Beebs' BAT Workshop

[beebs 129]

For the fourth time now, I've decided to try my hand at the BAT. I'm starting off simple, sticking with what I know well... low-rise suburban housing. So far, I'm pretty proud of my first attempt.. this is by far the furthest I've made it BATting anything. Fourth time's the charm? Well I'll let pictures do the talking.

Any advice would be appreciated.. The rear and the left side are all I have left to model for the shell. After that, I was planning on getting the fine details done.

[kant01 5]

hey beebs, nice start! Looks like it is going to have a really interesting shape when it is all done I would just extend that top dormer roof back a bit, the one that intersects with the main roof, because there is a little gap between where the one ends and the main slope. Otherwise, this looks very promising!

[un1 41]

I had no clue that you even had the BAT. Anyways, beebs that house is going to look great, just as long as you use good textures.

-un1

[jacqulina 162]

nice start there

[beebs 129]

Originally posted by: kant01  I would just extend that top dormer roof back a bit, the one that intersects with the main roof, because there is a little gap between where the one ends and the main slope. quote>

Ah yes good call!

Thanks guys!

[nihonkaranws 88]

Very nice work Beebs... Looks like you already have a knack for the BAT, hehe.

When you get into the details, you may want to use instances when copying instead of copies, if you do not plan to change them. This can reduce render time greatly. Any other questions, I will be here to answer you.

[SimHoTToDDy 2,939]

I missed my students BAT debut? For shame...

Anyway, it looks like you are getting it. I'm not sure how you are going to fit that room on the left side into the house, the roof doesn't cover it all the way from the looks of it. Perhaps you should move that little wall back so it is in plane with the wall on the rights side, that way it is covered and you don't have to adjust the roof at all. Believe it or not, there are a lot of houses around here with that general shape, though I don't know why anyone would want their driveway jutting so far out in front of the rest of the house.

Like anyone else here, feel free to bug me with any problem (I'm working on my CJ tonight so I might not show up in chat that much),

-Todd

[beebs 129]

Originally posted by: SimHoTToDDy I missed my students BAT debut? For shame...

Anyway, it looks like you are getting it. I'm not sure how you are going to fit that room on the left side into the house, the roof doesn't cover it all the way from the looks of it. Perhaps you should move that little wall back so it is in plane with the wall on the rights side, that way it is covered and you don't have to adjust the roof at all. Believe it or not, there are a lot of houses around here with that general shape, though I don't know why anyone would want their driveway jutting so far out in front of the rest of the house. quote>

Hehe. I do have a plan for the roof on the little bit on the left.. not sure how well it will turn out, but we'll see.

Lots and lots of houses are constructed with the garage jutting out in front of the rest of the house. It's actually quite common here.. I'm kinda surprised that they don't do the same where you're at.

Here's a few examples from around Edmonton.

nihonkaranws: I'll keep that in mind.. I'll probably need quite a bit of help from you guys in figuring out how to do the details, but I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

[granto93 4]

hey beebs! its great to see another person put in an effort to start BATing...Canadian too Your current work is looking great, looks like you have a good idea of what you are doing already. Look forward to seeing some more progress.

[Godzillaman 21]

Suddenly everyone picked up making custom content...leaving me behind...

[Cockatoo 2,257]

Originally posted by: Godzillaman Suddenly everyone picked up making custom content...leaving me behind...quote>

Geez, I'll say. The amount of new people taking up the BAT is astounding. It's like one a week. Well, that's looking pretty good Beebs. With textures and a good night-lighting set-up, that'll turn into a nice model... might want to extend that roof overhang a little further into the main roof though, it's not connecting.

[beebs 129]

The framing is done!

I'm going to add a chimney on the windowless side I think, but otherwise I think the "shell" is done. Yay! Now I just need to start on the details.. where to start...

[JakeMD 107]

Looks good so far! Really great job. Lets hope texturing goes well.

[SimHoTToDDy 2,939]

Looks good, I like what you did with that left window. As for details, I would start by adding the window/door frames and your glass/doors while you are at it. The roof over garage looks a bit wide on the right side, but that might be my eyes playing tricks on me.

I hate to see houses like that with no windows on one side, who came up with that anyway? All the Mcmansions have one like that for some reason, and those are fancy houses.

Good luck,

-Todd

[deathtopumpkins 43]

Heh, I saw 'Beebs' and 'BAT' and I knew I had to read this That house is looking great beebs! Can't wait to see the textures for it!

[beebs 129]

Originally posted by: SimHoTToDDyI hate to see houses like that with no windows on one side, who came up with that anyway? All the Mcmansions have one like that for some reason, and those are fancy houses.

quote>

McMansions are built ~6-12 feet apart.. who the heck wants to see the side of another house?

Thanks for the tips, I'll have to take a peek in the Omnibus for windows and stuff though.. I have an idea of what I should do for them, but I wanna be sure.

[nihonkaranws 88]

Hmmm. I don't think framing is done just yet. What about the doors? Window frames?

When you get to making larger BATs, it would be good to texture each main part of the building prior to going on to the next part, since texturing once the main modeling is done can be a hassle, and ends up not being as good as you would have wanted.

I also think some stairs are needed: these can be modeled simply by creating a few boxes, and duplicating them upward. Railings are quite simple too: create a cylinder, and rotate it to follow the angle of your stairs, then use the edit mesh modifier to align it correctly. But make sure the cylinder only has 1 height segment first!

[Deathtoall 28]

I like the houses Beebs, they look almost exactly the same as new ones being built all the way down here . Keep it up, i wanna see textures.

[buddybud 63]

Looking great beebs. Can't wait to see the textures.

After so many years here, how could you not do a good job??? lol.

Keep it up.

Bud

[art128 4,622]

this house look great Beebs, good work !

[beebs 129]

Thanks for the support guys! I doubt I would have made it this far without pestering some of you as much as I have (Simhottoddy knows what I'm talking about )

nihon: Hehe, I'm used to hearing framing in a construction sense.. I meant the outer walls/roof is all done. I might be backwards, but my thinking is windows, frames, doors, etc. are all a part of the detailing.

buddybud: I've tried in the past, historically, I don't operate in 3D. I dunno what happened this time around.

I got the windows in, doors in, frames in.. and I was at a loss of how to do really any other small details that I wanted to do (drainpipes, roofjunk, something/anything for the top of that chimney), so I decided to try my hand at texturing. I just got the roof done so far, but I'm pretty proud of how its turned out. Any thoughts? Personally, I'm thinking I overdid the gradient a bit..

[buddybud 63]

Originally posted by: beebs I'm thinking I overdid the gradient a bit..quote>

just play with the contrast and brightness. Other than that a beautiful texture job. I would expect no less!!!!   Now get back to work.....

Bud.

[ilikehotdogsalot 311]

I'm a little disappointed. I was expecting something revolutionary like: 'Plop a Moose!', or an Ice Hockey Court Rink

EDIT: Yeah, like a Floridian would know you call it 'Rink'.

[beebs 129]

I got some more texturing done.. I think I've figured out how to get some decent looking drainspouts, etc. done so I'm trying to hack through that now. Any suggestions?

[buddybud 63]

looking good as usual.

I believe that drain pipes might not even be visible in game because they are so tiny, though i could be wrong. Just use a series of small cylinders if you insist. But i think they will just fade into the rest.

love the wall textures.

Can't wait to see night lighting!!!

[Deathtoall 28]

Beebs that is great! Although for realism sake the wood should be more blue if its modelled off the first house I like the texturing and the window already. The bricks work on the gargae walls also looks great. Now finish of the last bits, lot it and upload it cus i want it . Great work, and about time to.

[SimHoTToDDy 2,939]

Looking great so far! For the textureing part, you should try to do your previews in high quality (just change the drop down next to the preview button). Reason being, everything looks rally grainy and its hard to tell if its the render or the texture itself.

Anyway, back to the point. Your roof texture looks good style wise, but it needs a big tone down in the contrast department or at least kill the brightness on the whiter areas. The wall texture looks great, I would just adjust the height of it a bit so you can see the siding better. Looking at your roof planes (mostly the one with the chimney) they could use a bit more thickness. I wouldn't make the planes thicker, I would add some eves (perhaps in a contrasting color for trim) right under them. Basically, add a few boxes and edit them so they fit snugly against your roof. For the chimney itself, a good way to top one off is to put a flat top on it, and add a smaller tube (rectangular or what ever) on top of that, simulating a flue pipe.

Adding details is fine as long as you make them large/contrasting enough with what ever you are making. You could make a drain pipe easy (for something that small, it doesn't even have to be round) as long as you make it lighter (or darker) than the wall behind it. I try not to model object far under .1m, past that (I find) you can start running into invisible details. But seeing how the size is exaggerated in SC4, you can do a lot with .1m.

Looking forward to what else you have up your sleeve (because you did a great job this time),

-Todd

[nihonkaranws 88]

Looking quite good. But you may want to decrease the saturation and lightness on your roof texture. It kind of looks a bit like metal. Other than that, your house is doing very good. I can't wait to see what kind of nightlighting methods you will use!

[kant01 5]

Hey Beebs, this is progressing along nicely

I would probably agree with what's been said about the roof texture. I did the same thing on some of my first few BATS when I applied gradients to them. The tops were just too bright. Just take the gradient down until it is very, very subtle. Otherwise, looking great so far

[beebs 129]

Okay.. here's where we're at now.

I toned down the roof gradient a fair bit, might go down some more yet still. I got basic textures on all the doors, windows but I haven't got a clue how to make them look better. I tried doing sorta blinds on some of the windows but I don't know how good it looks. Any further suggestions would be appreciated.

I'm going to add a few more drainpipes on the back (you can see some on the front of the building, I'm kinda pleased with how they turned out).