krishneel contacted Technologist 2, a 3D modelling firm, which kindly offered to help with the project. Krishneel used the firm's work to benchmark his own efforts: "I could look at some models they had created and compare them to my own to see what type of standard I was up to and whether it met the council's requirements."
Krishneel is happy with the outcomes achieved. "Because I tried to create each model as realistically as possible, I managed to get them fairly accurate. They each look like the building that they are portraying." In his documentation, Krishneel displayed images of his 3D models to photographs of the buildings.
Krishneel's solution was posted to the 3D Warehouse website – see Paraparaumu Public Library, Otaki Public Library and Waikanae Public Library. For this it was important that the file sizes were not too large. "If they were extremely large they wouldn't be able to be uploaded on Google Earth and they would take a long time to load and rotate around. For my own standards and with the resources I had available I believe that I created good quality solutions".
Teacher comment
Krishneel was very thorough in his research on how to use both Google Earth and Google SketchUp to produce the required quality of product for his client. He was aware that many people would be accessing the site and could form an opinion of the council from what they saw. By contacting technologists, he was able to find out what successful 3D modelling of icons involved and how icons work with pop-ups. Krishneel was very dedicated in getting his solution right and meeting his client's specifications; he spent hours on his modelling. His purposeful approach to his learning, and his dedication to quality, has given Krishneel the results he deserves, and in his own words, "I have learnt that project management planning is so important in the Technological Practice".
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