mipro Barry Sanders Project

[nofunk 1,933]

Spidey: No, you're right. I plan on making the windows rounded . . . but I'm going to do it differently and haven't gotten to it yet. I made a basic window template and arrayed it . . . the windows are rounded on two of the 40 floors and instead of creating a whole new window template, I decided I'd tackle that separately.

You're also right about the space . . . I hadn't noticed that actually. I might try to take out that extra row of windows at the top but I'm worried that will leave TOO much open space there. In any case, this still is very much a work in progress.

wolverine: OH MY GOD your building looks AMAZING!! You totally put mine to shame hahaha.

[wolverine 12]

Thanks for the comments everyone!

Noooooo. Your clock tower kicked so much ass, it would be difficult to compare to that.

I'm hoping my computer won't take long to fix. It's hard to use my parents computer since my dad needs it since he's home during the two week GM shut down. I can't tell you how much my computer had gone to crap after the processor blew out. But I think there was a lot of other stuff going on. Gmax for some reason would load up with a dozen error messages, but still kind of worked. Also, a lot of my programs were running slow. But I had battered this new laptop to pieces with my intense 3D renderings, long hours of use, and extreme multi-tasking. I would have up to 20 internet explorers open, with iTunes, with Dreamweaver, with AutoCAD, ann with photoshop. Everything ran pretty smooth, but it was too much for it to take. I'm definitely going to scale back on the multi-tasking this year. I also have a huge issue with hard drive space --- 100 GBs ---- almost entirely filled. When I sent it in, it had 200 Mb left. Isn't that aweful? I know I have 40 Gb of music 15 Gb of photos. But the rest is filled with a crapload of software that takes up a lot space -- like SimCity and Madden Football. But now a new 120 Gb firewire external hard drive should take care of that!

BTW nofunk, I don't know if I asked this before, but do you live in a res. hall at Michigan?

[wolverine 12]

Here's today's progress as of 5:20 p.m Oops I double posted sorry.


Medium quality rendering


The detail on the lower 4 floors still needs to be added.

Actual photo, by Emporis

[JBSimio 152]

WOW!!! Those last two pics looks really good, Wolverine! Very nice, indeed.

JB

[ert90 8]

Very nice wolverine.

[Iknowu 0]

good progress so far

[wolverine 12]

I just wanted to give a heads up on anyone willing to do the Statler Hotel in downtown Detroit that DEMOLITION HAS STARTED. I passed it when I was downtown today. Here are some closeup pics from this past summer.







The building will be leveled for a parking lot.

So if anyone has closeup pics... hint...hint Allan, now is the time to display them.

[SpartanBadger 4]

Well I'm glad I could help you nofunk. I got my SC4 working, I don't know what the problem was...
I added my plugins to my new computer, that took about 10 minutes, or more I dont know 'cuz I was eating, but that was the easy part. Now I have to...EEEK!...extract them [:0]
Your stuff looks great nofunk and wolverine, I can't wait till they are finished!
It is a shame to see the hotel get demolished, but Detroit needs a serious make over, we have waaay too many abandoned buildings like that. It's kind of funny to think of those old run-down buildings used to be glitzy and glamourous, and now, well, you know.

Ouch I am sore, I went snowboarding yesterday, and well, you get the picture

[wolverine 12]

Hears an update  However, it is already very out of date since I'm very far along on the second wall.  I'll post that later.

 

Another medium quality rendering:

[dudyconstructor 40]

now now...thats awesome! great job! looks pretty realistic

[Allan 0]

My Statler photos are on my laptop in the family room, so I can't post them now. Well I could, but there is a 4 foot wide hole in the floor (isn't remodeling fun?!). When I found out that the demolition had started on Wednesday, I almost drove all the way to Detroit to take photos. LOL.

Grand Circus Park, 1908. The John Bagley estate, the site of the Statler Hotel, can be seen in the lower left corner. The church next to the Tuller Hotel was demolished for the 1914 expansion of the building. To the right of the Tuller Hotel is the Charlevoix Apartments, which today sits neglected and in poor condition. To the right of the Charlevoix Apartments is the site where the Kales Building would rise, and to the right of that is Louis Kamper's Fine Arts Building, which was constructed in 1895. Louis Kamper's architectural offices were located in the building, which, as we all know, is owned by Ilitch Holdings today.


A later view of the west end of the park. Broderick Tower, the Michigan Mutual Building, Park Avenue Building, and Park Apartments still have not been constructed.


A rather cartoonish drawing of the park in the 1940s.




I don't remember who took this photo, but it shows the gargantuan hole that will be left in the urban fabric of the area.


I will attempt to BAT the Statler. It will take me a while though, since after next week all my free time will vanish.

[wolverine 12]

Oooooh! The Tuller Hotel! I forgot about that building. I'll have to add that to my personal project list. Too bad it's gone. Detroit is so ugly nowadays. I hope more companies up and leave the suburbs and begin moving back to the city. Believe me, Detroit WILL BE the awesome city it used to be... just not for another 30 - 40 years!

BTW, I have a rough frame-in of the Broderick on 3DS Max. So no one take that building! I can't wait to finish up the Dime and get off GMax. It's sooo slow!!!

[Allan 0]

Everyone forgets about the Tuller. LOL.

Detroit did have the opportunity to be an amazing city. However, between the Depression, and a series of urban planning blunders, that did not happen.

And to think we could've had this:


Sorry that Two Detroit Center is kind of cut off. I'll have to see what I can do about that later.

[wolverine 12]

That picture is always so amazing. What Detroit could have been.... As I said, it still has the potential to be something close to this if just a fraction of a percent of the companies in Southeast Michgian would move downtown. I mean, you see those thousands of 3-7 story sprawling office complexes across the metro, and just one or two of those squashed into a city block in downtown Detroit would constitute a highrise of almost 20 floors. It really does not take much, but many developers and company owners still don't have enough trust in Detroit, and the metro population is too dependent on their cars. Nothing BIG is going to happen to Detroit until a LRT system is put in. And although Detroit is in favor of such a project, I still don't think many Oakland County residents are ready for something like this. The thing that sucks about Michgian, is that our residents were raised on the use of the automobile for the past century. Although Detroit ALMOST got a full fledged subway back before the depression, its reconstruction was discouraged by the automakers, and now, the only thing we have left is the people mover. I find it shocking that some of my friends back in my hometown refuse to use the people mover, only because they are not used to it. Not used to it? Come on, people take the subway and trains in big cities across the U.S. all over the place!!! Seriously, I was glad when I moved to Ann Arbor and met new friends that were from New York City, Baltimore, and Chicago that had an appreciation for urban life, and the means at which it functions.

But as far as the future holds for Detroit, I think it's looking good. Detroit is seriously losing its population, but it's mostly low income people. Some of you may have heard of the term gentrification, which means, the restoration of ,usually blighted, urban areas by the middle and high class at the displacement of the lower class. In short, it's the rich kicking out the poor. There is nothing unethical about this. Most, NOT ALL, low income people are just not providing enough tax base for the city to survive. And most, NOT ALL, of them are too poor to make their homes at least look somewhat presentable just driving by. As more middle class and upper class move into the city, these areas get cleaned up, typically through restorations, sometimes urban renewal, and the city looks a whole lot better. Remember that this has NEVER happened until recently. Detroit continued to decline through the 70s, 80s, and early 90s becasue there was no focus on attracting the rich and middle class back to the city. Its primary focus was on retaining the low income families. Now, Detroit is focusing on it's survival. And it's willing to turn into the enemy of it's existing population by forcing people to pay their taxes, and clean up their property.

As far as losing the Statler, as well as other historic buildings soon to follow, it's sad. But remember that Detroit is trying to make itself look clean like the suburbs at this moment. I think that people hope Detroit will soon be the second Chicago and fills it's empty lots with towering skyscrapers. If this happens, Detroit will be a world class city. It will have the towering modern edifices, but with enough historical architecture in between to still be authentic. And Detroit still has a higher percentage of historic buildings within the CBD than most other cities at this moment. Someone is going to have to make a big sacrifice to keep the city alive. Either through a major investment in Light Rail, or a bold move by companies to not wait for steady growth, and just move downtown.

4:00 p.m update

Please note that the joint of the two walls is not finished, and the front wall needs to be angled out more.

This will be it for today since I'll be watching the Rosebowl. Tomorrow, I need to pick up stuff in Saginaw before I go back to Ann Arbor and start my second semester of college!

GO MICHIGAN!!!!

BEAT

TEXAS

EDIT:

DAMN, we lost by 1 point

[SpartanBadger 4]

Well the Dime looks great Wolverine, and I can't wait to see more.
It really makes you wish you could do something about Detroit. If I only had a million dollars
I wish Detroit would have looked like that picture. That would be so awesome.
I wish I could've seen Detroit in its hayday, it must've been quite a sight! It looks like it was quite fancy and, well, nothing like it is now
It really is a shame about our mass, well lack of mass transit...


Yay Texas!!

[nofunk 1,933]

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

I just got back from Milwaukee, so no progress has been made on the Cadillac Tower since my last posting. School's starting this week, but I'm only taking two classes, so I should have plenty of time to work on it!

wolverine: The Dime Building looks absolutely fantastic!! You do amazing work buddy!! And to answer your question: I have an apt. off campus closer to Ypsi.

And I'm still depressed after Saturday's game.

[Allan 0]

I'm depressed about the game too. Not a good start to the year.

I haven't forgotten about the Statler post. I'm working on getting my photos resized. I hope I can have them done by Tuesday, but I am going to Detroit tomorrow, so I will have 500 or more photos to resize when all is said and done.

[nofunk 1,933]

Oh yeah. Every time I drive to Milwaukee and back, I have to go through Chicago. I'm still trying to decide which is worse: Chicago or Detroit traffic.



And for the record, this picture was NOT taken during rush hour!

But Detroit traffic still has to be some of the worst I've ever been in.

[jondecker 0]

Sorry for my absence everyone.  I have been real busy at work, school, etc. for a pretty long time and have been unable to contribute.  I threw this together tonight and was wondering if you all liked this.  I would like to upload this as our HQ if it is acceptable to you all.  It will sit on a 4x6 lot and will need some help giving it jobs and maybee a cool query.  I have also been trying to get Comerica working right and am having some success, the problem I believe I was having is that I had over 90,000 polys and I think that is to many for the game to recognize.  This model above is largewr than Comerica and only has about 40,000 polys, so I have figred out ways to cut them down.  Congrats on that GPA Wolverine, you did better than me, I took 4 3 credit classes and one 5 credit class and had all A's and a B+, I begged the prof for an A because I was only one point off, but no luck.  I was dissapointed with last nights game, but we kept it tight in a game that everyone except for Wolverine fans said we had absolutely no chance of compeeting in.  Happy New Year all, and I hope everyones holidays have gone well.

[SpartanBadger 4]

Great to see you back JD
Wow cool design! I like it a lot. I only suggest that you edit some of the lighting; don't have those two roofs be lit up, and add a few more random lights to the cylindrical towers. You will put roof junk on this right?
I know you've done a few other designs, but I think this one is the best you've done, I really like it and would love to have that represent the BSP!

Oh and it's great to hear about Comerica, you did an awesome job on that!

[ert90 8]

If my opinion means anything, I don't think we should have an 'HQ Building.' To me, they just seem kind of corny and unprofessional looking. I think we should stick with real buildings found in Mich.

[wolverine 12]

Ahhhh! Today has been the convergence of the everything. I'm back to college, and now that my friends are all here, we've been doing stuff all day. I just got my laptop back, and it runs like a dream. I also got a Western Digital 160 Gb external hard drive, so I'm just starting to get everything put onto that. So don't freak that you haven't seen updates in a few days. I'm just a bit busy and I start class tomorrow. I still have to unpack my stuff brought back! I like the headquarters building John D, it almost has a hint of the RenCen in it.

[SpartanBadger 4]

Well thats good news about your computer wolverine. I really wish I could do skyscrapers because I am so anxious to test my PC's power.
Speaking of RenCen, I know BD will be gone for a while, but is he still doing that?

[Allan 0]

Today I went to the Guardian Building. Not only did I see the lobby, but also the bank vaults and the Guardian Club on the 32nd floor. Enjoy the photos here:

Guardian Building -- Part One
Guardian Building -- Part Two

Now to work on the Statler Hotel Photos....

[budweiserdude23 80]

Date: 1/5/2005 3:11:50 PM
Author: XSpiderman

Speaking of RenCen, I know BD will be gone for a while, but is he still doing that?

quote>

Uh, role call....I'm here!!! Sorry for my absence. The holidays were just crazy for me. I see there's alot been happening which I have to say looks good. Too much to mention...

Anyways, as for your inquiry, I haven't touched the BAT in quite some time. I've been overwhelmed with work and the learning process that goes along with it. I've been receiving a book a week or so to read on computer based control systems to read as of late to get up to par with these overly complicated systems I work on. To top it off I've been attending a seminar or two each week after work so you can see how that limits me on time. Fortunately the slow period for me is coming as Feb-April approach, at least as far as the BAT is concerned. After working 60 hours a week I could use a slow down before the summer. Anyways, I wouldn't expect too much from my end for a while. Sorry

[jondecker 0]

Well, here is the Kent County Courthouse.  I still have some work to get done on it, like the park area around the front and some nightlighting, but I just wanted to see how you all liked it.  When this is done, I will need some help with querry and jobs, it will be set up as a CO$$ with about 450 jobs because in reality the courthouse acts as an office building for the Sherrifs Department, Probation, and a few other county agencies.

[baldy 0]

Roll call?  Baldy?  Right here.

 

Great jobs on all the buildings everyone. 

 

Wolverine, the Dime Building is looking amazing!  Must be because of using 3ds max.  Most people don't realize the building isn't square.

 

I was wondering if the problems with Comerica Tower, could be resolved by rendering it in 3ds max?

 

No updates from me.  I haven't spent much time trying to figure out why the lot editor won't start.

[SpartanBadger 4]

Ouch sounds rough BD. I was only curious because I don't think we have ever seen a pic of the progress on it. It can wait as long as you want though, no rush.
Holy cow JD that looks so awesome! I hope I don't sound really stupid, but is Kent County in Michigan?

[jondecker 0]

Yes it is the third most populous county in Michigan and holds Grand Rapids, the states second largest city.

[Allan 0]

I'm still working on my R.I.P. Statler post. I haven't forgotten about that yet. Haha. I still have some photos to sort through before I can upload them. I have started work on modeling the Statler, although things are progressing quite slowly, and will be even slower after classes start tomorrow.

I do have one of the drawings HRI presented to the city to show what redevelopment of the Statler could look like. I'd post it here, but it's too large (1.1 MB). Anyone interested in seeing it can PM me their email address and I will send it to you.