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Sketch-up Rendering

Started by Mark, Aug 20, 2017, 10:00 pm

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rob49152

Nice job. I for one never believe there is too much detail. It can alter the lighting is subtle ways and always gives the eyes something to notice.

Also would love to see the schematics for those. For the longest time I thought of having a 3D TARDIS tool kit with all the elements from every console as .obj files or  maybe .fbx as that seems to carry more information like color and UV maps.

Mark

Thanks Rob, after seeing the amazing quality of your work, that means a lot!

What you said makes sense, about the interaction and lighting. Only problem is that with all these extra faces and edges, when I finally get around to doing a full render I reckon my aging computer will take at least a month to complete it...

Maybe that could be one of the rooms in your TARDIS, a  sort of "stores" room with racks of spare parts from over the years?

I'll get the new items placed on a control panel and see how they measure up. Initially they look pretty close but before I post the schematics on the reference thread I'd like to be more certain.

If you want to have a look yourself they are on the RS electronic website. This is the same place that the large silver rocker switches are from so it would make sense that these were bought from the same place for the original console.

Not sure what a .obj or a .fbx is and I'm not sure I can export as either but if I can you are welcome to a copy of each component if you want them?

Mark

Spent a little time layering things up and this is where I'm at;

button and panel light.jpg

The panel light lines up perfectly. The white bit underneath is a reflection on the console panel, although I initially thought it was a bezel.

The push button switch is a little more problematic. I used the switch I found on the RS Electronics site which had a 15.5mm square base and a 11mm square button. This doesn't match up well as you can see in the picture. After loads of searching I finally found another switch from JayCar which looks the same but has specs of 14.7mm square base with a 10mm square button.

It's too late for my tired eyes to build another button to these new specs tonight but probably tomorrow, and while I'm doing that I'll double check the measurements of the silver rocker switch which looks ever so slightly off.

It is really difficult working at such a small scale where 1mm can make such a difference especially when the photo's being used to match up with sometimes have lines so pixelated that you cant work out where the true edge of a line actually is!

I'm off over to the http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=2563.msg101466#msgx101466 thread to post the schematic of the panel light which I'm 90% sure is the correct one. The push button will have to wait for now.

Angelus Lupus

Sep 15, 2017, 11:30 pm #18 Last Edit: Sep 15, 2017, 11:31 pm by Angelus Lupus
Quote from: Mark on Sep 15, 2017, 09:55 pm
It is really difficult working at such a small scale where 1mm can make such a difference especially when the photo's being used to match up with sometimes have lines so pixelated that you cant work out where the true edge of a line actually is!

I'll add to that: the problem of over-using any 'sharpen' filters. These create high-contrast, highlight/shadow regions to over-exaggerate edges, that can easily lead you to see borders, outlines or bezels (or for conspiracy theorists blocky pixels + over sharpened = seeing buildings in NASA Mars/Moon images). And that's without our old friend, 'Jpeg artefacts'
I once convinced myself the text I was reproducing had an outline that wasn't there!
A mixed-up non-conformist, trying to fit in.

Mark

Sep 23, 2017, 10:45 am #19 Last Edit: Sep 23, 2017, 10:55 am by Mark
Luckily Angelus, I didn't do any re-sharpening. Not because of the problems you mentioned, purely because the images were good enough for what I was doing. You are our course right, and if I had altered the picture in any way I could have ended up with all manner of problems.

I got fed up of trying to figure out whats was going on with the push buttons. These were what I thought would be the easiest things to identify as they are quite prolific but they are still proving difficult. I do know some buttons on this console were missing and either replaced with similar or, as in the case of certain paddle switched, changed for something completely different.

Anyhow, bored and annoyed with push buttons I decided to look at the time rotor again. The previous version I posted earlier in the thread looked (to me at least) great, but this time I wanted to go for accuracy and decided to start with the bulbs. I knew there was a thread which listed the type of bulbs but couldn't find however the oracle which is Warmcanofcoke recalled it straight away and I was able to find out they were Phillips/Osram Linestra bulbs.

Now the next problem was the sizes and there has been some debate about whether there were actually three types of bulbs as this picture shows,

Rotor 1.JPG

This is a screen grab from Time Lash which has been darkened. You can see the small red tubes, the medium sized tube to the left finishing on the second from top tier and the large tube on the right which appears to stretch all the way from the top tier down to the mirrored base.

But in the same scene we have this picture

Rotor 2.JPG

This time you can make out the red tubes, the lower white tubes are just visible and to the left and to the right are the taller tubes but this time they stretch from the top but only as far as the middle of tier 8. If you were to compare this picture with one from a few frames before you when the left white tube was illuminated, you would see that all the white tubes are the same length but staggered.

This got me thinking that although the first picture I posted must be some sort of optical illusion, possibly due to reflections coming from the perspex layers? I would appreciate anybody elses thinking on this matter before I crack on with modelling it.

I did actually get some actual modelling done when a package dropped onto my door mat.

A member here (I'll let them identify themselves if they so wish) got access to a keyboard button of the exact type used on this console and very kindly sent me a resin cast of it. This gave me chance to measure it in detail and to be fair, I wasn't too far out.

V2 Buttons.jpg

On the left are the version made using the actual measurements taken from the real button and on the right are the ones I made using Purple's recollection of 18x18mm combined with Sketch-up's "Match Photo" system. Its worth noting I haven't rounded any corners yet on the new version.

The height was only off by 1/2mm and the width of the top was only off by 1mm. There was some alteration needed to the curve of the corners which I did by eye and the top needed alteration from 2mm to a 1mm edge.

These are some pictures of the actual button.

IMG_20170923_105539_crop_624x624.jpgIMG_20170923_105640_crop_624x624.jpgIMG_20170923_105539.jpg

I'd never noticed the texture before, maybe because the console buttons have been touched so many times over the years the texture has gone or perhaps I just never noticed.

I'd like to publicly thank the person responsible for producing this fantastic and detailed cast and letting me have it, you are a craftsman and top bloke.

I'll prepare some schematics and post them on the reference section a little later.

galacticprobe

Sep 23, 2017, 04:15 pm #20 Last Edit: Sep 23, 2017, 04:19 pm by galacticprobe
With regard to the lights inside the central column, after looking at that first photo you posted, could it be possible that we have six tubes inside? Two small red ones (which we see); two tall white ones that run from the top tier to the mirrored base (again which we see); and two medium-length white tubes that run from the second tier from the top to the base, one of which we can see in the photo, and from the angle of the photo, the second medium-length tube being hidden behind the tall white tube on the right?

This could explain why in the second photo, which is from a different angle, we are able to see that second medium-length white tube.

What are the thoughts on that?

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

Mark

Interesting idea Dino, but I'm not sure I understand.

I was always under the impression there we're 8 tubes. Four red small tubes roughly in the centre of the assembly and then four white ones (about twice the size of the red ones) , two set high and two set slightly lower.

Then there was discussion, possibly because of shots like the first one above, that there were in fact the four small red, two medium white and then two large white.

I've had a look but from what I gather there only seems to be two lengths that were made back then, although there seems to be three sizes available in LED versions now.

davidnagel

Quote from: Mark on Sep 23, 2017, 10:45 am
you are a craftsman and top bloke.


You're far too kind. The silicon and resin did all the hard work - honest!

Glad it arrived. And your macro work there really shows off the texture!
Regards
David

galacticprobe

Sep 24, 2017, 04:13 am #23 Last Edit: Sep 24, 2017, 04:15 am by galacticprobe
Quote from: Mark on Sep 23, 2017, 09:46 pm
Interesting idea Dino, but I'm not sure I understand.

Well, Mark... we are unanimous in that!

Quote from: Mark on Sep 23, 2017, 09:46 pm
I was always under the impression there we're 8 tubes. Four red small tubes roughly in the centre of the assembly and then four white ones (about twice the size of the red ones) , two set high and two set slightly lower.

I'd have to look back at the thread, but it is really difficult to tell with this column because of all those "stars" and prisms refracting the light just how many light tubes there really are in it. I remember the different lengths, but not what the number of tubes was. ???

Quote from: Mark on Sep 23, 2017, 09:46 pm
Then there was discussion, possibly because of shots like the first one above, that there were in fact the four small red, two medium white and then two large white.

Write this one off to my stanky old wizzard eyes and the quality of the photo (and light refractions), but I can only see 2 red ones, which is what made me think 6. But if there are 4 red ones, then the total number of tubes would be 8.

Quote from: Mark on Sep 23, 2017, 09:46 pm
I've had a look but from what I gather there only seems to be two lengths that were made back then, although there seems to be three sizes available in LED versions now.

I can't speak for the UK, but in the US in the mid-1980s, you could get tubes in 12, 18, and 24-inch lengths (and longer) easily enough: 24-inch were for ceiling light fixtures; 18-inch were for office desk lamps (especially the kind with the flexible "gooseneck" section); 12-inch were for under-the-kitchen counter or above-the-stove/range fixtures.

If all three lengths were available in the UK as well, then it's at least plausible the red tubes could have been the 12-inch lengths with colored sleeves over them (grouped all four in the column's center?), the 18-inch lengths were the "medium" tubes on the "east"/"west" sides reaching from the base to the 2nd tier from the top, and the 24-inch lengths were the tall tubes on the "north"/"south" sides reaching all the way to the top of the column. (Note: The east/west and north/south directions are just for explanation purposes to show the possible location of the tubes, and have nothing to do with how the console or column were oriented relative to the cardinal points of the compass.)

Does any of this makes sense?

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

Mark

To be fair David, with all the silicone and resin in the World, I could not have done that.

Thanks for your kind words regarding the photos but truth be told, I only used the camera on my phone (and it isn't even a mainstream Samsung/I-phone type!) as my real camera is in having its sensor cleaned, that said I did want to try and show the texture and I'm happy with the outcome.

You're quite right about it being tricky with all that perspex and prism set up. Sometimes my eyes give up!

As for availability, I'll have another look. From what I've seen they were, and still are, very expensive - about £25 a bulb - and seem to be more for decorative purposes than actual lighting.

And yes, most things you say make sense LoL

I keep chipping away hoping one day to be able to contribute to what many other members have made such a massive contribution to.

tony farrell

Quote from: Mark on Sep 25, 2017, 08:52 am
I keep chipping away hoping one day to be able to contribute to what many other members have made such a massive contribution to.


In the words of a well known supermarket advertising campaign: Every little helps!  :)

T

Mark

Well it's been a while but I've finally made some progress with this project, even thought I'm now on version 5 and even that has had some sub-versions. For example I was happy with how the under panels were looking and then old fried Purple Blancmange posted a You Tube video and I noticed a load of alterations were required to both the under panels and the base.

Under console PB match.JPG

It was a little annoying but I'm happy that I am a little closer to getting this as spot on as I can.

If your haven't seen that video he talks about the panels he has from the Rehearsal Console and a device which appears to have controlled the various lights on the actual prop.


This isn't the current version but it does show all the buttons and switches in place and the only real difference is that on the current version I have rounded a lot more of the edges such as the monitor housing and such.

Mike Kelt CONSOLE mk 5 2.jpg

I have also tweaked the "Scrabble Tiles" to look more like the originals, which I have still not been able to identify, and by giving each side an angle and curving the hell out of each edge - I'm very pleased with how they look.
Mike Kelt CONSOLE mk 5 11.jpg

I will be restarting the Time Rotor purely because I had to take liberties when creating this one so it isn't spot on with the work Lespaceplies posted. I'm not sure if it was because of the resolution of the image I used of the stars or the way SketchUp displays imported images, but it was impossible to get accurate placement of the various triangular and tubular uprights because of bad pixellation of the image.

I also need to make a start on the various L.E.D. segment display panels. Now there are definitely some on the console but there is some which look like phonies, certainly to me anyway.

Please have a look at this and tell me what you think about it. The grab is from "Resurrection of the Daleks". The black rectangular object is roughly the same size as one on another panel however that one is definitely a L.E.D segment display unit whereas this one seems different to me.
Panel 1 - Resurrection of the Daleks.jpg

I've also included the same picture with but with a crude outline of what I think I see. I've Spoilered it so you as not to influence your thoughts on the original picture.

Spoiler
Panel 2 - Resurrection of the Daleks.jpg To me it seems like there is this sort of shape stuck onto the panel
[close]

Anyway enough talk, I recently bought "The Five Doctors" on DVD and I'm going to have a watch and see where all those flashing lights actually are, how many there are and how they flash.