Rendering a model in an urban city setting

[davetesch]

Hello,
We want to put a model into an urban setting without taking too much time model a small section of city blocks. Any tips, resources or backgrounds out there?
Lots of tree and grassy fields on line, but I haven't found much non-rural entourage.

Thanks!
Dave

[Fletch]

does it matter about the specific context?
can you take photos of the context you desire?
Can you use Google Streetview and take images from there that you can use? Then apply them to photomatched planes in your model and use this technique?

[davetesch]

Thanks,

That would be a good move. Living in Wisconsin, maybe I just didn't want to go outside and I dont work in an urban setting. I feel like google street view just doesnt look high rez enough to not look hodge podged together... I would like it for studies, but this image was for a bid.

No, it doesnt matter which urban setting. the more generic 'urban setting' the better, actually.

But what I did do was grabbed a city model from the google warehouse, put my model in it. I copied it around as a component a couple times to get the background to look like a full city.
In the end, I didnt have as much 'upper skyline' in the view as I imagined I would.

Non Urban Setting:

groundview12cleargablen.jpg (107.49 KiB) Viewed 4428 times

Urban Setting:

20101210exteriorviewnol.jpg (144.08 KiB) Viewed 4430 times

Aerial Technique Explanation: See the "generic urban setting" model I got from the warehouse. It was long and rectangular, copied it and clustered it around a bit. My model plopped in about the Middle (light rectangle is emmiter plane)

20101210picotestdrivest2.jpg (84.69 KiB) Viewed 4428 times

Here is the amount of skyline I imagined would have been in the shot: Simple flat planes with a picture of a city skiline mapped on it might satisfy to get the reading of layers upon layers of urban massing falling into the background.

20101210picotestdrivest.jpg (66.49 KiB) Viewed 4429 times

This could be better, but this was really all we needed to show. Time is money, etc...

Thanks for the advice, hope this might help others. - I see th eimages didnt format too nicely, Ill get it straightened out for my next response, sorry, just click the link to see th efull image if it is awkwardly cropped.

Dave

*attachments made by admin to preserve on board for future reference*