Dome Modeling Pains

    [Blocked Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Aerial_view_of_Cloud_Forest_and_Flower_Dome,_Gardens_by_the_Bay,_Singapore_-_20120503.jpg]

    I can probably manage to model the support spines (white) of the domes, but I am clueless as to how I can make these in Maya (or Max) and make the square windows on top of that. Does anyone have suggestions? I am much more used to hard surface modeling and never did anything organic without splines (converting them is horrendous, not an option). Also can anyone share their methods for making staircase flush with floors when they are rotated? Thanks!

    @neptune Thanks for the reply! Problem is I can't seem to get my hands on any blueprints. I went insofar as trying to contact the developers, but there was no response, as the reps listed on the website most likely have changed firms/jobs in the 5ish years since the job has completed. I have two perspective images, and only one is orthogonal, and neither are proportional to the IRL dome. However, if you have any tips for working with aligning rotated geometry on the grid in hammer (stairs, arches, etc.) , it would still help me allot!

    Ok I had to dig deep. I'm finding new stuff

    I'm not a modeller but hopefully I can help a bit. Pretty sure you can make those shapes with modifiers in 3ds Max:

    • Large glass surface with geo + modifiers like Taper/Spherify/FFD box etc. Don't need to worry about the bottom, you can just cut it + sink it in the ground
    • White trims with splines and loft
    • Supports for white trims with spacing tool, using the same splines

    Would the interior be playable or not? If not, can we go right next to the building or is it meant to be far away?

    @Minos This is actually really fucking smart. I'm tryna be too faithful and you made me realize that, because this still looks good and you just whipped it up. Also the steps were quite nice because I am bad at modeling even easy stuff like this as you can see. Thank you for the help!

    @MikeGon Thank you for these tips. This will definitely help for the final model! Also the interior will be playable, and will in fact be the sole area of gameplay. I originally wanted to make a map with each dome being a site, but realized that they are each a whole map size (plus the middle "canopy" section). It wouldn't work. I am actually good for the footprint of the building, but I am a nitpick and I want to make its shell shape 80-90% accurate. I tried going to Singapore's building dept. website but I had no luck. So far my best reference is the parabolic diagram I posted earlier that I got from their Design Awards submission. Also, interestingly, there are **690** glass shapes used for the whole structure. It has a window washing solution in which "elevators" ride between the support arches. If I really wanna be accurate it will be hard, because the grid shell structure increases in density where it tapers, allowing for the arches to support it at more points. Minos's solution is excellent for the graybox, given that I replicate the footprint (height is too large to need to account for anyway).

    The beast takes shape... FFD box is ridiculously helpful, along with taper. Fun fact: A whole logarithm was created by the architects just to model the curve of the real structure!

    It's both clunkier and also less clunky due to the modifier stack. Regardless, looks like you have a good start there. Depending on how detailed you want to get, you could probably get away with a lot of it just showing as texture work using tiling textures. Also, FFD (or lattice deformer in Maya) is an awesome tool. I use it all the time.

    Quote from Interfearance

    1 hour ago, Interfearance said: Good enough for my first Max model. It feels a lot clunkier than Maya, but I guess the modifiers are cool. This will do for the gray box.

    Good indeed ?

    Oh yes 3ds is certainly an acquired taste haha

    but you can make pretty much anything with it, just like Maya (someone correct me if I'm wrong)

    That looks absolutely phenomenal!

    As for the transparency issue, I'd suggest giving the texture a grey alpha channel in the image editing software of your choice and then add "$transparent" "1" in the VMT. At least, that has worked for me so far.

Participate now!

Don’t have an account yet? Register yourself now and be a part of our community!

Register Yourself Login