Space Media Group
The Space Media Group (SMG) of SpaceWorks Engineering assists internal and external customers with concept visualization services ranging from technical illustrations to computer-generated imagery to full animations. The SMG couples engineering precision with artistic vision to create informative and striking visual elements. Our work ranges in scope and level of effort from small concept illustrations to support a quick business proposal to DVD-quality animations.
The SMG consists of full-time and part-time staff members and an extended network of free-lance artistic talent such as digital artists, illustrators, graphic designers, animators, modelers, and voice and musical talent. Typical SMG clients include commercial aerospace companies, NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and the emerging high-tech industry.
The SMG also provides logo design and product branding services. Our logo and product branding services have been used by AIAA Technical Committees, aerospace software developers, and other clients. The SMG provides website design services, ranging from complete graphic layout design to discrete Flash elements to be used as banners or unique visual elements. We also provide business card design services.
Within the SMG, a variety of state-of-the-art software is used to develop our illustrations and videos. Our software suite and associated skillset includes:
- Technical Illustration: ACD Canvas, Adobe Illustrator
- Digital Art: Corel Painter, Adobe Photoshop
- 3D Modeling and Rendering: Autodesk Maya, CAD import tools
- Animation: Adobe After Effects, Apple iMovie, Adobe Flash
- Print Layout: Adobe Acrobat, Abobe Illustrator
Personnel in the SMG use mixed media (traditional and digital). Visualizations are integrated with traditional engineering design processes (CAD, performance, operations, etc). For 3D digital renders, we are capable of importing customer-provided CAD models in a variety of formats such as IGES, STEP, and Parasolid. We then use our database of aerospace textures to create photo realistic images of the concept in a relevant space environment.
The SMG can support multiple output formats depending on customer requirements (physical print illustrations, digital renders, computer animation, sculpture, exhibit, prototype, etc.). SMG internships are often available to local student artists.
For a more complete briefing please see the SMG overview presentation (in pdf format).
