ajmarti opened this issue on Jan 07, 2009 · 8 posts
dphoadley posted Wed, 07 January 2009 at 5:15 AM
Since you're obviously talking about a night scene, I would think that you might do better and cheaper using an aerial stock photo of New York textured to a flat plane, and then use it as a background prop, or layer it in, in your paint program. I only say this, because while you can GET free city block objects from various 3d sites, such as those that cater to 3ds Max, etc., how are you going to simulate all the lights in the windows and such. -the moving traffic in the streets, etc.
If it were a scene depicting mid-day, then one or two infinite lights, or eve global, lighting sets could simulate the sunlight shining from above at an angle, but a night scene with hundreds of lit windows....
Therefore, I'd say, get a photo, generate from it a displacement and bump map, and use a flat square or plane.
DPH