Nycc06's BAT Workshop

[Gecko_2006 1]

Beautifully nitelited! I'm still a fan of the original tower, though the center version is the most accurate to the real thing. As for the lighting, blue gives a more futuristic look, and since it's a modern building, I think blue will suit it better.

[nycc06 229]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, i think in terms of the colours, i will likely use the green/blue windows. Bixel, in response to your comment, i will have a go at re-doing the nite windows. This will take me some time to do, so i probably won't post an update till the weekend.

[Gn_leugim 853]

lovely work there

[Kryptowhite 9]

Wow. Glad to see you have undertaken this project!

I think since this is one of the most coveted towers on ST as well as an international landmark before its even been constructed, if you are working in gmax, you should really consider sending this to someone in 3ds so they can add reflections as well as all the fancy lighting that is available. That would just take this project to the next level, although its hard to imagine things getting much better than they already are, you have done such a good job.

Edit: after looking through the thread, it appears you are using 3ds since there appear to be reflections in the picture on page 2. if thats the case, disregard my comment.

For the base, I'd say your latest is very consistent with how it will ultimately look in RL. They used that technique on the already constructed tower at ground zero and it turned out very similar to your rendering, with a very gray color. I would post my pictures but you can barely see anything because the freedom tower construction site is in the way.

As for the nightlights, while I prefer the orangey color, the blue/green is definetely more realistic since this building will definetely be using...erm...whatever those energy efficient bulbs are called [translucent?]. Either way looks fine. You did a great job, this is spectacular!

[_Atticus 10]

This is great stuff nycc06! I personally much prefer the yellow/orange kind. Maybe you could release both ? Anyways, I'm glad you're redoing the nightlights. I don't mind waiting for better quality, especially with such an important tower. Keep it up.

-Pingangster

[masssc4 3]

I like the gold lights on this tower

[Titorotod 0]

It looks awsome!! i'll download it... and great job too....

[DarkGear 5]

sweet work and keep it up nycc06; also I agree on the green/blue lights choice, they seem to be a more accurate style.

[Simcity player 13]

Good job nycc06. The green/blue nightlighting will definitely work. The several WTC towers should be released seperatly, and finally, when all the models are complete, put them all in one complex. Be sure to make each WTC tower your best, and take your time.

[nycc06 229]

Ok, guys, i've worked on the nightlights for the windows and this is what i've come up with. The windows now look more office like as the majority of them have been grouped together and then lit. Anyway, let me know what you all think, then I can start thinking about exporting the model and getting it into the game.

Simcity player: that's exactly what i plan to do. Each tower will be modelled and released separately and when the towers are complete, (except from 7wtc and 5wtc), i will model the entire complex with the memorial plaza and release the complex as a whole. The only problem that i'm having with this at the moment is that i'm not sure how to transit enable the complex.

[Kryptowhite 9]

wow. It looks beautiful. One of the best BATs I have ever seen. If your having difficulty exporting, i would definetely seek out autovino, simfox, and jason, they seem to be the experts on all things exporting, however, you have done large buildings like this before, haven't you?

[_Atticus 10]

Simply beautiful, great job! (though I still prefer the yellow lights )

-Pingangster

[Blazerhawk 162]

Looks absolutely beautiful! I can't wait for this.

[nycc06 229]

Quick post, the model is now exporting and hopefully the building will be uploaded to the stex in the next few days. Thanks for all the support everybody on this project.

[DarkGear 5]

I can't describe how excited I am to see this beauty getting so close to release, amazing work nycc06 and a BIG thank you for seeing this project threw. Best wishes on future works.

[Godzillaman 21]

Heh...I'm planning to redo my city pretty soon...Good timing then...

Looks like an NDEX building. Maybe you should ask to join...

[mcarch 15]

Jaw Dropping!

[jacqulina 162]

nice work

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Originally posted by: Godzillaman

Heh...I'm planning to redo my city pretty soon...Good timing then...

Looks like an NDEX building. Maybe you should ask to join...quote>

I agree, it's very NDEXy. 

I don't think there's much of an NDEX left to join though. 

[gianthaiku 5]

Thats something you don't see every day eh?

Nice Work

[nycc06 229]

Sorry about the delay in the Freedom Tower, but there have been major problems in the model export process. For some reason, the only part that exports properly is the base section. The top section dosen't seem to export properly because for some reason, either the lighting rig stops working on zoom levels 4,3,2,1, or the window colours change so that they don't match the bottom section.

I'm going to try using my old method of window texturing to see if i can make the model work correctly. I'll keep you all posted, but it may be some time before the BAT is released.

[SimFox 802]

It is a good progress on this much awaited re-creation (can you say it about something that hasn't been built as of yet?)

I have one suggestion, about night windows... right now it just a chaotic spotted sort of affair... it would imho look much better if you would have more stripy sort of distribution. Also may be giving inter floor space a bit of a breathing room may be a good idea. Not sure how you set it all up, though depending on that the last proposition could be either very easy, or very difficult to achieve...

As for your troubles with lighting setup , check your PM, there may be something there to help you out :-)

[art128 4,618]

Wow : great work on the freedom tower, the light are nice !

[Keegan V50 15]

all the best on the model exporting,hope it goes on well this time

all the best

victor

[Odainsaker 2,134]

Omigh, its almost there.  However, the night windows may still need just a bit more horizontal stripe tweaking to make them look like office floors.  There is too much of a uniformly speckled look that actually hides the strong prismatic shape of the building.

What may help is this teaser promotion rendering of what the new complex might look like at night.  While meant more to sell the design rather than represent what will be the actual result, there are still some noteworthy guides.  You've probably seen this one already:



You can see the primary emphasis is horizontal, with several floors at the top being particularly emphasized by unlit areas.  Towards the middle, we can see some of the structural columns cutting through the mass of horizontal lighting, while the diagonal edges remain powerfully clear.  Finally, an artistic mirrored glass treatment gives us a range of colors, from warm reds at the lower levels becoming gold and finally blue at the top, with lots of colored highlights in between.



For a more realistic idea of what the real building's window light patterns will probably look like, we might actually look back to night shots of the original World trade Center Twin Towers, whose size, occupancy, and layout are probably similar to the new tower.  We can see that lighting gaps occur not only at mechnical floors, but on whole floors and sections where some individual tenant company or unit department may be closed.  Rather than trying to blindly approximate the light patterns or counting on BAT randomizer, I might even suggest finding two angled photos that look pleasing, and more or less directly copying their patterns floor by floor.  Okay, that could be alot of work with alot of windows, but we've come this far already!  Perhaps a less labor intensive way may be to create a self-illuminated material using maps of generic office window night patterns (some BATters out there have them), apply it and then adjust each floor's UVW mapping as needed to properly align the texture's patterns.  Some of the supertower BAT masters out there likely have far better techniques, so don't hesitate to inquire.

Hope this helps!

 

[nycc06 229]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. although i have spent much of today trying to find a way of getting my model into 3ds max 9, without having to remodel it from scratch, i've had little success. So, instead this tower will be released in gmax. In order to get the exports to work properly, i've redone the windows completely and i'm also going to redo the nightlights on the windows again from scratch. Here's the new windows version. Let me know what you think.

[renemone 15]

your tower is great than other version on the STEX.

[_Atticus 10]

Looks great. It's good to see you're really trying to make this one the best possible. Cheers.

-Pingangster

[aemilia 0]

the model is amazing !!!

and the best lights are on the first picture of Odainsaker

[nycc06 229]

Ok guys, this is the new version of the night lights for One World Trade Center. Let me know what you all think before I start exporting the model.