samford-valley-home/README.md

Samford Valley home

A long-term working project for a modest, extendible family homestead in Samford Valley, Queensland. Started September 2026. The aim is to refine it over several years: real site surveys and LiDAR, coordinated 3D plans, Blender studies of the build, and eventually a full Unreal Engine walkthrough.

Repository and context

Public Git repository: https://git.rehbock.xyz/marcus/samford-valley-home

Read Project context, Request history and Agent notes for the full brief, decisions, rejected ideas and current state. Git contains the actual Blender binaries, not download placeholders. The server working copy is /home/marcus/projects/samford-valley-home. Compressed snapshots are kept alongside it but excluded from Git.

Clone using git clone ssh://git@git.rehbock.xyz:2222/marcus/samford-valley-home.git. Current files use ordinary Git; no Git LFS client is needed. The existing Git server has LFS disabled.

Latest revision — v009 wind turbine, 24 September 2026

Added a three-blade wind turbine on a freestanding mast beyond the northwestern edge of the homestead. The concept location (-36, 40) m, 18 m hub height and 6 m rotor diameter are illustrative placeholders pending an actual site, wind measurements, equipment selection, engineering and approvals. Solar and storage remain part of the brief.

Current public Blender file: blender/samford-solarpunk-wind-tour-v009.blend, derived from distributable v007. The private v009 Blender file preserves the licensed v008 Tesla at /home/marcus/projects-private/samford-valley-home-v009/. Keep private binaries out of public Git. Both models add matching detailed/fast turbine geometry and chapter 32; the tour now lasts 2 min 40 sec and opens at the turbine chapter. Shift + Left Arrow restarts the complete tour.

Current plan: plans/concept/wind-turbine-plan-v009.svg. Current overview: renders/v009-wind-overview.png. See v009 decision for assumptions and feasibility work. The Unreal walkthroughs and v007 film are unchanged and do not yet include the turbine. All previous house and landscape features remain, including the future pavilion outlines and garden Buddha.

Previous working revision — v008

The 7K Studio Tesla Model 3 and daylight Unreal scene are stored privately at /home/marcus/projects-private/samford-valley-home-v008 because the car licence restricts redistribution. This public repository retains the distributable v007 binaries and new renders/source/context. See v008 decision.

Preserved public v007 work

• Blender 5.2.1: blender/samford-solarpunk-presentation-tour.blend. Includes the entire homestead, reading chair and 163 books. Its camera tour has 31 chapters and lasts 2 minutes 35 seconds. Hover over the 3D view and press Space to play; Shift + Left Arrow returns to the start. It opens at the whole-site overview. Earlier bedroom and reading-tour files remain as previous versions.
• Walkable Unreal Engine 5.8.2: unreal/SamfordHomestead/SamfordHomestead.uproject. Whole-site editor-play prototype, 229 mesh groups and 117 materials. Play, click the viewport, then WASD and mouse; Escape stops. Fresh-launch play testing verified floor collision and movement from the verandah into the house. The earlier meditation-only study is preserved separately.
• Client video: walkthroughs/video/Samford-Valley-Concept-Film-v007.mp4, a 30-second captioned H.264 concept film. Read walkthroughs/CLIENT-PRESENTATION-V007.md for usage and the source-render/interpolation details.
• Images: renders/ contains the latest compound, detailed kitchen, training terrace and outdoor dining, plus earlier bedroom, reading corner, garage and actual Unreal room studies.
• Concept layout: plans/concept/buddha-garden-plan.svg. Current version 007 includes the container water-storage module and replaces the table-tennis deck with flowers, aligns the pavilions and adds curved paths and a central garden court.
• Animation instructions: walkthroughs/UNREAL-CAMERA-ANIMATION.md.

Working in Blender

The FAST TOUR collection is a lightweight display copy for smooth playback. Full editable objects are in DETAIL - full geometry for renders. For detailed edits, enable DETAIL in the Outliner’s monitor column and disable FAST TOUR. Cycles renders use the detailed scene automatically. The display copy must be regenerated after geometry edits to reflect those changes during the fast tour.

Folder map

Folder	Purpose
blender/	Current editable house models and camera-tour notes
unreal/	Unreal project, portable FBX/GLB room transfer and textures
renders/	Dated screenshots and rendered stills
site/surveys/	Boundary, contour and survey-control information when available
site/lidar/raw/	Original unmodified LiDAR scans when captured
site/lidar/processed/	Registered, cleaned and reduced point clouds
site/photos/	Site and construction photos
plans/concept/	Early design sketches and layouts
plans/architectural/	Future architectural drawings and coordinated models
plans/engineering/	Future structural and services documents
references/	Research, material studies and conversion scope
decisions/	Dated changes, reasons and open questions
walkthroughs/	Camera-animation notes and future exported films
snapshots/	Dated frozen project archives with checksums

The survey, LiDAR and professional-plan folders are intentionally empty. The current hillside is illustrative and has no surveyed property boundary, georeferencing or verified site dimensions. These concept models are not construction documents.

Preserve the work over years

Keep one clear current model, and save milestone versions before major layout changes. Use names such as 2026-09-10-v001-concept. Record what changed and why in decisions/. Before importing a site scan, record the survey date, units, horizontal coordinate reference, vertical datum and agreed local origin; retain the untouched original scan. Keep site coordinates and detailed working files in this project archive unless deliberately publishing them.

The initial snapshot is a milestone copy on this server, not an independent off-site backup. Regular independent backup and restore checks should be set up before unique site scans or construction records become the only copy here. Automatic backups have not been configured by this upload.

Public project page

https://rehbock.xyz/projects/samford-valley-home/

The public page contains selected concept screenshots and progress notes. The editable project files are stored separately on the server at /home/marcus/projects/samford-valley-home.

Bedroom revision — 10 September 2026, v002

The bed now has an Eight Sleep Pod-style fitted cover, bedside cooling Hub and routed hoses. Two oatmeal-faced curtains have opaque blackout lining and a closed shape-key position. A split AC head is mounted high on the west wall, with a condenser behind the bedroom wing and exposed service trunking. Product geometry is indicative; a specific Pod model and HVAC capacity have not been selected.

To close the curtains: enable DETAIL, disable FAST TOUR, select each BLACKOUT CURTAIN object, then open Object Data Properties → Shape Keys → Closed - blackout and set Value to 1. Set both panels back to 0 for the open presentation view. The fast display copy always shows the open curtains.

Daily life and kitchen revision — 10 September 2026, v003

Added a covered training deck with a dedicated steel pull-up/rings frame, two adjustable dumbbells, an adjustable bench and movable mats. The gathering terrace seats ten with a nearby tea/matcha counter. A separate level deck holds a folding table-tennis table; a dashed 10 × 10 m basketball area south of the house remains an unbuilt reserve away from the gravel driveway. A garden walking loop reaches a shaded quiet bench and harvest bench. Breakfast preparation, pantry and freezer storage complete the everyday food setup.

The kitchen now has detailed timber cabinetry, an oven, a four-zone induction cooktop, extraction, a recessed sink and copper tap, stainless-lined copper cookware and a 2.2 × 0.95 m marble-topped island. Approximate clear distance between the island and rear counter is 1.7 m. Appliance models, structural loads, access and clearances need design development; the exercise frame is a load-rated design intent, not an engineering certification.

The saved camera tour includes all additions. Full Cycles scene settings are 2560 × 1440; published preview renders use 60% resolution (1536 × 864). The Unreal meditation-room project remains unchanged.

Garden-flow revision — 10 September 2026, v004

Removed the table-tennis deck and all equipment. Aligned the garage with the main pavilion and the meditation room with the parents’ wing. The future east pavilion balances the meditation room; a second future footprint continues the central axis north. Added an oval garden court, curved covered timber breezeway, smooth gravel walks and driveway, 13 flowering beds and eight flowering shrubs. The former play area is now a flower garden. Two concept eucalyptus trees were moved clear of the solar array and vehicle route. The future basketball area remains unbuilt. Updated the 30-chapter tour and refreshed the overview, courtyard, flowers, dining and training renders.

The full conversation context and decision history are now preserved in docs/. Source scripts are retained under source/ for future editing; they are incremental historical tools and must be run against their correct starting model. Survey and LiDAR folders remain reserved for future real-site work.

Container water-storage revision — 10 September 2026, v005

Marcus asked to make the water tanks a shipping container. Replaced the exposed cylinders with a dark-green 20-foot container-style module (approximately 6.06 × 2.44 × 2.59 m), retaining two sealed water tanks inside. Added corrugated walls, cargo doors and locking bars, corner castings, inlet/outlet manifolds, pump and a first-flush component concept. The container enclosure is not itself the water-retaining vessel. The west end is a transparent inspection cutaway. The garden service path reaches the east cargo doors. Updated tour chapter 13, the plan and exterior/cutaway/overview renders. Product selection, structural/loading checks and hydraulic sizing remain future design work.

Garden Buddha — version 006, 10 September 2026

Added a seated weathered-limestone Buddha on a low stone plinth north of the meditation pavilion, facing east into the shared garden court. The statue has a draped robe, folded hands, lowered eyes, elongated earlobes and a carved topknot. Position (-12.4, 15.35), clear of both the room and curved walking route. Added a lightweight viewport proxy and chapter 31 to the Play tour (2 min 35 sec total). The scene opens on the statue. Existing house, container water module, future shadows and landscaping remain intact.

Presentation and whole-site walkthrough — 12 September 2026, v007

Refined natural materials, softened 420 construction/furniture edges, added woven kitchen pendants, table settings, living textiles, fuller planted borders and path aggregate. Preserved the layout and all 31 inspection chapters. Created a separate eight-shot cinematic and 30-second client concept film. Converted the whole site to an actual Unreal level with walking, collision, lighting and cameras; fresh-launch play testing passed. It remains an editable prototype rather than a packaged client app or final photorealistic campaign asset.