That ground texture! I also have a dirt floor in my challege image:

I got a large satellite image of the desert and used the stamp tool to get rid of anything that would make the map look repetitive. And removed all the vegetation. Then i had a really nice dirt texture that looks good from every angle. for the bump map i used the cellular material and gave it a negative value to look like cracks! It's very simple looking but it does the job.


Looks good, keep pushing it! Make sure everything has a texture.

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thanks. after studying your entry more closely, i believe i've found a nice way to set up the background...testing that now

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

Also, my sign is just a plane i gave lots of mesh to and bashed up. Most of the work was in photoshop, to make it look dirty and cracked. 1 diffuse map... I made a bump map but it's not used.

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hmm...i'm still not getting the background quite right. could you do me a favor and email me a max file with a good background set up so i could see how it's done? my email address is in my profile.

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

Are you drawing this on paper first?
Let me show you what my scene looks like. You don't need much for a background, unless you need it to be a lot.

You see how simple i kept the whole thing? Once i rendered it, I pulled it into photoshop and started adding bits here and there. Now i don't think it's going to win anything but it was fun and i think it looks good.

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Backgrounds can be tricky to get right at first. For starters you need a middle ground, something to break up the foreground and the background. I this picture :[Link to www3.freeze.com] the trees are the foreground but there are also some nice hills in the middleground before you get to the mountain range in the background. Maybe model a simple terrain and place it between your model and your image plane. You'll also notice from the image that there's a bit of a blueish haze in the background which you can simulate in max with depth fog. You'll also want to blur you image plane a bit.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

here's another update. either i make the whole thing larger or i think at least 2 of those supports will have to go. They obstruct the view at the moment.

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

Very nice! I agree with taking out 2 of those columns, just so you can apreciate better the view inside. Try taking off the ones in the middle and pushing the corner colums to the edge of the structure. That would maximize the view to the inside of your shop! Nice lighting in the interior btw!

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MuS@shiROth

Photoshop in a big crowd of people out front.

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good idea...but first i have to finish the modeling...

Can someone show me how to make good glass? I need to make windows...and maybe some glass for the checkout counter.

Also, if someone could please send me a link to a tut on combining objects...i'm pretty sure you weld the vertices, but i'm a bit clueless. I want to weld the front wall together because it's made up of 5 separate objects to make window holes and it makes unwrapping them a pain.

-Dave

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

last update of the night...windows are in, but need a bit of repositioning. the plane is now suspended by black wire.

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

It's taking shape. I like the interior lighting in the previous update better that the last.

I think maybe you should put a frame around the sign and put some lights shining up on it. Just something to make the logo a bit more prominent in the scene.

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Chris

The logo is squished, thats the only thing that bothers me at the moment.

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Please support us and post a [Link to www.digitalartsfront.com] on your website.

--Matt

Agreed

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Please support us and post a [Link to www.digitalartsfront.com] on your website.

yeah, i know i have to fix the logo. Every time i edit the texture, it still comes into the material editor squished...then unwrapping it is a pain. I most certainly will add a border, but it has not been my priority. The lighting is off right now because i just put on windows. I'm going to have to play around with the window material to see if i could get better lighting using it. Lights shining up are a good idea. They'll probably be simple box lights hanging from that porch on top.

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

i just read a quick tutorial on how to use mutli/sub object materials...now i see that making the building could have been much easier! oh well...i guess it'll be better luck next time.

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

haha yea mutli/sub is awesome for this kind of stuff.

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Please support us and post a [Link to www.digitalartsfront.com] on your website.

i'm considering not posting another update until it's finished...but i don't know if i could hold out.

I found a nice simple way to make a shelf full of DVDs (of art programs of course) Shelves will have to be redone...the textures will be changed on a lot of things. especially the walls both inside and out.

The structure will look very different when completed...my main problem is figuring out what to put inside.

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

Answer this...
Concerning your project, do you have a plan? (There's a message or story you're trying to tell your audience. What's the most effective way to communicate that?)
Have you planned out your image on paper? (Even if you're not good at drawing, this will cut down your production time. You will be able to decide what's going to take the longest and what can be done in photoshop.)

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what's my plan? to have fun and try to create an art/digital art store, hence the plane and boat in one window and there will be some other art hanging in the other window.

some of the shelves will have DVDs on them, some will be modeling manuals...not that you'll necessarily be able to see all of this.

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

No wonder you're saying it's going to take you so long! You're modeling parts no one is going to see?!?! You're going to work your self to death!!! Then what would we do?! Everyone here would say, "We miss Dave... what ever happened to Dave? He was cool." And I would denounce god and say, "Why didn't you show him the light, so he'd plan his shot out on paper?! He'd still be alive!" </dramatic music>

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i'm not 100 percent sure of the interiors and when i say i can't draw...i really mean i'm terrible...no real sense of depth or anything on paper.

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

it might look old-school on one side and modern on the other. like a split right down the middle.

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

Well draw it out! Use grid paper or a ruler to draw out squares if you have to.
Then you only have to worry about the small part you can see through the windows and door.

edit:
Dude! I know what you should do!! Sometimes when my sketching isn't good enough I make rough drafts using photoshop. Look. The fist pic is my rough draft. The second is my final version. You can just grab existing photos to plan your shot!

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nice pic...but i'm still not sure how that could help me with a 3d model

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

Not for a 3d model, but the entire scene.

You take the pieces you need from other photographs and build the idea. In the end you have the best blueprint to work from.





Here's an idea i had for a space station. I still want to make this into a 3d model, but don't have time.:

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I missed this before. It's RAMA

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Chris

i'm not really sure how that's a space station, but i see your point.

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

It is an odd looking space station but Issac is right, you should have some idea of what you're going to do before you start it. If you don't want to draw, just write out a description and try and find some photos that might match what you are trying to achieve in some way. You should at least have a clear idea in your head of what you want to do.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

i edited the logo a bit...i removed the red/purple/pink part and added some black and better red...it looks much better now...no screens for you! ...or at least not now

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

I can't wait!

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Looking forward to it.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

i keep feeling stupider and stupider! the more i explore the different object types, the more i realize how stupid i've been...My walls are made up of boxes that are positioned slightly off and have vertexes in different spots, making unwrapping a pain! i was just exploring and found the "wall" object.

...not to say that it'll help. for all i know, maybe the wall object is just a pointless object that doesn't really help with anything

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

If only we were born knowing everything

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But discovery is half the fun

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Please support us and post a [Link to www.digitalartsfront.com] on your website.

--Matt

here's another update

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

I like the direction you're going in.
I think this might be something you'd have fun looking over:
[Link to www.3dtotal.com]

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very interesting...cool site

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

It is looking better, though I think you still need to work on the background.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

If he reads that tutorial front to back we should see a world of difference in his next post.

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rofl. you make it sound as if the last render's a bad one!...oh wait, it is!

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

Sorry I didn't mean for for my last post to imply you're not doing well. What I should have said was, there are some good techniques in that tutorial Dave could easily use.

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rofl i know what you were implying. i was just joking a bit

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

here's today's update. The shelf texture needs to be swapped to something with much less refraction and unfortunately i haven't had time to read that tutorial yet.

can someone show me how to make creases in the "grand opening" sign?

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

Just add mesh and start moving points.
Or just do it in photoshop. First rule! There are no rules!

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I'm seeing definate improvement. You might also want to add a bend modifier to the grand opening sign so it sags down in the middle. Then do what Isaac said.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

here's tonight's rend...didn't have much time to work on it today

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

Looking good!!! Keep pushing!!!

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i need a new door and the supports have to get fixed. The sign still needs work and i can't get those lights to focus on the sign without it going through, making white spots on the background.

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

How many lights are you using?
Also, you don't have to use lights to light that sign.

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It's blending in with the background a lot better now. Maybe vary the size of the trees a bit so they don't all look the same and add a bit of detail in the foreground (rocks, grass etc.)

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

kind of sad...i ran out of time to work on mine the last few days...it's not really that good...i submitted it anyway.

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

Well, you did a good job. You learned quite a bit, I think.

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thanks...it was my first scene ever

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Dave

"I came! I slept! I went home!"

Well done, you definately started showing improvement.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]