Sta Fee - 3D city

[Vellu]

I absolutely love the street level shot! I think street level shots really help to make the viewer think a 3d city is real. After all, we mostly view cities from the street level. With SU and Kerkythea it also helps with the performance issues as there's not so much to render when most of the city is hidden from the view. Although I vaguely remember that you mentioned in your SC thread over at the SSC that C4d renders the whole city views much faster than close ups. Is that true?

Btw. doesn't C4d have layers? I think it would be easier to place every plane on a different layer and hide/unhide these than to do the deleting thing you explained.

[JHoward88]

^ I agree with Vellu. Your Francis Street render is absolutely over the top. I absolutely love the way rows of massive banners look. Your Museum signs are genius. I would love to see more of that kind of style appearing in real life cities. Your post production work is also outstanding.

I made the three hour drive down to Portland, OR last night and spent the quiet hours of the early morning wandering the streets and admiring the architecture before coming home.

In spite of the fact that it is a smaller city than Seattle, I was inspired by a number of strikingly original architectural and urban design concepts there. I think that Portland and Sta Fee share some interesting commonalities. The river-oriented element adds some real class to the urban landscape, but more importantly, the abundance of trees, flora, and proper handling of the traffic grid makes your city seem even more intelligent and believable. I also must commend you on your insertion of people into the final shots. It is one thing to make a good city, but it is another matter entirely to successfully give it a distinct atmosphere and personality, as you have.

[Pingyao]

Thks Vellu and JHoward88.

Yeah rendering times vary, but generally if theres lots of reflective stuff that slows it down, if the view is close to a reflective facade that equals a long render time. C4 does have layers, but I don't use them,. mainly because depending on the angle of view I have to delete different portions of the city, if I had layers if would just complicate matters - trust me lol.

Glad you like the banners, I knocked the dolphin, tiger and T'Rex up in Photoshop.

Yeah Portland is similiar I guess, not that I actually considered that ccity for inspiration, but maybe I should check it out. Of course Portland is surrounded by hills and mountains, which gives it a different feel, and one which I have considered, although terrain is another challenge.

I'm currently looking at some more street level shots in the Chinatown district, which suits such views, although after that I'll probably skip back to general skyline views as its pretty labour intensive modelling streets to this level of detail as Vellu can probably vouch for.

[Rizzo]

Very cool! Yeah man, gotta hate rendering times. I do this stuff for a living. Even using a farm with a couple hundred 3 ghz processors 3d trees still take some time.

[Pingyao]

Chinatown

Home to 15,000 predominently Cantonese speaking residents, Chinatown covers only a few blocks and is centred on McNeal
Street with the Chinese gates at opposite ends. McNeal Street is packed with restaurants, Herbal Markets and a couple
of Buddhist temples.

View looking west down McNeal street.

[Foun10Head-X]

Wow, Pingyao you're one surpise after another. Your Chinatown is awesome, just close-to-real as it can get.

Thanks again for sharing your Sta Fee.

[ertiikus]

lol the gate say's Sta Fee City China Town

[Pingyao]

Another view of McNeal Strret, this time from the West gate looking east. Dancorp World Plaza in the distance.

[Innsertnamehere]

most realistic photo yet!

[Pingyao]

Thanks for comments. Heres a view of that res tower(s) from 2 pics back, this time looking south. Grove Heights is comprised of 2 buildings, 134m and 114m (440ft & 374ft). In the bottom of this image is McNeal street with McNeal street temple housed in the modern red roofed building. The temple is famous for its 15m high pagoda visible in front.

[ertiikus]

Originally Posted by Pingyao

Another view of McNeal Strret, this time from the West gate looking east. Dancorp World Plaza in the distance.

what's a hong kong taxi doing in the states lol

friggin awesome

[Pingyao]

haha, I didn't notice that, oh well maybe Sta Fee shipped a load of those taxi's over for its own fleet.

Slow progress continues on Plane9. The 'work in progress' image below shows part of the Mass transit line that has a terminus in Central Station and then expands out throguh the city. Its mainly raised above street level and will become an important transport link for the city, although it does not go to all of central Sta Fee, a bit like Bangkok's Skytrain which provides a connection to other transportation hubs.

[Pingyao]

Pingyao Plaza

Well I guess I need a HQ in Sta Fee seeing that I'm building the whole thing. Pingyao Plaza sits close to
Central Station (yet to be built) in the north of plane9. The building is actually the second tallest (to tip) after
the central tower of Sta Fee Financial Center.

[Pingyao]

Another small update - Central Station is now complete, it is a contemporary vaulted roof structure
which serves as Sta Fee's main transportation gateway. The station actually spans the top of plane9 and sits half
on the adjacent plane, so I've already had to plan what happens to the road map here. The station also incorporates
a 130m office tower as seen in the original sketches a few pages back.

With the completion of the station I now have maybe 20 or so further buildings before I have completed plane9

[Vicelord John]

lmao.

I showed my girlfriend this (going to school for graphic design) and she kind of lost interest in her "chosen career."

You have some talent my man. I know I already said that, but I thought I'd remind you.

[Pingyao]

Plane9 Complete

After roughly 9 months of work I have finally completed the 9th plane that makes up the centre of Sta Fee!
This is a pretty major milestone as it means the city is now 9kms square (3km x 3km). I always knew if I could get
this central part complete without breaking my PC then that would be a pretty major achievement! I have really
not thought too much about what lies beyond, but I suppose now I will have to. Of course the big problem with city
building is level of detail and from here on in Sta Fee is gonna have to be far simpler, with only key buildings detailed
with textures and facades.

I have to firstly plan how the city will expand and thats no mean feat as it needs to link onto all the previous map
sections seemlessly. The river will also need to be extended and don't even mention terrain - a hilly suburbia has
been playing on my mind, even mountainous. But this is all for the future, as of now I present you the first phase
of Sta Fee now complete enjoy........

SCROLL >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>



The areas that make up central Sta Fee

[Foun10Head-X]

All I can say is...

BRAVO!!!

You did an excellent job on Sta-Fee. It all look so real when you started developing it, a Sim City with realism if I should say so.

So, I take it that you're finished now... Awesome stuff you have done so far.

[JHoward88]

I could say "Good Job", but if I did, I would just be embarrassing myself. This is the stuff of legends, and the English language rather lacks vocabulary of a high enough caliber to describe the supreme, ultimate glory of your work. "Magnum Opus" comes to mind.

Your work here is, all things being fairly considered, a hobby; but beyond that, it says a great deal about who you are as a person. Without even the faintest desire for compensation, you have produced quality work which would be enviable even on a professional level.

The fact that you are willing and capable of developing this kind of vision just for fun is a testimony to the power of not giving up. If this is what you do with your free time, I am sure I cannot begin to imagine the amazing things which you must accomplish in life as a whole.

We live in a world full of people who often have little imagination. Thanks for being a breath of fresh air, inspiring all of us, and for proving what a little imagination and some 3-D software is capable of doing. Good luck on your continued quest.

[huggkruka]

Absolutely amazing. I get so inspired when I see work like this. That plate is what my dream Sim City 5 should look like.

[JHoward88]

^ Hugg, I agree 100% with your SimCity comment.

The designers of SimCity understood their target audience back when Maxis was alive. The minute EA took the wheel, they started trying to make a SimCity that would appease the PSP and Xbox crowd. It didn't work, and I can guarantee you that we won't see any more good work in the field of city builder sims until the right kind of minds get back into the designer's chair. It is a shame that the legacy which was going so nicely up until SimCity 4 had to be desecrated with Societies. In any case, I won't derail the thread any further.