I wouldn't want to own one, but I thought I would take a stab at a so called Queen Ann style.
Creative use of chain link fence for the stained glass and a png for the cresting.
Looking nice at under 4 meg although I haven't modeled the back.
I may switch to a blue or green version, not too happy with the purple.
cheers,
Well, I ended up with something I am happy with for now. It's a combination if a HDRI rendering with an overlay of a Sun rendering for the shadows.
Not perfect but I learned a lot pulling it together.
After thinking about the comments I began to wonder--- am I trying to render what I think I would see, or what a photograph of the building might look like. They are different things I believe (?).
I guess in the end it is all a matter of personal preference and what you are trying to communicate.
Any thoughts? I haven't dabbled in much landscape & entourage before.
Great comments everyone, I appreciate your time and input. I definitely need to work on my PS skills, I have only tapped the surface of what you can do in post processing, I spend a lot of time fidgeting with the render when sometime things can just as quickly be fixed with a few clicks in photoshop.
Richat-- just beginning to tap into manipulating nxtimages, the haze feature looks like it may come in useful for giving depth.
I'll post more soon, spent a little time modeling the tower that goes on top. 
Thanks for the help
I was trying some other settings-- HDRI seems to help with things.
Tom, I'll look into you hack method, I'm outside and the screen isn't reading to well in the sun. (Shouldn't complain it's 85 degrees today!)
Hello all,
I have gotten back into working on my rendering skills. Having some OK results but I am wondering what folks do to add depth to their renderings. This scene has a lot of layers and depth but I am not getting the punch I would like.
Is depth of field what I am missing?
This is just a learning exercise, any tips would be appreciated.
Looking to make it more natural and less CG
Thanks to all in advance,
Saw this on PopSci, thought it may be of interest to some folks here,
@unknownuser said:
The research team, which is the same group that's behind the tech used by Google Earth to create three-dimensional cityscapes, has adopted their mapping tech for the individual person. While wearing the pack, humans take on the role of those Google Street View cars that roll around cities snapping images that can be laid over maps.
But while Google Earth uses GPS to create its 3-D renderings, the team had to figure out another way to model interiors in 3-D (GPS isn't very reliable indoors). The solution was an inertial management unit (IMU) like those used in guided missiles. The IMU figures out where the backpack is relative to where it just was, the cameras gnerate a four-direction view, and the lasers record the geometry of the world around them.
More at:
Sorry if I wasn't clear, but I got it to work.
I just had to be patient and let it do its thing.
Tig, thank you for the ruby, very helpful on a project like this one.
Has anyone had trouble with the mass material import ruby?
I am working on a gallery installation and I have to import 50+ photos.
I have the massmaterialimporter.rb but the strange thing is it only worked once.
I have tried different directory's, png vs jpg and I can't get it to work again.
I am running 7.1
any help would be appreciated
thanks
In trying to figure this out I learned a new trick.
If you right click on the material in the materials browser you can Select (all of that material).
After it is selected you can repaint them with the proper material all in one click. 
Does that do it for you?
Hi Lee,
You could "texture bake it"
Is this what you are looking for?
I added the lighting in Photoshop.
I'm not good at blobs.
If anyone want to try there is a nice web site.
http://gernot.xarch.at/kunsthaus_graz/___03sep15_PMMA_top_3.html
I am actually working on the Hunter museum.
thats blobby enough for me.
I thought you folks might enjoy this link
@unknownuser said:
Towers that seem alive, twisting and dancing with each other. An alien-like blob that looks like a UFO after dark. A building that’s literally a blur. All of these and more are homes, hotels, museums and cathedrals around the world created without any sense of restraint or desire to fit in. To say these bizarre buildings are unconventional would be putting it mildly – they’re almost too strange to be real.
http://weburbanist.com/2010/04/19/15-bizarre-buildings-around-the-world/
@olishea said:
mate less foreground and more sky would look better.
you can also use the tree lines to create interesting foreground shadows...just place the tree line behind the camera and make sure the sun shines through it
Good point, I'll see what I can do. I've got two tree between the sun and the building, trying to get the shadows to play across the front.
Olishea those tree lines are very useful, much easier than stacking trees forever!
thanks again
@daniel said:
t wouldn't by any chance be a Carnegie library, would it?
Thanks Daniel you got it -- its in Paso Robles, CA
Thanks I am really liking this one too.
@numbthumb said:
I would really like to know something more about making HDRI work properly
My guess is that different rendering engines may handle them differently-- I knew that you could use HDRI for illumination-- they work as if you have a sphere of the image around your model and shoots the light through it giving a nice varied illumination.
What I didn't realize is the best part about them is that they can be reflected by things (like the glass in the windows and the domes on the lights. I'd been un-checking the option to allow it to be reflected (for a long time) and was only using it for illumination. You turn on the reflection and things really start to pop.
Certainly a "do'h" moment for me. Others may have more insight I am sure.
Hi Folks,
I made some more progress on rendering this library-- and learned to make HDRI's work properly (finally).
The landscape is temporary, the plan is to model the little park that the library sits in.
Thank you to Olishea for one of his curved backgrounds 
C & C welcomed-- I've got a lot to learn but making progress.
I hadn't seen the boxy handicapped lift when I modeled it but it was a fun building to model if even in a simple way. (I've never been to Sonoma proper.) Its a shame when ADA compliance doesn't harmonize with the rest of the building-- especially some of the nicer buildings. I've seen add-ons of ramps and lifts in a couple of these Carnegies, some well done others, not so much.
pbacot-- check this one out 
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=78c6d6bbf491bd3e726dfca3da887a17
IRender NXT, still working on the textures, interior is next!
