@chedda said:
The trees are 3D. Your right there is a privacy issue but that window is at the rear (they are the same). A screen/curtain solution will be designed. At the moment the interior is very undecided so the main job was the exterior. The candle is a modelled flame (teardrop) with a scaled smaller flame with emitter (inside). So yes just emissive. I have attached the tea-light.Thanks for the comment.
Thanks for the model!
I like these a lot 
.
Are those trees 2D? I really like the loft scene... although privacy anyone? 
Especially when it seems like the bathroom window is on the front of the house! I think your house needs some curtains/blinds. Also, those candles... are they just an emissive material on a candle flame model?
Good stuff!
I think these images have a great deal of potential but currently just look a bit "flat". Unrefined maybe is a better word, but they don't really have a good "punch" to the image. Like it has been said before, it needs some life. Maybe people and maybe turn on the computer screens! Have an image on the monitors.
I hope you don't mind, but I did a quick Photoshop job of one of the images. Very quick but just gives an idea of what I mean. Adding some life and depth into the image.
@icedkasz said:
Stevebo, fantastic project. I'm loving the cleanliness of the layouts (I hate the super crowded grad boards).
Can you talk much about the perforated walls? I've seen the same thing done with concrete, but the builders claimed it was prohibitively expensive. In your wall, do you expect much heat loss?
Grad boards? Not sure I know what that is.
The perforated walls, conceptually speaking was to hint something within and whilst inside, creating a surreal environment. In terms of construction, as shown in the construction diagram, the perforations are created with acrylic rods. In actuality, probably glass. So in essence, somewhat like a partially glazed wall and so don't imagine massive heat loss compared to a standard glazed wall. The wall itself is built using an structural insulation board acting as formwork, that is perforated. Reinforcement bars are laid and an aluminium formwork with the glass roads attached lay on the other side. Concrete is then poured in situ and the formwork taken out, creating a cavity wall construction.
Hope this makes sense!
Thanks everyone for the feedback! They are very much appreciated!
Whoops about the structure diagrams. It had been a while since I drew structural diagrams! 
I shall put it up at PushPullBar soon .
Thanks again!!
Hello! Graduated and stuff now, so I thought I'd post up my final project. This project was one that marks out my passion for magic, philosophy and architecture. So below is an excerpt from my project should you wish to read it. If not, hope you like the images below that! Modelled on Sketchup, rendered on Vray, post production in Photoshop.
Enjoy!
%(#BF0000)[**g a r d e n c i t y - alienation, nature & reconciliation
The Garden City reconnects man to nature with the city as the mediator between the two. The modern city has a tendency to lose touch with nature, and as such, we feel the need for exclusion from the city to experience the natural.
However, how we are truly alienated from nature is not by the physical and literal connection of city and landscape, but instead it is the alienation from the untouched state of mind. Nature, from Latin natus “born”, describes the innate qualities that living beings possess from birth. Over time, we lose touch with this state and life becomes unworthy. As once described by Socrates with his aphorism, “The unexamined life is not a life worth living for a human being”, we must question everything for happiness, yet with modern life, there is a degree of acceptance without question amongst people.
Magic distorts reality allowing the questioning of reality, and permitting the reconciliation with the innate qualities that we once possessed.
This project thus proposes an institute for the conjuring arts, promoting the art of magic and its acquainted artforms.
" Our task is not to return to Nature, in the manner of Rousseau, but to find the natural man again. "
m a g i c
The word magic can materialise many different ideas into a person’s mind. Some think of magic as an extraordinary power truly possessed by unique beings. Others associate it with a demonic state akin to witchcraft and sorcery. Then there are those that see it as a fun activity for children’s parties and other events. These may all stand true, however they all share a common attribute - magic takes the ordinary, turns it into something extraordinary and create a moment of suspension of disbelief.
a l i e n a t i o n
On further elaboration to the introduction, we see a reality around us as one that is governed by preconceptions. We do not really see reality - instead, we perceive it. As such, we often simply accept these preconceptions as reality and are alienated from possibilities that can arise from stepping away from these limitations and simply opening our minds to new possibilities.
On the contrary, a child is born into the world with no preconceptions of the world. Everything to the child is wondrous, since the child has no understanding of what the norm of the world is.
n a t u r e a n d r e c o n c i l i a t i o n
What magic tries to achieve is to allow a person to experience a clear, primal state of mind that is reminiscent to a child’s state of mind. This is the moment of astonishment. The state of reconciliation, in this case, is the point where a person, with Jung’s principles, finds his natural state again - his inner child.
" ... what these astonished adults are really trying to say, even though they’re not consciously aware of it, is that for a brief moment, they experienced a clear, primal state of mind that they associate with a child’s state of mind.
Astonishment is not an emotion that’s created. It’s an existing state that’s revealed. "
d e c e p t i o n & c o n v i c t i o n
To find one’s inner child through magic, we must understand the underlying principles of magic and how and why people are deceived. Ultimately, the modern audience knows that magic is nonexistent and are conditioned sceptics. They understand that logical procedures are used to achieve illogical results, and this is understood as deception. However, deception is not merely enough bring people to the desired state of mind. This must be elaborated with conviction. Conviction is created through the atmosphere in which the deception occurs. Only with conviction can the audience be immersed into a state of mind whereby there is suspension of disbelief.
Magic is therefore resultant of both deception and conviction working together. The journey of magic which the spectator experiences can be seen as analogous to a roller coaster - it is a series of paths, with rises and falls. These rises, or transitions, can be altered but the falls, immersions or plunges, are often steep and powerful. This ends with a final finale - the greatest plunge. This is the mental path.**]
Aerial view
Exterior - park day
Exterior - park night
Perspective section
Overview diagram
Entrance to basement
Reception
Basement
Library
Courtyard
Terrace
Ascension
Theatre - audience
Theatre - performer
Theatre - structure
Bridge - structure
[img:10oapug9]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/stevebo37/Structurebridge.jpg[/img:10oapug9]
Bridge - structure
[img:10oapug9]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/stevebo37/Bridgedetail.jpg[/img:10oapug9]
Unwrapped bay elevation
[img:10oapug9]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/stevebo37/1-50bayelevation-corten.jpg[/img:10oapug9]
Environmental section
[img:10oapug9]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/stevebo37/section2.jpg[/img:10oapug9]
Environmental section
[img:10oapug9]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/stevebo37/Environmentsection.jpg[/img:10oapug9]
Perforated wall construction process
[img:10oapug9]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/stevebo37/Perforatedwall.jpg[/img:10oapug9]
Corten wall detail
[img:10oapug9]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/stevebo37/Cortendetail.jpg[/img:10oapug9]
Kalwall bridge detail
[img:10oapug9]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/stevebo37/Bridgedetail-1.jpg[/img:10oapug9]
Hope you like these!
Love these!
Here's my novice attempt using Thea. Unbiased TR1 for 2 hours.
Thank you guys! Means a lot!
Richard - although it's not my intention to grab anyone by the balls, I am glad that my render did! 
JSteacy - Thanks. The rain image was actually one of the better received renders!
Mike - The project is actually over, but I am willing to do extra stuff. But, the model is a HUGE file! Over 4 million edges and over 1.6 million faces. Sketchup is really laggy even on my i7 and Quadro FX1700 with this file. I might have to give Lumion a try though when I get the time! Hopefully it'll be able to handle the file a bit better . I've actually never really worked with animation before though. Should be fun!
These images are ridiculous... ridiculously fantastic! Can't wait for SDS2!
Where do you source your HDRI maps from Solo?
Thank you!
I couldn't find a high resolution wood texture that sufficed my needs. The texture is supposed to be that of Eurban. It's a composite wood panel that can stretch to 13m long.
Hello all.
Wanted to share with you a render I played around with today that combines my passion for card magic, Sketchup and Vray.
C&C welcome 
Hey guys.
This is a group project that I just finished working on, in my final year of my BSc of Architecture. We were to design a film institute in the city of Bristol, with the title "Film, Ontology and Architecture".
Not to bog you down with too much conceptual stuff so here's a quick summary so you understand what the building is about. We took the title and broke it down into three bodies: film; human; and architecture. Each body is composed of three entities: the outer layer; the structural layer; the inner layer.
Human: Skin - Musculature - Viscera
Architecture: Facade - Structure - Spaces formed.
For film, the cinema and screen formed the outer tangible layer. The structure of the film, we treated as the audience, where without the audience, the film would not stand/exist. The inner layer is the emotions provoked by the film onto the audience.
So what we wanted to do is to create a series of transitional spaces that progressively take people out of the world of the reality and into the cinematic world. The form of the building also takes nature of a body with skin and its "organs" floating within the body.
A bit long winded but otherwise I don't think the building would make much sense without it. So... here we go
Sketchup, Vray and Photoshop used.
Hope you like it! C&C welcome!
Thanks
Lovely stuff!
One minor thing... the light streaks look great but it suggests a long exposure and where you have people in your scene, shouldn't a motion blur be applied to them?
Oldish topic but just want to say thank you Tom . I promised I would buy it, bit late but I did . They look great!
Edit: Some quick tests on Vray
Even if it is bad from behind, it is fantastic from the front! The detailing is brilliant! Just goes to show how much better a model looks when properly detailed! Also good post processing. Sketchup colours are usually very naff, and you've done a good job at enhancing them.
To me, the unrealistic bit of this scene is that the background image seems like an autumn/winter scene with all the leaves dropped in the trees, yet your trees, although having autumn leaves, still have their leaves.
On another note, I can't wait for these trees! I really want to test them out on Vray!
I kinda meant rendering from SU would be more difficult rather than the actual modelling. Vf3ds is more powerful than VfSU. Plus using lots of high quality textures on SU would probably kill it very quickly.
Hey guys. I've modelled this and posted the images here. After my crit, I have altered the design slightly and I need a far more accurate model of the skin. Essentially it'll be the same as the framework as the Great Court of the British Museum.
I initially modelled it with SoapSkinBubble, but now I've looked at Tig's EEbyRails and Lines2Tubes to make this but I still have no idea how to make it using EEbyRails.
I've taken the outline of the bubble and now struggling to make it.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/445006/Outline.skp - Here is a link to the outline of the building
If someone could help me, I would be extremely grateful! I want something like what Tig made in this topic.
Thank you!!