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Post by oldschooldm on May 13, 2015 6:45:12 GMT -9
Thanks!
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Post by berneart76 on May 14, 2015 22:26:24 GMT -9
So this is how I get sucked into things... and how my mind puts things together. I had started working on the pole sided ladder coloring and texturing, and decided to do a test print to see how it would look with score lines all the way across the tubular sides: While I liked how it looked, especially after adding some glue on the edges of the treads to hold them to the insides of the sides, I felt that the score lines would be too visible, but then my mind felt that perhaps these would fit horizontally in the slots on my side attach pilings, so of course I had to see if it would work: And of course it fit almost perfectly, so then I got the idea for modifying the design for a deck surface, and that led to an old idea I had for a rough planked pier, so I dug around in my files and found the original idea, and then completed it and the tubular sided version as well. The box construction style is designed to have edges overhanging the box, making the pilings more along the edge of the pier. In the picture the tube sided version is on the left, the box construction is on the right. So after that, I just had to build some tests, so I printed and cut out one of each (in the picture there is a bottom piece for the tube sided version on the right) The box construction style has some reverse folds involved to get the overhanging edges: The tube sided version gets the back marked and the bottom piece glued on ( the bottom piece is to add some extra stiffness besides adding texturing on the bottom, it also allows you to have the piece used with the tubes up or down, making side rails) Tube sided with markings to glue bottom piece: Tube sided with bottom piece glued on and sides scored and starting to fold: Even though they are scored, I use a paintbrush to help press the glue tabs against the top to get a good glued joint: Assembled , top side: Assembled, view of the bottom: And then on pilings, with tubes rolled to the underside, and also with them to the top. This version is 2 inches across with the tubes down, around 1.5 inch across with the tubes up. Just for strength I don't thin k I'd go any wider than that: And here is a composite with my original deck version, the tube sided and the overhanging edge styles, plus a mix of the different ladder styles I almost have completed: I am going to finish what I have on my plate for now, but will most likely then work on the rough planked pier styles as a follow up set.
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Post by cowboyleland on May 15, 2015 4:03:01 GMT -9
I love the tub sided deck look. That is the way they used to bang docks together where I spent my summers growing up (Lanark County, Ontario.) I don't know if it is too late, but it looks to me like your 2d ladders would fit in better if the top two spaces had a neutral wood grain background rather than a blue one.
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Post by berneart76 on May 15, 2015 9:21:17 GMT -9
Thanks cowboyleland, I had caught that as well, it ended up being that way because I kept the endgrain extensions from the 3D ladders on the deck overlay, it is easy enough to fix. I also think that for the tube sdied versions in the future I might make the bottom printed with the tube/log sides and make the top a piece with fold under extended edges., so the planks are wider than the supports.
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Post by cowboycentaur on May 17, 2015 19:23:36 GMT -9
This has probably been said and I missed it, but will there be an option for a 1" grid on the pier surface?
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Post by berneart76 on May 17, 2015 20:15:58 GMT -9
cowboycentaur, I have the main line of plank fasteners/nails/bolts set up 1 inch apart, but haven't come up with a good way of actually putting a grid on that detracts from the appearance. I haven't quite given up though. Given the different shades of wood colors, it is hard to come up with a single overlay. I might try doing 2 different ones, one for light colors, one for dark colors. I sort of don't like the artificial leaves/debris/etc attempts I have seen tried to be used either
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Post by berneart76 on May 17, 2015 21:00:25 GMT -9
had a good time getting out and taking photographs to help my brothers pet project, a vintage motorcycle show that supports a mentoring/life skills non-profit and got the opportunity to get some pictures for some textures for this project....so now back to the job search and work on this set for this week...
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Post by berneart76 on May 19, 2015 21:28:05 GMT -9
So getting back to work on the ladders after spending almost 6 hours taking pictures at a vintage motorcycle show my youngest brother organized on Sunday, and working on texturing. Fixed some issues with the 2D ladders, mainly the one that cowboyleland noticed, changing the top opening above the tread to be part of the deck overlay and added in deck and decided while doing that to add water and pier deck inserts/backgrounds for openings between the lowest rungs while I was at it: I also adjusted the layout, this is how most of the ladder layouts will be now, with a long, 6" ladder and if possible two 3.25", two 2.25" and two 1.25" ladders on each sheet. I decide to make things at 1/4" longer to allow for slightly sloped ladders, and you can trim 1/4 inch off the bottom if you want a perfectly vertical ladder. I'll be doing the water level layers for water depth staining/algae/barnacles/mussels so that even if you trim 1/4" off the bottom, there will still be some of those layers visible on 3", 2" and 1" ladders. and some of them test built, From left to right are with a full sky background, a water background in the lower section ( Need to get a touch more blue on the water) and with a decking background on the lower section. Now onto more coloring/texturing since i have all the layouts worked out for the wide and narrow straight 2D, angled 2D, wide and narrow straight 3D, wide and narrow angled 3D, and extended/cut to length 3D straight and angled version....
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Post by berneart76 on May 24, 2015 11:38:22 GMT -9
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Post by cowboyleland on May 25, 2015 3:35:40 GMT -9
I think you should really use a blue ground to show how the ladders will look when actually in play. Just let that blue sheet drape across the table.
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Post by berneart76 on May 25, 2015 8:52:57 GMT -9
Thanks for the suggestion cowboyleland, I'll probably do that for the Instruction Booklet. for now, since the ladders are meant to be cut to length, I figure it would be too difficult to do a ground/deck background for the bottom 1/2 inch or so... besides, if you want to get really intense, you can just cut out all the inner pieces.... I might download the Silhouette free program and experiment with making cutfiles for these as well, not quite able to buy the full featured program.
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Post by cowboyleland on May 25, 2015 12:12:06 GMT -9
Is there an option to "suppress" the blue if I want to cut out all the spaces anyway? I like to be cheap with ink.
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Post by berneart76 on May 25, 2015 13:24:57 GMT -9
The sky backdrop will be switchable on/off, as well as the decks so you can just print out the ropes/nets/etc to use on your own models.
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Post by berneart76 on May 25, 2015 15:57:00 GMT -9
Ok, I have everything done on my to do list other than the platforms, so going to go through all the pier width/length iterations, 30 and 45 degree junctions, the pilings, the post/beam style supports, fold flat ramps, and stairs and ladders that I have completed at this point, check all my alignments and score and fold lines and descriptions/legends if required before moving onto working on the platforms... Especially since I've gotten some good pictures of breakwaters and rock and wood retaining walls that I need to convert to textures to match the style that I have...
While doing this, I might also start up a blog as well to detail some of the thought processes, etc that went into the design..
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Post by berneart76 on May 26, 2015 7:37:09 GMT -9
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Post by mproteau (Paper Realms) on May 26, 2015 8:02:46 GMT -9
I believe that line style actually impacts the cutting and scoring, and I prefer solid lines. At some point WWG went with dashed score lines, and the machine 'optimized' the cutting in strange ways. Just my experience though - anyone else have opinions?
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Post by oldschooldm on May 26, 2015 8:09:04 GMT -9
Black exterior cut lines. Option to hide score lines (which should be dashed, black, and thin.)
IMO. :-)
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using proboards
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Post by mproteau (Paper Realms) on May 26, 2015 8:51:58 GMT -9
Black exterior cut lines. Option to hide score lines (which should be dashed, black, and thin.) IMO. :-) Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using proboards Oh ha ha ha All of my comments are about styles WITHIN THE CUTFILES! I agree 100% with@oldschooldm inside the printable file. Black solid lines to cut. Score lines black dotted or dashed. When possible, extend score lines beyond edge of piece, and try to line up score lines on the page. I like red for reverse scoring. Layers to turn them off for us to robocutters.
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Post by berneart76 on May 26, 2015 10:00:12 GMT -9
oldschooldm and mproteau (Paper Realms), thanks for your input. I have been working on a black dashed line style, but since a lot of the design outlines end up being along the score/fold lines I've gone to a switchable layer that is a white dashed line with ( where possible) has black dashes extending beyond the outline. And correcting alignments on internal cut lines and score lines on multiple piece pages.. Also per cowboycentaur's request/suggestion, I've made the plank nail/fasteners into 2 versions, one a 1" grid, the second a 1.5" grid. due to how the actual planks lined up, they aren't all exactly 1" or 1.5" square, but are very close ( a few hundreths of an inch off) This picture of the 6x3" pier/deck section is the first I've been re-working and it has the internal (white) scorelines turned on, the extensions are part of the actual Plank/Outline overlay. This also has the 1" grid plank nail/fastener overlay as well. This second picture has the internal ( white ) scoreline overlay turned off, and the 1.5" grid plank nail/fastener overlay enabled: I'm also going through and cutting the main design features and pasting into a new layer to eliminate a lot of the bleed/overspray effects ( you ca see some at the left side in the above pictures) that oldschooldm had noticed were making my "white" backgrounds not pure white, so that should take care of some of the unnecessary "off-white" printing issues.... ( and save ink and speed up printing ( a little))
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Post by oldschooldm on May 26, 2015 11:55:11 GMT -9
White or black dashes are fine (as long as the can be switched off...) :-)
BTW, I like the hand drawn grid-dots. :-)
Randy
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Post by berneart76 on May 26, 2015 12:53:30 GMT -9
The grid dots are from nails in an actual malting floor, taken in black and white, all board details removed, adjusted to scale for a 1" section, and then flipped, rotated, stretched and squeezed to fit the plank layout..... it might actually have been easier to hand draw them!
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Post by cowboycentaur on May 26, 2015 20:52:20 GMT -9
looks great, and will definitely be helpful!
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Post by berneart76 on May 30, 2015 11:34:28 GMT -9
So, been away doing some other work top help my parents out, but have been getting some time in on the file cleanup and learned a few things.. 1. Laying an actual hardwood floor is a lot harder (physically) than doing a virtual one, but both take quite a bit of time to make look good. 2. I really dislike being away from my printer while working on papercraft designing... I like to have actual verification of the actual printed appearance from time to time.. 3. as pavaro knows ( and most others here as well probably), I'm my own worst critic... 4. I really need to stop expanding the offerings in the set, but since I was redoing almost all the files I had already, while redoing the files to clean up overspray/ghosts/random artifacts that were detrimental to the printing efficiency, and since I finally managed to get the overlay appearance worked out to my satisfaction for the irregular planked decks ( I wasn't sure whether to call them rough or warped or random, but I like "irregular"... I am adding the layers in for the irregular planked deck, as I think people will like it... So, here is how they'll look...
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Post by pavaro on May 30, 2015 12:11:13 GMT -9
3. as pavaro knows ( and most others here as well probably), I'm my own worst critic... Strange, why did you pick me?
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Post by berneart76 on May 30, 2015 12:53:52 GMT -9
pavaro, just because I've recently been following your posts a lot, and you seem to be having some similar doubts on style, etc....
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Post by berneart76 on Jun 5, 2015 20:18:51 GMT -9
So been busy with a family funeral, putting an oak floor in my parents living dining room, and doing my usual job searching/going to job fairs a bit the past while, but I have gotten the decks all cleaned up, added 2 new plank styles, new fasteners in 1" and 1.5" grid patterns that work for all 3 deck styles, and a broken plank overlay.. so here are some sample sheets to show what things look like, and the different options that will be available. Now I'm on to work on the posts and beam supports. Things might have gone quicker if I hadn't decided to completely re-work some of the page layouts for better design and to maximize sheets of paper. So here is the first sample page, From the top down, this shows the 9 different wood tones, the next row down has the straight plank and irregular plank wood grain accent overlays. The third row shows the 3 planking styles- close set, wide gap, and irregular planks. the next 3 rows are split top/bottom showing the plain tone with different overlay. 4th row has ageing/discoloration effects 5th row has a streaky algae that is embedded in the grain and a blotchy moss overlay 6th row shows from left to right light staining, medium staining, and a heavy staining when the 2 are combined. the bottom row shows from left to right straight 1" grid, straight 1.5" grid, irregular 1" grid and finally irregular 1.5" grid. The second sheet shows the different selections for width/length combinations: ( these are reduced to fit on one page, but are to scale) Top row is the 3" width choices, from left to right 6" long, 4" long, 3" long, 45 degree junction and 30 degree junction ( the 45 degree pieces come 2 to a sheet, the 30 degree ones are 3 to a sheet) The middle row is the 2" wide choices, 6" long 4" long, 3" long, 2" long and 45 degree and 30 degree sections. (the 4" and 2" sections are on the same sheet, the 3" sections come 2 to a sheet, the 45 degree sections are 4 to a sheet and the 30 degree sections are 6 to a sheet) the bottom row has the 1.5" sections, 6" long ( 2 per sheet), 4" long ( 2 per sheet), 3" long and 2" long (both on the same sheet, 2 of each), 1.5" square ( 3 per sheet due to the unique way of building, where the 1.5' square, the 1.5" 45 degree and 1.5" 30 degree sections have side wings for support due to their small size (see this post: construction details) 45 degree sections (4 per sheet) and 30 degree sections ( 4 per sheet) Hopefully the pilings should go faster, as well the beam style deck/ramp supports and fold flat ramps supports. The ladders/climbing ropes/other embellishment sheets should just need a quick review, plus I'm thinking I should have a railings option as well, but that should be fairly quick to put together.... I know people are looking forward to this set, so I am doing my best to get it released as soon as I can....
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Post by room101 on Jun 6, 2015 12:37:48 GMT -9
Firstly, commiserations to you and your loved ones on your family bereavement.
Now. Your dedication to this is astounding. A phenomenal amount of work. You seem to be lacking a 'that'll do' mode.
Mike
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Post by berneart76 on Jun 6, 2015 15:27:39 GMT -9
First off, Thanks Mike ( room101) for the condolences from me and my family. Secondly, on the "lack of 'that'll do' mode", it happens to be a genetic trait in my immediate family. Me, my parents, or my brothers and sister all seem to suffer from some what of the opposite, a misplaced sense of responsibility and dedication to doing things properly.. Third, on that same "lacking a 'that'll do' mode", while working on the pilings sheets, I started thinking it would be nice, since I had incorporated a curved/irregular plank style for the decks, it would be interesting to see if I could do the same for the pilings. I started with just trying to do it by applying the same texture overlay for the decks onto the straight tube piling, but wasn't satisfied with it. I then did some looking on the intrawebs, but didn't find ( in short order) anyone who had a curved, tube type structure. That led to me figuring I wanted something with just a slight double bend in it, and if I could modify my piling layout to follow a curved plank from the decks texturing. I also wanted a piece that would be a single score/cut/fold piece ( it could get more complex if it was a multi-piece part) So I broke it down by side to start with ( 8 of them, 9 including the glue tabs). I started with a 3 inch high piling and broke it into six-1/2 inch sections, then started with one side of an octagonal tube and slightly twisted each half inch section and shortened/lengthened as necessary to match a plank from the deck texture. That led to this concept: Do a little test print and build with some different wood tones: And I think these will work just fine as an additional option after a little more finessing and cleanup as I complete the re-work/PDF preparation for the Pilings sheets. I need to do some adjustment on the width of each side of the octagonal tube, and a little more adjustment on the wood grain texturing, but i think this will also have potential for a 3D tree set at some point in the future as well...
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Post by room101 on Jun 7, 2015 1:46:20 GMT -9
You, my friend, are insane. In a good way. I do see why though. These are beyond amazing. Well done that man. Just one twisted pylon on a jetty increases realism. But each new texture, each varied pylon length, each barnacle and algae layer increases realism exponentially. I have charged myself with bringing forward the building the harbour and surrounding area for my game now. The town square is far from complete, but I'm building in new NPCs and scenarios for that area as we speak- inspired wholly by you and this work.
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Post by berneart76 on Jun 9, 2015 16:53:42 GMT -9
Well, I'm pretty much done with all the PDF cleanup, and am alternating the last few with starting on the conversion from Photoshop files to PDF's. I guess it is sort of official, and really need to start my blog at this point, at least until I can afford to actually (sort of/maybe) have a website... If you've seen my Avatar change, I know have a working title for releases and an official logo! Working hard between Job applocations to get this finished and officially released!
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