So.... finally it's almost there. Only there's something wrong with the windows. Anybody has any tips on how to make glass look like...glass? I think I've tried every possible combination of transparency, reflection maps and so on, but it still looks like plastic :o(

Oh and I know the cracks are too deep/wide, they'll be fixed whenever I get the windows to look right.

The pavement has some oddities, but they're due to Posers way of making edges round, and I can't see any way to fix that.

But apart from that, WYSIWYG...except for the guy on the stairs ;o)

Of course all the trash is poseable and most of it morphable as well :o)

D'ya like it?

Interesting scene. Sort of gives me the creeps, but I think that's the way a street like this should look. Actually, the windows look as if the shades are pulled down. If you want them to look like glass, you'll also need to have the interiors of the rooms visible. Maybe a flat with an image textured onto it behind the windows. The duct tape on the cracked one is a good touch. Making glass in Poser is not easy, but I do remember someone saying to make the material black and add transparency. Not sure if that works or not, but you might give it a try. Melanie

That looks really great. I heard that black and transparency or reflect map too. But I think the best bet is wait for P5 when they can actually do glass, sorta, maybe, I hope. And if you are on a Mac, I'm so sorry about bringing P5 into the equation. The graffitti looks incrediably real. Emily

I don't know if this would help but BJ Shaven has a transparency tutorial at http://www.geocities.com/bjshaven/Poser11.html I don't know how you would incorporate it into your model, though. I'm clueless about such things. I'm wondering why you don't make the sidewalk more the color of the steps. It still looks a little odd, but I guess it may be regional that sidewalks I'm use to seeing are grey-white. You're really close, though. It's amazing to see how far you've progressed with this project.

Hmmm... seems making the texture for the windows blac makes the totally dissapear. Perhaps some shade of grey will do the trick, but it's 12:30 am now and I really have to go to bed :o/ But 'I'm glad the street gives you the creeps, Melanie ;o) It's supposed to.

"The pavement has some oddities, but they're due to Posers way of making edges round, and I can't see any way to fix that." I've seen some discussions of a fix for the Poser "rounding" here in the forum - try a search on "split vertices" for the fixes described. As for the glass, here's the settings I use for windows in one scene. For yours, I'd think a streaked, dirty texture would be good in addition to the transparency. I think the scene is looking terrific! If the windows were aligned to the top of the door rather than the bottom, I think they'd look more natural. Add a worn, chipped looking concrete or brick frame to each the windows & door, and perhaps a rusty grill or two inset into the base of the wall, or even the sidewalk, and I think you've really got something. You might want to add an alternate brick texture so an 2 buildings can be positioned side by side for longer scenes. Wonderful work!

MilkShape has a new "unweld vertices" feature that works like UVMapper's "split vertices" trick. It could fix those sidewalk tiles in seconds, assuming that the mesh isn't too large.

Why does Poser do it?

Poser displays 'welded' verticies with a rounded (soft) appearance.
It does this so that the human figure will not appear to have skin that looks like a bunch of polygons that are placed edge to edge. That is, it produces a smooth surface across polygons.

Note, however, that if you load the 'box' prop from the Poser props library, it has sharp edges. This is because the verticies (that is, it's edges) of the box prop are NOT welded. This means that at each edge of the box there are actually two edges (and 4 vertices - 2 verticies for each edge) which lie exactly in the same position.

So, if you want SHARP edges, do NOT WELD verticies.
And, if you want SOFT (or rounded) edges, then WELD verticies.

Example:
Take a regular sheet of paper and fold it in half.
Now open it so that you have a 90 degree angle at the fold.
You now have 2 (4 sided) polygons on either side of the fold. The fold is the common edge. This is like the verticies being welded together and Poser will display a soft or rounded edge (like it was one continuous surface) - because it is!

Now, tear the paper along the fold and then put the paper back together along the fold. You now have the same shape but TWO edges along the fold and Poser would display this as a sharp edge (like you had 2 distinct and separate surfaces)..... because you do!

Hope this helps.

cheers,
dr geep
;=]

P.S. This one bothered me, also, for many moons until I learned the 'secret.' Now that you know the secret, you can make your models with sharp edges or soft edges. Your choice. ;=]

I don't know if you're ready to consider possible add-ons to the scene (perhaps for later), but here's a few suggestions; Light-fixture with broken or dangling morph for over the door. Defaced sign or plaque beside door with a doorbell-button or broken intercom. Broken, rusty shopping cart with & without bulging trashbag contents. Sidewalk scaffolding of pipes & broken planks for attempts at outside building maintenance. Coal-delivery access door at base of wall. Manhole Cover for street or sidewalk. Broken utility access box with electric meter or water cutoff valves inside. Grill-covered sewer drain at edge of curb in street. Old produce boxes and crates stacked. Hydrant for curb. Old-style windowsill air conditioner. Faded/torn/overlapping event promotional banners & signs taped to wall. Wall-mounted PayPhone station with torn-off handset morph. Stacks & heaps of garbage bags for garbage strike..... Etc, etc, etc..... Cheers!

Leather-Guy, those suggestions are great :o) BUT........ Most of the things mentioned....well I haven't got the faintest idea of how they would look..... so if you (or anybody else) have som pictures of such stuff, PLEASE either e-mail them to me or point me to somewhere on the internet where I can see them, as they're hard to spot here in Denmark. The reason why the top of the windows and the door are not aligned (anymore) is that since people thought the door was too small (or the windows too big) I made the door taller. Actually the door WAS 2,2 meters and the windows 1,8 but now the door is taller than that. Can't remember the hight it ended on, but tall... I do plan some add-ons (for free) to the set, but right now I'm working hard on finishing it at all G The idea of having 2 wall-textures is a good one :o) I'll look for yet another brick texture to go with the first one. Not sure I want to do the entire texturemap twice though, it has a LOT of different textures. Geep, I'll try splitting the vertices. I knew there was a way to do it, I just didn't remember WHAT it was. Just not sure if it'll work as the street scene is ONE object. Thanks for all the inputs, everyone :o) Keep'em coming.

If you have trouble splitting the verticies, send me the object ... geep@cybertrails.com ... and I'll split them for you. cheers, dr geep ;=]

;=]

Pic kinda speaks for it self ;o) (oh and btw, isn't it UGLY in untextured mode? ;o) )

...... it's BOOTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;=]

What pgm do you use for your talk bubbles? Just curious, they look GREAT! cheers, dr geep ;=]

Ernyoka1, this scene has turned out very, very well! Congratulations on a job very skillfully done. :-)

Geep, the talk bubbles are postworked in PaintShop, there are multiple talk bubbles premade in that proggie (they are shapes) Glad you liked them :o) - and the street as well. Sparrowhead, thanks for the kind words. I tried to upload it to the Marketplace last night, but something went wrong so it didn't upload correctly. I'll try again tonight :o) Here's a finished picture for you all to see, with textures and bumpmapping and all :o)

EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;=]

I am sooo glad I don't live in your neighborhood! ;-)

Hehe, Crescent.... Just to show you that I don't live there *G* here's a pic of my house. About as far as you can get from Trash Street (thank God) Kinda like opposite attracts I guess.... since I so enjoy making trash, filthy streets and various junkies.