I've now added the snake colonnade through which the outdoor queue for Indiana Jones winds. (Click for the full-resolution version!) This is proving
killer for render times, since I've got a combination of numerous texture images, rather complex geometry, and ambient occlusion (a time-consuming form of lighting). Placing the camera close to the subject and setting the size of the render image rather large...well, those don't help, either. So what you're seeing is a total of over 10 hours of rendering. (Not to be confused with the modeling process, which is the part that
I'm responsible for. The computer does the rendering.) I need to work on ways to keep the time down, because this model on a whole is just going to keep getting more and more complex.
Next step will be to crumble and erode some of the bowls at the tops of the pillars, since they're "damaged" in real life, much like the temple itself.
10 comments:
NICE PROJECT!! I'm curious what your computer setup is - CPU and Memory mainly. I've had very limited experience with 3d rendering, and it's amazing how long it takes!
I'm a web designer by profession, and I'm trying to build up a portfolio. In your welcome post you mentioned you had tried to do a website, but ended up with the blog instead. Would you still have any need/want for a website? I love your project, I love Disneyland, and I love web design - so I'm here for you if you need me.
I saw your stuff on Micechat.com - just so you know, and my site is rscottclawson.com if you want to take a look at what I've done.
Thank you very much! =D I'm using a custom-built (not by me!) PC with a 2.66 GHz Intel Core2 Duo processor and 2GB of RAM. It's been working pretty well for me, especially by comparison to the circa-1997 machine I was using before. :P
Thanks for the web design offer! I used to do a lot more myself, but I haven't done much in the last few years. I took a look at your site, and I like your style. Nicely done! I'll definitely keep you in mind if I decide to try my own site again. You can still see the old site at virtualmagic.freehostia.com. The design is all right, but I probably should have approached things a little more conventionally.
Your system sounds pretty new, but I tell you what. If I was rich I'd buy you a top of the line computer in hopes that it would help speed things up for you. I love the Video fly-through renderings that you've done - but I know that those take FOREVER to render.
Do you get most of your data from photographs? How do you get tunnel placement info? Your project is getting very detailed!
Haha, yeah, the current system is relatively good, though there's certainly much better out there...for a price. =D Someday I'll upgrade. Anyway, I'm glad you like the video flythroughs! I try to set 'em up so they can either render overnight or while I'm away on vacation or gone for the weekend or something. That way I'm not missing out on too much.
Where do I get my information from? All kinds of places. I look at (and take!) plenty of photos, make observations while I'm in the park, talk to cast members in person AND online, track down blueprints, study aerial photos for hours, and—in rare and fortuitous circumstances—ask the Imagineers themselves. =D
In the specific case of the Indy queue tunnel, that's all possible through a few blueprints I've got on my computer. For the nearby service road tunnel below the berm, the blueprints I have are far less explicit, but I've also been through there briefly in person, so I have personal observations in my head, and I also found one backstage photo of the area online, which helped. Then I went through my own photos from the Disneyland railroad and found just a tiny bit more information.
So really, my info comes from all over the place, often in tiny tidbits that have to all be assimilated together to form a whole that—hopefully—is accurate and just maybe greater than the sum of the tidbits. =D
Hey, I've been looking through your project. Awesome stuff! Really top notch.
I was wondering: do you have a plan/purpose in mind for the finished product (assuming that time ever comes)? You simply have to make it available for mass consumption someday, it's just too good to keep to yourself! It would be awesome to optimize it for an online or downloadable virtual tour program.
I know you're nowhere close to thinking about that kind of stuff yet, but it just got me wondering. Looking for a real-time rendered virtual Disneyland is how I found this in the first place.
Muchos gracias! ;D I gotta say, I doubt the project will ever be finished...Disneyland is just too huge and detailed and, in some cases, enigmatic. I'm just gonna keep working for as long as I'm interested, equipped with some sort of information, and alive.
You're not the first to ask about downloading an interactive version, though. Here's the scoop—it is possible for me to offer the Virtual Magic.blend file online, and all anyone else would have to do would be to download Blender for free at blender.org and download the model. It'd be possible then to navigate through the model and make any desired modifications.
The problem with that is...I'd most certainly have made many changes to the model within a week of that download, which would mean I'd need to upload another version regularly. So perhaps it'd be best if I just did this if and when I got to some sort of hiatus or the like. I'm not sure yet.
I know many people that I'm sure would be interested in the .blend file (Myself definitely included) whenever you feel like sharing it. :)
Cool...I'll definitely consider that. One thing I might do is put together a DVD with tutorials, videos, detailed flythroughs, and the .blend file. Not sure yet. :)
I'd definitely be interested in downloading the .blend file at some point.
And that's interesting about the rendering times. I remember on the commentary for the Adventure Thru Inner Space 3D recreation Steve Wessen did that just the queue fly through took 3 months to render.
Certainly the more detailed you get (particularly on the more intricate interiors of the buildings) the longer rendering will take.
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