Attached Link: http://secure.daz3d.com/shop.php?op=itemdetails&item=1621

Oh boy! It took me 9 months to design it, build it, test it, and poserize it, but it's now up on sale at DAZ. Now.... I had a big blurb ready with nice images, and.... guess what? My computer went bananas 3 hours ago and I lost it all. I've had to re-format and re-install everything. So all I have is the DAZ promo pics. Anyway, Room Creator is a modular room buiding system. It has 22 figures, including the main room, configurable inner walls, arches and areas, extra walls to make your own rooms, plus 6 multi-part door and window figures, with fully posable body parts, roller-blinds. venetian blinds, shutters, etc. Everything opens/closes, raises/lowers just like the real thing. But the neat thing about Room Creator is that it allows you to put the doors/windows in different positions around the room, allowing you to design a room layout, and place everything where you want it. Not only that, thanks to a unique uv mapping system, you'll get perfect textures every time. There's a lot of stuff in the pack and the reason it took me so long was trying to design everything for total flexibility. Now that I have the structure, there are lots of possibilities for add-ons. I'm currently working on the first Expansion Pack, and there will at least 4 more packs. Price? $24.95 discounted to $17.47. Expansion packs should be $12 - $15 (before discounts) depending on how much is in them. Plus, there's a 33-page Help File and a guide to building a room, so you can't complain about lack of information! Hope you like it! mac

Here's the main pic

Here's a pop-up

Congratulations, you did a wonderful job...we wish you the best with with. Sharen and Mike

I'm just a little prejudiced because I got to see this item ahead of time, but I really love it. If you want a lot of flexibility in one item, this model gives it to you. Don't let the 33 page manual scare you off...it is a help but you can play with the model and get good results even if you don't refer to it right away (and don't you all know I don't read manuals just because I'm annoying that way). And for all of you who dream of making hidden doorways, this item is flexible enough to do that too. I'm not giving the secret away, but the construction is elegant in its simplicity and quite clever. Glad to see its released, maclean. Great job!

It does look like a great tool, and evident alot of thought went into the design! Sorry to hear about the computer, I hope you're back up and running quickly.

OHHHH Wow! I love it to death! Great idea. Diane

This sounds like the cool room creation tool of my dreams, but first I have a few questions. Can a door or window be placed anywhere and the glass still be transparent or the door still open? What if I'm making the Mystery Vortex or the Winchester Mansion and I want to do crazy things like put a door on the ceiling or stairs that go nowhere? Is that possible? Are there crown moldings, baseboards, and bay windows? Could a custom room be built, (like a character with morphs and textures), and then saved as a Mat Pose that can be shared with others? Does the room creation tool have more in common with a posable character than a stand alone prop? Just curious. I'm trying to get an understanding of what, and how Room Creation works, and what makes it different from other house or room models. Thanks. bB

Thanks to everyone for all the good wishes and nice comments. I need nice thoughts at the moment, since I'm just about ready to assasinate Bill Gates (it's probably not his fault, but he'll do as a target). Anyway, I thought I'd be smart and try re-installing windows over the old files. Well, it worked and I can access and back up all my files, which is GREAT! But everything else is so screwed up, I'm goin to have to wipe the HDD and start from scratch. Did I really think it would be that easy? Oh well, the main thing is I saved all my work. I always have back-ups, but I missed out on some figure-building and uv mapping over the last few days which I wouldn't want to repeat. So Room Creator Expansion #1 is still alive and kicking. And I'm alive and looking for something to kick. Now.... where are those cats when I need them? LOL. mac

BastBlack, I cross-posted with you. The best way to answer your questions would be for me to send you the Help File. This is something I asked DAZ to do, but they forgot. I wanted the Help File to be available for download for anyone who wanted more information. I always think it's is a big help if people can read about something before they buy it. Anyway, if you (or anyone else) wants it, mail me at maclean@libero.it and I'll send it (500kb). In the meantime.... 'Can a door or window be placed anywhere and the glass still be transparent or the door still open?' Yes. This is one of the main features. Each wall has 6 positions for doors and windows, (making a total of 36 including the inner walls). In each position, a door or window becomes part of the wall. A cutout in the wall is switched off and a 'fill' in the door or window is switched on, making it part of the wall. The positioning and switching on/off is all done with one-click SET files (something like MAT files). 'put a door on the ceiling or stairs that go nowhere' Sorry, that's not possible. Although you could do it by using a transparency map to create the space for the door/window in the ceiling. 'Are there crown moldings, baseboards, and bay windows?' You'd need to explain what crown moldings are. Baseboards? Do you mean skirting board? The wood that runs around the bottom of the walls? If so, yes. Every wall has skrting board. I'm currently building a bay window for the next Expansion Pack. 'Could a custom room be built, (like a character with morphs and textures), and then saved as a Mat Pose that can be shared with others?' Yes, a custom room can be built and saved, either in the library as a multiple figure, or as a .pz3 file. A MAT-type pose file (what I call SET files) would be possible, but since a room is built of many different figures, you'd need to do a MAT for each one. 'Does the room creation tool have more in common with a posable character than a stand alone prop?' Um.... I hope I'm not being misleading calling it Room Creator, since it's not a 'tool' in the sense of software. I mean, it doesn't magically 'generate' a room for you. You build a room using the basic walls, setting the configurations, then adding the door and window figure and placing them where you want them. It's a highly flexible pack, but it does take time and it's more like dressing a character and adding the accessories. Hope this helps. Feel free to ask more questions. mac

Crown moldings - I just looked at that phrase again. I think this is what we call a 'cornice' in scotland. It's the sculpted thing that runs around the edge of the ceiling, right? If it is, then yes, there is one for all ceilings. It's a vey basic cornice, not highly ornamental, because one of my priorities was to make the pack work even if a user loads dozens of figures at once. So I tried to avoid complicated hi-poly shapes that make for huge file sizes. But there is a simple cornice for all walls. mac

looks real good mac :) its a biggie and a whopper , LOL

Wow Mac, excellent job!

It looks absolutely fabulous!

Wow, I think I get it now. That's a really a clever design. I guess I should ask if there will be a "lift" rather than an "elevator" in the expansion packs. ;) Thanks for answering my questions. :D bB

Most excellent work mac!!!

Congratulations - this looks fantastic! -Nancy.

Congrats Mac!! :D

Gosh! All this nice positive feedback. It repays the long hours fighting with poser! Update - I'm almost up and running with the computer and later on, I'll prepare the Room Creator Help File for download. I'll put it up on my own site and post the addy here, so anyone who's curious can see what they'd be getting in the pack. mac

'I guess I should ask if there will be a "lift" rather than an "elevator" in the expansion packs' LOL. If there was one, it would be an elevator, not a lift. Even though I'm scottish, I tend to use american words and spelling most of the time (american spelling is much more sensible). It comes from spending half my life living and working with americans. Mind you, 'crown moldings' and 'baseboard' threw me for a minute. Anyway, I hadn't planned on an elevator, but there will be a 'mezzanine' pack. It'll include staircases and mezzanines (semi-upper floors) and probably an entire upper floor. I've been collecting pics of staircases and have some great ones. (They're so cool to model). One thing I always wanted to make was a staircase based on the one in Florence by Michaelangelo. I saw it years ago when I was working with an architectural photographer and I never forgot it. It's what they call an 'invading staircase'. It flows into the room like lava. Big, wide, convex steos that come right up to the doorway. Totally cool. So that one will definitely be in. Another possibility I'm considering is a series of packs based on the same system, each one being a stand-alone pack. They would be things like Room Creator Office, Disco, Gymnasium, Hotel Lobby, etc. In other words, different environments with all the props and accessories to make them complete. The Office one could certainly use an elevator. I'm designing everything so that eventually, all these packs will integrate with one another. So you can take a door from 'Office' and use it in another pack. Just gimme some time to beat my computer into submission and get on with it. mac

Attached Link: http://digilander.libero.it/maclean/RChelp.zip

Room creator Help File is up and available to anyone who wants more information about it. Enjoy. mac

Hi Mac! Amazing stuff you have here. I just did a read thru of your help file and wanted to mention that the link to the templates images doesn't work. All else seems to be OK.

Aeriol

Ah, sorry about that. My fault. I meant to stick a note in the zip saying that I'd removed the templates from it. The templates html is accessed through the help file, but since the help zip was already 600kb, it seemed pointless adding templates which are no use to anyone who doesn't have the pack. The DAZ download has all the templates, of course. mac

That's OK. The help files in the package do have the templates. One other thing. After using the DAZ mac installer I can't find any cameras. So I extracted to a folder but still can't find any. Were they missed somehow?

PilotHigh, I just double-checked and there should be a folder called 'room creator views'. Let me double-check this with DAZ in case there's been a glitch. Thing is, it'll be monday before I can call them. Do you want me to mail you the folder in the meantime? The zip is 101kb. Mail me at maclean@libero.it and I can send it to you. mac

This looks totally fabulous! Congratulations!

Cool !
Not only looks great but something I absolutely need!
Congrats on getting it all wrapped up for us:)

Hi, This discussion brings up some interesting points about how different English speaking countries refer to different part of a room. For example I am used to referring to the skirting board, dado rail, picture rail and coving - however, Americans may know these by another name? Also, I am also working on some 3D models of rooms. Does anyone out there have particular requirements or needs? What kind of room, style and features are people looking for? Regards, Max

I have never seen anything Colonial...unless I'm mistaken. I would love to have a Colonial structure, etc...you know Gone with the Wind type! LOL!...well it would be something different I think!:)