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September MMC - the Beach House
About Truespace Archives
These pages are a copy of the official truespace forums prior to their removal somewhere around 2011.
They are retained here for archive purposes only.
September MMC - the Beach House // Monthly Modeling Contest
Post by Nez // Oct 2, 2007, 3:36am
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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As I never seem to work on anythinig biggger than an SMC typically these days, I really wanted to have a go at this MMC as it very much appealed to me. I've actually got several ideas bubbling and this isn't my favourite, but figured this was the one most likley to get done, so we'll just see how we go....
A rather less imaginitive approach than some, just starting off with a fairly simple interior for a large open plan living area; background is just a placeholder for now - intend to use a matte, probably from terragen... some very basic colurs and lighting applied just to help me differentiate items as I don't have layers. Have most of the 'structural' items done (some more doorways etc likely to be added), need to start adding details (window sills, architrave/skirting, window handles) and some furniture, which should be interesting as I've never really done much in the way of soft furnishings before.... area to back left probably going to be kitchen.
I'm not used to posting half done images but knew Steine would start to hassle me if I didn't post something soon! Don't know if I'll get it finished in time, but I'd like to see how far I can get it by then, and maybe see if I can get one of my other ideas at least part done too...
Comments and crits are more than welcome, although there's not much to comment on yet. Anyone who'd like to give some tips on interior lighting for pre-TS6 (i.e. faked GI, etc, pref. without radiosity) would be welcomed... see also http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showthread.php?p=48235 |
Post by Steinie // Oct 2, 2007, 3:59am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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Nez, I'm glad your in the Challenge with a nice entry too. Remember to do one outside shot too. Good Luck. It is nice to watch others work for a change.:) |
Post by Jack Edwards // Oct 2, 2007, 4:23am
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Jack Edwards
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Lookin' good Nez! :) |
Post by Nez // Oct 2, 2007, 5:15am
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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Thanks guys!
Doe sthere have to be an outside shot? I don't remember that being a requirement - I was working this on the basis of the view above being the final viewpoint and wasn't planning a full exterior.
Although I do have one idea for a sort of exterior shot, but it wasn't going to be my 'primary', if that makes sense...
Have done a quick chair, but going to need a lot more furniture than that...! |
Post by Steinie // Oct 2, 2007, 6:06am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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Right now I'm happy to see activity! Do what you have planned, I like it. |
Post by MadMouse // Oct 2, 2007, 6:10am
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MadMouse
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Looks like your off to a good start. Looking very nice. |
Post by spyfrog // Oct 2, 2007, 10:36am
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spyfrog
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Thanks guys!
Doe sthere have to be an outside shot? I don't remember that being a requirement - I was working this on the basis of the view above being the final viewpoint and wasn't planning a full exterior.
Although I do have one idea for a sort of exterior shot, but it wasn't going to be my 'primary', if that makes sense...
Have done a quick chair, but going to need a lot more furniture than that...!
This chair looks really comfy. The texture looks really good. |
Post by Nez // Oct 3, 2007, 3:50am
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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Thanks!
I'd better not show my wife - she's rather keen on having some chairs like that for our conservatory!
I've done a bit more furniture and stuck it in roughly where I imagined it; obviously there's still plenty of work to do still on 'decor' items before I start getting too carried away with furniture, not to mention the small matters of textures, lighting, etc... But I was having fun, so I've put an update below. I've got a dining table and chair just about done too but haven't sorted the scale out just yet. Need to get on and build the kitchen too.... |
Post by Jack Edwards // Oct 3, 2007, 4:20am
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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Looking pretty good. You need to change the floor material though. That or use a grey instead of white. |
Post by Nez // Oct 3, 2007, 5:21am
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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Yeah, hadn't got round to final texture for the floor or walls - I'd stuck a placeholder colour on the walls to make them easier to distinguish in the real-time view, but forgot to put one on the floor, so it's still at 'default white'.
For the time being, I've stuck in a tiled finish - will have to see how this works with everything else later on... |
Post by Jack Edwards // Oct 3, 2007, 5:35am
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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Much improved. :)
AA and some work on the lighting should help solve the other issues that are leaving the lighting and shadows a bit flat. ;) |
Post by Nez // Oct 4, 2007, 6:46am
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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Thanks Jack
If you have any suggestions on how best to achieve nice interior lighting without GI/Vray I'd be glad to hear them...!
Still a fair way to go; have added curtains, curtain tracks, window sills and doorways to balconies (furniture etc removed to keep geoetry down for test renders...) Background isn't final but just a better placeholder... |
Post by jamesmc // Oct 4, 2007, 6:53am
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jamesmc
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Nice living space! I'd want to live there. :)
What is SMC? What is MMC? |
Post by TheWickedWitchOfTheWeb // Oct 4, 2007, 6:56am
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TheWickedWitchOfTheWeb
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This is progressing very nicely. I particularly like the staircase.
What is SMC? What is MMC?
SMC= Speed Modelling Contest
MMC=Monthly Modelling Contest (or Member Of The Magic Circle!) |
Post by Jack Edwards // Oct 4, 2007, 8:28am
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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Hi Nez,
Yeah, VRay would be my first choice. :D
You could place area lights outside the windows...or use an IBL/HDRI and use creative placement of interior lights to simulate the light bouncing... or try irradiance. But without GI, there's no easy solution.
You *could* use Dribble.... ;) :D |
Post by Nez // Oct 7, 2007, 10:21pm
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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Thanks Jamesmc and WWotW for the kind words.
Jack - yes, sadly VRay is not an option; no HDRI in TS5 and I'm not quite sure how to get an IBL to do what I want for an interior scene - if I place it outside the building. Was considering using large area lights in front and above, but I'm sure this will then be painfully slow to render and adjust as TS5 area lights seem to struggle. Maybe I should do a quick import into TS4 and see if the area lights were any faster there...
And I'm keeping my eye on dribble but would need to be happy that peopole had happily figured out the GI etc issues that were coming up initially. To compound the problem - I can't run it at home as 3delight won't run under win98 (yes, I'm out-of-date!) and probably won't be able to get installed on my work machine unless i can persuade the administrator to install it for me...
Probably going to have to try creative placement of interior lights then...:D |
Post by TheWickedWitchOfTheWeb // Oct 8, 2007, 1:49am
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TheWickedWitchOfTheWeb
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No HDRI in tS5 but you can fake a degree of the reflections, etc, by simply putting in a skydome. It is quick and simple and can make a big difference. A quick and simle tutorial can be found here: http://www.spacekdet.com/tutorials/skydome/
Only thing I'd add to that is when scaling up makes sure you scale it up past the camera so that it's also on the inside! |
Post by trebs // Oct 8, 2007, 2:59am
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trebs
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This has a lot of potential.
I like the interior space you are making here.
I won't comment on the rendering until that's close to being ready. I will comment on the modelling though.
I get the feeling that things are a little light in construction here.
Example, the exterior wall thickness. It feels very thin, it maybe a curtain wall but looking through the windows I'm really not getting the feeling that it's anymore than a 100mm sheet.
The window frames, look out for the sectional thickness there. The bottom sills look like they are thinner than the rest. maybe the frame is slightly too bit for the opening and it's sitting in the wall's geometry?
Why do you have a horizontal section in the windows?
Are the top sections opening? They'd need secondary sash frames.
The railings around the 1st floor. I'd rethink their sectional construction. Fine tubular construction is good, but consider how they could be made in reality.
The glass roof... The apex has no support. The glass is butted together there. There is no wat such large panes would be supported in that way.
Again, attention to detail of the construction there is needed. If I look at that main door/glass wall. The right hand side. top edge profile. It's thicker than the one on the left.
Ceiling on the upper floor. It looks way too thin to support any type of flat roof. You have some boxed lintels to support the glass roof, but they are thinner than the sections of the roof itself.
Lots of little details like that make or break an attempt on a realistic looking image. I have a background in construction so these details always stick out to me.
I also suggest that all the modelling is done, before you get mixed up in lighting and "realism" renders. It's tempting to start with the nice fancy stuff before the model is ready, we all do it, but it does slow down progress.
Keep going, loads of potential here.
Good luck ! |
Post by Nez // Oct 8, 2007, 5:19am
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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Trebs
Thanks - some useful points there that I will attempt to pick up on as I continue working on the model; I may not be able to address everything but there's a couple of clangers there I should have spotted myself, like the apex support and the relative section size of some of the structural elements.
The windows are intended to be casement windows and haven't had handles added yet to the opening top sections, but yes I probably ought to do something about the frame thickness as this does tend to reduce the pane dimensions to the opening portions. Not sure what has happened at the bootom of the frame - will need to opem up the model and look at that.
And yes, the wall is a bit thin... just didn't think it was going to show up...!
With regards to the textures/lighting, guilty... as I don't have layers in this version of TS, I tend to assign colours or materials somewhat as I go to make it easier to separate items - buit then tend to get a bit carried away. Not the best workflow I admit!
Thanks for the constructive comments. |
Post by W!ZARD // Oct 8, 2007, 11:34pm
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W!ZARD
Total Posts: 2603
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Hey, nice digs, Nez!
Re the GI query - there is (or perhaps was) a plug-in or tsx available called (IIRC) TJVikings Fast GI Shader that (again, if I recall correctly) is compatible with tS 5.
I don't know if it's still available however - perhaps a search of the old forums might turn up a working link or someone here may still have it on their hard drive and may be able to share it with you. It was free and so there shouldn't be any licencing problems.
HTH |
Post by TheWickedWitchOfTheWeb // Oct 9, 2007, 2:22am
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TheWickedWitchOfTheWeb
Total Posts: 858
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It is still available. For the download link plus a few tips and tricks on how to use it properly (like disable multithreading first) can be found here: http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showthread.php?t=3981 |
Post by Nez // Oct 17, 2007, 4:05am
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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Thanks for all the help/comments so far.
I have had a quick look at the FastGI shader but couldn't quite get to grips with it, even reading back to th eold forums. Will need to spend longer to figure that out, unless anyone still has a copy of the original tutorials that were hosted by the author back when he released the plug-in? (the tutorials are no longer available on line as far as I can see).
Anticipate that I will try to make do with some carefully positioned lights for this challenge...
This is just a minor update to prove this hasn't died a complete death - I've made some tweaks based on some of the points raised so far, including some of the points raised by Trebs (albeit not all of them - not enough time anyway, plus a degree of artisitc license being taken anyway).
Have done some work on the kitchen and dining furniture, doors and a few accessories. Some of the furntiture, etc are just not shown currently to keep render times down, so these will be returned...probably... have also modelled a few other bits that I want to keep up my sleeve for the moment, but need to get some shelf contents and general clutter done plus some light fixtures - I had modelled some but they appear (by process of elimination) to cause programme crashes so will have to replace them...
Lighting still to be adjusted of course, plus some textures probably... running out of time now so need to wrap up the geometry (there's too much already anyway!) and sort out that lighting...
NB: thanks to jamesmc - do you know what for? ;) |
Post by rjeff // Oct 17, 2007, 4:27am
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rjeff
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I like it...and to be honest you are the only one who has actually done a dream house...I think this months challenge has kinda gotten all crazy. But hey that is the the fun in it all. |
Post by rjeff // Oct 17, 2007, 4:28am
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rjeff
Total Posts: 1260
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hmm..just took a second look...you may be addressing this but...the silver object haging in the kitchen. Is it a vent for the oven or a light or what? It just seems to be haining without any suspension. Just my thought. |
Post by Nez // Oct 17, 2007, 5:40am
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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Ha thanks! Yes, I seem to be the only one working on a 'real' house, but maybe that just shows my distinct lack of imagination? :rolleyes:
The silver thing is an extractor 'hood' for the cooker hob - you should just about be able to make out some saucepans below it, but you've helped me notice that I have lost a 'drop' in the ceiling above it when recovering my scene from the corrupted lights.... must put that back. I could have done a more classically 'boxy' extract hood, but wanted something curvy to match my curvy kitchen island counter...
Cheers |
Post by Nez // Oct 19, 2007, 4:59am
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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Well, I have to call it a day: no internet access from home, so I have to post today whilst in the office.
Fairly pleased with the result - had quite a lot of fun doing the modelling on this one including quite a few firsts for me - have never done curtains or soft furnishings before for a start - ended up using quite a lot of SDS on smallish things that don't really show up that well (e.g. the taps and saucepans) where the polys are perhaps wasted. What with the sofas and light fittings, all that geometry really added up - about 25MB in the end, which doesn't seem too bad considering. Was going to do a few more nick-nacks but just didn't have the time.
Reasonably happy with the lighting too though if I'd more time and patience I might have tried to be more ambitious/careful and used area lights but didn't have time to do that and get a render up today. maybe when I can afford to leave it running overnight I could redo the lights and re-render....
In hindsight, and given my interest in architecture and houses, I should have tried something a bit more architecturally exciting or novel, or at least a bit more flamboyant perhaps. Maybe this just says I'm a bit too modest in my idea of a dream house!... Would have been fun to try something futuristic, or underwater, or on another planet.... Had loads of ideas but perhaps played it too safe.
So thanks to Steine for a great challenge - you've got me really fired up to get back into modelling complex scenes which is something I've not reallly done for ages. Good luck to everyone else in the challenge too.
Stats, for anyone interested:
TS version 5.1SP2
-modelling time:? probably around 24hours I'm guessing (in installments of 30mins-2hrs), but it's about what I'd expect for a bigger scene like this.
-texture creation/texturing: probably only 1-2hours dedicated, mostly done as I went along. A few specially created textures (like the fractal wall art, done in Apophysis) and book spines.
-Rendering: took about 1.5-2hrs using Lightworks, with multiple local lights, several infinite lights plus an IBL...
-Surprise favourite object: the deckchair...! |
Post by Nez // Oct 19, 2007, 5:03am
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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NB
and just because it isn't terribly apparent in the final image above, I did go to the trouble to model a powerboat and small pier (and not just montage them in!) - they were somehat obscured by the furniture in the end...
Proof: |
Post by Steinie // Oct 21, 2007, 7:57am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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Nez,
You did a great job on your Beach House! I'm glad you entered the challenge with a fine entry. Good luck with the voting. |
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