Nice delicate piece, the subtle sketchy overlay is very good also.

@pbacot said:

To my mind the best shape would gradually round over to the other side and I am not sure how to do this simply.

Following on from pbacot's post and pilou's suggestion to use an upright extruder. This method will give a uniform curve to the top edge.

Great scene and modelling!

Thank you for your kind words Bryan. I really wanted to illustrate the premise of the infinite Library. Borges's description is loose enough to allow a broad interpretation. However, the very real limitation is that I wasn't able to create a model that could do it (the Library) justice. I'm quite happy with the render that I did complete but the requirement for more and more gallery modules to be in view to give the infinity impression just slowed the model and render process exponentially. This is despite using Chedda's excellent mirror suggestion. What you see in the final render is really the limit of what can be shown in any one view. Anything more always seems to reveal a space at the end of the reflected views that needed another gallery to fill it! And so on....

So, not a dead end but more of a limit reached perhaps. It was a very enjoyable learning experience and not at all wasted. Not sure what I will try next but likely there will always be the false starts and trail of unfinished models!

Going to leave this one here as I've reached a bit of a dead end with it! Time to move on to something else.

Cheers Bryan, as usual things conspire to get in the way of modelling time so haven't done much more. I did, however, try the mirror effect in the vertical direction. It works the same but as the view looking up is different to that looking down, the combined mirror image shows both - so up and down appear in the same image. If that makes sense!

It's not the great (as always) render - it's the atmosphere, there is a story here! There is something at the top of those escalators and stairs.

Yes, one mirror in each doorway. The scene still needs a gallery positioned above and below the one shown. The gallery component is open at the top and bottom so daylight is getting in at the moment. The lighting and textures now need a lot of work, I just had to rush out a fast render to see if it would work with the mirrors and report back! Going to try the mirrors vertically today.

Couldn't resist posting this rough and ready render using chedda's mirror idea. Only one gallery component is used in this view along with opposing mirrors. To infinity and beyond?

Incredibly detailed modelling as always. Blum? hinges and shelf support drillings are very nice. Presumably there are hidden alarm systems to protect the valuables?

Thanks chedda, I think I understand what you are suggesting. The limitation is my PC in that it doesn't have the processing power needed for this type of model. To stick with Borges's description of the Library each gallery has to be exactly the same as all the others. To show this idea each view must indicate that wherever you look everything is identical. So the infinity thing is an essential component otherwise it is just a room with some bookcases! I will try and explore your idea of using proxies and see if that lightens the load. Also, using a mirror(s) might work so will give that a try as well. Thank you again for the input!

Thank you for the comments guys. I did try some renders but it just choked my machine. The SU file size with just plain colours for textures is not huge by any means. Each gallery is a component and by itself is a relatively simple room. The slowdown comes when copying the gallery sufficiently to give the impression of infinity and then adding enough lighting. There was always some empty space in view that required another set of galleries to fill it! With realistic textures my system would not even allow shadows to be toggled on without freezing.

Somehow I always end up with very complex models - even if I try something simple! My admiration goes to Chedda, his recent Marienplatz and Midnight Maze convey so much with none of the clutter that I seem to have.

An attempt at Jorge Luis Borges's universe metaphor 'The Library of Babel'. I did try and render this but the file becomes very large, very quickly even using Fog.

Nice clean lines and well lit but where is the kitchen stuff? Sink, hob, oven?!

@hornoxx said:

completely detached from your design content topic Bryan - I always love these "simple" native SkUp graphics! There never is a single reason to press any render button!

Always tempting to hit the Render button - just because you have one! Agree there is a lot of SU to be explored and utilised 'just out of the box'.

Project looking good, especially with the bigger size and two levels.

Will look forward to seeing the progress.

@bryan k said:

the hidden geometry doesn't line up. This created intersection issues. Wrong number of segments in the ovals.

Perhaps this might help?

Create the first leg as circular. Copy rotate. Intersect. Remove internal faces. Select all and scale about centre to flatten to oval.

Although this could also be done with Solid tools (Pro or plugin) it seemed to be just as quick with Intersect.

Glad to help! Maybe more glare from the monitor bank?

Guessing a bit here, have you tried searching for river courses that you know to be dry at some times of the year and may have been recorded by the satellite during such a dry spell? Import the DigitalGlobe terrain in SU and texture as needed. Higher resolution imagery may be available but will be subject to copyright of course. Always assuming you are not working on a specific location as the fine detail is usually absent.

If it is a small area you are working on - just a house on a plot say, again search for likely looking terrain anywhere on the globe then import and reduce it in scale. For instance, the Grand Canyon in the US might do the job if shrunk to the size of your plot. No messing just search and scale.

Yes, the Reduce Polygons can produce some weird results. Perhaps apply reduction in small increments and delete individual triangles that are 'weird'. Re-build those triangles to your requirements.

Alternatively, make sure your model is a group or component and place triangulating edges (lines) from vertex to vertex at the spacing you need. Hide/unhide the original model to get a better picture of progress. In essence you are building a new triangulated mesh using the model as a guide only.