Second Life model of downtown Toronto

[koops65]

Here's a project I've been working on for some time now, making a 3D model of downtown Toronto. Still needs some improvements, but it's starting to look good enough now to post some screenshots. All of the latest proposals are included, as of last week anyways.

Overview, from the northwest:
[IMG][/IMG]

And from the southeast:
[IMG][/IMG]

The CBD and Clubland:
[IMG][/IMG]

Yorkville and the north end of Yonge Street:
[IMG][/IMG]

Looking north:
[IMG][/IMG]

Yorkville, looking south:
[IMG][/IMG]

Clubland, Southcore and Citiplace:
[IMG][/IMG]

Looking north from the lake, the traditional postcard view:
[IMG][/IMG]

And now for some dramatic shots, stuff you can't do with Google Sketchup...

All of downtown, from the west, just before sunset:
[IMG][/IMG]

All of downtown, from the east, just after sunrise:
[IMG][/IMG]

Looking up at the towers of the CBD, at night:
[IMG][/IMG]

Looking west, at sunset:
[IMG][/IMG]

[JACKinBeantown]

Looking good! Do you have them organized by date so you could show how the skyline will look now, 2013, 2014, etc?

[koops65]

Thanks, no I haven't gone that far yet. I still need to refine it more, better detail on the buildings, the textures. And I have to add more buildings too. Right now the shortest towers are 113 metres, except for a few that are part of a complex. I plan to lower that to 100 metres, and eventually to 90 metres. Once I get that done I'll be able to start sorting them out by date, or by status.

[koops65]

It's been 3 1/2 years since I first began to make the model, and it's far more detailed now, as well as 4 X the size it used to be, almost all buildings 35 metres and up are now included, as well as plenty of buildings even shorter. Also, there have been many more proposals and buildings built and U/C in those years. Not everything is finished yet. It's still a work in progress...

These screen shots are all views from various penthouses that have yet to be built:

One Yonge 1

[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
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245 Queen E
[IMG][/IMG]

Rosedale on Bloor
[IMG][/IMG]

The One
[IMG][/IMG]

1 Eglinton E
[IMG][/IMG]

Yonge / Bloor
[IMG][/IMG]

The East side
[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

The Waterfront and CBD
[IMG][/IMG]

[Dwils01]

Looks great Koops.

[koops65]

^^^ Thanks!

Lots more changes, more buildings, many of the latest I'm adding are between 20 and 50 metres. All those shorter buildings really help to fill out the landscape, but there are so many of them... now I know why Toronto has over 2500 high rises listed in the database.

A few new screenshots showing some of the more recent changes:

Looking at the CBD, with 100 Simcoe just to the right of Shangri-La.

[IMG][/IMG]

Looking NE, with 391 Yonge gone from the Yonge/Gerrard intersection.

[IMG][/IMG]

And an overall view of downtown, looking SW.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Mighty_Borlaug]

Wow Koops, this is very detailed for Second Life. How many corners do you have to cut with prims and textures to make this happen? Do you have to spend a lot of currency for custom texture maps?

You've put the blood, sweat and tears into this. Congratulations on your progress

[koops65]

Thanks! I sell buildings and use that income to buy textures, or I make my own from the drawings I make for the diagram section of SSP. I don't care about the prim count right now, even though it's approaching 3000. I plan to convert it all to mesh and cut the prim count down by 3/4... I still have several hundred buildings to texture as well as many more to re-texture with some HQ stuff.

From the lake:

[IMG][/IMG]

[koops65]

Here are a bunch of close-ups:

Yonge & St. Clair
[IMG][/IMG]

Yonge & Eglinton
[IMG][/IMG]

Yonge & Gerrard:
[IMG][/IMG]

Yonge & Bloor:
[IMG][/IMG]

City Halls, new & old:
[IMG][/IMG]

The Entertainment District:
[IMG][/IMG]

Southcore:
[IMG][/IMG]

A few views from the East:

[IMG][/IMG]

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[koops65]

From above the islands:

[IMG][/IMG]

[koops65]

Yorkville from Queen's Park

[IMG][/IMG]

Yonge & Eglinton from the Northeast (most of the tall tower construction still has yet to take place)

[IMG][/IMG]

Looking Northwest from Bayside

[IMG][/IMG]

[Highriser_P_28]

This is really nice. Do you plan to model lowrises and other small buildings there?

[koops65]

I already have. The short buildings are approximately 6 floors or 20 metres. There are other even shorter buildings if they are big and/or important. In time I'll add even more low rise stuff...

[koops65]

I just discovered this has tilt-shift...

Centered on YSL:

[IMG][/IMG]

[koops65]

A new look at downtown, from the Eastern side of the Islands, including a 65 floor 30 Bay St, 270 metres tall...

[IMG][/IMG]

[koops65]

A stormy day in 2025:

[IMG][/IMG]

[TSteph9]

Wow, how long did this take you to make altogether? Also, how did you map it out? I'm shocked by how accurate this is haha

[koops65]

I started it 6 1/2 years ago. The "land" is a screenshot from Google Earth. Its not too hard to match up building footprints with the actual footprints on the map. That positions them accurately. The heights of the towers I can control down to the millimeter.

Via Bloor:

• Video Link

[IMG][/IMG]

[koops65]

A zoom-in and flyover of Sugar Wharf:

• Video Link

[koops65]

A flyover and zoom-in to Yonge & Rich:

• Video Link