Steinpolis - A Google Sketchup City

[Boris2k7]

Yeah, I eventually got bored of trying to produce buildings for Northport. I made that city way too big for its own good. So I have started Steinpolis, which is much smaller in scope, and should end up being much more detailed. I have already incorporated my favourite Skyscrapers from Northport and have modified them slightly so far.

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/959/steinpolis012ab9.jpg

[Boris2k7]

An aerial view, which shows the river and the park system
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5687/steinpolis02pn4.jpg

[FlyersFan118]

I love it!

[Patrick]

Wow! Just plain beautiful! :)

[foxmtbr]

Beautiful, I love the riverfront park! :tup:

[rbowk]

how do you make your own textures

[CGII]

how do you make your own textures
Let's try this again:
:brickwall:

Turn on your computer.

Open your web browser. This is most likely Internet Explorer. It may go by a different name, but take some time to find it.

Go to Google.

That's http://www.google.com .

Click on the 'images' tab at http://www.google.com .

Type 'Building' into the query (that's the empty rectangle witht he flashing line).

Click 'Search.'

You will find multiple images to select.

Let's pick this one.

http://www.ihs.nl/photogallery/Build...ilding%202.jpg

Using your photo editing program, select out one face of the building, preferably the side whom says 'IHS.'

Copy this selection of the building.

Paste the copied selection into a new file whose edges just fit the edges of your selection.

Adjust the corners of your selection to fill the canvas.

Save this file in .jpg format.

If you don't understand this much, we've got a problem, and YOU're going to have to do some work on YOUR own to figure out how to do this. It's really quite simple.


Anyway, the city is very nice, that park system adds a lot to the whole. :)

[Boris2k7]

Update: Mostly just a few new buildings here and there...

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/8031/steinpolis03pm7.jpg
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/2962/steinpolis04qf3.jpg
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/4755/steinpolis05xc2.jpg
http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/959/steinpolis06ix0.jpg

[foxmtbr]

Awesome! I like that building on the left in the last one, it reminds me of the UN building.

[Patrick]

Wow! I like your city's open skyline look :)

So, where is the exact location? It needs a spot in the map. :)
http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/3620/untitledpp9.png

[Boris2k7]

Okay, I've decided on a location for this one (this most recent "official" map was from BoiseAirport's thread I believe)

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/2817/1222kd8fk8.jpg

[Boris2k7]

Evil Plans are afoot, namely my LRT plans.

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/8301/steinpolislrtplan1zw1.png

[FlyersFan118]

Wow, that looks really good!

[Boris2k7]

Well, I haven't started studying tonight, so in the time between my exam earlier and now I finally had a chance to work on my city.

New Unnamed Plaza in the CBD
http://img285.imageshack.us/img285/5964/steinpolis072us9.jpg
http://img173.imageshack.us/img173/9033/steinpolis082az2.jpg
http://img326.imageshack.us/img326/2386/steinpolis092ho9.jpg
http://img431.imageshack.us/img431/3605/steinpolis102vg9.jpg

Hmmm... I'm going to have to do something about that big blank wall. Not good.

The older historical part of town which is across the river from the CBD. This one I actually worked on weeks ago...
http://img173.imageshack.us/img173/9157/steinpolis112gg4.jpg

[Patrick]

Oh wow! I love the detail you put into the city :)

[Boris2k7]

Thanks. It's mostly just trial and error though. Each one of my cities so far has been an opportunity to experiment on something, and slowly the process is getting more refined. I still have to figure out how to easily make streetcar lines (this was a problem with my train in Merton), and for that matter how I want to place them. Bridges still take a ton of time as well, which is why I only have 1 of them done so far (though it may get changed over time). And of course the biggest issue I am having right now is amassing a collection of decent textures.

There have also been considerations of the size of the city and the amount of detail I want to put in. Northport was way too big for example. And I think I want to avoid hills for the most part.

I think I made my blocks way too big in this city, but at least I can fill the spaces with gardens and plazas.

[Bergenser]

fantastic detail! :tup:

[Wooster]

Boris, I think you have a future in urban design.

:tup:

[Boris2k7]

Thanks Josh, Bergenser, and everyone else who stops by to view and/or comment.

Update:
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/9809/steinpolis12rn3.jpg
http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/6020/steinpolis13hz3.jpg
http://img461.imageshack.us/img461/2653/steinpolis14kh7.jpg
http://img461.imageshack.us/img461/2017/steinpolis15ok7.jpg
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/6121/steinpolis16lr9.jpg
http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/7323/steinpolis17vv7.jpg
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/6484/steinpolis18at1.jpg

I finally have gotten around to working on the city again. Most of the time, I am trying to find good textures... and yes, I will keep bitching about it. But oh well, whatever.

As you can see, much of the recent work has gone into the area across the river. That is the 'old town' type of area, though there will be quite a bit of modern infill. It's one of those trendy districts that every big city has (or should have) with brick and stone buildings, clubs, restaurants, theatres, etc. After I start filling in the district more, I will probably start working on the ground level, making sure that it is nicely designed.

[foxmtbr]

Lookin' good! :D

[Patrick]

Wow! That neighborhood is so detailed. You should do some Emporis pages, especially on the tallest :)

[Imperar]

Oh man, that is absolutely phenomenal :worship:

[Boris2k7]

I am guilty of perhaps not putting enough time into this city. It is slowly getting better, though looking at some other people's cities right now I feel like a tired old man.

But hey, at least we have a new tallest in Steinpolis. Otherwise, I've only done a few renos here and there. I should also look into how my textures are scaled, but I can leave that until later...

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/8633/steinpolis19wy1.jpg
http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/1192/steinpolis20np6.jpg
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/153/steinpolis21em1.jpg

[foxmtbr]

Nice tower!

[Boris2k7]

Thanks :)

Now, just to fill some time, I thought I would take that last image and play around with it...

w/ background
http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/2304/steinpolis213ye2.jpg

w/ glow
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/2669/steinpolis212vz8.jpg

w/ fog
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/9314/steinpolis214us3.jpg

[Patrick]

Cool! I like the new tallest, dose it have a name yet? How do you do the glow effect!? I've been looking on how to do that.

[Boris2k7]

No name yet, though this may the first building that I give one to. The "glow" is a standard effect in Paint.net (which I've found easier to use than Photoshop)

[Boris2k7]

Some updates...

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/4844/steinpolis22os6.jpg
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/4807/steinpolis23cn9.jpg
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/2299/steinpolis24be3.jpg
http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/1298/steinpolis25zw2.jpg
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/8627/steinpolis26yn4.jpg
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/762/steinpolis27ss7.jpg
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/131/steinpolis28nl7.jpg

[foxmtbr]

You have some pretty awesome new buildings there! Nice job! :tup:

[Bergenser]

awsome work, the texures kind of reminds me of Palm dunes.. :)

[Boris2k7]

Some recent work... my vision is starting to come together... still no Staunton though... :cool:

I split off some of the buildings from the CBD and have created a highrise apartment district further away, but on the same side of the river.

Some new architecture as well, or older actually, depending on your perspective. I think I will experiment with a neo-ancient style in the future with ziggurats and such, because I love the setbacks and opportunities for vegetation...
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/7650/steinpolis29ds8.jpg

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/3610/steinpolis30zf8.jpg
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/9929/steinpolis31jk2.jpg
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/8936/steinpolis32nw3.jpg

You will probably also have noticed that I am starting to pay more attention to street details. Much more trees now, which means that the model is starting to slooooooooooooowwwwww down.

And the grand finale of this short set, something that I hope is desktop- worthy... :)
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/803/steinpolis334rl3.png

[foxmtbr]

Wow, awesome job! I love the new section!

[bbeliko]

Could some of you 2 guys tell me how do i upload pictures from sketchup and how can i get textures like yours?

[Boris2k7]

^ I hope my advice in the thread you posted will help you.

New aerials... some big changes are going to happen in the future in regards to layout and such. Buildings need to be spaced out more, more green space and open space in general... and a bunch of texture replication (Pat, I have no idea how you put up with getting so many textures from Live Local... it drives me up the wall trying to fit them to my buildings...)

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/2316/steinpolis34km8.jpg
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/3167/steinpolis35tk0.jpg

You can also see how I have changed the massing for the lighter spired tower towards the river. The big brown one is going to be changed in the future too, as the base is way too big. I only hope that they don't start looking like ESB ripoffs...

[foxmtbr]

Wow, your city is really coming together, and the detail is stunning! I love these aerial shots, I really need to fool around and get some good aerials of my city. Keep up the spectacular work, I can't wait to see what you have in store for this! :D

[Patrick]

Nice! I love how you are taking time with each building. I especially like the new district with all the midrise residential buildings.

[Derek]

i love your tallest in particular for some reason...

[vid]

Are the grey areas parking? :)

[Bergenser]

I think this thread deserves more replies!
specially now, as the city is very detailed. :)
I mean hello it's just got two pages...

[Patrick]

Yes everyone needs to be more like fox, reply everytime! Comments sure are supportive. :)

[Boris2k7]

Here is some stuff that I have been slowly working on...

Science Centre
http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/9123/steinpolis36zb0.jpg

Second Bridge
http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/175/steinpolis37gy6.jpg

Re-massing of the big brown building
http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/1845/steinpolis38cb9.jpg

None of these are complete yet.

[foxmtbr]

Ah, the brown building is much better now. :) I like the science center, it's good to see buildings other than skyscrapers! Excellent job! :tup:

[Derek]

science center is tight!

[Patrick]

^I agree.

Any official name for the big brown building? Also I'd like to find out more about that ultra sleek slender modern tower on the tip of the city :)

Oh and I might have asked before but how big is Steinpolis? Population-wise.

[Bergenser]

Hmmmm a Science Centre?
That's creative! Can't wait for it's textures. :)

[Dear Leader VI]

Steinpolis is an amazing city! Nice work, Boris550! Roughly how tall is your tallest building?

[Boris2k7]

Thanks all. I hope to continue shortly, as soon as I get some more schoolwork out of the way (I know, convenient excuse).

I have finally named some of the buildings, and measured their current heights. Note: this may change due to scaling or massing changes in the future.

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/9903/steinpolispan143tc3.jpg

EDIT: In the future, EnTerra will be changed to EnerTerra...

[foxmtbr]

Excellent! I ought to make a diagram one of these days.

[Patrick]

I'm lovin The Opera. :) Although I suggest making the texture a little larger, the building looks like it has 100 Floors!

[Boris2k7]

Hey guys,

Obviously, I haven't been working on Steinpolis in a while, nor have I really looked at this section. Just too busy with University work. But I do have perhaps something for you to check out. I am using Sketchup for one of my term projects (Planning in Canadian Communities) and have some fresh images.

Really, I have only had a brief glance at the latest from the other threads. Palm Dunes and Staunton are still the two standouts, and you guys blow me away.

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/8617/superblock01vg6.jpg
http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/1236/superblock02bn3.jpg

[Derek]

nice clock elevator :)

[Patrick]

Woah. Cool

[foxmtbr]

Great job! I like the little plateau that that the buildings are on. Maybe there could be a museum under the ground there or something...? Keep up the good work!

[Boris2k7]

Great job! I like the little plateau that that the buildings are on. Maybe there could be a museum under the ground there or something...? Keep up the good work!

Industrial usage actually.

[foxmtbr]

^ Okay, cool! As long as it has a purpose, I am satisfied. :)

[Boris2k7]

My superblock is now complete, so I can work on other aspects of my project...

It's basically going into the Area Redevelopment Plan that my team is working on. :)

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/2875/superblock03ke0.jpg
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/3411/superblock04cx2.jpg
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/9135/superblock07bc6.jpg
http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/7596/superblock09sv3.jpg

[foxmtbr]

Wow, amazing detail there! I'm sure you are certainly proud of your work! :tup:

[Boris2k7]

Well, I am certainly pleased with how it turned out, and the fact that I have it out of the way. I do need to figure out some issues though, in the case that I need to give credit to the fine people who put up the plants to the 3D Warehouse. Everything else, save for the textures (which were already in Sketchup) were self-created. :)

Come to think of it, if I am getting near the last few days before our presentation and I have some spare time (impossibly), I might go back and add more detail to the residential podiums. Then again, that might just come after the whole thing is done and over with and I just want to play around...

I should, perhaps, explain what is there. The goals of this aspect of the project is to combine into one block multiple land uses (light industry, commercial activity, residential use, office use, park space, etc.) while maintaining pedestrian connections at ground level and keeping in mind issues such as sustainability and feasability. Other issues include access for the handicapped (hence the elevator which is also close to the bus stop) and traffic assignment (there is an industrial road and a regular road, to seperate heavy trucking and shipments from the bulk of the pedestrian realm). As such, this is less of an architectural endeavour than an urban planning/urban design endeavour (which is what the course is).

[Derek]

i love that complex:)

[CtrlAltDel]

Wow, amazing work Boris! I just found this thread, and I'll be sure to follow the updates! You must be a busy man :)

[Boris2k7]

Thanks all,

Some more project-related updates (no, you aren't going to see any of Steinpolis at least until after my final exams in two weeks)

The final version of the Superblock for the project:
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/3452/superblock11vy8.jpg
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/9086/superblock12ku3.jpg
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/5492/superblock13nk1.jpg
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/9930/superblock14bz1.jpg

And the final version of the IndLoft:
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/9392/indloft01yy3.jpg
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/6590/indloft02qo5.jpg
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/9179/indloft03dr7.jpg
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/6185/indloft04gt0.jpg

The IndLoft - or Industrial Loft - is basically a small version of the superblock. There are very light industrial activities on the bottom floors (some of which would probably convert into retail as the area builds out and then gentrifies) and loft-type dwellings above.

[Derek]

very nice update:)

[ProudlyCanadian]

Good job Chris!

The class will be impressed.

p.s.

I just finished writing the rough draft land use for Alyth/Bonnybrook, and will be starting on Highfield shortly. By the end of the day I should be finished most if not all of the land use.

[Patrick]

Yes, nice!!

[foxmtbr]

Very impressive job there. It looks very professional. Are these two plots of land real locations, or were the block dimensions given to you or made up?

[Boris2k7]

Thanks. And I made the dimensions up (though they should be fairly realistic). Our study area is very much real though. It's a huge amount of industrial land that is near downtown Calgary (like 50-60km2 of it).

[foxmtbr]

Cool, I thought this was probably based off of something. Very cool projects, a great way to have mixed-use. I hope to see you build something like this one day. :tup:

[Austin55]

Sorry if bringing up old threads is annoying but what happened to this city? it was so nice.did you pass your final exam?JK:haha:

[Boris2k7]

Eh, I just got lazy and stopped working on it. There have been other things keeping me busy anyways, such as work (I'm a planning assistant right now) and keeping track of developments here in Calgary. Who knows, I might go back sometime. First I need to get through my current RPG and Midnight-4:00AM mass anime-watching spree. :haha:

[treras93]

o man! i just saw this thread yesterday. this city is great u should totally start on it again, if u want (i dont want 2 sound bossy)

[Austin55]

What did Northport look like? You can post pics in ny Failure cites thread ,if you want.

[Austin55]

[QUOTE=Boris550;2552171]Thanks :)

Now, just to fill some time, I thought I would take that last image and play around with it...

w/ background
http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/2304/steinpolis213ye2.jpg

was the background 'installed' with Paint.net?