We reported a while back on a hobby project by 3D modeller Quentin Lengele to reproduce Rick Deckard’s apartment from the classic dystopian Sci-fi flick Blade Runner (1982). Well, the project received an update recently with screenshots showing great progress and some staggering attention to detail.
Quentin Lengele is a man seemingly with boundless patience. After starting just as a study and attempt to produce a heightmap the intricate wall times found inside Blade Runner Detective Rick Deckard’s Los Angeles apartment (circa 2019), Lengele’s project scope quickly exploded. Why stop with a set of wall tiles when you could model the entire apartment, including its contents?
“It quickly turns into a modeling hobby to reproduce all the assets of the apartment and a view on Los Angeles streets in 2019, directly inspired from the movie shots. At the same time, it was a good opportunity to improve my modeling skills which I let go 15 years ago.” says Lengele via his blog, charting his adventures in 3D artistry.
The project, known as Blade Runner 9732 (after Deckard’s apartment number), involves Lengele painstakingly re-creating objects from photographs or video in 3DS Max. Problem is, Ridley Scott, the director of the 1982 film, was renowned for constructing sets and obsessively and with minute attention to detail fill the scene with hand-picked objects or bespoke creations to add realism and depth to his shots. This makes recreating such a scene in 3D a particular challenge.
Lengele for his part is showing a similar level of meticulousness in his 3D re-assembly job with props such the famous ESPER photo-analysis tool and of course those wall tiles that started it all rendered in loving detail.
That said, I think the project is looking great and as a huge fan of the original film (and its subsequent edits and special editions) I’m really looking forward to sticking on some Vangelis and stepping into future – even if that future is now, technically, just a few years away.