Model for new scene

[sboerner]

Wanted to share this but wasn't sure where since it isn't TG. Hope this is OK.

I haven't been posting much lately but have been busy researching and making models for my next scene. This is a model of an Erie Canal lock, c. 1825. Model in Blender, textures in Substance Designer and Painter, rendering with iRay in Painter. For scale, the chamber is 15 feet wide.

Couple more to go. Looking forward to putting this together in Terragen.

[WAS]

Oh wow! A lock gate right? That's really cool.

PS; Just render them quickly in TG with a black background and post 'em in image sharing. Good test of how it looks in TG and also, still TG.

[Dune]

That's a great model again, Steve! It's great fun using all these apps to put something together, isn't it? I just wonder about one thing; did they really build the stone walls on planking?

[sboerner]

It's great fun using all these apps to put something together, isn't it?

It truly is. Usually I can use existing, found textures but I wasn't able to locate a masonry wall that matched those in the historical record. So the stone walls are a custom Substance Designer texture . . . soup to nuts so to speak. I find the entire process to be fun and rewarding.

Speaking of apps, I *do* miss Maya but Blender is turning out to be a very powerful replacement. In some ways I think it is superior to Maya.

I just wonder about one thing; did they really build the stone walls on planking?

I was hoping someone would ask this! They did! In most locations the bedrock was too deep, so they would drive hundreds of pilings, then on top of those build a mat or raft of 12-inch timbers laid perpendicular to the line of the lock chamber. Another layer of 3-inch planking went on top of that, and then the stonework. Not only locks but culverts and aqueducts, too. The Richmond Aqueduct across the Seneca River, 840 feet long, was built this way in the 1850s and those sections that weren't intentionally dismantled are still standing. Submerged wood does not decompose, apparently, and can retain its strength and integrity for a long time.

Just render them quickly in TG with a black background and post 'em in image sharing. Good test of how it looks in TG and also, still TG.

Good advice, Jordan. I usually do that but I was pleased with how it looked in iRay and decided to take a shortcut this time. There will be more TG renderings to follow on this project.

[Dune]

Thanks Steve, interesting to know. Never thought they would, but indeed, submerged wood keeps a very long time!

[WAS]

That's a awesome little history lesson.

I looked up it's end-use (Seneca Aqueduct), but couldn't find an actual reason to stopping it's use, which makes me wonder if, because of the era it was dismantled, it was just dismantled for building material?

[sboerner]

At the turn of the 20th century the old Erie Canal was replaced by the new NYS Barge Canal System. Instead of enlarging the old canal channel in this area, they "canalized" the Mohawk River to make it navigable to barge traffic. So now the aqueduct, which crossed the river, was in the way. So they dismantled almost all of it. A shame, but that's progress.

I wouldn't be surprised if they recycled the stones for other building projects. The blocks they used for this structure were enormous.

[Jo Kariboo]

Very nice realization of object!

[WAS]

It's really cool to learn about stuff like this. Always intrigued by history.

[sboerner]

Couldn't agree more.