hkabat-forum-threads Hong Kong / Asia BAT team

[Skyfire2275 23]

Those look much better HONG KONG. Good work!

-Skyfire

[SimFox 804]

Hello everybody!

Just wanted to let you know that Silver Tower project is alive!

The delay is due to the problems I've encounter (just as i thought) when I tried to render building into the game.

I thought it would be good common sense to try to render building as it was (for the moment of last post) so I could see how materials and angles look, so that I could fix something up and make new ones with that knowledge in mind.

My first problem was export of LODs! I just couldn't!!! Gmax BAT wouldn’t accept the stuff I exported from MAX.  it took me some time to realize that my SYSTEM setup in MAX waz wrong, that solved I could start to render!! Well on that side things seem to work fine. the whole thing rendered in 65 min. but when I've brought it  to LOT editor... my oh my!!

Colors, as you can see are all screwed up! and some parts were somewhat bleached out (well not bleached really, since there is that clear yellowish tint) then it came to me... I've read somewhere ages ago the BAT does it to buildings. Photoshop to the rescue!  But it is just a one possible solution - may be it will be possible to fix lights used in cam rigg? Since the  problem lies with them. But I decided not to get into it cause there was another more complex problem... Beautiful raytraced reflections were absolutely ruined!!! Particularly the self-reflections of the building. Environmentals were off to a degree as well, but self ones completely messed! (and here comes question to Paul: how did YOU do them??) Strangest thing is that it seems to me that effect is height depended… Worst affected areas are on the top floors. Question is WHY?? And, naturally, what to do!?!?

Faced with this problems with default Scanline renderer of MAX I decided to give a go to Vray renderer. I thought I heard somewhere that 3^rd party renderes didn’t work with BAT, but at that point I thought what is there to loose…  After some deal of new troubles (colored checkbox buildings in LOT Editor – all my fault (RTFM!!!) Vray proptly (the whole thing took just 24 min!!!) produced this results:

Colors have been had again (my fault again – have been overzealous on countermeasures). But that is a minor thing – easy to fix. Self Reflections are all present! Just look at the top floors! But environmentals are gone! Completely!! (well on the curved part of building there is some thing resembling them, but it wouldn’t do! Now, would it?? And here started my long and hard search for reasons and the ways to fix it!

Long story short – after few days it came to me that game is isometric! Bui in system that treats physics with respect (as Vray does) EVERY point of the surface with same NORMAL would reflect exactly SAME point of the environment! Hence same color on all flat services and lines on curved ones –respective lines of windows at the precise same angle to the viewer!

So here is a brick wall!! How to get trough?? Any advice?? Any experience/ideas anyone?

I, sort of, came up with one solution and tested it on simple model … seems to work...Now should try it on a big one. It is rather cumbersome… so if anybody have experience with similar problem and would care to share it, it would be greatly appreciated!

That’s all, folks…

For now!

 

[paulvmontfort 617]

it looks like your windows are 100% reflective, try a reflection of around 30% and aply a bitmap to the textureas well, that's how i do it.

[SimFox 804]

Hello, Paul.

Well, glass isn't 100% reflective, no... the silver one was 75% and dark blue one (the one that came out as black) was 50% (I think...) Anyway they both are gone now! Since those were raytrace materials and they aren't really compatible with VRAY just cause the way they work is physically unsound.. and since I've decided to go with Vray I had to change they with Vray materials .. so reflections will be quite different now..

Anyway it is all quite a preliminary yet... there will be changes in materials and textures and some additional stuff will come to the building itself.

One more question to everyone BATing: do you guys scale ready models 1,5 times vertically to compensate for games "squashed" isometrics?? What is a convention...

[cowkilla 12]

looks nice!

the rear on the last picture looks very strange though

[SimFox 804]

@T Wrecks: this does look MUCH better now! I guess vast majority of people wouldn't mind some Prop packs to get this look! SC4 native props look way to cartoonish and don't go with the style of the building...

I would also say that I don't see much problem to leave some "open" space in front of Building some sort of plaza, no need to densely pack every sq inch (especially in the plop version). Another idea could be some more "formal" greenery. Actually may be we could start BATing new set of props to compliment these new buildings??? Capre Diem!

[bixel 1,228]

Looks really good SimFox, hope you solve the texture/color problems. I personally use the catmull-rom filter with the render, though the vray looks interesting.

[mcarch 15]

Now I wait for the nightlighting

[Skyfire2275 23]

Does anyone know what building this is? Muhaha!

So... I decided to try BATting. This is the third building I have made, the first one sucked (obviously). The second... well I never finished it. This one is a real building and it IS from Hong Kong. And I want to see if people can tell what it is. That would mean it is a good (OK at the worst) recreation of it. Let me know what you think... I have not textured it yet nor have I done the bottom or top because I need more pictures. Can anyone help me out with that? I also need to learn how to do nightlights. But we'll see. I've still got 3 months till school starts.

[skyscraper 216]

great start, it´s Cheung Kong Center in HongKong

[bixel 1,228]

What a surprise! Awesome start Skyfire! this is so nice to see our fans coming together to join the Team and learn new things. What a great team we have!

[skyscraper 216]

I´ve startet a new project for the HongKong/Asia Team.

My Project is 21st Century Tower in Dubai

The Tower is 269 meters tall and stand on the Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai.

Here is a real Photo:

http://img393.imageshack.us/my.php?image=133xc.jpg

And here are my first Photos:

http://img462.imageshack.us/my.php?image=start17ib.jpg

http://img462.imageshack.us/my.php?image=start24am.jpg

I hope you like it and thanks for comments

skyscraper

[HONG KONG 74]

  

    

    2 x click

[paulvmontfort 617]

@ Skyscraper: Nice but not totally correct. The round part of the glass on your tower starts too early causing the white part to stick out. I don't see this on the real tower. Behind the white part, the glass surface is just straitl.

@ Skyfire: Nice, I wanted to do that tower but you took the loads of my hands for this one, thanks for that. After Pacific Place and Lippo Centre I guess I can do the International Commerce Centre/Union Square phase 7.

[SimFox 804]

@skyscraper: I have to agree with Paul - if you trying to recreate existing building then you should pay attention to the design of it! I know sometimes information is missing and one have to improvise, but there where things are in plain sight one should try to follow! Or was it just a sketch to see the size and proportions?? BTW how do you go to determine proportions of the building you are about to model?

[skyscraper 216]

i will build this tower, and the last pictrues was the start. The form will original. 

The next pictures will be very convincing.

[subedei 3]

I was wondering whats the status on the big complex of buildings that was being worked on?. Anyways everything is looking great and keep up the good work.

Subedei

[paulvmontfort 617]

sorry but I have tests in 2 weeks. They have priority over BAT

[skyscraper 216]

I´ve worked on 21st Century Tower, and I´ve made the first Test-Texture.
You see here the first Rendering. It will come more details.

I hope you like the first Rendering.

[SimFox 804]

Well, you do pop them up with remarkable speed, but I think you should may be take a bit longer but then get the basic shape of the building more right.

As saying goes that picture speaks thousand words here is an illustration to that I mean:

First of all your tower is way to square. in realty it shape should be resembling my one. apart form this here some more detailed points:

1. This part should be significantly taller. Look at the pictures of the tower. it seem to me to be somewhere around 1/6 part of the entire building height (or somewhere about that amount)

2. Well this is a tricky part. To some degree you've got it correct, but I believe mostly by accident rather then by design. What I mean is that 2a and 2c part the glass should seamlessly pass from the curve into the straight part. At your tower, however it extrudes above the straight part, especially it is obvious in upper part of tower.  At 2b you have actually got it right but HUGELLY exaggerated!! This effect does exist in real thing but it is exceedingly slight!! so in this scale you can completely ignore it, or do it to scale (let this white curve to edge into the curved glass for about 1-1,5 m or so, but as I’ve said at this scale effect would be almost impossible to see. Just look at my version - you just can not see it, although it is there!

3. "Windows" on this white part of the building stop at the vertical passing through the most top tip of it. Also the height of "window is equal to the height of the space between them.

Another general point is the glass material! It is absolutely reflective! You just wouldn't be able to see through in day light!

And the last point - don't forget to put swimming pool on the roof!!

PS What about the amount of floors?? How much of them your tower has?? I was counting, but just couldn't get it right, but anyway something about 90?!?!? The real thing got only 55! You can always get this info (as well as good array of pictures) from Emporis

[SimFox 804]

BTW.

if it wold be any help I can send you this model file

[HONG KONG 74]

@Skyscraper

I don't hope you lose the fun with all these comments. But in this thread realistic reproductions are obviously very important.

I have a request, make that real but not unrealistic in size. Not like the Chelsea

What do you say to these sizes? And I didn't see a picture of the roof with Emporis.

 

[skyscraper 216]

@HONGKONG: Wow cool roof pics, very thanks. I made realitic sizes, and your sizes are perfect. 

[mcarch 15]

Skyscraper, go here.  I've seen a couple of suggestions... however, some of them are incorrect.  Take your own judgement.  Look at the details... windows where they line up with the tower, etc.

Also, the top isn't that large compared to the tower itself.  The tower is a lot taller than in the example given above.  Heres the link to Emprois and the tower.

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=186985

Hope this helps better.

Scratch the high part above.  I just looked at some figures and the picture is correct.  However, as you know Sim City will make the tower seem a lot smaller in game, so using that might create something rather short than what it is supposed to be.

Good Luck!

[skyscraper 216]

ah yes, i´ve seen the pictrues, and this 3 sides are perfect, my tower is complete new with a realitic facade. The new Renderings and Pictrues comes today. I need always pictrues and informations.

Thanks mcarch and HONG KONG 

[SimFox 804]

@mcarch: actually Top is that big!
On most pictures, taken from the ground it looks smaller due to the perspective, but in reality it is about 50m tall! which makes perfect sense if you count 55 floors for 190m giving you about 3,45m per floor and total height of the building being 269m

[subedei 3]

Originally posted by: paulvmontfort sorry but I have tests in 2 weeks. They have priority over BATquote>

 

 I completely agree with you. I was just curious is all. Take all the time you need to finish this project. As always keep up the great work.

Subedei

[skyscraper 216]

I´ve made a first render, and here is the first ingame pictrue. I will changed the textures and i make more details, its a test.

I hope you like the first.

[mightygoose 92]

dude you fixed the curve merging problem nice work

[mcarch 15]

SimFox: LOL, I know, I fixed my mistake in my reply. I get confused by meters. I work in feet (Us Americans) =)