Disneyland in 3D!

[Datameister]

DISCLAIMER: If you don't want to see what Disneyland looks like behind the curtain, so to speak, stay away from this thread. I happen to be fascinated with the backstage areas I can't explore. Most people aren't, and that's okay. For me, this intensifies the magic, but if it won't for you...well, you've been forewarned.

We now return to your scheduled programming.

Hey, guys. So, this thread began as continuation of the "Splash Mountain Blueprints!" thread. I'd been working on a 3D model of Disneyland in the free program Blender and posting updates there for a while, but then I switched to this one. However, for the project's first birthday (sorta...it's complicated), I switched to the Virtual Magic blog, disneyland3d.blogspot.com. That's where you'll find the newest updates now. But you already knew that, unless you've got sigs disabled. And if that's the case, I should probably let you know that all my still renders are on Flickr and all my videos are on YouTube.

If you want to help with the project, I love receiving photos, blueprints, elevation plans, aerial shots, backstage tales, etc. If you've got anything you think might be even slightly helpful, don't hesitate to let me know.

If you happen to be doing any 3D modeling of Disneyland, feel free to post stuff here. Again, the point is to spread visual information to as many people as possible.

FAQ

Q: What class or employer are you doing this for?
A: This is just a hobby.
Q: Then...why are you doing this?
A: Because I want to understand how Disneyland fits together in real life, because I want to be able to virtually stand in places I can't access in real life, because 3D renders look cool, because it's a challenge, and because others enjoy it.
Q: What software do you use?
A: I use Blender, a totally free and legal 3D program that never fails to amaze me with its full-featuredness. I highly recommend downloading it from www.blender.org.
Q: Where do you get your aerial views?
A: Maps.live.com. I also use terraserver-usa.com if I need to measure shadow lengths to calculate building heights. And Google Earth can be useful for measuring distances along the ground.
Q: Can I download the model?
A: At some point, perhaps. I've been hesitant to put the model up for mass downloads for numerous reasons, but I may do that at some point, or at least make it available on a case-by-case basis.
Q: What about Google Earth or Virtual Earth 3D? Could you upload the model to one of those?
A: Unfortunately, I'd basically have to redo the entire model in another program in the case of the former--I'm not even sure if the latter takes models from the public. So no, I probably won't be doing this, though I actually did make an attempt at this at one point.
Q: Are you planning on making DCA (Disney's California Adventure)?
A: Probably not. That park has some cool bits, but overall, it really doesn't stimulate my creative juices.
Q: How about Walt Disney World?
A: Probably not. Unfortunately, I have no sentimental connections to WDW, and I'm not intimately familiar with the place, so I really have no motivation for taking on another project that's even huger than this current one, which is already too massive an undertaking for me to ever finish.
Q: Does that mean you're not going to be finished with this Disneyland model soon?
A:
Q: No...seriously.
A: It would take lifetimes for me to finish this project. I'm just gonna keep going as long as I'm enjoying myself, and we'll see how far I get.
Q: Why haven't you built _____ yet?
A: This is actually a very time-consuming project. I'm generally building the things that are easiest and most interesting first, with a special focus on how backstage relates to onstage. If I haven't built your favorite ride yet, I probably don't have enough information (i.e. photos and blueprints) to do a good job, it's too difficult for me at this point, and/or I just don't care about that particular part of the park. HOWEVER--if you want to see it built, let me know! I love getting feedback, and if you're particularly interested in seeing something, perhaps I'll get started on it.
Q: You should totally start making videos of the model!
A: You should totally take a look at my sig.
Q: I'm sick of going through pages and pages of your dumb commentary, Data. Can't I just see the pics by themselves?
A: That, too, depends on how good you are at reading sigs.
Q: Do you have a life?
A: Your mamma.

Enjoy!

[BassBone]

Woot! Woot, I say!

[Hilsbro]

I love the site

[symbolic]

yippie I a
do you belive in UFO's????
I saw one over dlr the other day.

[BassBone]

Originally Posted by symbolic

yippie I a
do you belive in UFO's????
I saw one over dlr the other day.

I think that was a police chopper. Dland airspace is open again.

[symbolic]

no way jose, what i saw looked like a machine with a whip zooming around the top of the alien craft...definetly not from this earth!

[Datameister]

All righty, I'll be doing updates in this thread from now on, rather than this one. Ongoing changes are making the website more suitable to lower-res monitors; I'm also adding content to the Construction pages.

Work on the model hasn't been terribly eventful lately, but today gave me a chance to work on the tunnels, equipment rooms, loading areas, log cleaning areas, waterways, and queue pathways that form the labyrinthine interior of the front building of Splash Mountain. Here's a rendering that gives a feel for how complex it is in there; note that there are still walls and scenery missing. If anyone needs clarification on what they're looking at after looking through the other thread, just let me know.



If you're interested, remember to keep checking http://virtualmagic.freehostia.com for updates. (EDIT: No longer relevant. That site is dead until I redesign it, which may or may not happen. ) I hope to have the Construction section catch up with my current progress soon so that I can just post updates there.

[Datameister]

I rather like this render. I temporarily demolished the Haunted Mansion ride building, which lets you get a better view of the south side of Splash and the backside of the HM facade. Notice the circular hole that the Disneyland Railroad passes through, and just how much space there is in the tunnel below the actual tracks.

[k_peek_2000]

Wow, looks great. When are you going to start to texture the haunted mansion?

Also are you going to create a game engine so you can make it so people can be able to "walk" around the park once this model is finished in god knows how many years lol.

[TheManator]

You are playing God now. You have gone too far with the destruction of Haunted Mansion!

Anyways, great updates as always. Can't wait to see all of Disneyland in 3D

[Datameister]

Wow, looks great. When are you going to start to texture the haunted mansion?

Thank you! I really don't know if I even will texture the Haunted Mansion at any point. Ray Keim already did that with unbeatably high quality over at Haunted Dimensions, and I kind of like the foam core model look. Besides, texturing is hard...

Also are you going to create a game engine so you can make it so people can be able to "walk" around the park once this model is finished in god knows how many years lol.

That'd be a lot of fun, though I haven't the faintest idea how to do so. Once I have some areas of the park semi-complete, I may try to find out how. I'll at least be building the Virtual Tours part of my site at that point, which basically will be a series of sequential renders. These will make walking tours of the park that transcend the normal boundaries of onstage and backstage.

You are playing God now. You have gone too far with the destruction of Haunted Mansion!

Anyways, great updates as always. Can't wait to see all of Disneyland in 3D

Heh heh. Naw, God wouldn't be stupid and destroy the mansion like I have. Well, the point is moot, since the show building is back, safe and sound.

Thanks again, all! Current projects: building the concrete dividing walls, backstage pathways, and stairwells around the finale scene.

EDIT: By the way, does anyone know anything about the construction of the train tunnel that goes over the finale? I assume it has concrete walls, but the one side is glass or plexiglass. Does anyone know where the plexiglass starts on that side? As in, as you look into the darkness before overlooking the finale scene, are you looking at a wall or at a large window with blackness on the other side? Where does the plexiglass start?

[Datameister]

Tonight saw the installation of the floors for the control room and break room, as well as the construction of a few backstage stairwells and some complex (and not entirely successful) roofing over the queue. I also built some of the stone stuff on the outside of the queue. Nothing interesting rendered at the moment, but perhaps I'll have something to show for my efforts tomorrow. I've really got to build the exit ramp, now that I've installed the second-story floors in the queue area.

I'm also considering scrapping the iframe-based format of my website. It's too constricting, so I may just go the standard route and let the navigation scroll with the content. We'll see.

[Datameister]

I'm starting to wonder if anyone's seeing this thread, now that it's been relocated to the Community Outpost forum, but oh well.

The sides of the Haunted Mansion's basement are forming, as well as the above-ground exit crypt. You can't see it from the outside, but a certain haunted ballroom is materializing within the show building, too. If anyone has detailed blueprints of the Haunted Mansion's layout, I'd love to see them...they'd make things so much easier. Right now, all I've got to work with is this.



Oh, and a word from the getting-wiser: if you ever try to undertake something like this, don't make the same mistake I initially did and give the walls no thickness. A cubical building should not be represented by a cube. It should be represented by four walls, a floor, and a roof/ceiling (and, quite possibly, interior walls), each of which is a flattened cube. This really doesn't take much more time than doing everything without "real" walls, and it makes it so much easier to integrate things into the sides of the buildings.

If you have to add an interior wall that stretches from one side of the building to the center, for instance, just create a new flattened cube with one end completely hidden inside the thickness of the outer wall. When you render, the two walls will meet up perfectly but you won't see anything peeking through on the outside. That's really difficult to do with paper-thin walls, since the walls are bound to either not quite touch or intersect a little too much.

I wish I'd done this right from the start, since now I have to deal with this crap when working with my Haunted Mansion facade and show building, as well as the back building for Splash. Everything else is done right, but not those. I'll probably redo the two showbuildings, as those aren't too difficult to make again, but the HM facade would be pretty tricky to redo. I may just replace a couple of key areas with actual walls so that everything works right.

[DisneyMan]

I've finally found the new thread -- thanks for posting something in the old thread. The web site looks good also!

Wonder if a blog/RSS styled entry would be good for keeping everything recorded if this thread starts to die down on you.

I have a blurry set of haunted mansion blue prints. There is a great thread about the haunted mansion here http://www.micechat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56224 you will probably get all the info you will ever want or need! Let me know if you need something.

BTW: I believe you have said you are modeling things using the 3D program Blender -- would you ever post the model file on your web site for others to render their own POV? I can understand the hesitation since it is your creation. Just wondering.

BTW2: Can you update your original thread to point people to this thread for "current" renders? http://www.micechat.com/forums/showt...sh#post1663519

-mark

[DisneyMan]

Hopefully your Splash blueprints and your 3D model will answer questions that I've always had about emergency and maintenance walkways in the different tunnels/show areas. It seems like there are paths but I can't tell enough where they go.

And of course (duplication from other thread) a POV of what the Splash operators see from the control room

Everything is looking great! Awesome work!

-mark