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Post by lyoung on Nov 11, 2013 23:56:53 GMT -5
After almost a decade of flying, but never having a decent version of KCMH, I decided do make one myself. I have played with AFCADs for awhile, but have never attempted to model the buildings themselves, so this is the first project I have attempted. Period pictures of Port Columbus are hard to come by. I have managed to find some postcards and old newspapers photographs, but nothing spectacular. In 1980/81, the terminal had some major renovation work done that completely changed the front of the terminal. However, after a close inspection of the airport on Google Maps, I was able to determine the original outline and dimensions of almost all of the original terminal. I think I am done with the modeling of the terminal, unless some new information or photographs turn up. I am moving on to the texturing, which will be an adventure. Below is a preview of the model. As I have a full-time job and three kids, this project might take a little while... Attachments:
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Post by Tom/CalClassic on Nov 12, 2013 1:10:48 GMT -5
Looks nice. My best wishes for its completion.
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Post by jwh on Nov 12, 2013 4:02:55 GMT -5
There are two 1959 charts for Columbus on my Flickr page JWHSHD.
They are in between Philadelphia and Newark.
John
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Post by Dennis the menace on Nov 12, 2013 5:15:29 GMT -5
Hi, That is your first object? It really looks very nice. You do good work. Textures are trial and error. My method that I find works best because it gives me the freedom to "adjust" parts of the texture is to create layers. First, is the base layer, say a wall. The next layer on top of that might be windows and doors. Just keep adding layers for all the little things you need. This way, if you need to scoot a door or window just a bit, its easy to slide it on a layer. Not so easy it if is on the base texture, then you have to cut and paste, and that can get messy. Once you are satisfied with the textures, you can merge them into a single file. Any question about textures feel free to ask, no question is too small. Here is a website I often use to find textures for windows, doors, walls, buildings, etc, they have hundreds of textures! www.cgtextures.com/ best wishes on KCMH
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KCMH1959
Nov 12, 2013 9:54:43 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by FSMuseum on Nov 12, 2013 9:54:43 GMT -5
Guess I can take this one off my list Nice work!
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Post by lyoung on Nov 12, 2013 22:20:39 GMT -5
John: I have no idea how I missed the charts on your page. I guess that is what I get for looking at things several hours after I should have gone to bed.
Dennis: Technically, it is my fourth object. The first was a fictional terminal for my hometown airport, 16G. It was nothing more than a box I used to practice my skills with Sketchup. The second was more of an art project/drafting sort of experiment with a cube. The third was KCMH in a more basic form. I discovered that the dimensions were way off and that it would be easier to just redo it from scratch rather than try to fix the issues and I figured the practice wouldn't hurt. Also, thanks for the advice on the textures; that part scared me more than trying to do the modeling itself.
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Post by Dennis the menace on Nov 16, 2013 14:08:57 GMT -5
I discovered that the dimensions were way off and that it would be easier to just redo it from scratch rather than try to fix the issues and I figured the practice wouldn't hurt. I've been there many times, throwing away an object because it would take more time to correct it that it would to start over. Just in the last week I "threw away" two MATS terminals because they were not to my liking and I found it better to start over than to modify the existing terminal. In the end, you almost always spend less time on a brand new object than you would have picking over and heavily modifying a bad object. I've found out over the years that it is so much simpler to create texture for a scenery using layers than to create a texture then force it or just hope that it fits your objects in GMAX/Sketchup. That usually causes stretching and other problems with the texture. I can't tell you how many times I have been thankful that my windows, doors, details were each on their own layer with the base background/texture underneath. I would look at the object in GMAX, then go back to the texture and move this door left or right, or these windows up or down, or re size them. By having everything on different layers I am not trapped with a texture that is not perfectly to size or scale for the object. Also, as a bonus, if it is getting late or I want to quit for the day, I will save my texture layers in PSP format (I use paint shop pro), so that the next time I feel like working on the project again, my layers are there waiting for me. The only time I merge all the layers is when I am fully satisfied that the object is to my liking in FS. Also, by using layers, you can darken just the base texture for your night textures, then illuminate your windows easily because they are on a separate layer. This avoids the time consuming selecting them one a time process once they are merged. Then just save that as your _LM texture.
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Post by lyoung on Nov 19, 2013 23:54:23 GMT -5
I think I have the terminal model fairly set. There are some minor details on the roof that I may or may not decide to add. The preview is shown with the texturing off, although I have that somewhere more than 50% done. I do have a question for the more experienced members out there: Most of the front side of the terminal is a standard red brick. I have a pretty good brick texture that looks great up close, but not so great from a distance. How do you handle brick textures? Do you use something that looks like a brick or just a more or less undetailed texture that is the color of brick? Also of interest, the Columbus Regional Airport Authority responded to an email I had sent to them asking for information. They sent me a link to some pictures that do not appear to be linked anywhere on their website. I have some great pictures from the grand opening in 1958 that gave me a lot of information on the airfield side of the terminal. There are a few things that I have never seen before, so they proved to be quite valuable.
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Post by Tom/CalClassic on Nov 20, 2013 1:42:10 GMT -5
Hi,
I vary on my brick textures, but usually use one that looks good close up. You can always fade the grout lines a bit if it gets too weird at a distance.
Glad to hear the airport was so helpful!
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Post by lyoung on Nov 20, 2013 23:49:58 GMT -5
After about two weeks of nothing from them, I had given up. It turns out that the lady who does their community relations was on vacation. I need to see how the model looks in FS. I need to find the BGL compiler first. The perils of having multiple partitions and not being able to find everything easily.
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Post by acourt on Nov 22, 2013 7:26:08 GMT -5
I head over to cgtextures.com and find a good brick texture that looks close to what I need. I first count the bricks vertically to find out how big the texture should be in scale. About 2.5 inches per brick with mortar seems to work well. Once I know that number (there's usually about 20 bricks per texture, so about 4.2 feet), I take the texture into Photoshop and resize it to the appropriate scale size (about 42 pixels, for a scale of 1024 pixels = 100 feet, what I normally use for base building textures). Doing it this way automatically makes the grout lines less obvious, like Tom said. If you're planning on adjusting the coloring, shading, or anything else graphically, I'd do it before you resize the texture. Slight imperfections in your work disappear that way. This is the effect, as seen on the passenger terminal at Annette Island/Ketchikan (a work in progress). i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv157/alcourt/PANTTerminalBrickCloseup_zps25370cb3.jpgi679.photobucket.com/albums/vv157/alcourt/PANTTerminalBrickCloseup_zps1646496d.jpg
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Post by Tom/CalClassic on Nov 22, 2013 10:26:15 GMT -5
Hi, Looking forward to this stop on the way to Anchorage.
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Post by lyoung on Dec 2, 2013 0:35:54 GMT -5
acourt: I finally had a chance to look at the pictures you posted. I like your texture way better than the one I am working with now. Mine is photoreal, but look horrible over a 600' run of terminal. I'll have to play around with it some to get a better result.
I promise I am still working, but as a retail manager, my nights at work are getting way later than normal, leaving me significantly less time to work on this. It also doesn't help that texturing is something that I just am not very good at right now. Once Christmas is over, I will get more time.
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Post by lyoung on Dec 2, 2013 0:50:03 GMT -5
Well, missing out on a bit more sleep won't hurt that bad... I played around with my brick texture, and can live with what I have. Here are some pictures. Obviously, what would eventually become Terminal B is not finished yet.
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Post by acourt on Dec 3, 2013 11:49:12 GMT -5
That looks fantastic! I like the brick texture you came up with.
Al
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