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Tom's BATs

Started by tomvsotis, November 25, 2017, 03:27:59 AM

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mattb325

Great to see some more art deco stuff!

I think the lot-work and the modelling on the little house are just brilliant. Time to share, I'd say  ;) :P

Unconstantean

yes more art deco please  &apls &apls &apls &apls :bnn: :bnn: :bnn:

tomvsotis

Quote from: mattb325 on December 22, 2017, 04:29:58 PM
I think the lot-work and the modelling on the little house are just brilliant. Time to share, I'd say  ;) :P

Aw thank you for saying so! I'm stuck on an awful internet connection at the moment, but I'll upload it as soon as upload speeds are less medieval!

tomvsotis

#43
Update on this: the modeling in Blender is coming along well. Also investigating how one might go about replicating the BAT functionality w Blender scripting: most likely i'll just end up importing this one into Gmax to render too, but y'never know



(And another to show off the backsides of the buildings w pipes, fire escapes etc. Colors are obv only placeholders at this point.)


matias93

Really fantastic buildings and definitely great news about Blender!

Just a thing: would you mind to make an alternate version of those buildings with flat roofs? Maybe is some madness from my part, but don't you think that those curved balconies and decó cornices would match better without a shingled roof?

"Lets be scientists and as such, remember always that the purpose of politics is not freedom, nor authority, nor is any principle of abstract character,
but it is to meet the social needs of man and the development of the society"

— Valentín Letelier, 1895

reddonquixote

These are looking really good. I was wondering though, are the railings supposed to be that chunky? Unless that's intentional, is it possible to make them a bit thinner? They would look more realistic I think. Good work  :thumbsup:
Pay heed to the tales of old wives. It may well be that they alone keep in memory what it was once needful for the wise to know.

tomvsotis

@matias93: hmm, idk if it's an Australian thing, but all the IRL buildings I've looked at (including the one these are based off) have shingled roofs. Lemme finish this first and then I'll see how I can make it work w a flat one!

@reddonquixote: ah, yeah, good point, and well spotted! i made them in a hurry, and meant to revisit them later — then forgot about it. so yeah, they're def meant to be thinner!

tomvsotis

#47
Hello, I'm back! After a brief, unsatisfying flirtation with the 2019 version of 3ds Max, I've finally managed to get my hands on the 2017 version, and as a result, I have managed to produce a successful render of a model I made with Blender a couple of months back. (Until I manage to write Bat4Max-esque scripts for Blender, or at least get the existing scripts working with Arnold, this will have to do.)

And so, anyway, I give you... the Fish Creek pub! It's another art deco building, based on a real-world pub in a town i visited last year. This is where it's at at the moment:



I'm pretty happy with it, although I still haven't decided on the roof texture (rusty below, clean above) and -- perhaps because of my inexperience with Bat4Max -- i'm kinda mystified by the purple tinge on the porch roof in the renders second from left, and on the rear roof in the renders immediately to their right.

Thoughts/comments/criticisms v much appreciated -- and I promise I'll actually release this one (and the two others I've worked on at various points, when I'm finally happy with them.)

noahclem

Looks great  &apls  Glad you were able to get set up with 2017, neat you were able to import the model from Blender, and exciting to hear of the potential Bat4Max-esque scripts for Blender again  :thumbsup:

tomvsotis

Well, I actually released something!

https://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=3755

And thanks noahclem! I think (and hope) the time I've been spending fiddling around w the BAT4Max scripts might pay off; i feel like i'm getting something of a feel for how they work, if nothing else. Obv we're still a long, long way from being able to use Blender without 3ds Max, but we'll get there!

mattb325

Very cool! Glad to see a new release from you. Congrats!  :thumbsup:

tomvsotis

Hey all, so this is a building i posted ages ago, which I've finally gotten around to texturing and rendering. It's one of three -- there's an image of all three a bit further up this thread -- and I'm planning on releasing various residential growable variations including combinations of the buildings.



I'm pretty happy w how this has rendered, although I'm not 100% sold on the roof texture, and i'm still trying out other options. BUT: the alpha bleeding, which was a bit of a problem in my previous building, is a REAL problem here bc of the greater level of fine detail.



It looks like the staircase is glowing! Does anyone have any knowledge of how to fix this?

mattb325

It's looking good!

For the alpha edges, over on the BAT FAQ at Simtrop, look at the second post by Jasoncw on page 1 and unhide the spoiler.

https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/74718-bat-getting-started-guide-faq-resources-help/

Additionally you need to follow these instructions (credit to art128) within the materials space:


Goldman Sachs has also been doing some alternative testing on his thread with this second part, so it is worth checking that out, too.

tomvsotis

Ahhhhhhh -- I had the Jasoncw part done already, but not the art128 part. That's def helped, but doesn't seem to have fixed the issue entirely. What's actually happening here? I'm guessing from the nature of art128's instructions that it's to do with the background colour being somehow swept up into the render?

tomvsotis

Hmm, so, for anyone else who stumbles across this thread, the method that Goldman Sachs describes here works pretty well. It doesn't seem to eliminate the bleeding completely, but it does mean that the pixels that bleed are much darker than those generated if you use other methods. This means that they blend in well with most backdrops -- at zoom level 5, you can barely see them:





They're there if you look for them -- for instance, in the first view above, you can see a line of black pixels along the edge of the brick wall at the very left of the building -- but they don't stand out in the same way the grey pixels do.

Rendering in HD also helps, for the simple reason that the bleeding pixels are smaller:




It appears also from the thread linked above that there's a way to turn on anti-aliasing by editing the .SC4model file (in the Reader? it's kind of unclear exactly what program is being used -- i've asked!). That method, however, seems to risk causing graphical glitches if the anti-aliased model overlaps other models, so Goldman Sachs' almost-black background method seems like it's probably the best for everyday use.

Anyway, back to working on the actual building, rather than its borders. First up: making those flat grey windows look somewhat more interesting!

Barroco Hispano

#55
If you want to keep a little more detail on the stairs I recommend a minimum of 4 or 16 samples per pixel.









After making the changes do not forget to press "apply" and save.





Barroco Hispano

tomvsotis

Ahhhhh ok awesome. Thank you!

Barroco Hispano

Can you upload an image to see the result?  :thumbsup:
Barroco Hispano

noahclem

Love how these apartments are coming along and helpful to watch you sort these problems out as I'm hoping to give another go at modeling here at some point ;)

tomvsotis

So these are basically done, i reckon. There's still a wee bit of bleeding around the building borders, but it's about as good as I can get it without tearing my hair out.