Bright Lights, Big City [Archive]

hrgiger

11-05-2006, 12:57 PM

Started working on making a city model this weekend. Not sure how far I'll go with it but I'd like to make at least 3 or 4 city blocks along with some skysraper models for possibly background. Not sure how accurate my scaling is but I'm trying to make everything look like it is somewhat in proportion. (the car is there for scale-not one of my car models).
The sidewalks/grounds/foundations are just placeholders. Eventually I'd like to detail those with seperate concrete slabs, rounded corners, gutters, etc... I also have to add more details to the buildings such as roof Nurnies, downspouts, and misc objects.
Modeled with both LW and LWCAD tools and preview rendered in FPrime using a skydome (unseen by camera but reflected in windows) and monte carlo radiosity.

liquidpope

11-05-2006, 02:21 PM

Great start.
This would look great all nasty, dirty and crime-ridden.
My only comment at this stage, even though it's really too early, is it looks like you could cram more buildings into each block.
Can't wait to see some of this textured.

THREEL

11-05-2006, 02:30 PM

So far, so good Steve. I'm with Zippy (LiqudPope) on this one. Can't wait to see it textured.

Just for reference, how long did it take you to model the building with fire escapes closest to the camera?

Looking good!

AL

jameswillmott

11-05-2006, 03:59 PM

Great so far. Don't forget that the tops of buildings are covered in stuff, air condensors, satellite dishes, tv aerials, vents etc.

hrgiger

11-05-2006, 04:22 PM

Just for reference, how long did it take you to model the building with fire escapes closest to the camera?
AL

Thanks Threel. Not long at all actually. I only built on level and then copied and pasted them down. The only exception was at the top and bottom where the pieces are slightly different.

As for the other comments. Yes, there will be more buildings on each block, the blocks will be elongated as needed to fit them in.
And also as mentioned above, the buildings will more detail including items on the roof that you typically find there.

SP00

11-05-2006, 07:10 PM

I tried doing this before, but I kinda screwed myself over by trying to get everything to a real scale. That takes a long time. Anyway, I think the city blocks might need to be bigger. I guess I"m going by NYC standard. Also, the buildings in the city tends to be flushed right next to each other. If you are not going for a busy city residential looks, I guess that is ok. Anyway, looking forward to this thread.

hrgiger

11-07-2006, 01:11 PM

Experimenting with curbs and some ground details.

bobakabob

11-07-2006, 06:48 PM

Great work... what are you using as reference? Which LWCad tools have you found most useful?

Lewis

11-07-2006, 07:05 PM

Pretty nice modeling. What is the polycount so far ? Any wires to show :)?

hrgiger

11-07-2006, 08:49 PM

Great work... what are you using as reference? Which LWCad tools have you found most useful?

Reference? Oh yeah, I should get some of that... No, I've just been using some google reference here and there when I'm not so sure about some things. But I kind of have a vision of where I want to go with it.

As far as LWCAD, where do I start?
Engraver is a godsend for adding mouldings and decorative borders.
Real time booleans (DRectangle, Darc, etc...) for making windows, doors openings...
The snapping engine is always useful.
The cutting aspects of tools like line and rectangle.
I've been using them all for the building construction.
Also not to be forgotten are tools like extrude snap and scale.

Lewis, last time I looked I think I had somewhere between 50-60K in polys. I'll post some wires when I get a little further along. Right now I have the model broken up into individual files and I'm figuring on how best to combine them. Right now each block is in its own file.

testyturtle

11-07-2006, 09:29 PM

looks fantastic hrgiger! I could see it looking photoreal with textures and a nice sky behind it.

liquidpope

11-07-2006, 09:37 PM

This is looking great, dude. I'm loving all the detail.

I remembered, earlier today, that you had done a rather industrial looking scene a while back. Did you keep up with that model?

Here's the jpeg...

Also a great model. What's the latest progress on that one, and do you think you'll use it here somewhere?

hrgiger

11-08-2006, 12:33 PM

Liquid, heh, I haven't seen that one in a while. No, it's one of those projects that was a fleeting moment of inspiration but without going into all the details of it, I kind of boxed myself into a corner with some of the modeling and at this point, I would have to rework a lot of it.

I'm really excited about this city model however. I'm trying not to get too much into detail at this point and start building the city outward and I'm doing it in a modular approach so that I can replace individual elements very easily and quickly. It's very fast to work on too for that reason. Right now, it's broken up into 3 seperate ojbects but each one has proxies of the other ones in it. It allows me to keep a fast interface and work efficiently. Everything is positioned correctly so that I can load each object into Layout and everything is in the right spot. I have big plans for this one.

liquidpope

11-08-2006, 09:54 PM

The older model looks to me like it would be worth re-working.
I have a LW folder full of stuff like that - models that need to be partially or even fully re-modeled, and some stuff that's only still good for reference or inspiration. I try to set aside a few hours a week just to go over older models like that.

As for you new city work here, that's some real good thinking going the "modular and proxy" route. If you set standards for the outer edges of all your modules, you should be able to add and replace or rearrange huge sections at a time, in very little time, and with very little hassle.

"Check out the big brain on hrgiger...!"

hrgiger

11-09-2006, 03:33 AM

"Check out the big brain on hrgiger...!"

Yeah, I'm a smart Mother"F"er.

colkai

11-09-2006, 05:00 AM

Yeah, I'm a smart Mother"F"er.
Your smarts only exceeded by your unfailing modesty. ;) :p :hey:

Top Cat

11-09-2006, 10:40 AM

I think it's looking great, I tried to do a city once, I think I might have bit off more than I could chew. How do you do your trees?

Top Cat

hrgiger

11-09-2006, 11:29 AM

Your smarts only exceeded by your unfailing modesty. ;) :p :hey:

I don't know if you missed it or if you were just being humorous on top but Liquid and I were doing a bit of dialogue from Pulp fiction.

Top Cat, I did my trees the old fashioned way. A free download from Turbosquid. Again, like the car, I just added it in there to help me with my scaling.

colkai

11-09-2006, 12:33 PM

I don't know if you missed it or if you were just being humorous on top but Liquid and I were doing a bit of dialogue from Pulp fiction.

Ahh, missed the Pulp Fiction thing so went strictly for the grin factor. ;)

Lovin' the work so far by the way. :)

hrgiger

11-09-2006, 12:33 PM

Someone over at Spinquad suggested I add some rounding to my corners becasue the edges were looking very sharp. Here is one of the buildings with microbevels put in most of the edges. I was hoping to avoid adding the extra geometry since there is still so much to build but it looks much better then without.

hrgiger

11-09-2006, 02:21 PM

Working on making a power substation now...

hrgiger

11-09-2006, 11:13 PM

Another render from earlier.

liquidpope

11-09-2006, 11:27 PM

The substation is looking really good.
I've got some pretty good digital pictures of one near where I work.
You're welcome to them if you want. You can never have too much reference.

The chain-link fence is mighty fine as well. How are you doing that?
I can't quite make out if it's geometry or clipped.

hrgiger

11-10-2006, 03:18 AM

Well, that is geometry but I think I'm going to have to make it a clip map unless someone has a better solution.

And yeah, if you have some good photos you can send them to me. Most of the photos I've found off the web are pretty low rez and not good reference. I'll pm you the email address.

Chris S. (Fez)

11-10-2006, 03:35 AM

Very nice. Looks like some ill-advised developer is putting up projects in that "50% Gray" netherworld.

Breaking the city into "tileable" blocks is gonna save you a ton of time and headache later.

Are you using LWCad 1.0 or 2.0?

colkai

11-10-2006, 04:25 AM

Well, that is geometry but I think I'm going to have to make it a clip map unless someone has a better solution.

Have you tried the trick of ramping up the bump map on the clip mapped object?
Have attached a scene I use this on, if you look at the logo plane surfacing / clipmap, pretty much covers it, should do from mid distance.

byte_fx

11-10-2006, 11:39 AM

Really like the way this is coming along.

Reminds me of how long it's been since I did a cityscape. And inspires me to tackle another one soon.

Microbeveling does add a lot of realism to the look. It's one of those things that usually isn't excatly noticed if missing - until compared to a render with microbeveled objects.

Don't know your plans for the overall theme so the following may or may not be useful -

Sometimes it helps to throw in an 'empty' lot. Maybe one where a building has been/is being demolished or built.

And maybe an alleyway. The realestate prices in some areas pretty much eliminate those but considering the buildings so far are low to medium rise (and skyscrapers in the background) then it's more likely there would be a couple. And they add a bit of extra interest overall.

Maybe some sort of covered, open air shelter for public transport. Or even an entry to a subway.

Like I said - don't know your plans so the above may very well not fit in.

byte_fx

MooseDog

11-10-2006, 03:21 PM

I was hoping to avoid adding the extra geometry since there is still so much to build but it looks much better then without.

have you tried this shader?:

TB Edge Bevel Shader (http://home.att.ne.jp/omega/tabo/3dlabo/p_lwp.html)

might be just the ticket for a large-ish urban scene. rules out fprime though :(.

hrgiger

11-10-2006, 03:32 PM

Don't know your plans for the overall theme so the following may or may not be useful -

Sometimes it helps to throw in an 'empty' lot. Maybe one where a building has been/is being demolished or built.

And maybe an alleyway. The realestate prices in some areas pretty much eliminate those but considering the buildings so far are low to medium rise (and skyscrapers in the background) then it's more likely there would be a couple. And they add a bit of extra interest overall.

Maybe some sort of covered, open air shelter for public transport. Or even an entry to a subway.

Like I said - don't know your plans so the above may very well not fit in.

byte_fx

thanks for the comments. There will be a few lots as well as a parking garage or two. I would also like to add a few alleyways as well just because they add interesting lighting. I would also like one of my high rise buildings (not currently in existance) to be under construction.

I've also got plans for a few overpasses and perhaps some sort of public transport like a elevated platform for a train or something along those lines (no pun intended).

hrgiger

11-10-2006, 03:33 PM

have you tried this shader?:

TB Edge Bevel Shader (http://home.att.ne.jp/omega/tabo/3dlabo/p_lwp.html)

might be just the ticket for a large-ish urban scene. rules out fprime though :(.

Yeah, that was my first idea when someone suggested beveling my corners. But as you also have pointed out, it rules out Fprime and right now, I can't even think about doing that...

hrgiger

11-10-2006, 03:49 PM

Have you tried the trick of ramping up the bump map on the clip mapped object?
Have attached a scene I use this on, if you look at the logo plane surfacing / clipmap, pretty much covers it, should do from mid distance.

Thanks Colkai, I'll have to look at that more in-depth later as I have time.

anim8r

11-11-2006, 01:07 AM

Great Job hrgiger!!! Thanks for all the updates :D

I'm always lazy on my buildings... You're making me want to go back to my old city block model =P

hrgiger

11-11-2006, 09:55 AM

A new building going up plus started on adding street lights and changing some of the street grid.

hrgiger

11-12-2006, 01:46 AM

Finishing up the corner building.

kopperdrake

11-13-2006, 08:30 AM

When this is finished it'd make a great solid model :D

liquidpope

11-15-2006, 12:03 AM

colkai

11-15-2006, 04:42 AM

could always go with having the blinds down and having the shop sign in the window. :)

hrgiger

11-15-2006, 11:19 AM

Mmmmm, that corner building is right tasty!
Big problem, though. There's a lot of glass there, at street level.
That means you'll have quite a bit of extra modeling to do inside there, as you'll be able to see all up in that mug.

Probably wont' model inside. If anything, I may use a texture map if and when I get to that point.

Added a new high-rise building last night...

hrgiger

11-15-2006, 12:49 PM

By the way, thank you Liquidpope for the photos. They were the bees knees as it were.

Lottmedia

11-15-2006, 02:12 PM

Check out this thread. http://www.newtek.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55278 It's dead now because I've been lazy, but covers a lot o the same stuff. Looking nice, reminded me to get back on mine :)

Casey :cat:
(la le la la la...)

hrgiger

11-15-2006, 02:22 PM

prayforjoejoe

11-15-2006, 02:43 PM

dammit, I give up as a CG artist...I need more training.

liquidpope

11-15-2006, 05:18 PM

By the way, thank you Liquidpope for the photos. They were the bees knees as it were.

Nothing to it, man. Anything for my LW brethren.

And I second the motion for Casey to work more on her row houses.
Can I get a "harrumph"?

hrgiger

11-15-2006, 05:31 PM

Nothing to it, man. Anything for my LW brethren.

And I second the motion for Casey to work more on her row houses.
Can I get a "harrumph"?

Those photos were great. Good to hear you didn't have to worry about dropping the soap after you took them.

After I got the photos today I went back to work in creating a quality substation. I'm trying to limit my geometry but still come up with a good looking model. Lots of wires and scaffolding, it adds up quick. I'll post something when I finish it up. Thanks again James. You rock!

liquidpope

11-15-2006, 05:49 PM

...Good to hear you didn't have to worry about dropping the soap after you took them...

I should probably add a little to that, for those who don't know the story...

I took some more photos of the substation by my office the other day.
The chain-link fence there is 8 feet tall without the barbed-wire section. I dropped my tailgate so I could stand on it, but that wasn't tall enough. I had to stand on the spare tire, which was quite precarious, and drew some attention. (I'm in an older Rodeo, the tire swings out on a little frame)
Some dude called the cops, but I was gone before they got there. Right when I got inside my building, I saw them circling the parking lot, but they didn't get out of the car.

I imagine it was a little fishy looking, for an outsider.
I'm always taking pictures like that though. If I had to show the cops all the pics on my camera, they'd think I was nuts. They'd see a close-up of a small pile of rocks, a tree, a different tree, some bricks, a telephone pole, a broken lightbulb, back of some guys head with a bad haircut, a forklift, tire tracks, a weird paint drip, bird poop on a windshield, an old spoon I found in the dirt...
Oh well, when they finally do catch me, at least I'll get one of those nice padded cells. Good for napping, dontcha know.

connerh

11-15-2006, 07:33 PM

Well... the cells are nice, but the jackets chafe a little.

hrgiger: these are coming along really well. Awesome work!

Lottmedia

11-15-2006, 08:36 PM

hrgiger, I forgot to ask (and didn't see it anywere here) are you doing the model for any particular (sp?) project or just for practice?

Prayforjoejoe, don't give up! Let others inspire you, it's not a contest (believe me, none of us want that :) )All it takes is practice and maby loosing your job so you have lots of time to model..... (but that's another story:()

Casey :cat:
(she who needs to get back to modeling....)

hrgiger

11-16-2006, 02:47 AM

Lott, yes and no. No, in the sense that ever since I got LWCAD 2, it's been a real joy experimenting with architecture modeling and even though I'm a complete amateur, I am enjoying it and am hoping to improve my skills in this area. I have much to learn. See also my fairly recent attempt at a house in the wip and finished gallery.

Yes, in the sense that I would love to use a city model as a environment for a larger project for which right now, I have no specific plans.

Iain

11-16-2006, 04:22 AM

That's looking great. I like the corner building and the fire escape on the apartment building looks great too.

I would suggest whitening the color of the materials for this type of test render but that's just my preference :)

hrgiger

11-16-2006, 06:28 PM

Did a test tonight to see what a chain link fence might look like clip mapped. It should work out. It sure saves me a lot of geometry...

connerh

11-16-2006, 07:54 PM

Denis recently released a relief mapping plugin for 9, you could give that a spin to add more realism to your chain links...

hrgiger

11-16-2006, 08:15 PM

Have a link for that? I would like to know more about that....

connerh

11-16-2006, 09:15 PM

http://perso.orange.fr/dpont/plugins/nodes/ReliefMapping.html#ReliefMap

Hmm hmm hmm... 240 seconds is a long time to wait...

liquidpope

11-17-2006, 12:38 PM

The chain link is looking really good already, and would work as is, but I'm very nerdily excited to see what relief mapping can add to it.
I can easily see that as being my new favorite plug-in. Thanks for the link, Conner!

hrgiger

11-17-2006, 03:34 PM

Here's more of the substation I was working on. Can't say I'm entirely happy about it. I may end up shelving it and get back to filling in the blocks. If I do, I'll come back to it later because I think if done nicely, it could break up the monotony of a bunch of buildings...

Also, a few questions for anyone who might provide some insight:

1. How many polygons can I expect to reasonable handle in a scene? Right now it's quite workable at around 300k polys, but I still have much I would like to add. I know at some point I will try and replace geometry for images where I can. My system is a 2.4 ghz PIV with 1.5GB of RAM.

2. The shadowing seems strange around the bottom of the chain link fence (which is a clip map). Is there something I can do to make that better?

Thanks!

connerh

11-17-2006, 03:53 PM

Radiosity doesn't take clipmaps into account (or, at least, I've been under the impression that it doesn't). Also, I don't believe it takes into account normal transparency. So... hmm... only thing that I can think of is to exclude it from radiosity. You're on the 9.2 beta, aren't you? Or am I mistaken?

Oh, and Liquidpope: no problem, links are easy enough to post, but the real thanks should go to Denis for his awesome work.

hrgiger

11-17-2006, 09:39 PM

You're on the 9.2 beta, aren't you? Or am I mistaken?

I could tell you but then I would have to kill you?

No, I think that's ok to say. If not, I know it's ok to say that I'm using 9.2 for the modeling of this.

Lewis

11-18-2006, 07:40 AM

hrgiger.

No problem with polycount, you are far far away of problematic area. Recentl'y ive been fdoing many buildings and i've rendered scenes with 3.5-4 milion polygons with 2GB of ram. It just depends on resolution you plan to render. I didn't need to go above 2500*1700. Right now i rendered 327 000 polys scene wiht few buildings and i stil have to throw in 300k when i finsih last two of block i've been doing. On previosu project i had 18 buildings in scene and one of them had 450K polys while rest are from 120-250k :).

But when scene reaches 7-8 million polys then it's problematic to render with 2GB, but still doable in few separate segments adn several tricks :).

hrgiger

11-18-2006, 09:47 AM

Lewis

11-18-2006, 11:43 AM

Yes I'm also hoping to build new system next month with 4-8GB of RAM and 64bit (not too usable if i get more ram on 32bit system) but I'm afraid that not all programs/drivers are yet 64-bit so I'm still in doubt about usability of 64-bit system in every day usage since many LW plugins wouldn't work in 64-bit. I'll probably leave current machine on a side and then use it side by side with new one :).

hrgiger

11-18-2006, 12:59 PM

Added another building today which isn't quite finished yet. I already can see I need to round out the edges which will be very easy. I also know there are a few smoothing errors but I haven't applied surfaces to it yet. The streets will eventually be a little further apart then they are right now.

hrgiger

11-19-2006, 11:40 AM

Bridge under construction...

hrgiger

11-21-2006, 09:05 AM

Taking a break from the modeling to play with some textures and lighting...(windows will eventually be textured)

hrgiger

11-21-2006, 12:30 PM

Any wires to show :)?

Here are some wires I grabbed last night.

hrgiger

11-21-2006, 02:13 PM

A daylight render. The brick texture I'm using is a little lower rez then the one I'll use eventually.

liquidpope

11-21-2006, 02:49 PM

Looking good, man. Especially the bridge.
(You're going to add a train, yeah? You definitely should.)

The bricks look too big.
Standard "house" bricks - 3 bricks high = 8", 3 bricks across = 2'-0".
Of course there are many other styles and sizes of architectural brick and stone, so they could be that big.

What are your render times looking like so far?

Very good stuff. Keep on truckin'.

hrgiger

11-21-2006, 03:30 PM

Yeah, I thought the bricks looked big so I'll make the final image map with smaller bricks.

Render times? Well with Frpime, it just takes three or four minutes in the preview window to get a decently noise free image.

Not sure if the bridge will be a train or a freeway. I probably will end up doing both.

etyrihje

11-21-2006, 05:32 PM

Looking great, it´s a very inspiring project, looking forward to every update ;-)

SP00

11-22-2006, 08:44 AM

just want to chime in and say, this is looking great especially after texturing. Looking forward to the end results.

hrgiger

11-22-2006, 09:53 AM

Thanks for the comments. No end result in sight, I'll be on this ride for a while.

gerry_g

11-22-2006, 01:09 PM

Hey hrgiger, whatever tablets you're taking can I have some !!, this really turning out to be something.

hrgiger

11-23-2006, 02:08 PM

THREEL

11-24-2006, 12:01 AM

Finished up the modeling on the bridge. This is a little earlier version, the later one is a bit wider. And don't mind the few smoothing errors. Added a few cars just for the fun of it (not my models). Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Hey there hr! It's coming along quite nicely. One thing I noticed thou. You might want to flare out your median barriers at the bottom a tad. BTW--Don't forget the road kill, and strips of 18 wheeler tire tread that seems to be strewn all over the freeway. HeHe!!! Happy thanksgiving to you and everyone else out there, too!

tHREEL

Puguglybonehead

11-26-2006, 01:52 AM

Nice work! :thumbsup: Love those older buildings you've done. I really like the expressway too. Is the new version a couple of lanes wider? (sorry to be promoting urban sprawl). Reminds me of one of the scarier sections of the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto. There's one point where you used to be able to get airborne, briefly (but I think they've since fixed that spot). How many city blocks are you planning to model?

hrgiger

11-26-2006, 09:58 AM

Hey puguglybonehead. I'm planning to model as many city blocks as my poor system will allow. The freeway will be 4 lanes and it's slightly wider then what you see in the picture above (also, the cars in that you see are actually a little larger then scale making the bridge look not as wide). Right now I'm working on the overpasses leading up to the bride and a few exit lanes to all disappear eventually behind other buildings and scenery.

Threel, the median barriers actually flare out a litlte more but the smoothing error on them makes them look almost straight up and down. It's been fixed for the next render.

hrgiger

11-26-2006, 12:25 PM

Working on the highway system going through downtown. The ramp is a little segmented so I may round it out just a bit.

Note: I'm still making the connection between the bridge and the ramp so there are some missing polygons in this render...

THREEL

11-26-2006, 10:28 PM

Evening hr,

I see you're on the air. Those darn smoothing errors will get you every time.:D So, what's your major at Devry? Does it involve computer animation, and if so, do they use :lwicon:? What's your total polygon count to this point, and how's the system holding up? Once you're done, maybe you can sell this to a studio to use in an animated film, or 2, or 3. Or are you just doing this for the, pardon the pun tHREEL, I mean thrill of it.:lol: Keep up the great work.

AL

hrgiger

11-28-2006, 10:25 PM

Hey Threel. No, I'm not studying computer animation, rather digital communications. Although it still qualifies me to buy software like RealFlow and SyFlex at a student price.:thumbsup:

Polygon count in the scene file right now is just over half a mill at 558,523. So I still have room to grow.

Here are a few more renders. The first one is going to be a parking lot. I'm trying to go back in and detail some different things. The second render is just showing the bulk of the scene at this point. I'm still repositioning things to make a street system.

THREEL

11-28-2006, 11:06 PM

Hi Steve,

May I call you Steve?

Can't beat those student prices, huh! That's how I first got :lwicon:. What was cool was that I was able to upgrade to the next version, and also, from academic to professional, for a great price. I'm still on v8.5, though. Want to upgrade to 9, but I have to wait until I can afford it. All I have is :lwicon:, a low-priced video editing package, and a music authoring software, cheap too.

How are you at staying on task for this project? It looks like a lot of work. Even though I love what I'm doing, when I'm working with :lwicon:, which I'm sure you do too, if it takes me more than a couple of sessions to complete the project, I usually don't complete it. I think it's an ADD problem, or something. I've never been tested for it, but I'm pretty sure I have it, because my mind has a million different things going on in it, all at the same time.

Didn't you say that you went from an actual chain link model of your fence to an image mapped version? I made an image mapped version for a project that I did, but I just used criss-crossing diagonal lines for the image. It looked decent, but I would have rather had the twisting variety. I noticed yours looked more realistic. What did you use for your image?

BTW--You can call me AL.

tHANX!

tHREEL

bobakabob

11-29-2006, 04:34 AM

Impressive work so far. This is a great thread and I'm looking forward to seeing some finished renders. Are you working from ariel reference shots to map out the 'town plan' or just improvising?

hrgiger

11-29-2006, 11:25 AM

Thanks. Hope you're not expecting some finished renders anytime soon, I would still like to add much to this scene. And I'm just improvising right now.

bobakabob

11-30-2006, 06:01 PM

Seems like you're on a roll now. An animated flythrough once it's finished would be a great way of showcasing all this work.

hrgiger

12-01-2006, 11:52 PM

Added a few water towers.

hrgiger

12-02-2006, 01:47 PM

Also adding a courthouse/captial type building at the end of the main street.

geothefaust

12-02-2006, 07:51 PM

HR, that is looking quite nice. I love the detail you're putting into it. I particularly enjoy the bridge you've put in there.

I also like the idea of modeling your city in a modular way. I wish I had done the same with the city I was modeling, haha.

Anyway, great job mate. :thumbsup:

hrgiger

12-03-2006, 11:56 AM

update on the courthouse in progress.

liquidpope

12-03-2006, 01:42 PM

Hey, man. Great to see this project is still underway.

Two minor suggestions (and I know you're far from finished, so please excuse me if I'm jumping the gun here...) - the transition between the bridge and the ramps is rather abrupt. You'd have a nice smooth curve there.
On the water towers, the vertical corrugations might serve you better if there were more of them, and smaller. As they are now, the overall scale doesn't seem quite right. They almost look like miniatures.

I'm really digging the pipe work at the bottom of the towers. And the courthouse type building is looking great.
Can't wait to see more.:thumbsup:

domusdesign

12-04-2006, 04:02 AM

it's a big work...
good modelling

hrgiger

12-05-2006, 04:18 AM

Hey Liquid you were right about the bridge. The transition between the ramp on the one side was really bothering me since I made it. I ended up doing the ramp almost completely over which took a fair amount of time but I'm much happier with it now(I still haven't added the ramp supports back in yet).

I'll look at the water towers too and see if it might look better with a smaller corrugation.

Thanks for the feedback. Still chugging along.

hrgiger

12-06-2006, 01:05 PM

A strip of row houses(minus roofing) added plus a new skyscraper(yet to be positioned).

I can see already there is a render glitch around the doors of the houses. It's my no_diffuse strip, it must be flipped backwards.

Can I say again how much I love LWCAD?

hrgiger

12-07-2006, 12:23 PM

[double post]

hrgiger

12-07-2006, 12:23 PM

Well I made UV's for the row houses and that was a lot of fun (and by fun I mean exactly the opposite). The brick texture is a little bit repetitive right now but I will eventually break it up some and add some variation, probably add some graffiti and what not. These buidlings still don't have a roof on them yet, I still have to add it but other then that, most of the modeling on it is done. I will probably rearrange the city to have a residential type area and then merge that into the business sections surrounding a downtown with the mother buildings. At least, that's the plan at the moment.
I'd also like to start adding some different elevations to certain parts of the city so that it's not all on flat ground and boring.

SP00

12-08-2006, 12:26 PM

it's looking good! I was wondering how big do you plan to make the city?

hrgiger

12-08-2006, 12:54 PM

Not sure right now, I'm just going to see how far I can push it with avaialable resources. Once I reach that limit, I'll make some nice backdrops to make the city appear larger then what it really is. I'll possibly make this a environment for an animation.

hrgiger

12-10-2006, 10:23 AM

Changed some of the grid around to work better with a few roads that will be going underneath the bridge. Also changed some of the building locations so that all the residential and apartment buildings were on one street. The building on the left became corrupted somehow and I had to redo it almost completely over including remaking the UV's.