Here is my latest timber frame texturing experiment: 1 plaster material, easily modified to make anywhere from clean to very dirty. I’m trying to give the impression of hand-painted, without the time it takes to do so.
Tremendous stuff, Doug, can’t wait to see a whole house with those amazing textures. All I can say is wow! Still lots to learn. Meanwhile, I have produced this little parish church which will tower over the rich three storey houses on the High Street.
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Thanks. Looking very good. I guess that church is all on one big texture sheet as well?
I might make some flat textures from those more complex 3d models, for placement on larger sheets like you’ve used.
Looking good. Though I have a little trouble picturing this church in the context of your town scene. To me it looks more like something out in the country. But that is only my two cents.
I believe his walk through is of a small town, which would still be pretty country by today’s standards. In any case, large cities had many churches, some big, some small, some even smaller than this. I think this one would be pretty large for a small, rustic village.
2 cents + 2 cents = 4 cents!!!
Thanks, in fact, you’re both right. This is not the main church of the town, just a parish church on the high street near the gatehouse. True, it looks like a village church, and the idea is that this church was originally built outside the city walls, and was then absorbed when the town expanded between the XIII and XIV centuries. However, I used many parish churches from the medieval city of York as reference images, so it should be historically correct… I hope 
I remember being in Florence years ago, in the early 90’s (I’m 40). There seemed to be a church on every corner. Some huge, some just chapels. But I do know that a medieval church was something of a point of pride - they were the tallest things in the landscape, and could be seen (in flat country) for miles.
yes, true, Italian towns are filled with churches. English towns are sort of different though. The reason why is simple. The kingdom of England was indeed a more or less united kingdom, and although there were rivalries between cities and especially nobles, there were less divisions between English subjects.
Italy, instead, was very different: although the northern cities (which is, from Rome upwards) were formally under imperial jurisdiction, they were in fact independent city-states, constantly at war which each other; more over, cities were in a constant state of war also within the city walls: nobles vs other nobles, nobles vs merchants, merchants vs lesser people, lesser people vs poorer people. It was a gigantic mess. Indeed, nobles built ‘case-torri’ (‘tower houses’), which were urban fortifications (there still are many visible examples, the most famous one is undoubtedly the Asinelli Tower in Bologna). Therefore, single cantons and ‘districts’ were rivalling with each other, and everything from churches to simple houses was matter of regional, urban, and even very local pride. THat is why so many churches and palaces were built in Italian cities, outnumbering the ones in French and English towns. However, yes, I guess in a town of 5/6000 people, at least 10 churches would be found, plus the cathedral or abbey.
Your little town is going to need some protection from thugs. Might I suggest:
Also, happy birthday!
Just wanted to say keep up the good work. I’ve been following this for a while. Great stuff. When will it be done do you think?
Thanks for the wishes! great stuff there.
Thanks MonkMonk, I really am glad you appreciate the WIP. We were planning on releasing the player on September 29 (medieval feast of Michaelmas), however, since we still have a lot to be fixed, we’ll probably release the teaser on that date and the player around Christmas 2013. We are currently working on toons, we have some 20/25 so far and we need to double up that number and then create animations and walk paths for all of them. Dialogues and subtitles, plus voice recording will take some time too, and after that we’ll have to create pop up panels with historical information, and check out all the buildings. Here is the latest creation: the White Horse Inn on the High Street.
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Sir, I would like like to book your finest room in the White Horrse inn. I’m a rather important gentleman, so no fleas in the bed please. Also, I’d prefer a single occupancy room - I am not accustomed to sharing my bed with strangers. And one on the top floor please, to avoid the din of the common room. My man will lodge in your least expensive room. A spot in the corner of the stables will be fine.
From a XV century book (W. Caxton, Dialogues in French and English, Westminster, 1488, p 49 - 50.10), on travelling and lodging for man and horse:
[TABLE=“class: parallel, width: 1024”]
“Dame, god be here!”
“Felaw, ye be welcome.”
“May I haue
24
A bedde here withinne?
May I here be logged?”
“Ye, well and clenly,
Alle were ye twelue,
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Alle on horseback.”
“Nay, but we thre.
Is there to ete here within?”
“Ye, ynough, god be thanked.”
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“Brynge it to vs.
Gyue heye to the hors,
And strawe them well;
But that they be watred.”
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“Dame what owe we?
We have ben well easyd.
We shall rekene to morow,
And shall paye also,
40
[/TABLE]
[TABLE=“class: parallel, width: 1024”]
That ye shall hold you plesid.
Brynge vs to slepe;
We ben wery.”
“Well, I goo, ye shall reste.
4
Ienette, lyghte the candell;
And lede them ther aboue
In the solere tofore;
And bere them hoot watre
8
For to wasshe their feet;
And couere them with quysshons.
The attached image is instead a preview of two of the 30 shops which will be
present in the player. So far we have a shoemaker and a brewery
[/TABLE]
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Thanks to Pitibonom, the church has finally been integrated into the web player. A few screenshots:
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You’ve definitely got some good things going-on here. A few suggestions:
- Lose the watermarks. No one’s going to steal your stuff. The watermarks obscure what we’re trying to see.
- Watch out for camera angles and non-parallel lines as in the second image in Post #5. When you are shooting architectural, an orthographic projection is needed, or a high truck-shot that’s looking down with a lens f-stop that isn’t wide-angle.
- It is extremely difficult to shoot a dark interior (#5a). Mideval people didn’t particularly like it, either: they had dormer windows.
He’s just showing quick screens. The final product won’t be renders, so it isn’t a big deal really what the screens look like, in terms of render quality. Just my opinion. These are not portfolio shots, and he’s not trying to get backing etc. This is just a “here’s what I’m doing” thread. Your comments are of course valid - but he spends a great deal of time working on the actual product, and then just runs off some screens, often late at night I believe. He did lose the watermarks, as I suggested earlier.
Don’t use orthographic. It is a drafting term meaning to flatten perspective essentially. It does not exist in the world. No vanishing points in ortho. Parallel lines instead of lines which eventually meet.
You can use a greater zoom - the standard blender camera is 35mm. If you move the camera back, and zoom in to say 60mm, you’ll have less exaggeration of angles.
Looking good! The town is really coming together.
ah ah Manorial !!! you turned the rain on
great shots on the church indeed !!!
@sundialsvc4:
It’s not a project for selling new architectural concept of churches 
Indeed it’s more intended to be seen in 3D googles for immersion and real time dive experience medieval times.
Therefore, perspective project is mandatory, just like athmospheric effects, light effects etc…
However i agree that for building makers, paraller proj is the only good one.
Hey guys. Been watching this since start. Great work and you know it. I’m still sad that you didn’t need more people abroad 
Very minor crit. I believe that there is something wrong with the alpha of the chain that holds the shop signs. I’ve seen a few other tiny things but it’s just nitpicking so I’ll skip. Keep up the good work!
Finally. The church no fit’s in perfectly. The rain also makes it look more English 
If you’re really interested, I have a project producing game artifacts of the same period of time, which really could use some good workmanship.
Sorry, Manorial, for highjacking your thread for my purposes)
I see the black of the alpha on the chains, Goh. Good catch. Renders and screens do different things with alpha, so maybe it works in the unity engine, but the renderer does not like it. I’ve always fought with alpha transparency in Blender.