Cunnamulla Hot Springs Through Digital Visualisation

This piece was written by Leon McBride, an Associate who brings 20 years’ experience as a 3D artist to COX. 

At COX, Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) has become a cornerstone in our digital visualisation toolkit, revolutionising how we bring designs to life. Originally developed for video game production, UE5 is now widely adopted across various industries, including architecture.

UE5’s interactive environment allows us to compose, light, animate, develop VFX, and render in real-time. This accelerates creative decision-making and fosters a highly collaborative workflow. In the fast-paced production environment, the ability to craft digital worlds and communicate designs efficiently is critical.

One of UE5’s greatest strengths is its open platform, which supports the importation of data from other specialised digital content creation tools. This flexibility enables us to build custom pipelines tailored to each project, rather than being confined to a single piece of software. The result is the creation of truly unique and innovative work.

A prime example of this is our work on the Cunnamulla Hot Springs project. The challenge was to capture the essence of the unique southwest Queensland landscape in a digital format. Using specialised tools for water simulation, foliage creation, people animation, and VFX, our 3D team was able to create and visualise the project before and during its construction. This visualisation was crucial for client and stakeholder consultations, ensuring that everyone involved had a clear and immersive understanding of the project’s vision.

Using UE5, we were able to create realistic animations that showcased the Cunnamulla Hot Springs project in its full glory. This digital visualisation not only enhanced the design process but also ensured that the final construction remained true to the original vision.

Recently, Cunnamulla Hot Springs was named a Top Wellness Destination by National Geographic, discover more on the project here.