@Mike-Amos Looks great. I was expecting an airship. How long have you been working on this?

It is interesting how the 3rd Reich ignored aircraft carriers while Imperial Japan did the opposite.

@L-i-am I fiddled with it for a while a few years ago. At the time it felt strange because I was used to the Thea Render interface but it's similar to D5 Render.

Here's the latest. Got the brake line blocked in. Other than adding the hand brake in the right rear and updating the trucks (which most untrained eyes won't notice) I'm almost done.

I created decals for the graphics on the sides. The background is from Bridge. FBX import.

@Gus-R The main two references for this model are:

Canadian Pacific Historical Association

Norfolk and Western Historical Society

Found a lot of stuff on Flickr and some model railroading site. I used some reference for the trucks from an HO gauge brass model of the SD-45. Also a lot of stuff at Utah Rails.

@Gus-R More updates. Made that chain. Ended up using Profile Builder since Tax Engineering wasn't working out for me. I'm sure it's much easier in Blender but I don't see the point in going that route. Also some snow and a cliff in the background. I have to make those gladhand connectors and hoses for the air brakes in front as well as the manual brake wheel in the right rear of the locomotive.

Did you know the EMD SD-45 weighs 368,000 pounds? Like most freight locomotives the underframe is massive which I learned from modeling it. Gladhand connectors are like what you see in trucks connecting the air to the trailer.

@Mike-Amos Jason Bourne is living there for at most a day.

@L-i-am Thanks guys! I was thinking about motion blur. D5 doesn't have such an option. I tried with Photoshop but it would probably take some work like with masking. I used to do that with old Flight Simulator screen shots. The effects are particals straight out of the box. You have to turn on the dynamic effect under display for them to be visible. You can turn it off after that since the clouds will move along with it and you might not like whatever clouds show up in the background.

@pixelcruncher said in Runaway train in the snow with the door and windows open!:

Very cool, how did you make the fire?

It's a D% Render fire particle. It's like a component that I just rotated horizontal.

ABC Movie of the Week.

Another update!

Added/created: window wipers; 27 point connectors in front (the red and blue plug covers); window wind screens; window shade (still working on that); new decals in front of hood; fuel cap texture; manufacturer plate; tool box on side finished; door latches at 600 volt access panel; weathering; etc.

Also changed the gray to a lighter gray. I have to add the walk in front with chain and latch; some hoses and a valve for air brakes; etc. Train signal by others and the two figures are from D5 Render. Otherwise I slogged through almost every single piece of this model.

I tried to find reference drawings for most of it including blue prints for the trucks which have to be upgraded to a later model. Some things like the window shade apparatus and the tool box latch I had to do my best guess at the design using some fuzzy images.

@Gus-R For D5 Render I add an imperfections image to the AO (ambient occlusion) layer pushing the AO up high. You have to use an inverted image which you can do in Photoshop, GIMP, etc.

@Gus-R This is the imperfections setting for Thea Render for SU. You can see on the upper right I added a scratches jpg on a diffuse layer as shown. It really can make a big difference and is an easy option for weathering or distressed metals, plastics, etc.

@L-i-am said in EMD SD45 - Union Pacific:

@Gus-R said in EMD SD45 - Union Pacific:

DGruwier Surface Imperfections

Is DGruwier Surface Imperfections, something you just put in a diffuse slot?

For D5 Render I invert the texture image and put it in the AO slot. With Thea Render I mix it directly in a layer slot. I forgot exactly the where and how.

@Rich-O-Brien said in EMD SD45 - Union Pacific:

@Gus-R Love the variation in the in textures. Grimy and dirty but no noticeable repetition.

Incredible detail too!

What's the file size? Would love to see some raw SU with wires to really appreciate the modelling.

Thanks Rich. It's 29 MB right now.

I get a little carried away with my line segments even though it slows me down sometimes. I manage it with scenes like turning of the trucks.

The weathering is by adding a material to the AO layer using images from a package called DGruwier Surface Imperfections - Volume 1 from Gumroad. It's pretty handy and works with D5 Render and Thea Render.

Re: EMD SD45 - Union Pacific

Here's the latest. Still a WIP but I'm getting close to finishing. This is modeled with SU 2022 Pro and rendered in D5 Render.

Is Thrupaint payware now? Looks like I need a license for 20 bucks.

@Rich-O-Brien It's a ray tracing engine. Usually takes about 5 to 15 minutes to render depending on output size.

@Rich-O-Brien I can soften the shadows but it winds up muddling the foreground tree shadows on the porch walk and sidewalk. If I increase the softening it completely wipes out and tree form. This is D5 Render and not Twinmotion.

Architectural visualization went from mid 20th century depictions utilizing pencil on paper; pencil and watercolor; colored pencil; watercolors; etc. Many of which depicted shadows with hard lines.

Today there's an expectation of total realism and a sort of uniformity in rendering styles. Many would argue that as realism in architectural visualization increased such as photo real renderings, the quality or beauty in architecture has declined. The same is true with music and automation and re-processing in music studios.

Whether it's rendering or drafting, much of architecture involves a lot of tedium.

I like sharp shadows.

@L-i-am Kind of slow around here of late?

@L-i-am said in Denver Architecture:

Nice work Gus By outsourcing do you mean overseas cheap work?

Thanks. Yeah. They want to pay $300 for something like this and they can probably get something like this for even less from southeast Asia. Doesn't seem like many people even want renderings anymore. If it's not done in-house. Now with AI it won't be long before even the work in outsourcing countries dries up. Maybe if I move to Vietnam I can just charge $300 while collecting Social Security and live it up.