"There's a pilot in the attic, but don't worry, he never bothers anyone..."

[awanderingbard]

I've come to realize that I'm basically set designing with this programme. And having a really indecent amount of fun.

I've built a set for Martin Crieff's Attic. Below the cut, because I'm sure people are getting sick of these by now.



All pictures get bigger if you click.



Entrance and bed area. There's a door at the bottom of the stairs. The style of bed is called a captain's bed. I like to think Martin couldn't resist. Plus, storage! There's a coat hook and coat hanger there for hanging one's captain's uniform and hat on so they don't get damaged, plus a mirror to check one's captainly appearance. The bedside table has an alarm clock to make sure he's on time, and manuals for light bedtime reading. The art over the bed is a photo of a cockpit, for happy captainly dreams.

I choose the wallpaper because A) it's a bit ugly and B) it looks like clouds, which I thought would appeal to Martin.



Window area. Toaster oven for making toast (and the occasional baked potato), and an electric kettle for tea and Pot Noodle making. A cabinet for holding silverware and extra food. I imagine there's a shared kitchen, and he probably has a shelf in the fridge there, and access to more sophisticated equipment.



Far wall. An ugly chair, accidentally make even uglier by a rendering error that I liked so I kept. Maybe a manufacturer's mistake that Martin picked up for a low price. A bookshelf, probably full of books on aeroplanes. A little commercial airliner model. I wanted a Lockheed Martin or a McDonnell Douglas to keep the spirit of Finnemore's puns, but neither model would load. A desk and laptop for writing CVs. A crappy telly that probably only has its licence renewed when goings are good. The photo on the right is over England, and the photo on the left a more stylistic view from an aeroplane window. And a toy biplane, probably the equivalent of a teddy bear.

I do picture the furniture as being more banged up, but I don't really have that option in the programme. I did at least try to make the furniture have no sense of matching or belonging together.

For those interested, I imagine there's a shared loo as well.

Comments

[aelfgyfu_mead]

I thought of it as darker—but I haven't actually yet heard any episodes in which it comes up, I think; I just know it from other people's comments and occasionally fic!

For those interested, I imagine there's a shared loo as well.
You thought of me! How kind of you!

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

The shadows render really badly when the light is too dark, so it's brighter than I imagine, too. You have to put a big white light in the middle of the room to make it not all pixelly. I also originally envisioned wood walls, but I couldn't find a texture that worked, and then I tried some really flowery old-lady wallpaper, but it looked too cheerful.

Some fics have him living in basically a cupboard, but I picture him as having a bit of room to move around. I've also seen fics where it's big enough to have a living room. I went in the middle.


You thought of me! How kind of you!

I have your back.

ETA: Here's (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/AWanderingMinstrel/Set%20Design/MartinDusk_zps988e136e.png) a quick and dirty render of the flat at dusk with the lights on and the overhead light off. You can see what I mean by the shadows being wonky.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

The link doesn't seem to be working.

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, it works for me. Maybe something LJ strips because of spam?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/AWanderingMinstrel/Set%20Design/MartinDusk_zps988e136e.png

Does that work?

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Now I can see it! I see what you mean; some of the shadows look really weird.

[shadowfireflame.livejournal.com]

Awwww at the walls! They are my favorite part! It can be like he's flying all the time. Totally adorable.

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It's funny, because I didn't realize until I actually applied the texture that it looked like clouds. I just thought it looked sort of like a bad sponge painting that might done to cover crappy walls.

[dustlines.livejournal.com]

Oh, you're right! *facepalms* Wow, how did I not think of this as set design before? Perhaps you have a future career option here, hee!

I love these sets that you make. They look so professional. This makes me want to go download the program. One of the best parts of The Sims games was making settings look pretty, and this actually looks a lot better even than that. Where do you get the objects from? Are they downloaded from the same site, or are they already in the program when it is downloaded? It just seems like there's so much variety to choose from.

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

It's a lot of fun to mess around with, and relatively straightforward to use, though it does take some time to get the hang of it. I've found it very useful for getting my head around locations.

Some of the objects come in the programme. Some of them can be downloaded from the website as extras. This room has an usually high number of objects from within the programme. The rest come from here (http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/). It's all free, though.

I did get st designer as one of my suggestions in an aptitude test we had to do in career studies, actually...

[dustlines.livejournal.com]

It looks like it's fun! Or at least you make it look like it's fun because your designs are so lovely.

And oh! That is the coolest link to search for stuff in. I had no idea such a database existed. Why do I feel like this could become an addiction? Yeep. o_O

I did get set designer as one of my suggestions in an aptitude test we had to do in career studies, actually...

I can see why! Lots of people can download random pieces and shove them into a single space together, but to make it look good is something else entirely, and you seem to have that down. :)

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

It is very addictive, I will warn for that! I have many, many projects on the go. But I find it very relaxing, too, and it's certainly a lot of fun.

One note about that link I gave you: the models have to be in .dae format to be directly imported into the programme. They're label as collada or zip files. If you want to use the ones that are in Sketch Up format, you have to download Sketch Up, import the model and export it as a .dae. Sketch Up is free as well, however, and it can be worth it to get that perfect model if you don't want to settle for something else. They are often of a higher quality, too. You can also edit them in Sketch Up, so you can removed certain sections or whatever if you want to. Some models come with two or three pieces, and you only want the one for example. You can delete the other pieces and export the one you want.


I can see why! Lots of people can download random pieces and shove them into a single space together, but to make it look good is something else entirely, and you seem to have that down. :)

Thank you! I just really like finding furniture that would appeal to the characters and finding all the little objects that they might have lying around. It's so much fun, and I feel like I learn more about the characters as I do it. I have a rather massive project of the Holmes Ancestral Home on the go, and it's been a blast to make the brothers' childhood rooms, and such. ^_^

[dustlines.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness, I can already tell! Wow, this is fun. I'll fiddle with this more, certainly.

And thank you for clearing up the bit about the formats for the models! I was noticing that almost everything through that one database link was for another program, so I was wondering about compatibility issues. I haven't opened up Sketch Up yet, but is there a reason you don't like using it, save for exporting files into different formats? Is Sketch Up not as cool as the other one you like?

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

Glad you like it. The forums at the website are pretty good about giving tips and tricks to do things you shouldn't be able to do with the programme, so it's even more capable than it appears.


Sketch Up is a modelling programme, not a architect programme, so it's not as straightforward to use. I haven't even be able to build a proper triangle with it. And it doesn't have the option to build walls and rooms and stuff, automatically. You'd have to do it all with squares and things. I admire anyone who has the patience to build the models, and am grateful that they do!