links

My dining table and elevators in SketchUp:

As you know I remodelled Zhang Yin's elevator because I lost the one I imported to UT. The overall shape is correct however the dimension, scale and the texture scale might be slightly off.

My overall model in SketchUp:

Shows most of the static meshes I used in UT (seems like either I forgot to put the meeting space, or it is on hide...)

UT Draft 1:

that was me experimenting with the movers.

UT Draft2:

almost looks like the final model, with minimum lights.

Finally... UT Final:


(I named the files correctly but since my name's too long... the names got cut off)

The Meeting Space

It is a fusion of power ideas, Yin's down to earth nature with wooden lines, and Donatella's extravagant background with curving/yielding glass and metal columns. And how they can work in harmony despite the differences.

The facade is almost entirely glass, creating an open space that contains their energy. Besides, dining with a stunning city view is always refreshing (I know in UT you can only see the texture detail of your glass, oh well...).

The dining table and chairs in Realtime.

Donatella Versace's space

Overall view of Versace's office with curtain wall facade. It is meant to catch one's attention as suited to her personality and industry.

All public eyes are on her ever since she became head designer of Versace. She is used to being the centre of media attention, and the lack of privacy, she [appears to] embrace it.


Yielding and curving walls and glass to suit her temperamental personality. The constant change in the curves along the office also represents fashion as an always changing industry .


The stairs is lavish and has moody lighting, to suit her artistic flair and the nature of her industry.

There are two possible office spaces that she can use, considering a moody person she is. The space on the top level is almost entirely surrounded by glass, suits a 'tan, blonde and blingin' person she is.

Or, she could use the bottom level space that is more private but still has a degree of lavishness, suits her lesser known side: the committed, highly driven and workaholic side (yes she has one).

Zhang Yin's space

She is a private person, rarely grant interviews, and remains largely unnoticed until recently. The enveloping timber frame encloses the space and suits her need for privacy and her down-to-earth persona.

However, if one is the richest woman in the world, privacy doesn't come easy. The timber frame does let outsiders see what's inside to some extent.

The vast lobby of her gigantic business is appropriate to welcome guests.

The giant staircase to her private office represents rise, growth, potential, and her vision (and the queen of cardboard ambition) . The stairs demand respect, and Yin is animated, but driven and tough, and this garners a lot of respect from the male-dominated business world.


The main material is timber is to reflect her nature-friendly business and her the simplicity of her ingenious business idea. The spaces at the side of the staircase is for her employees.

Then there's her practical side. If she's in a hurry/tired of climbing the giant staircase, she could always use the elevator that goes up to her private office.

The private office, in contrast to the lobby, is warm and friendly. The timber structure lets in light and creates an openness that doesn't stifle her vision.

overview

Zhang Yin's office is on the bridge, Versace's office and meeting space are below the bridge.

work in progress [2]

Sneak peek at my UT2004 model:




As seen in the first screenshot there was a reversed face problem with the static mesh... but it's been solved. Lighting and textures are not final.

dining / meeting space, draft

The basic set-up of the meeting / dining space of Yin and Donatella. I haven't taken into account their personalities but what I have in mind is a very spacious space (?!) with double height and natural light from outside, to suit their prowess and achievement.

elevators

Hmph. The textures from SketchUp won't come out, although I already imported them. I assigned my own texture but the static mesh has to be uniformly textured throughout.

This is for Donatella Versace.





And this is for Zhang Yin.



(notice how it looks funnily shiny? Inside the map itself it's worse - like a disco-lamp. Probably something to do with the mover brush. Sigh.)

tips/tricks with SketchUp and UnrealEd

In SketchUp, you can do an array by typing "x[number]" or "/[number]" right after you [Ctrl] +move / rotate an object

1" in SketchUp = 1 unit in UnrealEd. I found this helpful.

I also found it helpful to make a box of 50x50x90 (a person's size) in my UT model, helps me in scaling.

In SketchUp, bring your object close to the origin before importing in .ase format, and rotate to its correct position (I got it by trial and error). Saves quite a bit of time.

Plan in paper or SketchUp beforehand. Modelling aimlessly in UT just doesn't work for me.

the first draft

The original sketches and the screenshots:

Final UT2004 Map

Here's the filefront link to the final map:
http://hosted.filefront.com/alicetj/

Final UT Model

Firstly, the original sketch. The left part is Stephen Hawking's and the right is Jane Goodall's.
The ideas behind Hawking's ramp are crossroads and choice, which relates to his quote about actions, consequences, and one's control over one's fate.

Jane Goodall's ramp is about individual elements (railings randomly placed) that together creates the overall mood of the place.


The meeting space shows the individuals' (the cubes) 'reaction' in keeping the big block from 'pushing' into the space. Together they create a difference.


An Unrelated Note: One glitch is the glass texture I found (a large part of the meeting space i.e. the roof and the wall where the cubes embed) isn't nice. Instead of partially blocking the light to create a nice ambient, it appears to illuminate by itself! I can't fix it so the light in the meeting space appears overbearing :( Anyone can help me to find a more decent glass texture in UnrealEd?