Urban Vibravant's BAT Lounge

[Urban Vibravant 815]

That didn't take long! Thank you @matias93 

[Fantozzi 4,068]

Yessir!

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Yes indeed! What's that grey strip between the avenue sidewalk and the building base, though? Is that some weird shadow or does the modeled pavement simply not reach up to the edge of the lot?

[Urban Vibravant 815]

@T Wrecks The pavement doesn't reach. I might have had @Aaron Graham's rule about keeping 1.6m away from the street slip in the back of my mind while making it. Great video btw Aaron!
The grey strip is actually a tile texture from the Lot Editor. I was thinking about leaving it for small props like benches or bushes and also having the option to change the texture there if someone wanted to. Do you think I should leave it? Or go ahead and model the pavement there?

Here's a sneak peek on the night lights! I know the ground plane needs to be changed, but I want to know if I'm taking the lights in the right direction. 

[JP Schriefer 5,591]

Wow looks great to me!

[Andrey km 304]

Very detailed, impressive! Maybe a little more brightness in some lights. Let's see how the building will behave with the lights on every floor. I think the result will be great!

[Fantozzi 4,068]

Me, as a greenie major, would say - they are sufficent. Sims should sleep at night and safe electric energy.

[Urban Vibravant 815]

@JP Schriefer Good to know!

@Andrey km Yes I plan to have varying brightness's throughout the building, some dim, some bright. And it'll be primarily yellow/orange lighting with a few of the other colors mixed in here and there.

@Fantozzi It's funny you talk about this building being "green" because it actually won a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) award!

[matias93 7,535]

Surely you already know this, but the general rule is warm light for living and dining rooms and dormitories, and cold light for bathrooms, kitchens and offices. Of course, not everybody follows that on their apartments, so several exceptions will be welcome for the sake of realism

[Urban Vibravant 815]

@matias93 Yes and some living rooms will have colder colors assuming sims like to watch late night TV 

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Well, how cold or warm the colours are may depend on what channel they are watching.

In any case, the seam between BATted ground and lotted ground is always a tricky affair. For example, BATs cast shadows in a slightly different direction inside gmax/3dsmax than objects do in the Lot Editor and, ultimately, in game - stupid, but unfortunately true. Colour and pattern matching is also difficult, and there may be odd shadows around the edges of the BAT.

From a lotter's perspective, the easiest BATs are those that either don't come with any BATted ground parts, or those where the ground part has a defined edge. The latter may, for example, be a set of stairs leading up to the building. In such a scenario, you can take care of the area leading up to the stairs, and since the stairs form a natural interruption, a seam/rupture is far less noticeable there. This is a good example, just like this. Despite the large portion of BATted ground, even this one works well because the planters make up a defined edge, and the level transitions are narrow and limited.

However, when flat ground turns into flat ground, seams can be difficult. Another way to get rid of this problem is, of course, modeling the entire ground. This comes at the cost of reduced flexibility, but I see it as more problematic when there's really much open space and/or when the BATted ground looks very different from any texture used in game.

I think what Aaron may have referred to with those 1.6 metres is the distance a wall-to-wall building's front wall should have from the edge of the lot so it lines up with other rowhouses.

[Fantozzi 4,068]

Sometimes silence is like the dark corners I was afraid of in my childhood.

And this building is like a praline  I'd like to take it off the box and put it in my mouth. But since end of february it's like someone has hidden the box.

 

[matias93 7,535]

Such a classy bump! Its still a bump though...

[Urban Vibravant 815]

First of all I would like to apologize for being gone so long, my computer was having trouble handling 340 on the Park and when life got busy I had fallen out of the BATting rhythm.

I still have the model but it's been shelved for now until I can find a more efficient way to mess with it. The most recent problem is the scene wouldn't even load and I had to force End Task on 3dsmax. Don't worry though! I have a few backup files for it so there's no chance it could become corrupted and lose the whole thing. I also wouldn't dare put the time into this without eventually planning to release it, assuming my computer or future computer will cooperate.

I've also decided that I won't 'disappear' again without at least giving you guys an update on why I'm going to be gone for a while. It bugs me too to see that happen to other Batters and left wondering "what happened?"

Anyway, as much as I am drawn to the big skyscrapers and wanting to BAT them, I gotta work with what I know my computer can handle. Since I've seen countless comments all over ST about needing more low/mid-rises with that middle-of-downtown urban grunge and busyness, that is what I'll be focusing on and also what I was testing with 200 W 40th street.

I'm only going to give an updated pic of a model when its completely done and ready for export. The only thing you guys will know before hand is the address/building name and for two reasons:

- I think it's superfluous to post an updated pic of my project every time I change a size here, or color there. I like to believe I possess a good enough 'eye' to know what needs changing without coming on the site  and constantly asking "is it good?" I literally hear your comments in my head when doing test renders , I know how you guys think and what you look for when you (constructively) criticize it. I figured all of the inspection and criticism can be done at the end right before export.

- If I ever have to spend my Batting time on something else that's going on in life, you won't know how far along I was or what it even looked like. That way, you wouldn't see me arrive half way or near the end only to not see it released. You just 'wouldn't know'

Now that you guys are caught up.. I need help finding my next project 

A few guidelines:

-Only buildings from New York

-must measure in equal 16m increments, with the exception when it's maybe 1 or 2 meters off

-Nothing too big like 4x4. 1x2, 2x2 is ideal

I'll also be looking as well. Have fun with the hunt!

 

 

[gutterclub 2,729]

If I could make 1 request, which you are completely entitled to ignore, that would be to ask if there would be any chance you could do SD models as well as the HD one. A lot of people tend to play in Zooms 4 and 5, and when rendered in HD it makes the Z5 look fuzzy compared to its surroundings. Totally understand if its too much effort but thought I'd ask

[Kingofsimcity4 50]

The 640 fifth avenue

https://www.vno.com/office/property/640-fifth-avenue/3311673/landing

[Krisman 4,652]

My favourite : West 28th Street (Zaha Hadid building) ... Although there are more midrise gems adjacent to the High line

[Urban Vibravant 815]

@gutterclub Actually that's a great idea. This is what I can start doing. Each small, very detailed BAT will have 4 versions: MN & DN, HD & SD, and any alternate versions of the building itself could be its own separate upload. I can do it, but I'd like to see some other people ask for it as well, and so far you're the first.

@Kingofsimcity4 and @Krisman Maybe I wasn't very clear and I apologize. In my post I said,

On 10/2/2020 at 12:22 PM, Urban Abstraction said:

as much as I am drawn to the big skyscrapers and wanting to BAT them, I gotta work with what I know my computer can handle. Since I've seen countless comments all over ST about needing more low/mid-rises with that middle-of-downtown urban grunge and busyness, that is what I'll be focusing on

So buildings like 200 W. 40th, (cluttered signage, etc.) plus the other guidelines is what I'm after. As far as height goes, I'll let you know if it looks like something that could potentially be a problem for my pc. (I guess anything that isn't too tall.) 

[Kingofsimcity4 50]

The 510 5th avenue (The north Face store) is a beautiful small building.  2x3

[Urban Vibravant 815]

Ok let me know what you guys think. I'll answer any questions to the best of my ability and will consider all suggestions made.

I won't be taking request anymore as I've got my next projects picked out.

There will be 4 versions: Maxis Night, Dark Night, HD, and SD.  This preview is from the HD Dark Night version

[pedroac20c 132]

23 minutes ago, Urban Abstraction said:

Ok, háganme saber lo que piensan. Responderé cualquier pregunta lo mejor que pueda y consideraré todas las sugerencias hechas.

Ya no aceptaré solicitudes ya que tengo seleccionados mis próximos proyectos.

Habrá 4 versiones: Maxis Night, Dark Night, HD y SD. Esta vista previa es de la versión HD Dark Night

Ooh my God, this work is wonderful!!!!!

[JP Schriefer 5,591]

I love every single part of it, great work!

[gutterclub 2,729]

This is fantastic! Absolutely love this..and thank you for doing SD version.

[mattb325 28,891]

Amazing. The detail is utterly phenomenal! 

[Urban Vibravant 815]

Thank you all for the pleasant comments!

@gutterclub I know that both Maxis and Dark Night models should have the same IID, but what about HD and SD? Should you be able to play with both at the same time or should it be one or the other?

The only small issue I found is this shadow line found at the base of the building on all sides except for the front. Not sure what you call this.

Even though this area will likely get covered up, it'd still be nice to know how to fix this. I've checked the LODs and everything looks fine to me.

This will be last call for any changes that might need to be made. I plan to have this uploaded sometime tomorrow.

[gutterclub 2,729]

I think the same applies to SD / HD as it does to MN/ DN renders..I only render in SD, I imagine @Jasoncw will know

[Tyberius06 12,267]

4 hours ago, Urban Abstraction said:

but what about HD and SD?

1 hour ago, gutterclub said:

I think the same applies to SD / HD as it does to MN/ DN renders..I only render in SD, I imagine @Jasoncw will know

I think @JP Schriefer have one upload which has HD and SD and also MN-DN variants for each. 

But as I see, he has separate IIDs for HD and SD also as I see he made different lots for all 4 different versions (HD-DN, HD-MN, SD-DN, SD-MN). I'm on the same opinion as gutterclub. Same IID for the HD/SD would be good.  

- Tyberius

 

[BartonThinks 3,416]

@Bombardiere has a number of BATs with the option of SD or HD models. I've never checked whether he used the same IIDs.

 

[JP Schriefer 5,591]

20 minutes ago, Tyberius06 said:

I think @JP Schriefer have one upload which has HD and SD and also MN-DN variants for each. 

But as I see, he has separate IIDs for HD and SD also as I see he made different lots for all 4 different versions (HD-DN, HD-MN, SD-DN, SD-MN).

 

I'm a good example of what not to do. When I did this BAT I still thought that all versions should be different.

[mattb325 28,891]

 

5 hours ago, Urban Abstraction said:

Even though this area will likely get covered up, it'd still be nice to know how to fix this. I've checked the LODs and everything looks fine to me.

Check that the LOD is not slightly below the Z Plane. That's usually the culprit.

As for Darknite vs MaxisNite: the history behind giving them the same ID's is two-fold. The first is from a work flow process; you simply render the day model, then make a copy of it in windows (Ctrl+C and paste) and render your different night scene into the day shell. The second reason for using the same the same IDs is for the end-user: he or she can simply swap out the nite model without having having to bulldoze any instances that are in his/her city.

Now, whether that logic extends to HD or SD is your choice. (In which case you would make the copy of the exported LODs rather than the day scene) but there isn't any rationale for or against, as far as I am aware.