mipro Barry Sanders Project

JBSimio · August 4, 2006

Yeah... the Guardian Building would be cool. I may have to work up to that one. I haven't done anything real big yet and I know I need to learn some things about reducing poly counts before tackling something of that size!

Thanks for the link! I'll definitely look that up. I know the request thing was a risk... I like to be on the edge!

JB

Jasoncw · August 4, 2006

I plan on doing the Guardian sometime (don't know when though). If someone else wants to do it that's fine too, but make sure to make it perfect!

Last year I heard they were adding a parking garage next door to it, I don't know if that's still a plan, or if it would affect recreating it for Sim City.

My avatar is made out of that picture from the last page. I think it was made by the company that was hired to light the building.

budweiserdude23 · August 4, 2006

Poly counts are a pain aren't they? I've discovered a few ways to keep them down, the simpler the shape , the fewer polys. A cylander for example using the default settings has 18 sides, 5 height segments, and 1 cap segment which total 216 polys for that cylander. Now if you can (and i know its not always possible) change the height segment to one, the cylander now is 72 polys. Makes a big difference.

Another thing to think about to simplify modeling...splines vs. meshes. Let me pose this to you, what's the difference between a box and an extruded rectangle. None, they're the same, an extruded rectangle is a box and both contain 12 polys. Now yes you can do different things with a rectangle than a box but in principle they're the same. An extruded circle is a cylander...etc..etc..

Now here is a surprsing thing, welded objects tend to be higher in poly count. An example two arcs and two lines welded together and extruded to make an arch are 810 polys.If you make athe same shape with a 4-sided torus, cut to sizewith the proper radii, it equals 200 polys, perhaps less if use fewer than the default 32 sides that make it up.

Another useful thing is the line to create splines. Helps keep the count down in that you don't have to create multiple objects or modify one so much that it increases the count significantly. I figure you know the perils of using it though, a little more tricky, even with the snap on it doesn't always work out how you want but if your within a couple of thousandths to the vertex of what you aiming for, who'll ever know.

Those are some ways I've been trying to keep my poly count down. It's some trial and error but should be worth it in the end. Let's put it this way, Michigan Stadium as of this moment is at 210,000 polys, which given it's magnitude I'm somewhat surprised by. I figured to be at half a million by now. The KISS method does work most of the time, but use your discretion.

By the way, I got back from Ann Arbor just a bit ago. I have 25 or so pictures of Yost Ice Irena for you. Still need to upload them into my computer, etc. Got my pictures of the Big House too...

EDIT---Doesn't it figure, my g/f unplugged the cable I need to upload the pictures from the camera and misplaced it. Trust me, I've got the pictures but no cable...arghhh. I'll get them uploaded when I find the cable or buy a new one...either way SOON...

dammit....

JBSimio · August 5, 2006

Thanks BD! Actually, there are a couple little things in there I didn't think about. Height segments, for example... never dawned on me how that would make a difference.

Just to give you an example of where I'm at: My most recent apartment will be a 2x2 lot and it now has around 87,000 polys in it. I'm not sure if that's bad... but it sounds like an awful lot for something that size.

Oh... and for Jason: If you plan on doing the Guardian it's all yours. I wouldn't even try to attempt something I know you're planning on. The teacher is still the master by far on this one!

JB

canuck3360 · August 5, 2006

If anyone wants to try it I can get Pictures of the Yazaki HQ here in Canton it's a stones throw from my house and it's pretty cool especially the view into it. Otherwise All these things are great kkep it up BSP crew way to make the D proud

budweiserdude23 · August 6, 2006

Canuck, it's a nice enough looking building but Noah's Arc in the front lobby..???... That and the glass textures....argh....

You know though, there are three of us from that immediate area and even though Yazaki is the most recognizable, how about something else...maybe the Box Bar, Penn Theatre, or how about Bodes'? Or one could go nuts and model PCEP Park...If anybody would accept it as a small city.

How about this, The Summit?

JB---You're welcome. The same thing never dawned on me until recently as the buildings I modeled in the past were relatively low in poly count regardless of methods I used. A 2x2 lot at 87.000 polys...might be a little high, but it depends on its shape of structuere. I wouldn't think that many polys would hurt you too much but an exponential raise in poly count as your structures increase in size might. If your poly count is high in fine detail pieces, like a rounded corner on a piece barely noticable or not at all, consider a different object or simplify it.

budweiserdude23 · August 6, 2006

Hey JB---I found my cable. Here are the pictures...

Yost Ice Arena...a.k.a. Yost Field House

I hope these help.

canuck3360 · August 6, 2006

I agree BD Noahs Ark is a but out of Place and PCEP Park would be insane all 3 Highschools with Phase III and both Football Stadiums/Baseball/Soccer/Athletics areas

or in my personal Ideas I think a BAT of the Plymouth Cultural Center would be cool I have have the Schematics and Techincal Diagrams to the bulding as I did Work there for 5 years I can even get great Pictures for textures and sightlines.....I've been attmepting to BAT it myself but my skills are no where near where they need to be to do it

GangstadanDT · August 11, 2006

Great to see the Guardian Bldg, and Ford Field. Progress! Is'nt it also called the Art Deco Bldg? Anyway you cant have Ford Field without Comerica Park, and how bout those Tigers!. Keep up the good work!

GangstadanDT · August 11, 2006

Great to see the Guardian Bldg, and Ford Field. Progress! Is'nt it also called the Art Deco Bldg? Anyway you cant have Ford Field without Comerica Park, and how bout those Tigers!. Keep up the good work!

GangstadanDT · August 11, 2006

Great to see the Guardian Bldg, and Ford Field. Progress! Is'nt it also called the Art Deco Bldg? Anyway you cant have Ford Field without Comerica Park, and how bout those Tigers!. Keep up the good work!

Jasoncw · August 11, 2006

If anyone wants any help learning how to BAT, or anything, just send me a pm and I'll do what I can to help.

The Guardian Building has been called the cathedral of commerce, but I've never heard it called the Art Deco Building.

While waiting for some things for the Penobscot Building from Wolverine, I figured I'd work on Hart Plaza. 3dsmax's more advanced modeling tools should make it easy to model the public art.

I started "The Pylon" which is that twisted cube near Jefferson. I never knew the name untill I started researching it for recreating it, lol. Unfortunatly I'm having some texturing problems (check out the texturing problems thread in the BAT workshop if you think you might know the solution), but that will be resolved eventually.

Jasoncw · August 11, 2006

If anyone wants any help learning how to BAT, or anything, just send me a pm and I'll do what I can to help.

The Guardian Building has been called the cathedral of commerce, but I've never heard it called the Art Deco Building.

While waiting for some things for the Penobscot Building from Wolverine, I figured I'd work on Hart Plaza. 3dsmax's more advanced modeling tools should make it easy to model the public art.

I started "The Pylon" which is that twisted cube near Jefferson. I never knew the name untill I started researching it for recreating it, lol. Unfortunatly I'm having some texturing problems (check out the texturing problems thread in the BAT workshop if you think you might know the solution), but that will be resolved eventually.

Jasoncw · August 11, 2006

If anyone wants any help learning how to BAT, or anything, just send me a pm and I'll do what I can to help.

The Guardian Building has been called the cathedral of commerce, but I've never heard it called the Art Deco Building.

While waiting for some things for the Penobscot Building from Wolverine, I figured I'd work on Hart Plaza. 3dsmax's more advanced modeling tools should make it easy to model the public art.

I started "The Pylon" which is that twisted cube near Jefferson. I never knew the name untill I started researching it for recreating it, lol. Unfortunatly I'm having some texturing problems (check out the texturing problems thread in the BAT workshop if you think you might know the solution), but that will be resolved eventually.

GangstadanDT · August 12, 2006

Good Ol' Hart Plaza! My mistake, I must've heard "Art Deco" somewhere. Anyway you can't have Hart Plaza without the RenCen, which I hear nobody is working on. Is somebody going to revive the ol' Comerica Tower?

Oh this probably isnt the right forum if it isnt sorry, but when i downloaded the Freep Bldg, it shows up as a Big Giant Box, can anybody help me with it please?

GangstadanDT · August 12, 2006

Good Ol' Hart Plaza! My mistake, I must've heard "Art Deco" somewhere. Anyway you can't have Hart Plaza without the RenCen, which I hear nobody is working on. Is somebody going to revive the ol' Comerica Tower?

Oh this probably isnt the right forum if it isnt sorry, but when i downloaded the Freep Bldg, it shows up as a Big Giant Box, can anybody help me with it please?

GangstadanDT · August 12, 2006

Good Ol' Hart Plaza! My mistake, I must've heard "Art Deco" somewhere. Anyway you can't have Hart Plaza without the RenCen, which I hear nobody is working on. Is somebody going to revive the ol' Comerica Tower?

Oh this probably isnt the right forum if it isnt sorry, but when i downloaded the Freep Bldg, it shows up as a Big Giant Box, can anybody help me with it please?

T Wrecks · August 12, 2006

Yes. That's $%&^! question #1 (excuse me, no offense intended here, but it is ), and Hordijk has written a tutorial on How To Avoid Boxes in the Omnibus section.

In your case, don't forget to copy the building model if you have Rush Hour/Deluxe. If you only have the basic version of SC4, you won't be able to use custom BATs at all.

T Wrecks · August 12, 2006

Yes. That's $%&^! question #1 (excuse me, no offense intended here, but it is ), and Hordijk has written a tutorial on How To Avoid Boxes in the Omnibus section.

In your case, don't forget to copy the building model if you have Rush Hour/Deluxe. If you only have the basic version of SC4, you won't be able to use custom BATs at all.

T Wrecks · August 12, 2006

Yes. That's $%&^! question #1 (excuse me, no offense intended here, but it is ), and Hordijk has written a tutorial on How To Avoid Boxes in the Omnibus section.

In your case, don't forget to copy the building model if you have Rush Hour/Deluxe. If you only have the basic version of SC4, you won't be able to use custom BATs at all.

budweiserdude23 · August 13, 2006

Perhaps this is best suited for off topic but hey it's all relative so...

I figure some may have heard about this while others may not...either way you have to consider the following a soft target. I always figured this was Michigan's greatest threat to an attack. Regardless of guilt, it's an eye-opener...

CARO, Mich. - Three Texas men were arraigned Saturday on terrorism-related charges after police found about 1,000 cell phones in their minivan, and prosecutors say they believe the men were targeting a bridge connecting Michigan's Upper and Lower peninsulas.

But two of the men said they were only trying to buy and sell phones to make money, and one said the money was intended to help pay for his brother's college education.

A magistrate set bond at $750,000 for each of the men, who are charged with collecting or providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target for terrorist purposes. No pleas were made at the arraignment at a District Court in Caro, about 80 miles north of Detroit.

Officials have not said what they believe the men intended to do with the phones, most of which were prepaid TracFones. But Caro's police chief said cell phones can be used as detonators, and prosecutors in a similar case in Ohio have said that TracFones are often used by terrorists because they are not traceable.

"All we did is buy the phones to sell and make money," Louai Abdelhamied Othman told the magistrate. He said authorities had previously stopped the group in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

"We've been checked by the FBI before," he said. "They even gave us their card and everything."

Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark E. Reene told The Saginaw News that investigators believe the men were targeting the 5-mile long Mackinac Bridge. He declined to say what led investigators to that belief.

Reene and the FBI did not return phone messages Saturday to The Associated Press.

Othman and Maruan Awad Muhareb, both of Mesquite, Texas, and Adham Abdelhamid Othman, of Dallas, were stopped before dawn Friday after they purchased 80 cell phones from a Wal-Mart in Caro. Police said they found about 1,000 cell phones in their minivan.

Adham and Louai Othman are brothers and are in their early 20s. Muhareb, 18, is their cousin. All are being held at the Tuscola County Jail, Caro police said.

Muhareb told the magistrate: "This is a misunderstanding." He said he was selling the phones to earn money to help pay for his brother's college education.

Louai Othman's wife, Lina Odeh, said the men were buying the phones to sell to a man in Dallas for a profit of about $5 per phone. She said they were in Michigan because so many people in the Dallas area are doing the same thing that the phones are often sold out.

"I just want everyone to know that they're innocent and they shouldn't be locked up in jail without any evidence," she told The Associated Press.

The arrests in Caro came three days after two men were arrested in Marietta, Ohio, where police said they aroused suspicions when they acknowledged buying about 600 phones in recent months at stores in southeast Ohio.

Ali Houssaiky and Osama Abulhassan, both 20 and from Detroit suburb of Dearborn, have been charged with two felonies — money laundering in support of terrorism and soliciting or providing support for acts of terrorism — and misdemeanor falsification. A preliminary hearing on the felony counts was set for Tuesday.

Defense lawyers said Houssaiky and Abulhassan planned to resell the phones simply to make money. They say the men were targeted only because they are of Arab descent

Now, I'm going to discount their descent, that's not the issue. But who in the hell has 1000 cell phones in their possession. Are you joking? Were they inspired by the idea of Lemonade Stands in the ability to resell at a minimal profit? Gas costs $3.00 a gallon and they're running around buying cell phones to resell for a profit of $5.00 and they're several thousand miles away from their home address. Are you kidding me?

budweiserdude23 · August 13, 2006