Hey everyone. First topic I've made here, but I've been browsing for a while. Decided to start an in-house project at work, building Shoreham Airport in it's 1930's form. I'd like this to be seen by as many people as possible for ultimate guidance and critique, so registering and posting here seemed to make sense! It's being made at a 1:1 ratio scale which will hopefully help with producing some great renders.

Modelling: SolidWorks 2008
Rendering: Maxwell Render 1.7

Here's the building in the 1930s. I'll hopefully achieve something more dynamic than this, though. :p


I've managed to get the blueprints for the airport so modelling it accurately has been made slightly easier. The building itself is largely symmetrical so to begin with it'll be modelled in half and then mirrored over when it needs to be. Not too far just yet, as I'm fitting it in between jobs but this could potentially be a really rewarding project when it's done.

Modelling will be done in both SolidWorks and Rhino, the final render will come from Maxwell.







I'll keep you updated, and if you have any critiques or comments, please let me know.

Note: Much more detail on each post and modelling processes will be shown in my blog. I felt I wanted to keep a log of my progess for this one so a blog seemed right to set up. Check it out if you want to see some extra images and modelling steps!

Hey everyone. Just a quick update on the model so far...

Some more details added... Liking it so far!

the model looks good but i would like to see textured.

Thanks, rmiquele. The textures are what I'm working on now, as the model is fully finished so you'll see some in the next update.

Hi everyone - got another update here. Finally got to work on the texturing and I'm pretty happy with it so far, bar a couple of areas. I've been going with the clean, newly built 1930s look and I think that's how it's looking. There are a few bits and pieces I've yet to add in post, but what I'm having trouble with is the floor. This is my first exterior/architectural piece and was wondering if you guys have any suggestions or techniques for this sort of thing. Here's what I have so far:

Floor Style 1 - Maybe a bit busy and features some noticable tiling.


Floor Style 2 - Quite plain and flat. Not too unlike the real thing but not nessessarily attractive for a visual.


Any help to get away from flat looking tiled textures would be great, whether it's done in post or rendered. Anything else you notice that you'd like to point out would be welcome, too.

Thanks!

The textures definitely look flat. You might benefit from bumpmapping to a degree, especially for the ground texture which is the area the flatness is most noticable.

As for the building itself, the lighting almost seems *too* white. I am not sure what else to suggest to give it a more refined look

Thanks, TanadrineStudios! Those suggestions have been thrown into the list of improvements in time for the next render. Much appreciated.

It looks like some ambient occlusion would make it more realistic.
Or you should tweak your lights to define the shadows.
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Andyba, 3d artist
skills: 3d modeling, texturing, rendering, 3d character animation, compositing
3d software experience: 3ds max, Maya, Softimage XSI, Deep Paint 3d, Body Paint 3D, Wings 3D, Z Brush
2d software experience: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After effects, Macromedia Flash, Freehand

The first picture was really convincing. It looked like it was really old. I think it would be better to add some of those little scratchy like lines on the picture. I find it very cool. The picture is really nice, to think that it is made through the internet.
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Sadly other work has put this project on hold for now, but I definitely hope to finish it soon.

Andyba: Thanks for the tips. I agree, some work on the shadows is needed. We kind of wanted it to be bright on the side you're looking at it though, which means the shadows all generally appear behind the building. I'm sure I'll think of something!

Bryan: Thanks! Yeah it's quite amazing what you can find on the internet. In post work I hope to create a few different styles of the final image. One really clean one, as if there were digital cameras back in the 1930's and one old, tattered style render.

Really cool Scene. I agree I think some bump in the texture would help. Also agree on the white and like anyba said, maybe work with the lighting. Just my opinion, but maybe less white and clear and more sun showing across the building. It might give it a little warmth. Love the scene though. Great work with the depth of the birds in the sky. You should finish that up when you get the time. Keep up the good work