Splash Mountain blueprints!

[Datameister]

That sounds very cool, Daryl. If you ever took any photos of the model, I'd love to see 'em...

It is tricky with the railroad tracks, isn't it? Luckily, the blueprints I have are pretty clear about where the tunnel goes through. It's the areas nearby that are hard to decypher--specifically the ones directly behind your back as you ride the railroad through the heart of Splash Mountain.

[kidatheart]

I'd also like to say how cool this is. I just stumbled upon this thread, so I'd love to see your updates as they come! Keep up the great work!

[Datameister]

Thanks a bunch! I really appreciate the support.

Here's another unusual shot. The camera is hovering seven or eight feet from the Haunted Mansion's weathervane, looking over toward Splash Mountain. If you couldn't tell, the tallest brown curve is the final lift and drop, with the placeholder cone for Chickapin Hill above it. The nearer green building on the left is the Haunted Mansion show building; Splash Mountain's back building is behind that. You can see the train tunnel working its way from the berm behind the mansion facade into the exposed train tunnel and then into the heart of Splash Mountain . Also notice that a concrete wall, concrete floor of Old Mill Pond, and the old mill itself are in the works.

[Hilsbro]

I downloaded blender....I am learning it slowly....lol

[Datameister]

Yeah, it'll take a little time to get used to. There are some really good tutorials online and some not-so-good ones, but you should be fine if you explore a little. If you've got any specific questions, I'm no expert, but I can try to help.

[Hilsbro]

I am gonna make some mini sets for my movies......like for flyovers...So I am glad I have this program

[Zeus]

If Disney didn't want this stuff being put on public discussion boards, they would of shut down micechat a looong time ago

[Datameister]

Originally Posted by Hilsbro

I am gonna make some mini sets for my movies......like for flyovers...So I am glad I have this program

Sweet. I'd love to see some renders once you've got some stuff made. My biggest suggestion is to use Ambient Occlusion when you render. It makes the rendering take longer, but the improvement in the realism is incredible. All the renders I've posted have used AO, and they would have looked terrible without it.

Originally Posted by Zeus

If Disney didn't want this stuff being put on public discussion boards, they would of shut down micechat a looong time ago

I keep telling myself the same thing. Seriously, I don't see the harm in this information being public.

Here's a huge overview of all the recent parts of the project (i.e. everything I've done except POTC and Indy). This took a couple of hours to render, but I'm quite pleased with it. If you look closely, you'll notice that many of the structures are actually floating a good ten feet or so above the ground. That ground is the bottom level of Splash Mountain's front building. When the model is done, the ground level will change appropriately. If you follow the link and click the resulting image to blow it up to full size, you can glimpse a couple of juicy details--electrical equipment and doors between the train tunnel and HM show building, the opening of the train tunnel in the near side of Splash Mountain, a double door that has an I-beam going right into the middle on Splash Mountain's back building--even a very tiny gray blip at the SM queue entrance that is actually a crude person for scale. What you can't see in this render is the other side of the buildings, where I've done some modeling recently. There's now a set of stairs with platforms on the back of SM's back building, and the back of the HM show building has been remodeled to feature two doors and the appropriate rectangular indentations.

[Maverick]

cool

[Hilsbro]

that is awesome!!

[Datameister]

Oh, I'm so glad other people are enjoying this, too. At first, I felt like I was insane and no one else would want to see the renders. I'm glad that's not the case.

The queue for Splash Mountain is progressing rather nicely. A lot still needs to be built, but things are coming along. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to deal with the issue of the discrepancy between the blueprints and the aerial photos, though. I mentioned it before: I've matched the track in the blueprints with the aerial photos, but that puts the queue a few feet east of where it is in the photos. I could just move the whole queue a few feet to the west when I'm done...but it needs to connect with the rest of SM, which is currently matching up with both the photos and the blueprints. Oy, it makes my head hurt.




By the way, those little tiny holes you see in the queue entrance's cupola were a nightmare to create. I tried using Boolean operations, but that failed miserably. I ended up having to do a lot of tedious connect-the-dots and then have Blender automatically fill the faces. Unfortunately, it filled in some redundant faces that created bizarre, ugly artifacts. So I had to find those--a difficult job in and of itself--and then delete them. I did this all for one quarter of the cupola so I could do it for just two of the eight holes. Then I copied that, flipped it, and attached it, creating a half. Copying that half, flipping it, and attaching it created a complete cupola. It looks great now, but it was killer to get it that way.

[TheManator]

I know this would deter from your original project - but once you are done with Splash Mountain are you going to conquer the quest of doing The Haunted Mansion? Because man, this is the best stuff I have ever seen...heck, I find it more interesting than when people take pictures of the show scenes..

[Datameister]

Originally Posted by TheManator

Because man, this is the best stuff I have ever seen...heck, I find it more interesting than when people take pictures of the show scenes..

Wow! That's quite a compliment. Thank you so much for your support! Do make sure you check out bendintheriver.net, though. This guy has been building Pirates of the Caribbean in Blender, and the level of detail makes mine look like child's play. The only problem is he doesn't use Ambient Occlusion for the rendering, so it doesn't look as real as mine. But that can be fixed by hitting a couple of buttons. Bringing my model up to the level of detail of his...well, that would/will take quite a bit more work.

Originally Posted by TheManator

I know this would deter from your original project - but once you are done with Splash Mountain are you going to conquer the quest of doing The Haunted Mansion?

Well, I've got the mansion facade already in place, as you can see. All the facade needs is some work on the cupola, some more windows and doors, slight modifications to the roofing, and the ironwork on the verandas. The show building behind it is more or less finished, too. So I'm assuming you're talking about the ride track itself, the queue, and the interior elements. My answer is...I'm not sure. My interests are constantly in flux; one day, the idea of working on Splash's queue makes me cringe, and the next day it's all I can think about. One of these days, I'll probably develop a sudden and overwhelming interest in the mansion.

The only problem is the fact that I don't have nearly as much information for the Haunted Mansion. I have a number of very low-res blueprint photos, as well as a couple of high-res elevation plans for the facade, but I don't have elevations for the whole ride, and I don't have high-res layouts of any of the ride. So, any work on the mansion will be more speculatory in nature. I'll have to make more assumptions than I have to with Splash Mountain.

To be honest, it's rather likely that I'll go after the cooling plant next to the Haunted Mansion first. It's located backstage, just south of the Haunted Mansion ride building. It looks like a lot of fun to model, so I'll probably do that first. However, now I know there's some interest in the mansion, so I'll put that higher on my list of priorities.

Wow, that was a long post.

[Datameister]

At long last, here's a shot from the back. All the detail on the back of the Haunted Mansion show building was done yesterday. I've still got a lot of detail left to do back here--another staircase and some doors behind Splash Mountain, the doors and windows on the ODV building, a footpath on top of the SM back building, miscellaneous pipes, stuff like that. And, of course, there's still no camouflage on any of Splash Mountain. When finished, the back building will be entirely covered on one side.

[TheManator]

I can't wait to see a real virtual disneyland someday.