@raduteo said:

I had no idea there was such a problem/speculation, it works fine for me. However, remember not to go over 2048x2048.

V-Ray can read any size of diffuse bitmap, so there's no reason you can't load a huge bitmap into SU and although it will be downsampled to 2048 x 2048 in the SU viewport, V-Ray will render it at full resolution.

I'm intrigued about the UV mapping, it may only be SU's in-built UV mapping tool which doesn't work properly with render plugins.

@dolphus said:

Call me biased but this is not as impressive as your locomotives, but i can understand wanting to change....maybe ?

However much you prefer locomotives, how you could find anything negative to say about such incredible modelling and texturing is beyond me.

Raduteo,

Thanks for explaining that workflow, I'll have to take another look at Blender if it has such good UV mapping tools.

Is this still rendered in V-Ray for SU? If so I'm suprised the UV mapping from the imported Blender mesh renders properly in V-Ray- I was led to believe by one of the developers that distorted maps in SU couldn't be "read" properly by render plugins.

Get the heck outta here! You can't tell me that's been textured in SU?..... and if so, HOW?

SCF really needs a "we're not worthy" smiley.

You should start a new thread for this so more people see it.

Thanks for all the kind comments!

I left my laptop rendering again last night and the result is another 4 renders, concentrating on details and a view of an internal corner you don't often see in photo sets of the pavilion.
The column foot detail has been pretty heavily photoshopped as the travertine slab diffuse map doesn't really stand up to close inspection, so I PSd a higher resolution example in and mapped it over the rendered one. The others have just been gamma and exposure adjusted from the HDR renders, a little diffuse glow and a little dodging on the stool cushion seams. The last one shows window frames without any filleting, beading or screws- I'll update that part of the model one day, but I thought it might be interesting to post an example of the difference that details like that can make to a render.

Scott, re: the chair and stool cushion thickness, on studying more photos I agree they could be a bit thicker (uuugh, back to the vertice mines LOL ), but it's only on copies that I've seen cushions anywhere near twice as thick as in my model, see the black copies below compared with the real deal. I really had my heart set on modelling the original original barcelona furniture with bolted steel legs rather than Mies' updated cast monolithic ones that we all know and love, but I couldn't find reference photos anywhere. I'm pretty sure I remember seeing them at the Bauhaus museum in Berlin years ago- I'm going back in September so I might have to sneak my camera in. heh heh

Again, the original 1400 x 800 images can be viewed at the following links:

http://i449.photobucket.com/albums/qq215/JacksonPhotobucket/7_29BarcelonaPavilionInterior090-1.jpg
http://i449.photobucket.com/albums/qq215/JacksonPhotobucket/8_29BarcelonaPavilionInterior090-1.jpg
http://i449.photobucket.com/albums/qq215/JacksonPhotobucket/9_29BarcelonaPavilionInterior090-1.jpg
http://i449.photobucket.com/albums/qq215/JacksonPhotobucket/10_29BarcelonaPavilionInterior09-1.jpg

I love seeing this level of detail in arch models, especially as it's rarely needed or justified for most arch work. SU transformed one of my least favourite arch tasks (resolving complex details) into one of my favourites and it's a joy to see someone else using it to great effect for the same purpose. Nice clear renders too.

LOL, Pete you are way too modest! Vue was the first renderer I ever used, I loved the GUI, bundled materials and atmospheres and instant feeback you get when you alter parameters, materials etc, but V-Ray's render times eventually tempted me away. Every time I see one of your Vue exterior renders I get this aching feeling inside.... must.... get.... back.... into.... Vue! LOL

Keep posting, your work and modesty is always an inspiration.

@gaieus said:

Yes, indeed. I know I'll have to do the whole cleaning job, really. Once my new machine is up and running (hopefully some time early next week), I'll do it with the lappy. I just don't want to risk ending up with no computer at all as I have ongoing works (and of course, SCF ).

I would have thought that a frequently critically overheating PC would be putting your work at a much greater risk than blowing some air through it now and again.

Yikes! Silly question, but have you cleaned the inside of the laptop?

A quick guide for anyone who thinks they may need to do this:

1. Unplug the power cable and take out the battery.

2. Unscrew all the access panels on the underside, turn the laptop back right way up, open the screen/lid to 90° and stand it on its side. This is to create as many "holes" in the laptop chassis as possible so dust can be blown out effectively, even back out through the keyboard.

3. Using compressed air, blow a few extremely short bursts of air backwards through all the exhaust vents. This dislodges all the grunge which has accumulated on the leading edges of grilles, heatsinks and obstructions due to the constant one-directional air flow. Then do a couple of short bursts from the opposite direction (i.e. into the fan air intake) to ensure the dust you just blew backwards hasn't simply lodged somewhere else instead. Repeat this back-and-forth process a few times until you can't see any more dust coming out of either "end".

COMMON SENSE WARNING: Of course, if you're using an air compressor be very careful to limit the pressure and hold the nozzle back a few inches/cms from the actual vents as you can easily dislodge or damage components otherwise.

4. If you can get access to the fan, CPU and GPU heatsinks, a large soft watercolour paint brush is great for getting in the nooks and crannies to get them shiny again (not unlike archeology!). A couple of gentle blasts of compressed air after brushing and they'll be like new.

I do this at least 3 or 4 times a year and (even though I only use it at home) a cloud of extremely fine dust is inevitably emitted from my laptop's innards every time.

A well-insulated CPU (i.e. covered in a nice fur coat of lovely fluffy dust) and blocked pipes will overheat in seconds and blowing more air through it (with an extra fan for example) could just cause more dust to accumulate, exacerbating the problem. All the more so in a smokey atmosphere which, Csaba, considering your laptop's current AND previous owners, could explain a lot!

Re: the incredibly slow start-up, it really sounds like you need to do a full OS resintall.

That last image can't be real.... can it?

Somebody is either an amazing photoshopper or an amazing (ly dangerous) truck loader.

@raduteo said:

what I did was project the texture onto the curved surface, went and turned off projection on every single face that makes up the curve and repositioned manually untill it fit

I was really hoping you'd discovered some fantastic way of pelt mapping in SU that you could share with us, but I see you've used sheer skill and dogged determination to achieve these amazing results! Thanks for explaining that and for sharing these amazing images, I just can't stop studying them.

I've never actually used it, but pelt mapping is a UV mapping method whereby you select a "seam" of edges on a mesh (exactly like a taxidermist cutting the seams in an animal's pelt to remove it in one piece, hence the name). The mesh is then unfolded to form a 2D surface- which you then use as a template for creating a texture map. On applying the texture to the map the program automatically applies the correct UV mapping (including distortion) to each face according to their original 3D position. It's possible in 3D Max, but I think SU would have to be re-written from the ground up to implement this feature.

I'm still curious how you achieved such good dirt and rust mapping on the trains- is there much post-processing, or is that all in the actual textures? It really looks like you used ambient occlusion to get depth in all the details, but I didn't think Podium supported AO? Any chance we could see some close-ups? Raw SU images would be very informative!

LOL, Alan, aside for the Tibetan yeti theory you described my precise train of thought on viewing those pics!

Film monsters? No.
Real snipers? Yes.
Assault Rifles? Huh?

Maybe the camo is so good they don't need sniper rifles? They just wait until you're standing on top of them and they shoot you in the n*ts?

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=17948&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=fredoscale

The plugin is an attachment at the bottom of the very first post. Don't forget to read the updated first paragraph of that post and to download the LibFredo6 3.1f files, Fredoscale won't work without them.

Side by side installs of SU7 and any previous version can screw up skp thumbnails in XP, the same probably applies for other MS OS's. I haven't worked out the "logic" behind this bug as it affects some skp files, but not others. You'd think it would be skp files saved in the previous version format that wouldn't display as thumbnails (or vice versa), but it's not as simple as that; it appears to affect skp files at random regardless of version format.

Radu,

Utterly stunning work. The clay model renders on the first few pages were very impressive (very curious how you did the rails, sleepers and ballast stones between them- are they rendered or Photoshopped?), but the texturing work is unbelievable!

Aside from your incredible texture map making skills, I'm especially curious how you applied the texture onto the main bodywork of the train, around the chamfered corners for example? It's so well done it looks pelt mapped.

Stunning, looking forward to seeing more from you in the future.

Stinkie,

I saw a clip of that film a couple of days ago, looked promising, but unfortunately I'm not sure it's bad enough to be good (unlike one of my all-time horror-comedy favourites: Kenny Everett's Bloodbath at the House of Death). It's a shame as it's high-time this genre was resurrected... Shaun of the Dead didn't quite do it for me. Where else could you hear the lines:

Q: What's that noise?
A: Sounds like a bunch of monks exploding.
(Lines uttered during a dinner while a bunch of monks explode oustide.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodbath_at_the_House_of_Death

"Nazi zombies" is a sweet tag line though..... because sometimes being a zombie just isn't enough!

Of course changing the content of the message (even with smilies) changes the tone. I'm sure John has also mastered the use of smilies, but all the in the world wouldn't magically change the phrase "Because you're too stupid to win?" in reference to Hungary having been repeatedly invaded by Russia into anything other than a personal and/or racial insult.

No John, I'm not accusing you of being a racist, but that comment could certainly be perceived that way.

Bloody hell John, that just sounded obnoxious. What have Gaieus and/or Hungary done to you? If it was meant humourously, I don't get it.

Just imagine how I felt when I sat on the train to work, glanced across the carriage and saw 3 people holding up newspapers with the headline

JACKSON IS DEAD

If you think it's good for alterations to orthogonal geometry you should see what it allows you to do with organic geometry. It has revolutionised a large part of how I work in SU. Fredo should be made Head of Development and given a big organically formed office at Google SU HQ... pronto!

Don't forget to donate: Tools Menu>Fredo6 Collection>Fredoscale>Donation>Fredo6 at Paypal

No, I'm not on commission; I just think ingenuity, skill and generosity like his deserves reward! Now where's the "We're not worthy" smiley?