Welcome back.
I've written this post over the last week or so, and it might a bit strange in parts, but here goes.
Many people like Harishna have mentioned that my project has remained "a box for months", but keep in mind I did run into delays, and I like updating my thread whenever necessary (I've always loved the idea of having a thread with rolling updates). But as for "box for months" part, after all, when you boil things down, ALL BATs are basically boxes (and many STEX creations are obvious betas as such).
Furthermore, there are SketchUp using members of Simtropolis but they have given me little support. Archean gave me a few tips, but he hasn't replied to my recent requests on what do (like the exits). It's unfair to single me out as being a lone SketchUp user in a land of exclusively gmax users, because that is simply not true.
But the census was clear: people wanted to see my creation in gmax.
Well, first off: here's what I did. I rebuilt the parapets to be less thick, which was easier said than done: despite making measurements and easily redoing it, there were many, many shapes that were involved in it, including a "splinter" in the main building that had to be made out of a different shape so I didn't end up destroying the entire main building.
Unfortunately, the back, which had some problems lining up from the beginning, did have some problems. Hopefully that won't pose too much of a problem, and I know that it might end up looking a bit weird. But considering this is my first project, it provides room for error. After all, I don't want to make some horrible mistake on some other project, like Auchan Beltway 8. That's a plan in the future that I don't want to screw up on.
I tried to export it using the SKP->XML->OBJ method, but I kept running into errors (mtl undefined) at the very end, resulting in getting nothing (aargh). I tried various things: adding a simple texture so it wouldn't be "undefined", deleting measurement lines (which would've been nice if that was the problem), deleting the person component, "Sang", and deleting the Google Earth ground base.
I've tried posting in
this thread and PM'ing TowerDude but nothing yet has come of it. Maybe the gmax conversion stuff has been abandoned.
Lack of support notwithstanding, I know that SketchUp isn't the best way to build many buildings, but I still plan using it in the future for a new project: a high school, based on a real-life design, with varying ceiling heights, and a complex floor plan (I'll say—I went there nearly every day for four years!)
With Auchan delayed due to aforementioned SketchUp/BAT problems, I decided to start, yes, another project. In BAT.
Stung by other criticisms, I attempted to do it well and do it fast. So based on tips from the BAT tutorial and my own measurements, I whipped up a prototype in record time. I did a very loosely modified version of BAT Essentials, using my own measurements, eyeballing some things, cloning all four walls: except when I had cloned the back wall, it still had the doorway in it, which I took out. I did it all in a night.
The project I took was inspired by Frex_Ceafus's "Black Cat Fireworks Superstore": it was a simple-looking building that was familiar in real life. It will be far simpler than the high school, or even the Wal-Mart I was starting. It's not supposed to be a rip-off, I just thought that there's room for improvement. And if calling it Black Cat on the STEX is too close to comfort, I can just change it to Top Dog instead.
I took measurements in Google Earth, and here we have the prototype. I was going to texture it (I apparently do not have gmax textures) and finish the door, but it's a prototype nonetheless. I do notice the conflicts in the back (or is that the "hidden box" that the camera added? I don't know)
This post also signifies the end of every-time-I-change-the-geometry rolling updates. I may to get help in the BAT Troubleshooting & Help guide, or just good ol' trial and error, so look for me there.
0
