IDS's (mostly) Minnesota BATs

[IDS2 3,346]

Zulu: Well, the way the perspective in SC4 is designed, the roof is very visible and I really want it to look just right. I think it'll pay off in the end; I'm certainly glad I didn't stick with the first round of textures I used. I really want this to match the real life one as close as possible while still looking nice ingame, so it's taken a lot of tweaking. I think I've got it, though, and I can feel this project getting close...

Jasoncw: Thank you, here's hoping it's getting close

harishna: Thank you, I boosted the contrast 10%, I think it ties it together.

Sgt Pepper: Thank you! It feels good to see the progress but I'll be perfectly honest...I'll be glad when this thing is done

Yoshiisland: Thanks I've spent so much time on this I figure I might as well put in a bit more to make it just right...

IL: Thanks, hopefully by mid September! once I wrap this part up it's only nightlighting and lotting. I wound up trying a 50% as well, but I think 40% is closest to the real thing.

Evillions: Looks like this is definitely gonna be 40% then

Alrighty, here's the new 40% brighter roof, with a little 10% nudge for contrast for good measure:

I added the Wells Fargo logo to the side, I think I might decrease the kerning a little but I know the font is correct. I also added a simple "Wells Fargo Plaza" to the entrance.

I know there's a weird white spot at the base of the rotunda, I think that's just me forgetting to scale the interior rotunda floor after scaling it up a bit. It looks like I need to adjust some of the roofjunk now that it kinda blends in with the roof but those are both quick fixes...

Other than that, school is back in session now...but last year I had loads of free time even with really, really poor management of my time, so as long as junior year isn't some form of legalized torture like my schedule promises, we should be fine.

[Kifflom112 355]

Oh wow, I love the logo. It's okay, it came out well on this update anyway. I'll be glad to have this in my skyline. The interior view is amazing. I think on your next update, we should see the building on the lot itself. This is going to be good.

[IDS2 3,346]

Thanks zulu! I wasn't able to do the lot in this render but I'm doing another with the lot included as we speak. I kinda want to add some BATted trees to avoid dependencies, but I don't know how to go about modeling that kind of thing.

So, here's a little update, pretty close to what I had last time but I retextured a few HVAC units to make them visible and fixed the white streak at the base of the rotunda.

I think it's almost there...any suggestions? Otherwise I'd like to move on to modeling the lot, or just skip to nightlighting.

[harishna 847]

Umn I think you almost there but not just yet I am looking at the building in google maps and it looks as your roof texture is a bit bland there are some clear worn marks in the real life building have you check simhottody recent tutorial. It also looks to me as some of the roof junk maybe a bit under-scaled, and that you could add some other elements to make it look less empty. I should also point out that there are a couple of details from the building that you omitted maybe on purpose.

But I have to say that overall it is looking good!

[Jasoncw 11,840]

For the cylindrical part on the top, I think it should be moved up a little bit so that it's not intersecting with the rectangular part.

[harishna 847]

Jason in RL the circular part actually extends beyond the rectangular...

[Kifflom112 355]

Jason in RL the circular part actually extends beyond the rectangular...

Oh, I just realized that. What a unique design.

[bixel 1,223]

oh that wells fargo looks GORGEOUS!!

[Ion_Cannon 677]

Tiny perfections aside, it's great, looking forward to using this

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Jason in RL the circular part actually extends beyond the rectangular...

What I mean is to move the circular part vertically. It might just be my eyes but it looks like the spandrel of the circular part is overlapping with the parapet wall of the rectangular part.

[IDS2 3,346]

harishna: Yeah, the roof definitely needs some character, and I've scaled up the roof junk. The problem with this building is I've had it for so long that my skill level is really inconsistent with it, at the very beginning I was rather lazy with details but now I'm having to go back and clean it up. I'll definitely take another look at the real deal, I plan to drive down there some time this week and get some good pictures.

Jasoncw: As harishna said it does extend past the parapet, but I'll double check to make sure everything is snapped to the right height. I could always elevate it a little more just to be safe.

Zulu2065: It's a tricky design! Apparently when the building was built they intended to have a revolving restaurant in the rotunda, but it didn't pan out. As far as I know it's equipped to do so but I've never heard of it being in use.

Bixel: Thanks man! Maybe someday I'll finish it

Ion_Cannon: Hoping to iron out the kinks soon enough, thanks!

So, there's a couple of things I need to address. They're really just to let you all know where I'm at...

1. I've come up with a few 1:1 textures for the lower roof. I used the exact wear patterns from the real building, but I'm not sure how much I should fade them into the existing texture. here I have mockups of 10, 15, and 20% opacity.

I already tried less than 10% and it didn't really show up at all, but let me know what you think.

2. The trouble with Wells Fargo Plaza is that this project has spanned a long period of time, about 3 months, which means my skill level has had a lot of opportunity to change in the meantime. Since I started this thing a couple months after I first started BATting, some of the modeling is inconsistent. It's really not an issue in this building as much as it is in some of my others since I've retrofitted this one using polygon modeling techniques, but I wanted to make sure that you guys didn't spot any particular areas that look especially sub-par.

All the buildings before this one were made using stacked primitives; this one and all subsequent buildings were/will be made using polygon modeling (I've just started it so it might be a while before new buildings start leaking out). I had an ungrouping incident that crashed my computer and I'm soooo done with just stacking boxes...

Anyway, school is obviously eating up a lot of my time, but I hate leaving loose ends out there so I should be around pretty regularly.

[Kifflom112 355]

15% looks better than all I like it.

[Ceafus 88 1,794]

This looks amazing, I can't wait to download

[madhatter106 3,903]

1. I've come up with a few 1:1 textures for the lower roof. I used the exact wear patterns from the real building, but I'm not sure how much I should fade them into the existing texture. here I have mockups of 10, 15, and 20% opacity.

I already tried less than 10% and it didn't really show up at all, but let me know what you think.

It doesn't really matter (and it's difficult to tell) what they look like, because right now they're three very similar gray boxes. What does matter is what they will look like in the preview render because that's an indication of what they'll look like in-game. So, your best bet is to screenshot all three of them and choose what is best.

Just like in the perspective viewport, what it looks like in Photoshop is not the best indication of how it will look in the render in gmax. I can tell right now that they're going to look much lighter in the renders, because the amount of light that will hit them (since it's a flat roof) will change them a good deal. I am constantly amazed by how dark some of my flat roof textures are in "real life" (ie. Photoshop) versus how they turn out in the BAT render.

One thing also bothers me about this texture; no matter what the opacity, there is a geometry to it that tells me that this is a photo of a wall that sits perpendicular to the ground (ie. not a flat roof) - there's too much in the variation which looks like weathered cement, like water has been running down the side of a building, rather than sitting in puddles on a rooftop. It looks like the side of a building, rather than the top. Or at least to me it does.

[IDS2 3,346]

Thanks Zulu and Frex! Madhatter, sorry about that I won't be lazy anymore. Interesting that you bring up it looking like a wall, I actually got the texture directly from the real building but now that you say that I can't unsee it...well, hopefully it might look a bit better once it's on the building?

10%:

15%:

20%:

I've also been considering adding blinds to the rotunda...any thoughts?

[Kifflom112 355]

Maybe 10%

[IDS2 3,346]

I was thinking the same thing! It's definitely closest to the real one. While I'm on the topic of the real thing...here's a few last-minute changes to make up for sloppy work done in the beginning:

When I started this project I was much more concerned about releasing a decent first BAT and less concerned about making it match the real deal. Now that I've had a few months to really get to know this building, I feel as if it deserves just a little more. The good news is that the parts I'm gonna adjust are the last of the original modeling, meaning that once I finish this part, everything will finally match and I can finally move on.

These changes are all really minor and I should be able to do them all tomorrow afternoon.

[nick13 194]

This is very good news! I like all of the changes your making

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Hey, I've been missing a lot since I last visited this thread! Man, I know what you mean when you say that your skills have improved while you were working on this BAT and that you are now facing all the spots you would do differently had you known it better in the first place (ever built a model kit?).

Nonetheless, you are doing a fine job, and the building has really come a long way. I'm really looking forward to your next update now!

[IDS2 3,346]

Thanks Nick! Makes me wish I'd done it right the first time

Thanks T Wrecks! Haha yeah, I have a really vivid memory of this time back in primary school where I tried to make a classic balsa wood model...I've never been really good with my hands, and long story short, I sacrificed its remains to the gods of fire when I was camping this past summer. Fortunately with this building I've had better luck

So, I've finally changed everything I said I would. I'm getting used to some of them, they might look a bit odd...

-Modified a couple roof textures

-Remodeled rotunda/added blinds

-Changed # of windows per bank in lowrise portion from 6 to 8

-Added a vestibule out front

I added a lot to help visualize the lot size (5x10 is what it's at now). I've decided I'm gonna model everything rather than fuss in LE, at least just this first time for the sake of practice. I've been using LE for a long time and I already know my way around it pretty well.

[h8te 19]

Absolutely stunning.

[Kifflom112 355]

Lovely improvements. I'd say maybe start on lotting, I can't wait to have this, and it will make my city look more like a big banking city with Wells-Fargo. I need 3 Wells, and this will be one.

[IDS2 3,346]

Thanks H8te! Zulu, I agree, I'm not quite sure how to go about it though:

This isn't a final design for anything, it's just ideas...light green areas are possible spots that I think would lend themselves well to large leafy trees, the dark green dots are where I could put more topiary sized plants and the big red square is a nice wide open area that I think could nicely display a sculpture or fountain. The lot for the real life building is really bare, aside from a few small pine trees on the south side, so I'd like to add something a bit more interesting.

[harishna 847]

I noticed that in the real building there are some big AC units between the two buildings

[Kifflom112 355]

Heck it still looks fine, can't wait to see the lot, you should add maybe a statue or rectangular fountain, maybe some old style CP trees, something nice.

[_marsh_ 1,117]

Great work here and great BAT. It looks gorgeous

,marsh

  Edited October 1, 2011 by _marsh_  

[Ceafus 88 1,794]

Great Work, just make a few minor adjustments, and your good to go B)

[IDS2 3,346]

harishna: I see what you mean, however in this case 1) it hangs out quite a ways from the building itself, meaning a much larger lot and 2) I'd like this building to look good in both urban and suburban settings, and this kind of thing is often located within the building itself in an urban setting. But I have attempted to add some of the other details I had left out before

Zulu: I was thinking that too, especially since I've decided I'm not gonna model the lot after all, now I have a lot more flexibility in terms of the stuff that's already out there.

marsh: Thanks Now hopefully on to nightlighting!

Frex: Thank you, I think I'm ready for the day export!

So, I'd really like to be able to nightlight this, but I need to do the day export first...so I ask you all, any last changes? Speak now or forever hold your peace I'd like to make sure I have everything first.

North:

South:

East:

West:

I have another building that began as glass and nightlighting practice that I'm starting to try to finish up. Unfortunately, it's really not on par with what I'm trying to produce now. I think this might have actually been the last building I made with spline modeling. Tl;dr right now this is a piece of crap and I'm wondering if I should just ditch it.

I might scrap this one for something I didn't start as a test model. I have some long weekends coming up, so I might have a BATting marathon to try make some progress on some of the 15+ WIPs I have collecting dust (most are on the front page of this thread if you would like to help me pick my next project).

  Edited October 11, 2011 by IDS2  

[Kifflom112 355]

Yes I say you're done with the BAT, it is amazing, and I think there is no problem with it at all. The roof is fine, the window, everything, I don't think you should do anymore touches to it unless you want to. I think the lot may sound good from your description. Good Luck, and the new BAT also looks interesting.

[Utvaw 45]

I'd take that smaller building as is if it has nightlights. It may not be your greatest work but it is still a fine building nonetheless and I could really use it in urban and suburban settings, so I hope you don't ditch it. Just drop it on a very minimal lot and shoot it out the door.