Chapter 13 Visual Communication: Drawings, Renderings, and Models 433 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. These are vector-based drawing applications—that use mathematical formulas to create lines the designer can combine into shapes—that produce two-dimensional and three-dimensional documents. Vector-based soft- ware draws each object and then stores it in a numeri- cal database. This ensures that the lines, shapes, and forms will be very accurate at any scale or zoom-in magnification. The software used to develop construction documents for large, new construction, commercial projects is related to a building information modeling system. Along with use in design of the building and its interior, design- ers also use BIM in the planning, design, construction, and management of a building during its lifecycle. Using the same virtual information model, facility-manage- ment professionals maintain the building once the new occupants move into it. All information about the build- ing—from design through construction to the time it is demolished and recycled—is integrated into the same building information modeling system. To begin the BIM process, the designer virtually builds a computer-generated information model using vector- based software. A great deal of data about the build- ing construction becomes part of the virtual model. Construction-drawing software creates large files and requires computers with the heavy-duty processors. A third construction and design software is Rhinoceros®, or Rhino or Rhino3D. This software is used for many things including CAD work. Developed by Robert McNeel & Associates, Rhino geometry is based on the NURBS mathematical model. The Rhino3D modeler can be used to create, edit, analyze, document, render, and animate designs. Rendering software commonly used is Grasshopper. While construction drawings explain ideas precisely enough to build a design, presentation drawings explain ideas. They serve primarily as a sales or marketing tool and should be attractive and descriptive. Often a client understands presentation drawings much easier than construction drawings. Designers use various Adobe® products (Photoshop®, Illustrator®, and InDesign®) for the different types of visual presentations. Photoshop is the most popular and widely used image- editing software because it offers designers many tools to create and edit photographs, logos, and websites exactly the way they want. It is raster-based—meaning the image is made of pixels similar to a television. As pixels increase in size, raster-based images begin to degrade. In contrast, Illustrator is vector-based. Instead of painting with a brush as with Photoshop, you use shapes such as a box and text to create images on the screen with Illustrator. InDesign differs from both Photoshop and Illustrator. Designers use it to layout images and text to develop client book presentations and portfolio pages. All three software products work together. There are licensed, student versions of all software needed for the study of interior design. Software companies want students to become proficient with their products and then use them in the architecture and design field. Peripherals, Cloud Computing, and File Sharing Peripherals are technology-related items you need in addition to software and hardware. These may include a scanner, digital or phone camera, external hard drive, and USB drives. Cloud computing—or web-based software, work- space, and digital storage—greatly impacts digital work in the design office. If you use web-based e-mail services such as Hotmail, Yahoo!, or Gmail, you are using cloud computing. The software and digital stor- age for your account is on the service’s computer cloud—not on your computer, Figure 13-5. nmedia/Shutterstock.com Figure 13-5 Because designers often communicate with clients around the globe, using cloud technology for digital storage enhances file sharing and collaboration.