Final.

Tower Bridge Revisualisation from Katie Parnell on Vimeo.

So this is the final product.


I am quite pleased with the camera angles I chose for this. I tried to keep the camera's movements as simple as possible, just moving across, or zooming in. I tried to make shots of all the little areas of detail also - to make them completely apparent.

I ended up tweaking the lighting - giving it more shadow and light areas :)

In fusion I used the straight render with an AO pass and zdepth pass, which I think has worked nicely.


Overall, I am relatively pleased with the project, I would have liked to do a bit more with the textures, make them look really nice and realistic, but - as time was growing increasingly short - I had to make do and render it. I am pleased with the model. So hopefully it reflects nicely in my work.

Texture Time!

I downloaded a trial version of a program called Crazy Bump which has really helped me do textures.
Also - I used a noise map set to fractal in the Arch and Design shader - also setting the colours to Brown and a slightly lighter brown in a falloff map to create the appearance of water. I think it is working really nicely.
For the parasol/umbrella type things I used a standard Checker map, but blurred the edges slightly. I also added a cloth texture specular to it to make it slightly textured.
The column bricks I used the tiles map and a noise map in the bump slot. I really like how this came out.
The actual tower and walls I used a brick texture I gained from one of the photos I had taken of the tower bridge.

I used glass on the bottom of the tower.

On the floor I made some textures in photoshop. Making a square, and also making loads of black dots and splodges which then made a normal map in the Crazy Bump program. From the photoshop file I also made a general diffuse colour map.

Going okay so far.

Some Inpiration.

Martin showed us a stunning Arch Vis showreel by Alex Roman. The textures and lighting is just sublime.

Really blows my mind that this is all rendered footage, but I found it very inspirational. He has very smooth subtle camera motions and almost abstract close ups which make his video really interesting.

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

Final Touches part 2

I've made some more ropes for between the towers. I've decided against putting some archways in that space. I think I will just rather leave it empty.




These are some shots of the top of the tower bridge. :) I actually really like the feel of this. The parasols are the same as the ones for the stairs and platform. (see last blog)

Final Touches

Okay. So I think I am just about there with the modeling side of things now so I can on with texturing.

I've made some picnic benches. But I also found this awesome site which has the plans to various tables and chairs.
http://www.buildeazy.com/fp_start.html

Here's the plans I picked up:





Came in quite handy for working out which bits and bobs I needed to make the table. I was going to make some nice little cafe tables and chairs but I think this fits the fairground scene more.

Bit by bit.

I have decided to make the very base of the columns made out of glass with metal frames. But this will show the little spiral staircase which gives the impression that a staircase runs all the way up the columns to the top. (A long climb, but I'm sure I can have a bit of artistic license.) I'm really hoping this works, but I suppose I won't really find out properly until I've done the texturing. If it doesn't I'll just merge the columns in from an older version of the scene that I have saved.

Dark render.... I have made a little platform which would be used for people to get on the ferris wheel. I put some stairs just below it with a hole in the platform for them to step through. I've also put some little umbrellas on the edges just to fill up some space. I think it looks alright... I might change it, but we will see how much time I end up with.

I also made some ropes hanging between the towers and the little approaches. I did this by using the simulator and rope modifier - to make it look like the rope actually has some weight on it. So it is beginning to look a little more like a revamped version of the tower bridge.
And again from the opposite side. I do really need to sort out my lighting properly. So I can stop getting really dark patches and rings.

View from inside one of the approaches. I think this shows clearer the scale of the thing - The bit in between the tall towers and the approaches/little towers is a bit empty, so maybe I'll put an archway in :)

Bits and Bobs

Added the triangular bits to the centre of the bridge. Also refined some bits.

Tried to make the towers look as though they can support the heaviness of the Ferris Wheel. These bits will be made of metal - so hopefully, when textured, it will look more solid.

Also added some little fences :) That's where I will put some little benches and seats and things

Slow progression

Making slow progression. I think I got a little too hooked on the details of those smaller towers... But I really like the way it is starting to take form!


Added some VERY basic lighting which will be replaced with a nice skylight + spotlight combo.
Need to thicken the centre of the bridge - make the triangular sections which would normally rise - also this will help to bring the design back slightly to what it was before.

Fences made using the lattice tool - which is fast becoming one of my favourite modifiers!

Going to add some more bank either side of the river and maybe a plan in preparation for the water texture.

I think I am also going to add some fences here and there and also maybe some picnic tables and chairs.

details now. so moving slowly, but moving forward none the less!

Starting to take form.

Something I forgot to mention earlier - I decided to make the Ferris Wheel a lot larger in the end - to make it the main feature of the towers. I really do like this idea - however I think I need to make the columns fit together with the wheel a little more naturally.

Here is some more progression: I have started to make the entire bridge - gave it a bank and also started making the smaller towers. I think I will leave the smaller ones more or less how they were originally - maybe having some form of stand on the inside. and also excluding the roof type bit at the top. :)

Cylinders

just starting to refine it down. This is one of the big towers. The columns themselves were made using a cylinder and extruding certain lines and polys to give that shape. The start of the wheel of the Ferris wheel is basically a cylinder with the lattice modifier.




Here is one from a bit later. Again - just blocking out the parts. Made the carriages for the Ferris wheel and also made the big tent-like bit at the top. Also began to look at the bridge itself and the fences

Initial Blocks

I thought I'd post a render by render sequence to show my work flow.

Here is the tower blocked out roughly - using the reference as planes and making sure each part is to scale.


Here I am still finalising the designs in my head. So nothing big in the way of progression or style choice at first.

Tower Funfair!

Okay... thinking about it - I've changed my mind again. I think I will go for the fairground as what I will change the bridge into. Just make the ferris wheel's bigger ^_^

I've gathered some reference for it:

This sort of slide thing I could use for the towers themselves. I do actually really like that idea. I love the vibrant patterns that you get with these. - It's questionable whether I will make the tower itself patterned (second image) or whether I will simply just make the slide patterned (top image)

I think I will definately go with some form of spinning swings for the top of the towers :) But their top will be pointed almost like a circus tent. I think these have really interesting and intricate designs to them. The second one especially has a lot of texture to it which i think is really nice. Also the patterns are repeated so hopefully it shouldn't be too difficult to model in 3d max


I think this image will come in very handy for making the big ferris wheels! It's a very simple drawing but one I can base mine on.



Again, this is only a model of a ferris wheel but it shows clearly how I could go about constructing it.

Some designs

Here's a couple of ideas.

I can't really think of anything else to do with the fairground idea. So I think I will just go with the office block one - despite it not being that colourful.

More Reference

Here are some reference photographs I took.

I would really like to keep some element of detail from the original in my design - to keep that character.

Some Inspiration

I went to London to take some photos of the Tower Bridge but I came across some really interesting architecture along the way.

I love the shape in this and the use of glass. I really think I will use glass in my project.

Scale Images

More productive post is needed I think ;D

I've chosen the tower bridge to modernise in the end. Here's some scale images I've found:


I'm thinking of having the corners of the towers the same and the top to mostly remain the same also - possibly change some parts into some form of office block with glass walls. Hopefully the juxtaposition of old versus new will work nicely together.

Firstly

First Entry! More to come! Wahey!