3-d road modelling for campaigners

I don't know who did the LCC designs. Paul James is doing dutch style road designs adapted to the UK context (on Pedestrianise London http://pedestrianiselondon.tumblr.com/) but only 2d overhead views. I think he's just using Gimp.  It would definitely be good to get something that looks more 3D as I find them easier to understand

 

 

Sally is correct. I've been doing raster plan views built in GIMP based upon stock texture imagery. I have had a couple of requests on Twitter for access to my sources, so I've made all the GIMP files available on Google Docs if that's useful at all.

https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B5sPUQkfJ6WNUmRqMlVRY0JkbWs/edit

I'd really like to do proper 3D models, but my skills aren't up to it (I've played with Sketchup) and the 2D images take long enough to put together on their own :)

Paul.

I tell you one visualisation we really need - and that's the combination of cycle path and car parking. It doesn't get showcased that often on David Hembrow's blog and it's the one thing people struggle with visualising (and designing if our roads are anything to go by). With all the discussion on Leith Walk in Edinburgh, being able to show people how a busy shopping street that's also a thoroughfare and a bus route can work with segregated cycle lanes would be gold right now

Spokes in Edinburgh commissioned a report from a Dutch engineer http://www.scribd.com/doc/101067461/Cycling-Edinburgh-Tram (section 5.1 and onwards) on how it could all be fitted in AND the trams - but it would be marvellous to have a three d rendering of the streetscape...

 

Oh my, this thread is good.

Leicester Cycle Campaign Group is working with the LA on some road space reallocation plans & bids, pushing for separated bike infra. What I've been looking for is a way to produce 2D or 3D drawings which can show politicians and decision makers what our streets *could* look like and show them that safe & attractive solutions are possible. It's really hard to excite people with line drawings and piles of text and I have neither the time or money to get into the commercial visualisation packages.

Gimp isn't really doing it for me at the mo' and I find sketchup a pain - mainly due to the fact that I've not found a way to move an object in one plane only. I have played with Blender a bit - really powerful tool and capable of animations too, if we can get some good textures (and maybe get it using large scale PDFs of plans or open streetmap grabs as base diagrams) it might be the one to get some good visualisations. It's also free and there are many tutorials around to help with the not insignificant learning curve. I'm going to have another play with it.

Anyway, I've been trying to turn this computer off for over an hour now. Bookmarks set.

Cheers,

Mat

erp - just realised I've resurrected an old thread..

I've been using Inkscape - not very successfully tbh - but inspired by the results Kristian achieved with Sketchup I downloaded it on Saturday and had a go at modelling the dutch roundabout that's being trialled by TRL at the moment.

This is how it's turned out... http://sustainablewitney.org.uk/images/CurbridgeRdRdbt.png

I'm quite proud of me belisha beacons :o) but they do seem a tad overkill! And I didn't bother with all that zigzagging for zebras.

I've built it on the Google Earth image of quite a nasty, fast roundabout in Witney that's about to get a 1000 dwelling development built next to it in the eastern quadrant, and probably a care home in the southern quadrant after that.

Perversely I've spent quite a lot of time looking for engineering drawing software for the mac but didn't find anything that fitted the bill - looks like Sketchup does that job too. If only I'd cottoned on during all those cold dark winter nights we had...

https://vimeo.com/65969442

A bit clunky, but it's a novice doing the driving! There are options for field of view, there's a plugin that gives control over where the camera is pointing in addition to its path, speed, etc. I've delved into animating objects in the model, eg the cyclist on the blue bike, and although it's possible it's crude and VERY time consuming. You could easily animate a traffic light sequence, but getting people riding/driving/walking through the lights is beyond what Sketchup is designed for. If you imagine how long it takes Pixar to make a movie and the number of staff working on it I guess that's a fair yardstick for what one amatuer might achieve in a week animating a scene like this!

However, if I'd picked the high street and modelled the buildings as well even I could get somewhere near the standard of illustrations produced by LCC for the Go Dutch campaign. The key I think is getting decent images of people on ordinary bikes into the model, or using scenes from a Sketchup model in another app which can.

It's very good at showing the infra though. My model is a tad complex because I just dived in working from the centre out using pg249 of the CROW manual as a guide. Had I sat down and decided exactly what I wanted to begin with - what heights the road, cycle track, pavements should be, type of kerbs, zebra or raised table with give way lines - it would have been a lot simpler and quicker to produce.

I'm going to see what I can get uploaded back up into goole earth next...

I went back and had a look at Richard Lewis's visualizations of Blackfriars. He used coloured balls to represent peds, bikes and cars. Knowing what I know now it's a damn good compromise! Oxon CC are pushing through a junction change in Witney and are ignoring bikes at the mo. That's the next thing That really needs my attention so I'll model that with bike infra. It's light controlled so I'll have a stab at that stylized animation too.

Just spotted this nice visualisation from newcycling...

http://newcycling.org/news/20130524/gosforth-and-gnr

Picked it up via google+, first time I've seen something when logging in that's actually been useful/interesting, might check it more often now.

The AGM inspired me to  try 3D modelling again (it has been quite a few years since I last did anything useful in 3D). I will start off with something simple based on somewhere in Newcastle (hopefully that will be useful to the Newcastle Cycling Campaign) to get a grasp of what I am doing, and will post back with what I create.

In SketchUp I am quite happy creating shapes, objects etc. But looking at the examples so far and the discussion, it is obvious that getting road markings correct can be as important as the shapes that are created (especially if it will be presented to engineers).

In SketchUp how do you get the road markings on to the sections you want? - Do you have to create additional shapes just for the marking? Or can a surface be split up for applying different textures/coclours.

Are there any resources for standard UK road markings as image files that can be used in SketchUp (this will save time creating new ones). Examples being Centre Lines, Zig Zags, Give Way, Speed Bumps, Zebras etc.

Are there any standard colours or textures for roads, cyclepaths and pavements when making 3D models, or can we just wing it (within reason, I won't be creating bright purple roads).

Thanks Scott.