The Portland & Oregon BAT Team, Chapter 1

[sparkythepenguin 90]

The downtown Portland Nordstrom is a stand-alone store. Perhaps we may want to try making the HUGE Meier & Frank store too? That building has a TON of detail though... I've kicked around doing the whole Pioneer Place Mall complex (two mall buildings, an office tower, MAX station, parking garage, and skybridges), but I have a lot on my plate as it is...

Along with Mario's and Banana Republic in the Fox Tower (which will be modeled into the building), Nordstrom, Meier & Frank, and Pioneer Place make up the bulk of Portland's downtown shopping area. They're all concentrated around Pioneer Square which with the old Courthouse, make an attractive shopping area.

If we make the Jackson Tower and somehow make Pioneer Courthouse Square, then we've got the first real-life street corner ever made in BAT: Yamhill & Broadway!

Oh Jt, how big will the lot Nordstrom be on? That way I can scale the Fox Tower appropriately. The KOIN, SIC, WFC, and one edge of the US Bancorp lot should be all the same size as Nordys. For reference, usual Portland blocks are 200 ft X 200 ft.

[Superstar 69]

what great BATs you guys have been making all so SuPeR!!!!

[DuskTrooper 316]

Date: 10/17/2004 2:06:21 AM
Author: jtportland
thanks for the suggestion DT! it looks a lot better now, less grainy. i lowered the contrast amung other things to make it look more smooth





now for the night lighting...

quote>


Yes, that looks much better!

Just another suggestion: To add some extra details, you can try adding some banners or something on the side, to add some color to this thing. Good job, though!

[6459978. 106]

Looks good. The textures repeat a little too regularly, though. You should try to make some larger texture maps so the tiling isn't so obvious.

[sparkythepenguin 90]

Date: 10/17/2004 12:40:56 PM
Author: DuskTrooper

Just another suggestion: To add some extra details, you can try adding some banners or something on the side, to add some color to this thing. Good job, though!

quote>

This is a good idea! Nordstrom often puts up large banners on the side that faces Pioneer Square. They've advertised Race for the Cure, Cancer awareness, the Rose Festival, and their own sales I think... The banners often cover up the Nordstrom sign.

I've also seen a large US flag in this space. This was on and after 9/11, but I think they've put it up for the 4th of July too.

This area is also floodlit with 2 white klieg lights at night regardless of if a banner is posted or not.

The windows sometimes have colorful displays with the usual manequins. Sometimes, statues are placed by the entrys as part of a public art program (Micky Micky Mouse anniversary, Cows in the City).

Also along the Yamhill and Morrison walls are twisty, flat bronze sculptures . I think they represent trees, but I could be wrong. I'll try to get shots of those too.

And if it is possible, put some street musician and juggler props on the corners in the Lot Editor. This is a popular spot for street performers.

[Tunafish 48]

pioneer center is awsome, it's mostly undergroung though, so it wouldn't be very hard to model. you should do the plaza next to nordstorms. great job you 2.

[crazyarchitect 7]

cool, very cool

[sparkythepenguin 90]

Here's some pix I got of the base of the Standard Insurance Center and of Nordstrom to help you Jt:

Nordstrom



The entrys all have skylights in the awnings



This is the Yamhill Street ground-level side of the building. Notice that the windows don't go all the way around either, there are only windows on the corner. The awnings actually go around the entire building and step down the slope the building is on. Plus there's yellow christmas lights around the edges of it. I just couldn't help snapping a shot of the MAX going by...



This is the bronze art peice I was talking about. They're actually silver. I think you should keep the awnings the way they are so we can see these on the sides. They appear in the middle of the wall. Although the awnings won't be like the actual building, the little art peices add some late 70's flare to the building.

The Mossison Street side is the same. Keep the front the same. Add a couple of garage doors to serve as a loading dock in the back.

Standard Insurance Base:



This is the front (west side) of the building. Complete with the fountain statue The Quest, more crudely referred to as Three groins in a fountain. The steps are weird because the lot slopes down to the north AND east! And you thought lots were weird in your city? It shouldn't be too hard to even this out.

(BTW-Shrink down the sign on the front of the tower. It's not quite that big... And its sorta bronze in color)



The Taylor Street (south) side has these indentations all along its side.



The Salmon (north) side has an entry to the tower, parking garage entrys, a few shops in the middle corner, and the indentations toward the back (east) side. The entry has a rounded-off sign over the top of it, brownish in color with off-white or tan lettering. It sort of looks like a marquee with the usual Standard Insurance Center markings and a list of retail tennants below it.



The back (east) side of the base has another entry in the middle with retail on either side.



These tall trees (the picture doesn't do it justice) sit in the elevated plaza part behind the tower. The Georgia Pacific timber company built this concrete tower (how ironic), so the landscaping team must have added these trees to connect the building to the (then) main tennant's livelyhood.



Don't know if you're going this detailed with it, but here are the little signs with the retail tennants whigh are affixed to the columns on the base's rear.

Oh and I got a pic of Pioneer Place's rose petal sculpture! Its really cool:



Geez is it Salmon thats north of Taylor Street or the other way around? I always get everything south of Yamhill all mucked up... NW is easier because the streets are ABC and 123. Gotta love the Alphabet District! heheh

[crazyarchitect 7]

nice pics, and I was looking at portland from Emporis last night, adn I discovered that at least half of the buildings there don't have a 13th floor. Your city must be pretty superstitious or something lol

[sparkythepenguin 90]

Back home and at BAT again... Been working on the Fox Tower base still, but nothing really new to report. I'm working on the front lobby entry, which is a really weird looking thing. I've finally broke down and transfered some pictures of it onto my laptop so I can model it without having to mess with moving between windows.

@ CraztarchitectIs Portland rare for not having 13th floors? I heard this is very common everywhere, as it has been found difficult to lease space on 13th floors to tennants. So they just re-number it 14 (although it still is 13!)

I'll try to have progress pics later today or tomorrow... It's slow going today.

[crazyarchitect 7]

yeah, I just never saw it listed there before, I know many other places have it, but not almost all lol

[jtportland 184]

wow, i've missed a lot in just two days! haha!
thanks everybody for the kind comments!

dt, not a bad suggestion for more banners, even though they arn't are the real thing... maybe some SALE banners? haha

6459978, i have litterly tried hundres of different brick textures, and this is the best looking one i could find... i maybe could make it look less repetive, but then the bricks would be like 10'x3'x3'...and i don't think they make bricks that big lol

sparky, i am making nord a 4x4, since that is what portland's blocks seems to be, and it has been what all the portland buildings so far have been made to fit on.

aj, on SIC... since it is on a slope, it would be hard to add thoes features in your pics, steeps and what not... and that sign is way to small to have it even be worth making lol.

and about nordstrom, i am not going to make it exactly like the real thing, that would be too stressful on my part lol, but i will made it cloest as possible. and thoes christmas lights on the awning would not be noticeable in game unless i made them really big... maybe i should... but i did take a crack at the 'silver tree' art, i made it bigger so you can actually see the detail...

[subedei 3]

Looks good so far JtP. Cant wait for this to hit the STEX.

 

 

 

Subedei

[sparkythepenguin 90]

Wow JT! That looks awesome! It looks great as is, so don't worry about the extra details. AsUI like the trees are on there, it looks great!

As for SIC, just find the lowest part of the base and make that the entire height of it. It's just a concrete slab... The steps should be all the way across (I take it that's what the architect intended, but was forced to make the steps all weird due to the slope...)

I finally got the front entryway to where I like it on the Fox Tower. I'm also begining the awnings. Now, the Fox Tower has clear and solid awnings over the sidewalk. I'm going to improvise and make the awnings all glass so the detail can show through. I also shortened them a bit.

For kicks, I added the Mario's boutique sign on the corner. Once I get the entry fixed up just right, I'll put the Banana Republic side up and start on the roof parts. It was just easier to start at the ground and work up.

Here's a pic:

[jtportland 184]

nice job sparky! that looks truly amazing! the mario's sign looks cool, along with the main entryway! you've got a lot of window froms! very accurate.

thanks subedei an sparky about nordstroms! i plan on rendering it tonight so hopefuly it will be up for download tomorrow night (i have school in the day )
also glad you like the tree art thingy~! that wasn't easy to do, but i knew it'd look cool, so i went ahead and took a stab at it... hehe

i rendered the shorter version of SIC two nights ago, and it looks pretty good, although it says Two SIC at the base, just so i couldn't confuse it with the taller one. i just finished the lot and need to test it in game, i will be posting pics of it shortly...

[jtportland 184]

Standard Insurance Center





ok, what do you think, should i release both? and if i do, should i release them separately or together?

[subedei 3]

looks awsome. I would release both together as a package. Keep up the good work.

 

 

 

Subedei

[Tunafish 48]

very cool jt. you should realese them on the same lot. also you should redo the convention center, your skills have improved so much.

[sparkythepenguin 90]

I'd say put them in 1 package... The SIC's look great!

By the way, is that the Commonwealt Building I see in the right hand corner?

If so, looks like Pietro Belluschi would be proud!

[DuskTrooper 316]

As for the banners, many commerical districts have some seasonal decorative banners, etc, that dd a spalsh of color to a brick and stone world. Here are some examples:

Maybe something like this, but mountable on a wall:



Maybe some awnings- sure, they arent on the originail ( or are they?) but a few added decorative awnings may add some more interest!



Some more pics of examples:

[jtportland 184]

thanks everybody for the comments!

tuna, i do plan on redoing the convention center, and make it more accurate along with the new addition added on not too long ago...

sparky, that is acttuly Summit butilding B, modeled off a building here in Bellevue.

and i will relese SIC's in one post on the stex, this might be done tonight, but i'm going to work more on nordstroms too...

dt, i really like the banners posted in your last pic there, i will make thoes a props since i already started rendering it this morning.

maybe i should release the banners as a prop pack just to up my downloads and number of files on the stex? hmm...

[DuskTrooper 316]

Well, that sounds like a plan! And yeah, props would be best, for multi-usage, and a few other points as well.

[sparkythepenguin 90]

Sounds like a plan JT! While you're at it, is it possible that you could make Portland's unique cast-iron streetlamps? Banners often hang out on them except ones where they support the MAX overhead wires.

You sure are kicking some butt! I wish I could crank out BATs as fast and as good as you do. I can only do one of those at a time, so I choose quality over speed.. heh

[crazyarchitect 7]

sounds like a plan, very nice on all of it

[jtportland 184]

thanks guys!

dt, i tried for the props, but the lod of nordstroms sucked the banners in but that's ok, i just rerendered it with the banners on, so no props nessary

nordstroms is live and in the city!





i need to work more on SIC, and with ilive stuff, and with any luck both will be on stex tonight

[sparkythepenguin 90]

Nordy's looks AWESOME! I could swear I've seen banners like those hanging on it before... The colors are perfect for the type that they hang there.

So it's LOD's that eat props in LE! I always wondered what that was... Please excuse my airhead moment, as I deal with Gmax as little as I possibly can.

Watch out Sim City, the Nordstrom Fort is coming! (an architectural critique book I have calls it that).

Across the street at the Fox Tower, progress plods along. Got the Banana Republic windows added, otherwise nothing new to show. Been working on the Fox Tower base's roof and the tie-in to the tower section. I may have to go grab more photos, as I'm getting stumped again... I wasn't too happy with my attempt at the roof. A good photo trip usually relieves my BATer's block.


Here's a shot of the preliminary roof work and progress so far:



And for those of you curious about what program I use to make this, here's a screenshot of what I see in Rhino before rendering a picture (I had to rezize it):



Happy BATing!

[MTLT_17 27]

Hey man,

 

Are you still using 98 or 95? Because it looks like it from the second pic. Or do you just do batting on that comp then run SC4 on another? Great Project I have all your peices of work.

 

-MTLT

[jtportland 184]

ooooo, very nice job there sparky! the base is coming along real nicely! and just to let everybody know, Nordstroms is up for downloading!

thanks sprky! i thought the colors fit in nicely... they also help reduce the look of repetitiveness of the brick texture too haha



edit: forgot to mention that i am having some technical difficulty with SIC, the short building doesn't want to show up in the menu, so all i see is just the lot. and yet it does say 'previewable' in the PM...weird, i'll try re rendering it, maybe that'll work.

[subedei 3]

Awsome job you all are doing. Keep up the great work.

 

 

Subedei

[sparkythepenguin 90]

Date: 10/19/2004 11:53:20 PM
Author: MTLT_17

Hey man,

Are you still using 98 or 95? Because it looks like it from the second pic. Or do you just do batting on that comp then run SC4 on another? Great Project I have all your peices of work.

-MTLT

quote>

I'm not using 98 or 95. I have Windows 2000. I absolutely refuse to use XP.

SC4, Rhino, and just about everything else works fine on this computer, so long as Norton AV stuff is off. GMax/BAT is the exception, as it is too slow and extremely unresponsive for me to bother with except when I really have to (texturing, rendering, lighting). Jt was a life-saver when he exported my first BAT project. Otherwise, it'd have taken me over a day to render what should be something simple.

Jtportland: Thanks! I'm always hard at work on this building. Too bad about the short SIC. I've downloaded some buildings off the BEX that were like that. Its really weird, but some of them show up when I plop them down.

Its probably some crazy thing with the export process. Try to export it again or try it on another computer.