Cockatoo's 3D Stuff

[IL. 1,043]

Waow, that's a perfect work

Do you study 3D-modeling?

I can't imagine how will that look like in simcity4

[Cockatoo 2,257]

Thanks guys. No, I don't study this sort of stuff, just online tutorials + forums + trial & error.

What do you guys think of the base now, particularly the concrete material? And yeah... I must've had a render setting too high!

[Jasoncw 11,941]

I think the piers might be a little thick considering the building they're holding, but idk

If you haven't already you can check out vray dirt to help control where your grime is. The grime on the floor/top horizontal element isn't as good looking as the concrete on the piers and the ornamental element. The concrete on the piers in particular looks really nice.

The muck you have in the water is a nice touch.

[Cockatoo 2,257]

Cheers Jason, I tweaked the concrete a little more, I'm happy enough with it now. I hear you on the piers, but it is a 7/8 story building with partially submurged foundations... I wouldn't wanna take any chances!

Apart from some dim internal lighting I want to put inside the tower, the scene is pretty much done and I'm almost ready to do the final renders. I imagine they'll be close to some of the previews I've already shown, just at a larger size and without the render time thingy at the bottom.

What do you think of the overall appearance of the images? Composition/ too bright/ dull/ added effects etc. Should I 'tone it down' a little in the final images and go for a more realistic look with the lighting, or is this level of post-processing working?

Looking down (bad lighting on the wood, fixed that since that render):

Looking up:

I also did an alternative scene where the building hangs out over a small creek instead of a shoreline:

[lycans 7]

Wow.. I love those interior render.. Wish I could do that..>_<

where can I find tutorials about interior designs?

[AlexandrosB13 184]

For a second i thought it was a real life picture Amazing stuff going on in this thread

[Jasoncw 11,941]

So the way that most of the skys look, it looks like it's more or less during the day, and that it's really foggy. I would reduce the brightness of the spotlights on the building, because they're so much brighter than the sky is, since if it's foggy enough to block out sunlight it should also be foggy enough to dampen the brightness of the spotlights. Although I think it's fine in the alternative scene, because there it looks less like fog and more like it's dusk.

Anyway they look really nice. Good luck rendering.

[art128 4,622]

Stunning work!

Are they rendered using the same engine as the BAT's renders?

[Cockatoo 2,257]

Thanks for your input everyone. Art128, no actually, I'm using VRay to render these images. For BATing we use MentalRay. Both are excellent render engines, but IMO VRay has the edge when it comes to ease of use, stability and community support.

I've finished the scene... still more views to render, but I think I've pulled out the best image:

This one's full HD so you can click to zoom in and see the details if you like.

I'll see if I can get it rendered for SC4 soon. All the materials’ll have to be converted over to MR materials because unfortunately we can't render BAT's VRay.

[Susaji 523]

Wow,Looks Great

[Hamish 1,370]

Really enjoyed watch the progress of this project. And can't wait to see the other renders.

This has been the one project I've been making sure to check in on every time I log in.

Really nice renders, hope you've got other projects in mind for more showcases later on

[Cockatoo 2,257]

Thanks. More projects are definitely to come, but I can't really say when. Here's a few more of the better renders.

I've also finished converting the scene to MentalRay, so we can have a first look at the BAT version. Thank god all of those ‘lights’ were textured on and not done with actual lights, largely thanks to that it only took a few hours to get a working MR version.

[Susaji 523]

Very Amazing.

[art128 4,622]

Hmmmm I want this in my city!

[Ryno917 102]

I am so excited to see this become a building for SC4. Awesome design, beautiful lighting, and fantastic modelling!

[Delecto 941]

It will be something unique that's for sure.

[Ryno917 102]

Just noticed this on the STEX. Awesome work, mate. Very nice stuff!

[GamerManGT5 35]

Awesome work! I have this on my large island yesterday! Very nice stuff! .

[art128 4,622]

thank you Cockatoo-Sama for this awesome building.

[Cockatoo 2,257]

Thought I'd try a scene with some different stuff as the focus. No photoshop yet, still a lot of things untextured:

(click to zoom in)

Modelling that chain-link fence was waaaay harder than you'd think it'd be.

[Ceafus 88 1,848]

That is amazing!

You have so much talent, it is crazy, amazing work!

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

Looks great, so sad that bridge can't be in Sim City.

[bixel 1,224]

wow very nice! you have become so talented!

[darn42 1,268]

Looks fantastic!

2 questions, are the mountains in the back an image or modeled, and is the water modeled and textured or just made using a gloss map or something.

[Cockatoo 2,257]

Thanks Bixel! Great to see you again.

The mountains are modelled/ textured. They wouldn't look to great up close, but good for a background. Little boxes are scattered to simulate a tree line.

The concrete is done with a diffuse map/ bump map/ reflection map and a reflection glossiness map. This one controls the reflection glossiness:

[darn42 1,268]

That reflection map is very interesting. Did you make that with photoshop? If so, I definitely need to get me some of that

Btw, the fence looks very CG atm. The places where it intersects the ground look a bit weird, maybe make some special modeled part in the ground where they meet to make it look more natural. Also, maybe add some warping and bending to the chain links. You can probably use the freeform brushes in the graphite modeling tools to do that very easily.

  Edited October 17, 2012 by darn42  

[Cockatoo 2,257]

That reflection map is very interesting. Did you make that with photoshop? If so, I definitely need to get me some of that

Yeah, that was done in Photoshop, but I think I used another program as well. Could easily be done with just PS though. Without the ability to make/ customise your own materials at an image-editing level you won't be able to make the most of your renders. It's a really important part of the whole process.

Yeah, the fence isn't really finished yet. The way it meets the ground isn't what I'm looking for. Graphite modelling tools... hmmm... think I saw that once and then got rid of the toolbar! Never tried any of that newer slate/ graphite stuff in Max, tend to stick to the traditional tools. Are they good?

Edit: Just had a look. Nothing particularly new under the modelling tools tab but some very interesting stuff under freeform. Cheers!

[Kimha 30]

I'm sorry.

Do you have a plan to make the World Trade Center in New York?

I want a good quality building.

You plan to create an American-style buildings?

[Francis90b 748]

How did you model the chain-link fence?

[darn42 1,268]

Yea, it seems that photoshop is wayyy more useful than Gimp more and more every day.

I like the graphite modeling tools. There are a few things in there that can help a lot with so much stuff. I use swift loop a lot for refining any smoothed geometry or when I want a quick loop, I also use the selection tools a lot, there can be a lot of neat modeling effects to be done really quickly when using the selection tools, and finally I use the generate topology semi-frequently and it is very useful when I need to use it.

Also I can probably think of using something like splines mirror and array to make the fence. maybe for the spline use spring instead, not really sure though. I'm interested to hear how cockatoo made it.

  Edited October 17, 2012 by darn42