JDR BATs

[jdreece 54]

OK - so the last thing I am doing is running a few quick test renders in SketchUp with some monochrome materials before exporting the model for work in 3ds. The intent is to see if I have any overlapping geometry before exporting as I can only imagine the hurdle that would cause me since I would be very inefficient in MAX to make any needed changes. I will not export with any materials except the default material when finished. I did mess around in 3ds last night for about 4 hours and found the material application process will be a challenge for me, but alas - should be worth it in the end. 

 

I am curious what time it takes to model something like this in 3ds from those that are proficient? Would like to know how it stacks up against the time it takes in SketchUp. I would also like to know how much detail is too much (although I may argue you can never have enough in SketchUp to be honest - every little detail counts). A quick test render in 3ds yields that we pretty much lose alot of detail that is modeled in to the object. Something I can remember for next time once I learn the material mapping process in 3ds.

 

quick question? what would be a normal poly count for a model? I am over 200K and have no idea where this may stack up against a 3ds model of the same building. Just looking for any help out there on this as it may affect how I need to model future BATS.

 

Also - how are people doing window shades.....are they actually modeling in a shade and applying a material OR is there some other way to create the effect in 3ds?

 

          

[MTT9 187]

It looks great! Usually i never model anything smaller than 5cm, but thats just me. And i've never done any shades, but i would probably just use a texture. It depends on whether you are going to make transparent windows or not.

 

I would also suggest you texture in sketchup (even if you use bad looking textures, but not colors, because these textures will be place holders in 3ds max) and export by materials. I don't know about others, but this is how i do it

[JP Schriefer 5,590]

It's looking awesome! *--*

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Yikes!

 

Well it's looking great so far.

 

With sketchup you sort of model things slightly indirectly. With 3ds max when you model things you're directly and explicitly adding and editing polygons. So if you model cleanly in 3ds max you can be a lot more efficient with your polygons in 3ds max. But overall it doesn't matter too much because as long as you have a decent computer you'll be able to render the building just fine. Once you get some experience seeing how your model looks for SimCity, you'll get a feeling for what kinds of details you need to do and what you don't need to bother with.

 

For blinds, you can either give your windows all a generic glass texture and not worry about the blinds (this is what I usually do ). You could also texture blinds into the glass texture which is a pain. Or you can model an interior, model the blinds, and then give the glass an actual transparent glass material, instead of an opaque texture.