SA tries his hand at the BAT... again

[Shadow Assassin 336]

Hi there, recently reinstalled 3dsmax and corresponding game pack... decided to give it a go after being turned off 3d modelling in the previous two years while studying. Now that I've got a decent computer, I've decided that maybe I should give it a go, if not just for SC4 but for my own personal portfolio.

This is what I've done so far tonight, 2 or 3 hours work:

I still haven't decided how I'm going to do the podium, and these textures certainly are not final (though I'm liking the look of the window inserts). I need to do more reading on textures, specifically textures for windows.

Any thoughts? Any feedback? Any suggestions for improvement?

[gutterclub 2,729]

Off to a good start and glad to see you back BATing. Have you installed BAT4MAX, would need to see a SC4 preview to tell dimensions and stuff. I'm sure you're modelling skills are fine so it's best to learn as much as you can about materials...

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

I agree with Gutterclub.

Did you poly modell your building?

You really should. It's very simple that way.

And how did you make the window textures? Did you put a reflecting material onto them. You should read Jasons Tutorial on how to make it.

[art128 4,618]

SA? Bating again ? * falls on the floor *

Seriously though, it's nice to have you back on track, Daniel. This building is looking great so far. I'm also going along your opinion about the windows, I like them that way too. Modeling is just fine too.

[Roger51 381]

[Akilles 17]

Hey nice work so far. This guide here is probably the absolute best i've found about window texture. Jason BAT Tutorial There is also a night window guide in the same thread. The glass one is about halfway down the page. Make sure to check the omnibus as well. many great guides there i've found very helpful. Omnibus. Hope that helps!!

[Shadow Assassin 336]

Off to a good start and glad to see you back BATing. Have you installed BAT4MAX, would need to see a SC4 preview to tell dimensions and stuff. I'm sure you're modelling skills are fine so it's best to learn as much as you can about materials...

Yep, BAT4MAX is installed... but... um, it seems my scales are a bit off. It looks really tiny in Zoom 5 at the moment.

I agree with Gutterclub.

Did you poly modell your building?

You really should. It's very simple that way.

And how did you make the window textures? Did you put a reflecting material onto them. You should read Jasons Tutorial on how to make it.

The building is poly-modeled (believe it or not). What I've done is this: build the floor plan, reference it across multiple floors (with separate instances for both the top and bottom-most floor), model one floor's glass windows, then clone that down across all the floors. It's very quick.

The glass texture is just a frosted glass texture taken from the Arch&Design material templates (my god, they are great to work with -- I've worked with other material systems and even though Arch&Design seems intimidating at first, it's really quite nice to work with).

SA? Bating again ? * falls on the floor *

Seriously though, it's nice to have you back on track, Daniel. This building is looking great so far. I'm also going along your opinion about the windows, I like them that way too. Modeling is just fine too.

Thanks!

And roger, cheers for the smiley

Hey nice work so far. This guide here is probably the absolute best i've found about window texture. Jason BAT Tutorial There is also a night window guide in the same thread. The glass one is about halfway down the page. Make sure to check the omnibus as well. many great guides there i've found very helpful. Omnibus. Hope that helps!!

Cheers, I'll take a look when I finalise the window texture.

Now, to keep modelling the main building, then I'll deal with the podium.

[Shadow Assassin 336]

SC4 preview of the building (fixed my scale issues, looked like all I had to do was to reset the rig):

Texture glitch - only because I removed the UVW, it was causing me grief so I temporarily removed it, at least until I finish the back side of the main building.

I'm not sure what the non-sandstone sections of the building will be made out of yet, but I'm thinking concrete.

And this one's the shot of the upper lobby. I know it doesn't really appear all that much in the day view, but the idea is that it might have some spotlights showing it off. Though, remember this is also for my personal portfolio so I can just keep it like that anyway. It also needs door handles.

I still haven't started on the podium, haven't really decided what I want to do with it.

[gutterclub 2,729]

I would try adding a ground plane to reflect and bring the windows to life, also not sure about the frosted glass effect, I would take a look a Jason's tutorial on glass..although its for fully reflective glass it points out some great ideas on material setup.

The building is nice and I'm looking forward to seeing more and to seeing you develop in Max.

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Nice building you got there!

One suggestion: I think you could increase the height of the ground level of the main tower (i.e., first level above the podium). This would make the entrance area to the upper lobby much more inviting and spacious, and it might be possible to get at least a tiny glimpse of what's going on there even from SimCity perspective.