mrsparky opened this issue on Nov 10, 2020 · 164 posts
mrsparky posted Tue, 10 November 2020 at 9:15 PM
Apart from this being free...can you guess what it is yet :)
Boni posted Tue, 10 November 2020 at 10:41 PM
A service station or perhaps a fire station??
Boni
"Be Hero to Yourself" -- Peter Tork
Kerya posted Tue, 10 November 2020 at 11:49 PM
Answer: it is going to look good.
RedPhantom posted Wed, 11 November 2020 at 7:27 AM Site Admin
there looks to be a couple of loading docks, so I'd guess a warehouse, but it doesn't seem big enough for that. Perhaps a post office or a shipping station. (like a place for dropping of UPS or FedEx packages)
Available on Amazon for the Kindle E-Reader Monster of the North and The Shimmering Mage
Today I break my own personal record for the number of days for being alive.
Check out my store here or my free stuff here
I use Poser 13 and win 10
SamTherapy posted Wed, 11 November 2020 at 7:46 AM
Richard60 posted Wed, 11 November 2020 at 11:11 AM
It's DR. Evils layer.
Poser 5, 6, 7, 8, Poser Pro 9 (2012), 10 (2014), 11, 12, 13
VedaDalsette posted Wed, 11 November 2020 at 12:47 PM Online Now!
Four Seasons Landscaping
W11,Intel i9-14900KF @ 3.20GHz, 64.0 GB RAM, 64-bit, GeForce GTX 4070 Ti SUPER, 16GB.
Old lady hobbyist.
All visual art or fiction is "playing with dolls."
bwldrd posted Wed, 11 November 2020 at 2:12 PM
Alan Alda
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Consider me insane if you wish, but is your reality any better?
RedPhantom posted Wed, 11 November 2020 at 3:32 PM Site Admin
bwldrd posted at 3:30PM Wed, 11 November 2020 - #4404249
Alan Alda
now there's an answer from the past.
It's A temple for a naked Vicky with a sword.
or maybe these days a naked La Femme with a wrench.
Available on Amazon for the Kindle E-Reader Monster of the North and The Shimmering Mage
Today I break my own personal record for the number of days for being alive.
Check out my store here or my free stuff here
I use Poser 13 and win 10
Miss B posted Wed, 11 November 2020 at 6:18 PM
RedPhantom posted at 6:17PM Wed, 11 November 2020 - #4404252
It's A temple for a naked Vicky with a sword.
Now there's a response I haven't seen in many a year. 
_______________
OK . . . Where's my chocolate?
mrsparky posted Wed, 11 November 2020 at 9:33 PM
VedaDalsette - we've got a winner! ...and another WIP
Now there's a response I haven't seen in many a year. Now I just feel old :) ..come to mention it I've been doing this 3d stuff since '99!
hborre posted Thu, 12 November 2020 at 9:44 AM
That is really coming along. Nice.
SamTherapy posted Fri, 13 November 2020 at 1:59 PM
mrsparky posted Fri, 13 November 2020 at 9:46 PM
Sam play nicely :)
Sorry no update yesterday, very loooooooooong shift :( But here's one for you all, yea the wiring isn't accurate, I'd like to call it more representational, much like how I wire up cookers :)
randym77 posted Fri, 13 November 2020 at 10:13 PM
Hahahaha. It really is Four Seasons Landscaping. And here I was going to guess "Santa's Workshop."
Is the "adult book shop" next door included? ?
SamTherapy posted Sat, 14 November 2020 at 4:25 AM
mrsparky posted at 4:24AM Sat, 14 November 2020 - #4404516
Sam play nicely :)
Sorry no update yesterday, very loooooooooong shift :( But here's one for you all, yea the wiring isn't accurate, I'd like to call it more representational, much like how I wire up cookers :)
Ok, if not mail sacks, crates of fake tan. :D
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Sun, 15 November 2020 at 9:45 PM
randym77 - dunno yet.
I try to spend as much time as possible avoiding the currently reality (especially shop greeters wearing yellow jackets trained at the Pol Pot Charm School) by hiding in my garage. Hence I didn't know much of what transpired at the press conference, only that people had said it was...well... different.
Thus a trip to various news website, for roundness includes... one with long words like the Guardian. The BBC because they do pictures you can colour in. And lastly, because my brain deserves self-flagellation, the Daily Mail.
For those less blessed ..or possibly cursed...than us Brits, the Mail isn't as high brow as Garfield or Snoopy. Instead it's aimed mostly at those belive the ideal world would be one that resembles a Hornby train set (with steam of course). We are still at war with the Germans and we beat them at soccer.
Dr Who isn't female and the biggest jolly bad show of all... One of the royals didn't marry an American, even though 90% of Daily Mail readers have the Megan swimsuit special on the back of the toilet door. For when they need a quick blast of Ivor Bigunn's biggest selling album.
So when that paper wrote, in all seriousness....
"Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is situated next to Delaware Valley Cremation Center and Fantasy Island Adult Books, where owners host 'D**do Madness' sales throughout the year."
....you just know it's gonna be a good one :) Moreso when I saw the pictures and even the building looks so different.
So I just had to make this one, thinking as a 3 piecer, because that won't take months to do.
But I didn't realise until using streetview, the visuals and geography isn't so clear cut as the papers say.
What you see is the back of the building, the cremation place is opposite the front, and the bookshop isn't quite next door.
Hence the dunno if I will yet or not.
Sam - my fellow Brit - enjoy the above :)
Oh and I hope everyone enjoys the WIP of building 3..
SamTherapy posted Mon, 16 November 2020 at 9:42 AM
mrsparky posted at 9:41AM Mon, 16 November 2020 - #4404777
randym77 - dunno yet.
I try to spend as much time as possible avoiding the currently reality (especially shop greeters wearing yellow jackets trained at the Pol Pot Charm School) by hiding in my garage. Hence I didn't know much of what transpired at the press conference, only that people had said it was...well... different.
Thus a trip to various news website, for roundness includes... one with long words like the Guardian. The BBC because they do pictures you can colour in. And lastly, because my brain deserves self-flagellation, the Daily Mail.
For those less blessed ..or possibly cursed...than us Brits, the Mail isn't as high brow as Garfield or Snoopy. Instead it's aimed mostly at those belive the ideal world would be one that resembles a Hornby train set (with steam of course). We are still at war with the Germans and we beat them at soccer.
Dr Who isn't female and the biggest jolly bad show of all... One of the royals didn't marry an American, even though 90% of Daily Mail readers have the Megan swimsuit special on the back of the toilet door. For when they need a quick blast of Ivor Bigunn's biggest selling album.
So when that paper wrote, in all seriousness....
"Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is situated next to Delaware Valley Cremation Center and Fantasy Island Adult Books, where owners host 'D**do Madness' sales throughout the year."
....you just know it's gonna be a good one :) Moreso when I saw the pictures and even the building looks so different.
So I just had to make this one, thinking as a 3 piecer, because that won't take months to do. But I didn't realise until using streetview, the visuals and geography isn't so clear cut as the papers say. What you see is the back of the building, the cremation place is opposite the front, and the bookshop isn't quite next door.
Hence the dunno if I will yet or not.Sam - my fellow Brit - enjoy the above :)
Oh and I hope everyone enjoys the WIP of building 3..
On the money about Daily Fail readers, or as they are also known, "Gammons". So called because their angry blotchy red shouty faces look like a slab of gammon.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
randym77 posted Mon, 16 November 2020 at 11:08 AM
Looks good!
Though I have to tell you...The Daily Mail is probably the most popular British "paper" in the U.S. Which perhaps shouldn't be a surprise. TBH, I find it better than a lot of American papers. Very tabloid-y, of course, but they actually put work in their stories. Which are often about terrible murders and sex scandals and the like, but they'll go much more in depth than US papers.
SamTherapy posted Mon, 16 November 2020 at 2:21 PM
randym77 posted at 2:10PM Mon, 16 November 2020 - #4404811
Looks good!
Though I have to tell you...The Daily Mail is probably the most popular British "paper" in the U.S. Which perhaps shouldn't be a surprise. TBH, I find it better than a lot of American papers. Very tabloid-y, of course, but they actually put work in their stories. Which are often about terrible murders and sex scandals and the like, but they'll go much more in depth than US papers.
Fucking Ada, US papers must be really bad if the Fail is considered better quality. It's a real bottom of the barrel, sleazy, prurient rag that obsesses over adolescent girls (they were perving over Charlotte Church when she was 14, just because her tits had grown), or working class girls showing a bit of skin when they're out on the town. They will live in infamy forever for supporting Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, and thought Hitler was rather nice, praising him and the Nazis in at least one editorial.
So, no, it's fair to say, I do not like the Daily Fail in the least little bit.
However, I am very sorry for hijacking the thread and have to say Mrs Parky's model is extremely lovely.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
CHK2033 posted Mon, 16 November 2020 at 7:19 PM
It look very nice so far. You should turn the building into the The Daily Mail building , SamTherapy would luv it :p (going to search what all this daily mail stuff is about)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
HP Zbook 17 G6, intel Xeon 64 GB of ram 1 TB SSD, Quadro RTX 5000
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
mrsparky posted Wed, 18 November 2020 at 2:30 PM
Sam - never apologise for your thoughts about the Daily Fail, it's an insidious rag.
Talking of media, that's why there's been no updates for a few days.
Bizarrely got asked to do a TV interview, about how sh*t being a carer has been during lockdown.
Actually, it was cr*p before that, covid just gave the PTB's an excuse to get out of doing stuff. But it's not often voiceless scumbags like me get a chance to annoy the government. Or more accurately, my lot quite liked the idea of watching someone who hates being photographed being on the tellybox, so I got "persuaded":)
Then after rapidly organising things, ITV changed their mind and choose someone else. A report that I hear will go out on Monday and should be worth a watch.
mrsparky posted Wed, 18 November 2020 at 8:12 PM
SamTherapy posted Thu, 19 November 2020 at 7:36 AM
Looking good, mate.
Now, I wouldn't dream of apologizing for putting the boot into the Daily Fail or its fan base; my apology was for hijacking your thread.
BTW, I know it's not Mrs Parky, too. You once explained it was Mr Sparky, the name of your late cat. Anyone who is fond of cats is OK in my book.
Bit of an unfortunate Rolf Harris reference in yer title, though.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Fri, 20 November 2020 at 10:43 PM
Thanks Sam and don't worry, I know what you meant there.
As for the Rolf reference, that was totally unintentional, never even thought about it. Obviously apologies if I've inadvertently offended anyone.
Hopefully this post will be more positive ...yes it looks beyond basic, but it's the start of the fence. Yes could've run with transmaps, and yes while they can look good, I find they can take longer to render. So I'm trying to building the fence as a mesh, while keeping the poly count low, but without resorting to decimation. Which is proving tricky.
SamTherapy posted Fri, 20 November 2020 at 10:55 PM
Blimey. I thought of modelling a fence mesh once but abandoned it when the poly count started to climb. I'll be watching with interest.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Sat, 21 November 2020 at 8:02 PM
Somehow sorta managed it, not perfect, but it gives the impression. That's not UV mapped either so I expect the filesize/polycount to jump a bit.
mrsparky posted Sat, 21 November 2020 at 8:03 PM
oh forget to add the background in image 1 isn't a poser scene, just a photo of the back of where we live.
randym77 posted Sat, 21 November 2020 at 8:38 PM
Looks really good!
mrsparky posted Sun, 22 November 2020 at 8:05 PM
Tonight's update...starting on the ground. This is being done using Carrara 5's backdrop 'mode' and it's Shading Domain Management 'mode'.
The former is something that's only taken me several years to work out how to do :)
But now I've sussed it out, found if you take a satellite image from Google maps and use that as the background it's possible to work accurat(ish) placements for things.
It's also how the fronts of the buildings where done.
The latter is also a nice concept. It allows you to select small areas of a larger mesh and assign what I know as a material zone to that. That's good here, because one of my bugbears with poser models is how to texture large areas (such as ground).
Yes, app specific shaders will always do a better job than an image. Yes one large areas can use a single map. However sometimes maps may be the only way to get a look, say for instance where a road merges into a dirt track.
And that's a problem because even a 2048x2048 map may get the jaggies.
But now using this approach I can break large areas into smaller separately mapped sections.
OK it won't totally solve this issue, but in theory it should reduce it.
After that it'll be the final bit of modelling, the power poles.
mrsparky posted Sun, 22 November 2020 at 8:06 PM
randym77 posted Sun, 22 November 2020 at 8:20 PM
Holy cow, that looks amazing.
SamTherapy posted Mon, 23 November 2020 at 1:15 AM
EClark1894 posted Mon, 23 November 2020 at 6:31 AM
The model looks great,Sparky, but for us Yanks who don't know, wtf is so great about Four seasons Landcaping that it gets it own model?
randym77 posted Mon, 23 November 2020 at 7:04 AM
EClark1894 posted at 6:52AM Mon, 23 November 2020 - #4405575
The model looks great,Sparky, but for us Yanks who don't know, wtf is so great about Four seasons Landcaping that it gets it own model?
It's a reference to U.S. politics! You might have missed it. I think you said you were sick or something?
Donald Trump sent Rudy Giuliani to do a press conference disputing the Pennsylvania election results. His staff chose the Four Seasons Total Landscaping parking lot, apparently by using Google Earth to look for an area near Philadelphia that was out of the way and had a fence. (They had problems with protesters disrupting previous press conferences.)
Trump tweeted that the press conference was going to be at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia. The Four Seasons hotel in Philadelphia tweeted back, saying the event was not scheduled there. Forcing Trump to correct his tweet. The media seemed baffled. It's a weird place to have a press conference. The British press especially had a field day, with the Mirror pointing out there was a dildo shop next door.
It's become something of a meme.
SamTherapy posted Mon, 23 November 2020 at 7:05 AM
EClark1894 posted at 7:04AM Mon, 23 November 2020 - #4405575
The model looks great,Sparky, but for us Yanks who don't know, wtf is so great about Four seasons Landcaping that it gets it own model?
Mr Guiliani booked a presser there, and it's believed he booked it by mistake, thinking he was booking the Four Seasons Hotel instead. Situated between a Funeral Parlor and a Sex shop, no less.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Mon, 23 November 2020 at 5:43 PM
Simple, this year has been beyond cruddy, not only the bug stuff, but personally as well. Theres been nothing much to laugh at and then this happened.
Politics aside, this isn't just the gods of irony raining on someone, this is the gods opening their trouser flies with a knowing smirk. So why I figured why not immortalise it in 3d.
randym77 posted Mon, 23 November 2020 at 8:49 PM
I love it. I would buy it if you put in the store. It's so...2020.
mrsparky posted Tue, 24 November 2020 at 8:35 PM
Don't worry about looking in store..this one will be a freebie
As for tonight's WIP, a powerpole (in the modeler rather than a render) . Most likely these parts will be more representational than attempting accuracy.
That's because, for real world stuff, I like to model by looking, then moving that visual memory around what passes for a brainbox.
But while we have these types of poles in the UK, they tend to be more rural than urban.
VedaDalsette posted Wed, 25 November 2020 at 7:37 PM Online Now!
I must be the only one on here who follows politics! Four Seasons was obvious to me. BTW, mrsparky, it's really, really cool.
W11,Intel i9-14900KF @ 3.20GHz, 64.0 GB RAM, 64-bit, GeForce GTX 4070 Ti SUPER, 16GB.
Old lady hobbyist.
All visual art or fiction is "playing with dolls."
SamTherapy posted Thu, 26 November 2020 at 6:25 AM
VedaDalsette posted at 6:24AM Thu, 26 November 2020 - #4405755
I must be the only one on here who follows politics! Four Seasons was obvious to me. BTW, mrsparky, it's really, really cool.
No you ain't, but I wouldn't have known the building. Ol' Sparks is a superb modeller, for sure.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Fri, 27 November 2020 at 6:31 PM
thanks everyone ...sorry there was no update last night, a little darling threw a paddy and vandalised one of our playgroup tables.
While he was sent home without any tea, we couldn't get the graffiti off our logo. We did try some alternate stickers, but our stock was limited because another big toddler was naughty and closed all the cool shops.
So if anyone wants a free table, just leave a message here..
SamTherapy posted Sat, 28 November 2020 at 1:51 AM
VedaDalsette posted Sat, 28 November 2020 at 4:01 PM Online Now!
Ha!!!! Don't forget his low chair, too.
W11,Intel i9-14900KF @ 3.20GHz, 64.0 GB RAM, 64-bit, GeForce GTX 4070 Ti SUPER, 16GB.
Old lady hobbyist.
All visual art or fiction is "playing with dolls."
mrsparky posted Sat, 28 November 2020 at 10:34 PM
Breaking News: Area 51 reports early trials of virus eating Daleks prove unsuccessful.
Sparky waves at Sam :)
SamTherapy posted Sat, 28 November 2020 at 10:50 PM
mrsparky posted Sun, 29 November 2020 at 3:25 PM
VedaDalsette posted at 3:24PM Sun, 29 November 2020 - #4405936
Ha!!!! Don't forget his low chair, too.
Will this do ? :)
mrsparky posted Sun, 29 November 2020 at 8:29 PM
...and tonight's slightly less silly WIP... the powerlines.. and yep I know it's not accurate. Instead it's a hybrid based on various images of transformers, poles, wires etc, to give the flavour. It's also the largest in terms of mesh/file size - around 2mb - which I think isn't bad given the detail level.
randym77 posted Sun, 29 November 2020 at 9:12 PM
Man, you're really going above and beyond the call of duty with this. I bet there will be people who want it just for the power poles.
hborre posted Mon, 30 November 2020 at 8:56 AM
Presidential step-stools! Definitely, a must-own item. Autographed, even better.
mrsparky posted Mon, 30 November 2020 at 10:58 PM
Well I did ask, but someone was put on the naughty step after trying to eat their crayons. But Mrs Sparky let me stay past my bedtime and I was allowed to play with my pencils...
Note the differences in the renders, P4 still stands up well 20 years later!
Kerya posted Mon, 30 November 2020 at 11:27 PM
ROTFL! Thanks for all the smiles along the way.
mrsparky posted Tue, 01 December 2020 at 8:55 PM
Thanks - hope it''s making everyone happy, As for tonight's WIP, sadly nothing fancy..just fixed up some seams and mapping issues on the powerline mesh. Plus a slight improvement on the textures.
randym77 posted Wed, 02 December 2020 at 7:46 AM
mrsparky posted at 7:45AM Wed, 02 December 2020 - #4405880
thanks everyone ...sorry there was no update last night, a little darling threw a paddy and vandalised one of our playgroup tables.
While he was sent home without any tea, we couldn't get the graffiti off our logo. We did try some alternate stickers, but our stock was limited because another big toddler was naughty and closed all the cool shops.
So if anyone wants a free table, just leave a message here..
Bwahahahahaha! That's awesome. Maybe he thought a tiny table would make his little hands look bigger. ;-)
mrsparky posted Wed, 02 December 2020 at 11:24 PM
I couldn't possibly comment on that :)
...as for tonights update...Which if you know about modelling, mapping etc is ..well.. a tad boring. If you don't, you might find it interesting to know.
Both the models above use box mapping. It's the most basic form of mapping and generally good for buildings because they are square(ish). But if you have an inset on your model, it has an annoying habit. As you can see once you apply a texture, anything on the outside will be the same on the inside of the inset.
So what you need to do is create a separate "material zone" for the inset. Which can be done in most modelling/mapping software, but not all. Plus it can be fiddly to do. Hence I define these separate zones in the modelling software. Then play and tweak these zones in the mapping software. Upside is it makes the models look so much better. Downside is it's time consuming to do.
Which, as you can see from the (very rough) second picture, is the stage I'm at now with building #3. But that's now finished for that model, so now I can texture it. You'll also notice from the 2nd image the walls are separate zones. This is done that way because, as mentioned earlier, it allows for better quality images to be used as textures. Which in turn makes for better renders.
SamTherapy posted Thu, 03 December 2020 at 6:00 AM
You hit on why I give most of my things plenty of usefully named material zones. It makes them easier to map and makes it easier for anyone else to come along later and alter stuff without having to change the entire texture set. I bleedin' hate it when I get models with Lambert_1, Lambert_2 and all that malarkey. Would it kill 'em to put stuff like Front_Wall, Side_Door and so on?
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
randym77 posted Thu, 03 December 2020 at 7:22 AM
Very much agreed. I'm not much of a texturist, but sometimes you want to change the wall color or remove a logo or something, and it helps so much to have separate material zones, usefully named.
mrsparky posted Thu, 03 December 2020 at 8:42 PM
Totally agree and I've also found by creating separate smaller zones you can improve the quality of things like signs and logos.
For example, say I was making a jet fighter that's 60 polygons wide. Near the cockpit I'd make a 1-2 polys wide a separate zone. Then in the mapper I enlarge both zones to max size.That way I could have a rescue/ejection sticker that's perfectly legible.
Which is basically what I'm doing tonight, hence no update.
an0malaus posted Fri, 04 December 2020 at 12:49 AM
Dreadfully late to this promising playground. My solitary contribution, with the sincere hope of avoiding offence (razor-wire or other), I give you:
Seal Seal Seal Seal
Verbosity: Profusely promulgating Graham's number epics of complete and utter verbiage by the metric monkey barrel.
SamTherapy posted Fri, 04 December 2020 at 4:42 AM
mrsparky posted at 4:42AM Fri, 04 December 2020 - #4406390
Totally agree and I've also found by creating separate smaller zones you can improve the quality of things like signs and logos.
For example, say I was making a jet fighter that's 60 polygons wide. Near the cockpit I'd make a 1-2 polys wide a separate zone. Then in the mapper I enlarge both zones to max size.That way I could have a rescue/ejection sticker that's perfectly legible.Which is basically what I'm doing tonight, hence no update.
You have mail, old chap.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Fri, 04 December 2020 at 10:31 PM
an0malaus - nice 1!
Sam - replied
Everyone - I've been allowed to play with my crayons :)
The last one is a Poser 4 render for comparison.
randym77 posted Fri, 04 December 2020 at 10:58 PM
That looks great. Suitably run down.
SamTherapy posted Sat, 05 December 2020 at 2:41 AM
Bloody hell! That's outstanding, mate.
Replied to yer reply. :)
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
SamTherapy posted Sun, 06 December 2020 at 5:43 PM
It would seem that a spell outdoors at a garden centre and runny hair dye do a body no favours. Mr Guiliani reportedly has Covid. I sincerely wish him all the best for a swift and trouble free recovery, even though we are poles apart politically.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
randym77 posted Sun, 06 December 2020 at 6:59 PM
Yeah, it's apparently not just a positive test. He's been hospitalized.
Which probably means he's been spreading it around for awhile, since it takes several days at least before you're so sick you need to be hospitalized, and he's been partying and posing for photos maskless. Which may be how he got it in the first place.
But I, too, wish him a speedy recovery. Not least because this model won't be nearly as funny if he croaks.
mrsparky posted Sun, 06 December 2020 at 11:18 PM
Yea joking aside, this bug is no fun and I wouldn't wish that on anyone, so wish him well.
mrsparky posted Sun, 06 December 2020 at 11:20 PM
As for tonights update and this one is aimed at anyone new to 3d. Just to show how things are done. For anyone with a little more experience, you may think ...hey that's wrong or badly explained. So please comment/expand as it'll help other artists.
If you think of a 3d model as you would of a real world plastic kit. Generally when you open the box it's plain, there's no paint or decals on it. There is software out there where you can paint 3d models. But often 3d modellers will "map" (sometimes called UVmap) the mode. This is a process that 'flattens' the model and where you can assign parts of it to (what I call) a material zone.
For example, you might assign all the parts with concrete onto a material called concrete. This can take a while, but eventually you'll need up with a (or a series) of template(s). The template is coloured in then applied to the model.
As you can see here compared to the other images, this is looking rather clean. That's because personally I like to work using layers/overlays of differing opacity levels to build up stuff like dirt and grunge.
SamTherapy posted Mon, 07 December 2020 at 7:18 AM
As good an explanation as I've ever heard, mate.
What do you use for mapping? I use UVMapper Pro. It's only in the last couple of years I started getting the hang of it, too. Plain ordinary mapping was no bother but I used to struggle with anything more complex than a box. Had to learn a lot when I made the guitar amp.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Mon, 07 December 2020 at 10:47 PM
Thanks Sam - I use Carrara 5, export out to LithUnwrap -because that does 3 handy things.
It optimises the mesh, warns me if there's any un-triangulated bits and if I select box mapping it maps everything in one perfect square.
It doesn't muck up the material/groups names either.
Then I go into UVmapper Pro, make that full screen, then map by group/material as needed. Ticking all 3 options on box mapping. Many moons later hopefully I have some reasonable material zones that can be saved as templates. Finally once mapped spilt the vertexes.
mrsparky posted Mon, 07 December 2020 at 10:53 PM
Tonights WIP - sorry incomplete as I got to enjoy the pleasures of UK train travel. Though fair play to the guard, instead of leaves on the line, we got Thomas forgot his face mask. Which was probably accurate than Southern's usual excuses :)
randym77 posted Tue, 08 December 2020 at 5:53 AM
Looking good!
SamTherapy posted Tue, 08 December 2020 at 2:19 PM
Triangulated? Argh! Bane of my life. I try me best to avoid tris and often retopo other people's meshes to get rid of 'em. Still, if it works for you, fair enough; I mainly avoid because they add to bloat and because Poser sometimes renders 'em strange. Can't really get away without them for holes in stuff, though.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Wed, 09 December 2020 at 10:55 PM
Sorry Sam not clear there. I triangulate in Carrara. Lith is used for test for missing ones, but I don't triangulate in Lith because I find Poser doesn't like how Lith does it's triangulation.
Though yea I also find the whole triangulation thing a confusing PITA. If I want to unfold a model in Pepakura (turns meshes into paper models), triangulated models can sometimes confuse it. Yet Slice for Fusion360 (used to turn meshes into real world models), and my 3d printer software, doesn't seem to care if a mesh is triangulated or not.
mrsparky posted Wed, 09 December 2020 at 10:57 PM
and tonight's WIP is...
A poser 4 render...
...and something more 21st century...
SamTherapy posted Wed, 09 December 2020 at 11:50 PM
VedaDalsette posted Thu, 10 December 2020 at 5:23 PM Online Now!
Love the baby seat!!!
W11,Intel i9-14900KF @ 3.20GHz, 64.0 GB RAM, 64-bit, GeForce GTX 4070 Ti SUPER, 16GB.
Old lady hobbyist.
All visual art or fiction is "playing with dolls."
Minyassa posted Sun, 13 December 2020 at 12:30 PM
Words cannot express how much I love this whole thread. This was a great idea. <3
mrsparky posted Mon, 14 December 2020 at 11:46 PM
Sorry there's been no updates for a few days, been waylaid by a combo of some kinda winter bug and being roped into xmas shopping. Which left me totally shattered, we're talking Olympic grade sleeping. Then sometimes as the queues are so long for the shops, I even managed to do both at the same time before anyone noticed.
But back to whatever passes for normal in 2020 and another WIP.
And don't worry whatever I had hasn't sneaked down the internet and fried your brain as well as mine. What you see here is a test to see if I like how I've mapped and laid out the material zones, or if there's any obvious errors.
For example, notice on the security sensor thingys, there's a separate zone. That's because I noticed on some of these the panels are not always sensors, but are lights. So if you use software that allows a material to be used as a light emitter, you can easily switch out the plastic texture/material to a light emitter.
On the red square I can see I didn't map a part correctly, that is actually a light-light, so I'll quickly remap that to the correct zone. Then I can move onto colouring it all in.
mrsparky posted Mon, 14 December 2020 at 11:46 PM
Minyassa posted at 11:46PM Mon, 14 December 2020 - #4407385
Words cannot express how much I love this whole thread. This was a great idea. <3
Glad you're enjoying it!
SamTherapy posted Tue, 15 December 2020 at 4:46 AM
Olympic grade sleeping? I can do that, no bother. :D
I've encountered the odd - literally - problem with Wings (which I use) from time to time, where it arbitrarily assigns materials to another region. Ran into it with one of my Dalek models and the only solution was to rebuild the bleedin' thing. Somehow the model got corrupted but the problem didn't show up until I saved out the obj.
Oh, the joys of modelling stuff.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Tue, 15 December 2020 at 10:17 PM
Olympic grade sleeping? I can do that, no bother. :D
Yea normally no probs either, especially on buses..cue the old joke about the passengers getting upset, but seriously that one flattened me.
Oh, the joys of modelling stuff.
Oh yes...I just mapped this one, made a change and it decides it wants to map as 1:5 and not 1:1. Still looks alright, just prefer a square map. Then I messed up and selected the wrong bits, but as you can see it's nearly there now..couple of tweaks and job done.
SamTherapy posted Wed, 16 December 2020 at 6:59 AM
Oh yes, very nice work.
I think I've only ever used square maps. Sometimes I've had multiple maps - I like UVMapper Pro for the ability to hide stuff - but always essentially square.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Wed, 16 December 2020 at 11:08 PM
Thanks - yea I like square as well, though sometimes...grrr..and tonight is one of those
As you'll see my modelling is a little off from the actual. Which is down to what I said at hivewire about using google streetview/photos and foreshortening.
Now obviously I want a reasonable level of accuracy, but to what degree is what I'll discuss here. Photos are OK under fair use for the purpose of education/debate.
For the modelling ...the 2 red arrows show my model isn't wide enough there. Which, in theory, should be fixable by "stretching" the mesh and a quick remap. Plus some extra detail needs to be added in.
The red box is more tricky, as the 4 seasons zoom photo shows theres a door there. Cutting that out is likely to destroy the mapping. So door or no door, that's the Q. Part of me says no, because of the mapping issue, and I want this done soon. Mainly as I want to start on the traditional xmas freebie. But part of me says yes aim for accurate.
Next is colour, notice how the blue green is different in all 3 photos. The 4 seasons one is direct from them, it's a zoom background they put on twitter. Accurate, but a very dark colour and most press images are lighter. So here I'll go for the lighter and a hint at the top grunge.
White is also a problem, clearly on the real thing it's a very clean white. But that's a problem as you can see from the press images, the highlight is blown out. Something that rendering makes way worse than any photo. So here I'll use a model makers trick and create a "scale white". That's where you don't use a pure white, but one that's slightly grey. That way it won't blow and be so noticeable on the renders.
SamTherapy posted Thu, 17 December 2020 at 6:41 AM
Agh! I'd be sorely tempted to correct it. Seems you're very much like me in that respect; I had to go back and rebuild a lot of my Dalek models - several times - to get them more accurate. Eventually, though, after 4 or 5 versions, I thought they were good enough.
You're right about pure white, too; there's no such thing in RL, anyhow, unless you're talking about highlights and so on.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Thu, 17 December 2020 at 11:06 PM
Agh! I'd be sorely tempted to correct it.
Yea think I've got to, so that's what I've done. So the widths by the doors are now more accurate and the small door has been added.
That aspect was easy enough, and the upside was a lot of the other parts (in white) could be recycled and won't need remapping.
Big downside the wires now don't fit. Originally these came from a pack of meshes kindly made for me a while back by Kastaway. Some of these I will resuse, but some I'm going to make from scratch using Carrara spline modeller. A rather fiddly process as the screenshot below shows. Something I've never done before, so can't promise 100% real world accuracy, probably more of a reasonable representation. But on the upside it will lose the square clips on the 1st version, something I didn't like.
SamTherapy posted Fri, 18 December 2020 at 1:52 AM
Cables and the like are fairly easy to do in Wings, once you get the hang of it. I've never yet used a spline modeller, but so far Wings manages everything I need.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
randym77 posted Fri, 18 December 2020 at 5:05 AM
It's looking amazing.
mrsparky posted Fri, 18 December 2020 at 11:27 PM
Thanks Randy. Sam, be interested to hear your technique for that.
...and tonights...as you can see still "wiring" and this one was a real brain taxer! But I think I've cracked a way to do it, which might help anyone facing the same challenge.
Take a segment of 'wire', in the shape you want. Be that a preexisting mesh, spline etc. Stretch to length, rotate etc, then cut it in 1/2 down the length, deleting the unwanted bit.
This brings two bonuses: 1..it helps reduce the overall polycount of your model.
2..if you want to place the wire against (something like) a very thin wall you won't get it poking through the other side. Which allows you to use really thick cables, for example if you wanted armoured power cables in a sci-fi set.
Place your segment in the desired location, repeat the above and line it up next to the 1st segment, leaving a small gap. Now create a cylinder and slice that in 1/2. Kerching! There's a wire clip, just like in the real world. Move that into place, aiming for around the point where the wire/cable etc starts to droop.
Obviously, in the large image, these clips are not yet in place. Nor is it a perfect solution, it is time consuming, but so far it seems to work.
SamTherapy posted Sat, 19 December 2020 at 7:19 PM
No problem. I'm not in Wings right now but I'll get it lit up in a day or so and see if I can give you the heads up on what I do.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Sun, 20 December 2020 at 10:00 PM
thanks sam
...and tonights....
Might be hard to see, but that's the final modelling of the new much thinner wiring complete.
mrsparky posted Sun, 20 December 2020 at 10:02 PM
Also starting on the few objects by the door, which will be a fire extinguisher, 3 (all different types) of hose reels, a waterproof junction box and 4 plates with bolts. The latter because they'll give some extra detail to what is 'in essence' the hero shot of this model.
Now for the crucial thing, I asked Santa if he's ready to pop this down your chimney before xmas. But he can't give me a straight answer as his sleigh is in currently stuck in Dover docks along with everyone else's pressies and Rudolph's carrots.
SamTherapy posted Mon, 21 December 2020 at 4:28 AM
It's all looking good, mate.
Yeah, the port delays are a bit of a shock to everyone, although they should have seen it coming. I hope Santa it taking suitable precautions with PPE this year.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
randym77 posted Mon, 21 December 2020 at 5:57 PM
This is going to be so fantastic!
Apparently, Four Seasons Total Landscaping has become something of a tourist attraction:
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/12/four-seasons-total-landscaping-the-full-est-possible-story.html
They still don't know how it ended up being the site of the press conference. Sounds like the business is taking full advantage of their fame, though.
The Siravos were nothing if not good marketers, and by December, they’d sold more than $1 million of the merchandise they’d drawn up to capitalize on all the attention, like stickers that read “Make America Rake Again!” and “Lawn and Order!”
mrsparky posted Mon, 21 December 2020 at 10:20 PM
Yea dunno why but I want this one to be a nice one as well. Probably because I'm a little bit rusty on the virtual modelling side compared to the real world modelling side.
And yes the port thing is an a**e if you're waiting on Lego and cauliflower Or possibly even some four seasons merch :)
Talking of waiting, sorry no update tonight. Stezza (at the related thread over at hivewire) has kindly created a video which shows how to make curly stuff within Carrara 5. So I've been playing with the virtual Plasticine all night.
FYI - talking of playing, I gather I'm note the only idiot working on a 3d version. I knew of a VR version for furries, but it seems this location may have stirred other modellers loins into action as well. So you folks may have a choice, or as I hear, more precisely you could always pay someone at the Big T a few $1000. Though fear not, this one will remain a freebie in the spirit of silliness and Santa's.
mrsparky posted Tue, 29 December 2020 at 10:18 PM
Pleased to say now we've got past Christmas, Covid Cops and Crutches..just the usual quiet xmas :)...slowly getting back into this. Tonight the final modelling of the extinguisher top, which - I hope - has enough detail for hero shots balanced against poly count (around 500k).
SamTherapy posted Wed, 30 December 2020 at 10:41 AM
Very nice, neat work. The perennial problem of detail versus poly count.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Wed, 30 December 2020 at 10:25 PM
thanks Sam and yes very much so :(
..and tonight's...nothing fancy just more work on the extinguisher...
randym77 posted Wed, 30 December 2020 at 11:45 PM
Nice work. It looks as good as fire extinguisher models I've seen for sale. Better than some.
Digitell posted Thu, 31 December 2020 at 7:55 AM Forum Coordinator
SamTherapy posted Thu, 31 December 2020 at 8:30 AM
Digitell posted at 8:28AM Thu, 31 December 2020 - #4409035
I think this discussion really belongs in the 3D Modeling forum.
I strongly disagree. It's going to be a Poser freebie, and barring the odd comment here and there it doesn't go into great detail about the nuts and bolts of modelling. If things keep getting moved out of here this forum is soon going to be deader than disco.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
Digitell posted Thu, 31 December 2020 at 8:36 AM Forum Coordinator
You can post it in the Poser freebies once it is done and then post about it in the Poser forum with a link to it ( if it is on Renderosity ). 3D modeling is the purpose of this forum..which is what this thread is about. Thank you for understanding.
mrsparky posted Thu, 31 December 2020 at 4:19 PM
mrsparky posted Fri, 01 January 2021 at 12:11 AM
mrsparky posted Sat, 02 January 2021 at 12:14 AM
Sometimes things don't work out and tonights WIP is one of those.
Inspired by looking at our garage hose reel, I thought give one of the hosereel insets some extra detail. Kinda like how plastic modellers include cockpit detail, while you can't see it, you know it's there.
Looks nice but it's 600k and 2 sides will be needed, so this one isn't suitable. But it won't get dumped, instead I keep a virtual spares box, which is this will go and later might be used as a car wheel, or spaceship gribble.
mrsparky posted Sat, 02 January 2021 at 7:18 PM
SamTherapy posted Wed, 06 January 2021 at 7:12 PM
It's all looking damn good. I hope other folk are stopping by to see the work you're putting in here.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Wed, 06 January 2021 at 8:52 PM
_It's all looking damn good. _
Thanks! Indeed 'getting it good' is why I've not updated anything for the last few nights - want to get the next hose reel just right. Which annoyingly isn't happening, but I'll figure it :)
I hope other folk are stopping by to see the work you're putting in here. At hivewire they are, but I don't know about here which is also kinda frustrating. But I guess that's my own fault if I'd done something "vital" to the future of poserdom, like a giant nipple morph the thread won't have got moved :)
SamTherapy posted Thu, 07 January 2021 at 11:13 AM
mrsparky posted at 11:12AM Thu, 07 January 2021 - #4409580
But I guess that's my own fault if I'd done something "vital" to the future of poserdom, like a giant nipple morph the thread won't have got moved :)
Yeah, well I did try to argue yer case, mate.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
ghostman posted Fri, 08 January 2021 at 4:59 AM
sad to say that this forum is not videly visited. Same goes with the other 3d program forums. I'm surprised that the zbrush forum is a dead horse considering that many pposer creators use it.
"Dream like you'll live forever. Live like you'll die tomorrow."
mrsparky posted Fri, 08 January 2021 at 10:39 PM
Yea I know Sam and it's appreciated. Ghostman yep and that's why something like this happens it's so bl**dy frustrating.
Anyways tonight ... Bit of a departure here, stuck on the 2nd hose reel anyway. But one of the most striking images on TV news of what happened Thursday was the people wearing those emergency masks.
Now lets be honest here and ignore all that political fighty stuff and focus on the important thing here. How cool where those masks! Wouldn't you like one for your favourite characters ?
Just think of the scenes you could make, like Dawn in a shop making astronaut noises...so I started making one.
mrsparky posted Fri, 08 January 2021 at 10:40 PM
Cracked it! Well I think so... Solution (well for me or for anyone to wants to create something like a plastic carrier bag) was to create a rectangle with rounded corners and a rounded top.
Load into meshmixer and use the sculpt option until it resembles something like the real thing. You might need to make 2 separate parts and join together in your modeller.
Either way you'll get a very large mesh, around 12mb. So fire up meshlab, and play around with the decimation options until happy. Then it's some jiggling around in the modeller/mapper etc with smoothing/triangulation/remove co-planer etc.
Next was to add some thickness to just the lower section to give it an edge.
Followed by adding the clear vision screen & screen frame, so that part will be flat and level.
You could also model & map the vison screen and frame as separate materials. Say to give the screen a different colour from the main hood.
For the plastic effect, you could use an app native glass material, use that shader mentioned above, or (as the image) simply tinker with the transparency settings.
To to fit it just dial it into place, you might (ok will) get pokethrough. For body pokethrough, tinkering with the axis dials will reduce that. For hair, it depends on hair length.
Also don't forget to adjust the scale dial, depending on whatever figure you use. BTW - this one will be packaged up and put up for free over the weekend.
mrsparky posted Sun, 10 January 2021 at 11:41 PM
Pleased to say the mask is now available for free at my freebie site ...
...plus I'll be uploading it to the freestuff here as well.
ghostman posted Mon, 11 January 2021 at 3:58 AM
Looks good. :) Always good to re-use old watercanisters. hehe
"Dream like you'll live forever. Live like you'll die tomorrow."
SamTherapy posted Tue, 12 January 2021 at 8:56 PM
Blimey! That's groovy. I notice you got V3 - with Grace Lion Hair, no less - to model it for you. I'd recognize those spaghetti arms anywhere. Always liked the hair, though, and I still use it to this day.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Wed, 13 January 2021 at 8:13 PM
Looks good. :) Always good to re-use old watercanisters. hehe Oh yes :) Though credit where due, this idea was a print from Seemushk at Redbubble.
Sam, yea can't beat V3 for the 5 yard stare :) But seriously this is my go2 figure even now, especially with the Grace Lion Hair, one of the best hairs in my runtime and yea used all the time.
As for the mask, this was inspired after a really really long day helping someone move house. As the day went along, and the news was breaking about what had happened in the US, people down south in UK land started getting weirder and weirder. With quite a few saying have you seen and it was the end of the world. But of course no never explains what they've seen!
Wasn't until we got back here and turned on the TV news, there where those masks, which as well as looking like something out of a sci-fi movie, looked really cool. So I thought why not :)
mrsparky posted Wed, 13 January 2021 at 8:14 PM
and why is it when you get so close to the end of a project, the motivation wanes at the same real world work takes over...
That said here's, what (fingers x'd) should be the final bit of complex modelling, the 2nd hosereel. Now it's time to assemble this together with some ground.
and yea I know the hose is a tadge out on the vertical axis, noticed when rendering the WIP, though fixed that now.
SamTherapy posted Thu, 14 January 2021 at 1:13 PM
Given recent events, I can see this set getting a lot of use in various ways.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Sun, 17 January 2021 at 12:07 AM
Given recent events, I can see this set getting a lot of use in various ways. yea if I ever finish it :)
annoyingly I lost a major file - the 2nd rebuilt building. Fortunately I had an earlier version, though some wiring detail was lost. Not sure if I could it call a mistake or a lucky notice, but I also realised that the rebuilt building was a lot longer. Which would create problems when trying to get maximum size with the textures. So I broke the model up in extra material zones. Hence the colours on the image.
The image also shows where the small parts will be placed and what else needs to be done. The extinguisher just needs a new bracket around the outside, because that looks nice. though I'll leave the label as extinguishers do get replaced in the real world.
2 new parts, waterproof box and another hose reel, are also shown here.
I'll also be making a lectern, a mic stand and some logo boards. Though those will be simple to do, plus I'll be offering both pro and anti styles. So you can choose if you want to make your scenes about heroes or zeros. These won't be attached to the building, but separate load and dial in props, so that the model can be used in different ways.
After that it's the ground, which will be playmat style, something the buildings will sit on rather than being joined. That's because Carrra screws up the mapping/texturing when joining the parts together.
SamTherapy posted Sun, 17 January 2021 at 1:59 PM
Me likey! That's a damn fine model, no mistake. May have been an annoyance to lose one version - it's happened to me several times - but it seems to have benefitted from a revisit.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Sun, 17 January 2021 at 4:29 PM
Thanks and yea sometimes mistakes can be happy ones and one big benefit of 3d compared to wood is cost. Lost count of the amount of times that I've spent days woodworking and only created a very expensive pile of sawdust:)
As for tonights..
mrsparky posted Sun, 17 January 2021 at 10:11 PM
ok another update...this time lets talk one more detail and colours.
Just found a photo with these 2 weird looking tanks. Guessing these are gas..as is in natural gas, rather than what Americans call gasoline and Brit's call petrol. Then again they could be Solyent Green for all I know :)
Though as they look such strange shapes to me, the weirdness just seem to fit this whole situ, so just got to model them :) Which will be quick given the shapes.
Now for colour, as I#'ve mentioned before this is still an oddity. The press and 1 google-maps photos are clearly taken in very bright cloudless light. Yet the photo a zoom background posted by 4 seasons landscaping is totally different.
Plus you'll notice on some the white painted area is bleached out. So I've decided to run with I'd call a "comprise colour". Yes it's not 100% screen accurate, but it's close and shouldn't bleach too badly on renders.
Especially HDR which tends to look overbright, especially on flatscreen monitors. Like this one which isn't accurately colour calibrated. Kinda like how the USS enterprise's studio models never look like the ones on TV.
Finally, as last night bricks. One set under the windows will now be textured on rather than modelled.
Plus looking at new photos, theres also some castellated style ones on the ends of the painted wall.
Which too will be textures.
mrsparky posted Mon, 18 January 2021 at 11:09 PM
tonights ...seems (and thanks to the nice suggestions at hivewire) that this one might be one made by a company called Granby. So inspired by those here's the start of that...
mrsparky posted Tue, 19 January 2021 at 8:59 PM
and tonights...
...and yes got a bit carried away with the detail here :)...
...note I've included the little black and yellow shape thing in what I think is a indication gauge, plus a suitably suitable warning label.
mrsparky posted Wed, 20 January 2021 at 11:21 PM
mrsparky posted Thu, 21 January 2021 at 11:16 PM
mrsparky posted Fri, 22 January 2021 at 10:21 PM
took a breather from the tanks to play with the speakers...
..here's the 1st version of the back. Happy apart from the outside corners - they just need smoothing out. So why the speakers ? Because I think if you look at the press photos these shapes stand out.
Obviously (for copyright/design reasons)had to make some changes from the original.
bbost posted Wed, 27 January 2021 at 12:55 PM
Really nice details on these units. The exterior looks great all on its own.
mrsparky posted Wed, 27 January 2021 at 4:02 PM
Thanks, thought as you can see here..this part is proving to be a bit of a pig...
...and this is just the core stages of my attempts so far!
mrsparky posted Wed, 27 January 2021 at 4:03 PM
ghostman posted Thu, 28 January 2021 at 2:13 AM
Really nice progresse. :D
"Dream like you'll live forever. Live like you'll die tomorrow."
mrsparky posted Thu, 28 January 2021 at 4:53 AM
Thanks and yea it's getting there.
Think the problem with this bit was I'd fallen into a deadly self induced artistic trap. Fixating on a single detail and missing the blindingly obvious :) Compounded by refusing to not give in and take a breather.
Also didn't use life-long learnt tricks, like abstracting complex shapes. Fortunately life interverned and I had to stop yesterday. So I looked again today and can see it's nothing more a diamond with a hole in the middle!
Diamond is easy enough, a boolean cut gave me the measurements, so I can go back and re-hand model that area. Though I think I'll have to stick with a boolean cut for the hole and clean up. Not ideal as booleans are messy and hand modelling always gives better topology.
But I'm hopeful this way could work.
mrsparky posted Thu, 28 January 2021 at 4:57 AM
ghostman posted Thu, 28 January 2021 at 6:41 AM
I use booleans in zbrush, but we got tools in ZB that clean it up really nice. Before i shunned booleans as much as possible since it was a PITA to clean up.
"Dream like you'll live forever. Live like you'll die tomorrow."
SamTherapy posted Thu, 28 January 2021 at 7:56 AM
Good grief, man! This has gone from a superb model to flat out amazing.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
Warlock279 posted Thu, 28 January 2021 at 10:21 PM
I don't think there's any need to boolean that. I'd model it "squared up", set your edge flow how you want, then use a "shear" operation or a "proportional move" tool to get the angle. Something like this ...
I'm not sure what package you're working in, but I can't imagine there isn't a tool in all the major ones that will do similar at this point. So long as you set the alignment of the fall-off along the "corner" it'll work just fine. Alternatively, if you can't set the fall off on a 45 degree like that, rotate the object itself so it's aligned to one of the major axis, align your fall-off along that axis, then rotate the object back after the operation.
You've got some nice stuff in here! :)
Core i7 950@3.02GHz | 12GB Corsair Dominator Ram@1600mHz | 2GB Geforce GTX 660
Lightwave | Blender | Marmoset | GIMP | Krita
mrsparky posted Sat, 06 February 2021 at 11:44 PM
Sorry there's been no updates, real life has been rather brown, dealing with a death and a near death.
ghostman - yea they are a PITA especially the clean up. Especially if I forget to use the merge command on the mesh before trying a Boolean. That's guaranteed to get the dog leaping my lap to offer some intensive therapy :)
Sam - thanks - though at this rate it'll be one for the history books by the time I've finished it :)
Warlock - thanks so much for that, not sure what you mean by edge flow, shear/proportional move tool.
Not sure if Carrara has the latter two or not.
But your image has certainly saved the day here - literally in seconds!
Dunno what it was but for someone reason when I restarted this yesterday, I just couldn't grasp your idea. obviously, my brain being full of stuff, not your excellent suggestion. Just seemed to go around and around in ever frustrating circles, so I left it and started on another part.
Then I decided just one more try and bingo it worked, so thank so much!
mrsparky posted Sat, 06 February 2021 at 11:44 PM
As for the other part ...here's the start on the oil tank pump. Yea I learned this type was an old one, but it seems to suit the quirkiness of this model so why not :)
slight name change because of trademarks
SamTherapy posted Sun, 07 February 2021 at 6:19 AM
Blimey! Sorry for your bereavement, mate. And all the other shite. Life chucks things around like a muck spreader, for sure.
Nice work on the pump, btw.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Sun, 07 February 2021 at 10:15 PM
Thanks Sam and yea with 2020 and now 2021 it does feel like it. Though at least we've got 3d stuff to keep us moderately sane. Like tonight's this one was made by tracing over a photo found on google and the odd dash of the bevel command in C5.
Obviously can't show the photo here as it's a stock one (Alamy Image ID: EM2751) and I'm using my kidneys :) But I think it's pretty close considering it took about 4 hours from start to end modelling. Though not mapped or zoned yet.
mrsparky posted Mon, 08 February 2021 at 11:15 PM
tonights......gas pump has been mapped and zoned.
Good is...the idea of making the numbers (bottom right) a recessed section, like on the real thing, that's worked. As always using app specific materials. Mapping anything that needs text a lot larger.
Not good.... allowing the tech to "take over" some of the manual creative work and not the mark 1 human eyeball. In this case, what's usually great for retroing photos, some nice software found on giveaway of the day called Grungetastic. Plus while rendering noticed some scalped text.
But it's all fixable and you'll note the pipe needs to be made and added.
ghostman posted Tue, 09 February 2021 at 6:33 AM
Love it. Some really nice modeling. :)
"Dream like you'll live forever. Live like you'll die tomorrow."
mrsparky posted Wed, 10 February 2021 at 11:06 PM
Thanks...and tonights ..well 5.06am if that counts :) .some improved maps...
mrsparky posted Sat, 13 February 2021 at 8:56 PM
...and tonights....the tank with the gas girl pump.
Yea I know the real one doesn't have this kinda pump, in reality there appears to be just an upright pipe. But it looks cool, so why not :)
Must admit the pipe on the pump looks a bit weedy, so I'm going to try and improve that.
SamTherapy posted Wed, 17 February 2021 at 11:54 PM
Cracking work, me old mate. Turned into an epic and a half.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
FatallFlow posted Tue, 23 February 2021 at 11:38 AM
mrsparky posted at 11:37AM Tue, 23 February 2021 - #4406013
...and tonight's slightly less silly WIP... the powerlines.. and yep I know it's not accurate. Instead it's a hybrid based on various images of transformers, poles, wires etc, to give the flavour. It's also the largest in terms of mesh/file size - around 2mb - which I think isn't bad given the detail level.
Wow this looks great!
mrsparky posted Wed, 24 February 2021 at 10:50 PM
Thanks everyone and yea it's become a bit of an epic that I'd like to try and finish soon. Though in the last few weeks real life has been intervening way too much :( Only bit of modelling I've managed is what you see tonight, well this morning, it's for something else (more on that later). But I've been given the OK to include this into this model. Not sure if this kinda wheelie bin is used in the US or not, but I figure including it would be fun.
SamTherapy posted Fri, 26 February 2021 at 4:52 PM
Nicely done. A trade waste bin, ISTR.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Sat, 27 February 2021 at 11:34 PM
Thanks and here's the caster wheel, gotta be honest actually allowed myself to feel a tad proud of this bit. Mostly because it was such an a**e to make it so it feels visually right.
mrsparky posted Tue, 02 March 2021 at 8:21 PM
and as it's been a few days ...here's an incredibly boring update. Another hose holder for beside the 2nd building door. Plus the concrete plinth with what looks cut up railway track to stop vehicles from hitting the tanks. Obviously needs some proper textures.
SamTherapy posted Wed, 03 March 2021 at 1:31 PM
The wheels for the bin aren't too different from the ones I made for my Marshall stack, other than the sticky out bit - which I presume could have a brake block if needed. The main difference is I made the wheels themselves as one piece and if I'd needed extra materials, I'd have added then on, rather than making separate bits.
The really interesting thing about modelling is, IMO, everyone has their own approach.
I guess the "railway track" parts are most likely RSJs.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
SamTherapy posted Wed, 03 March 2021 at 1:39 PM
The wheel part is one piece, and the axle pin is fixed to the bracket on my version:
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Thu, 04 March 2021 at 6:20 PM
_The wheels for the bin aren't too different from the ones I made for my Marshall stack, _
I'm not surprised as when I looked for inspiration many of this type seem have the same general shape. Possibly different enough for copyright or manufacturing reason.
Though if you look at 3d versions, most have a "flat" bracket that looks like the top version in the piccy below. Most likely because that took less than 60 seconds to model compared to several hours of trying to make it "feel right".
_other than the sticky out bit - which I presume could have a brake block if needed. _
Yep, that's what the hole in the top is for, I'm going to add a none working impression of a brake block.Though if you look on the real objects you'll often find only 2 braked castor wheels are fitted. The others tend to be brakeless.
Something I suspect is due to the cost of the braked castors, especially instore. Screwfix (a big UK DIY/tool stores) charges from £6.99 each and Homebase (a similar store) prices scared my wallet so much it ran away screaming. Which is a major problem when you're trying to make something cheap or use recycled materials.
So on the 2nd image I used supermarket trolley wheels and made a "wheel sandwich". Fortunately once loaded up (moreso now the underneath is a timber store) it's so heavy there's no real need for brakes. But in the rare event it does need them, I made some "chocks" from 45 degree cut scrap timber held together with metal straps. (bottom right).
_The main difference is I made the wheels themselves as one piece and if I'd needed extra materials, I'd have added then on, rather than making separate bits. _ Yea I was being a tad lazy there :)
The really interesting thing about modelling is, IMO, everyone has their own approach.
Yes very much so, be that 3d or real world. Which is what I like about threads like this as we can share those approaches and techniques.
I guess the "railway track" parts are most likely RSJs.
Yea I think either is possible.
The wheel part is one piece, and the axle pin is fixed to the bracket on my version:
I like yours as the topo is nice and clean, mine needs some major clean up.
SamTherapy posted Sat, 06 March 2021 at 2:10 AM
By 'eck, mate, that's a very impressive setup. I could lose myself in a place like that for weeks.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Sun, 07 March 2021 at 6:51 PM
**By 'eck, mate, that's a very impressive setup. **
Thanks! What I'm most proud of is nearly everything is recycled. Or in the case of the tools all the big ones have been given by the kindness of friends or grants.
I could lose myself in a place like that for weeks.
Normally I can as well, unfortunately these lovely people are our neighbours... https://www.chichester.co.uk/news/crime/arrests-made-after-cannabis-cash-and-white-powder-seized-chichester-area-3122952 ...and ever since then it's been impossible to work in our garages.
Similar indoors as well, the whole block constantly stinks of weed and other horrible chemical smells. Chuck in the day job as well and sometimes it's days before I can find time to work on this.
mrsparky posted Sun, 07 March 2021 at 10:28 PM
On the bright side lack of sleep means you get this ....:)...
mrsparky posted Sun, 07 March 2021 at 11:05 PM
OK he's not rigged, but he is something rather fun to make if you ever want to try something different. Something I learnt when trying to improve the textures on the gas tanks for the garden centre set. Something that can be done in literally hours.
The body is from the game Spore. Something you can pick up dirt cheap from most 2nd hand game shops, often for pence/cents. Think I paid under £5 for the core game and the creature creator and 50p for extra creatures.
You'll also need a particular patch and I won't deny this lot can be fiddly to install. But if you persevere (theres loads of tutorials etc online which can help) you'll be able to enable a "cheat" console. One that allows you to export to .dae export with .tga textures.
A .dae that can be easily be converted to .obj using free online services. So you can 3d print this or use it as a poser model. Though the textures are only 512x512, so if using in poser etc, you'll need to make some new ones.
The best way to do this is with something that can paint textures on a mesh. Obviously theres cool stuff like Blacksmith3D (maybe Blender?) or if you're really rich... Zbrush. But theres also Zbrush's (free( baby bro... Sculptris.
However Sculptris is funny about it'll import. Often it'll throw up an error about meshses having more than X verts. Though there's a very simple..and also free solution to that.. MeshMixer.
Meshmixer, as the name suggests, mixes up meshes. Such as in this model, I've used a .STL head model from Thingverse (Creative Commons as well) and the Spore body. Though the important thing is MeshMixer exports to an .OBJ that sculptris will usually accept.
Then once your in sculptris, you can add smooth out any poor connections between the 2 parts. Add some subdivision, add some lumps and bumps etc, or resize areas. And yea I know the hands are too big on this one :)
After that you can enable Sculptris's paint mode and texture paint it. Maximum texture sized allowed is 2048x2048. Just remember to keep saving as Sculptris can be buggy, plus once you enter paint mode, you can't return to the sculpting mode.
Enjoy :)
ghostman posted Mon, 08 March 2021 at 5:19 AM
LMAO!! Love it
"Dream like you'll live forever. Live like you'll die tomorrow."
goofygrape posted Tue, 09 March 2021 at 2:30 PM
you should put the prim monster's head on also ;)
mrsparky posted Wed, 10 March 2021 at 8:20 PM
Yea I trying making an Ineptasaurus, but like the real thing it just didn't work right. Then watching the news, especially the bit about nurses only getting 1%, it hit me...
What do all politicians do to people...yep that's right...so here for your viewing pleasure is the Johnsonosaurus
..and if that doesn't give you nightmares, just imagine an VR ad campaign with a neeked Peirs Morgan lying next to you.
Sweet Dreams everyone :)
ghostman posted Thu, 11 March 2021 at 2:03 AM
now we're talking. hehe
"Dream like you'll live forever. Live like you'll die tomorrow."
SamTherapy posted Sat, 13 March 2021 at 6:10 AM
SamTherapy posted Sun, 04 April 2021 at 4:01 PM
Hey, Sparks! Have you fallen off the map? Been a bit quiet round here lately. Hope you are OK.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
mrsparky posted Thu, 08 April 2021 at 6:48 PM
Yea I'm fine, it's just the day job :(
What I'm finding is people are fed up with being locked up. Chuck in lockdown/restrictions slowly being reduced and as more folks get their jabs it's making them feel more confident about going out. Problem is that's not being mirrored by support services, many are still not running, virtual only or simply don't exist anymore.
The latter sometimes happening in the most Kafkaesque way possible. Such as closing down a walk-in service, because no one has walked in. While ignoring the fact it was held in a building that the public was banned from entering!
Something that's especially prevalent in the healthcare sector. Which often seems to be run by the kinda "experts" who'd (to blatantly steal the line from Nick Pettigrew's new book) think putting go-faster stripes on lightening is a great idea. A prime example being the rule that says after you've been treated in an ER dept, you must leave immediately.
No passing go, collecting $200 and forget waiting for a taxi.
Even if it's 3.03am, it's raining and you are a vulnerable women in your 20's, in a wheelchair.
Which is where my role comes in and why for the last month b*gger all has happened in my personal/artistic life.
Not saying it's been busy, but our dog taught itself to use a can opener. So a result of that, and forgetting what the concept of "walkies" is, he can't fit through a door. Which is a tad disturbing for a chihuahua, but on the plus side, it's made the cat well happy :)
Though when I can find a few hours I do plan to get back into making this set.
SamTherapy posted Sat, 10 April 2021 at 10:29 AM
Rightio, mate. Glad you're OK, other than rushed off yer feet.
You want to think yourself lucky the cat hasn't figured out how to use the can opener. The day they learn how to do that is the day we all die. :D
I say this as the "owner" of 7 cats.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
