Crazyaya tries to BAT

[crazyyaya 4]

Well, actually I'm using google sketchUp to start. Using www.sklion.com, the models can be put into SC4. This is my first try, so I want some suggestions for my work.

Here's my first model, it's not finished yet, but I think it'll be a great mid-rise building once it's done.



I know it needs more detail, but I'd love to hear suggestions on how to improve it before I send it to Gmax.

Also, ignore the transparent windows, it won't show up like that in the finished model.

[patriots_1228 51]

great start! I would start off the detailing with window/door frames and some awnings on the lower floors, but this is a great start.

[Godzillaman 21]

Looks good, just needs more roof junk.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Are you using it to texture too? If so, your bricks and shingles are too small.

It's hard to tell what it is. If it's a factory or warehouse, then it probably wouldn't have a pitched roof like that. Also, if it's a factory, then the brick tower part would be elevators and bathrooms (if there were any), so there wouldn't be an entrance at the bottom of it. Maybe a loading bay or something like that.

If it's an office building, well, it looks like a factory, lol. I think that you should change the proportions of it so that it's more dynamic. Cubes can be hard to make something of. One thing you could do, is you could make the horizontal strip on the top, and on the bottom, about 4 times taller. It would make the tower and box less like two separate objects, and more united, and it would also make it more dynamic I think.

Anyway, it's coming along. It's nice to see you BATing.

[crazyyaya 4]

Jasoncw - Actually, I intended it to be a boxy mid sized office building (like a late 1800's Chicago office building). I figured the windows would give that away, but I guess I'll add some more office details to it.

Thanks for the comments so far guys.

[nihonkaranws 88]

Nice job, I suggest you use more complicated structures for the roof junk, and if you really want to get fancy, add some gutters near the top (just some extruded splines). Good luck!

[Jasoncw 11,840]

ah ok.  In that case you probably want to get rid of the tower all together.  But you should definitely add a light court.  The building should either be o shaped, or u shaped, or something like that.  Buildings back then were never that deep, because they didn't have the air and electrical systems we have today.

[crazyyaya 4]

Okay, I've redone some things, who thinks this version is better?

Keep in mind there's still some fine detail to be added.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

That's a biiiig improvement with the tower.

The building's first (and possibly second) floor should be different from the others. Usually they are a bit taller, and are different. Usually they have storefronts. The tops of these kinds of buildings are also articulated specially.

The light court could be a bit bigger. Make sure to have windows there too, since the point is to let sun in.

[crazyyaya 4]

Jasoncw - Thank you very much for the advice, it's really improving the building. I'm not sure I'll expand the light court, but I will add windows and I'll try to fix other items you suggested.

My only concern with the final product is the quality it will have after its sent to Gmax and then rendered...

I'll have updated pictures as I change the building.

[crazyyaya 4]

Okay, I'm nearly completion in the SketchUp stage.

Here are two shots of the building so far. If you have any suggestions at all, please let me hear them becuase I will begin to render it soon.

Front View 

Rear View

[ianpaschal 77]

I'd say your scale is wildly off. You can either BAT SC4 scale or real scale and convert to SC4 later (that's what I do) but it is an absolute MUST that all parts of the building must be scaled to each other. Your door and your trashcan are about the same size right now. Not good. The door, especially to an office building should be way larger.

And then I'm also really obsessed with historical accuracy. You said this was an office block from the 1800s, well in that case you need to think about what architectural styles were around then because currently it looks like its from the 1990s to me.

Lastly, this is by no means a requirement for a good BAT but for my own personal tastes, I like a lot of detail. It may not all show up in SC4, or what exactly it is, but the fact that you put something there will give the impression of complexity. One thing that I like a lot is if you add just a hint of window frame so its not just brick and glass.

[SimFox 801]

yep I'm totally with Scipio in the point of scale.

Right now it just unacceptable...

I also concur with him on the point of style... There wasn't the technology in late 1800 to build like this. Again it may be the issue of scale that cripples any realism - proportions of windows (which btw on they own look nothing like 1900) to space between them, for instance. Another thing is a placement of that roof house - it is absolutely arbitrary and not incorporated into the structure of the building, but it should.

SketchUp is tricky this way - it leads you to the very particular type of design. Well it is a sketch... So unless you're very good at it the modeling method will take over the creative side of process.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

For 1800s skyscrapers in Chicago (Chicago School), you would have:  A base which would be one or more stories tall, and would have retail, banks, and that sort of thing.  This area is heavily ornamented, and is designed to attract customers.  It would also be articulated differently, so that it can be read as a base.  And the floor heights would be taller than the rest of the building.  Following that, you'd have any number of office floors, which would more or less be repeated like how you have them.  Following that, you'd have something at the top which would visually finish the building.  It would a cornice.  Behind the cornice would be a mechanical floor.

At the time, large plate glass was technically possible, and with the technology they had they could have made the building how you made it, but the windows you have there can not open, and back then for most purposes they did not rely on air conditioning.  So what they did, is they had a large piece of plate glass, which could not be opened (to allow light and sight), but on both sides of that window, they would have double hung windows which could be opened, to allow fresh air in.

The Carsons Piries Scott & Co. store is similar to yours.  This happens to be a department store, but the idea is the same.  But you can see how there is a defined base, and a top which has some visual weight.  You can also see the Chicago Windows too.

Also, I feel like for your building, you wouldn't have the entire wall made out of brick like that.  I think that the vertical parts could be brick, but the horizontal parts in between the windows (the spandrels) would probably not be made out of brick.  They could be terra cotta though.  The entire thing could be terra cotta too.  But if you have it be a flat wall, remember that it isn't actually a flat wall, it is a grid of columns and slabs, so you should try to articulate that (maybe the window sills could be continued horizontally to show the floor slabs, or maybe the columns could stick out further to show the columns).

[crazyyaya 4]

Thank you all for the great advice, especially Jasoncw. Just keep in mind that I'm pretty much completely new to building design so it's unfair to expect complete perfection. When I first concieved the model, I did not have any era of design in mind. I just made a simple square building in SketchUp and figured I'd try to make it into a SC4 model. Now I either have the choice of possibly redoing the model to fit historically accuracy or finishing up scaling and fine detail and send it to Gmax.

@ Simfox - I have no idea what you mean by "that roof house". Could you describe what you mean?

[Jasoncw 11,840]

I think that you have the ability to make it really good, so you might as well.

SimFox means the little room on the roof.  Those are where stairs or elevators are, and he means that the placement isn't connected to what might be happening inside the building.

I think at the very least, you should add a base and a top to the building.  This would be adding and you wouldn't have to rework what you have and I think it is necessary in order to have it turn out good in the end. 

Then I think that you should add more columns (so each window is maybe half as wide as it is now).  It is more work now, but it will make it easier to make the window frames look good later, and it will also make the window texture a lot easier to make (smaller windows are easier than big windows).  These things will be more work now, but will save you work later, and will make the BAT a lot better in the end.