# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > 3D modeling (map elements and height maps) >  Various Studies (in 3D)

## RedKettle

Since my WIP is not ready to be updated I decided to share some work from last year, a couple of models exploring what I like to call: The Hoarse Whisperer's Methods for the Development of Building Envelopes in Sketchup - THWMFTDOBEIS (pronounced _Thoommft! Da Bass!_). I call it that because I first saw the process behind this method in THW's Birdseye thread a while ago.

There were a few projects I was working on where modular facade elements might come in handy, but the one I will show here started as a small tower.


The tower existed in a fantasy world, and I hoped to house quite a few different magicians in this tower (think of something on the scale of the White Tower from The Wheel of Time by Jordan/Sanderson). The problem was that my first iterations were not even close to being able to accomodate the housing/schooling/administrate/etc. needs of all my magicians. So I needed to increase the scale, and although I could already see potential in THWMFTDOBEIS, I felt I needed to stop the tower and explore the method a little bit.

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## RedKettle

I isolated one of my newly realized dormitories of the now vast magician complex to practice and explore the new facade method. Including the time for the development of a very simple plan and the superfluous framing of the roof joists, I was able to get to this level of detail in about 10-12 hours:







I considered that a good first effort (I called that one the Woolly Mammoth due to its heavy appearance), but the plan was a bit simplistic. I tried again (now with closets!), this time (12 hours) with a different set of details:







I am not sure how much time I saved on the facades, but it felt fast! And that's what counts!  :Razz:

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## RedKettle

The attempts were not bad, but I thought I was still missing a big part of the idea behind THWMFTDOBEIS, namely that my chunks of facade, although reusable within the same building, would be difficult to recombine into other buildings. I tried again, and instead of continuing with dorms I switched to another building type, this time a kind of grand meeting hall or ballroom. I looked briefly at some Romanesque/early Gothic stuff for inspiration, but after 8 hours I somehow ended with something closer to 20th century modern/industrial (with rose windows!):





I felt a little more confident about the reusability of some facade elements but the hall was a little small for my taste. The pointy tops to the columns also frustrated me, so I tried again. This time I expanded the building footprint and made the pointy bits tolerable, if not exactly period appropriate. This attempt still remains unfinished, but here things are after about 8 hours:

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## Jalyha

Color me impressed. O.o

This is going to be a huge reference for me when doing my temple and guild hall maps  :Surprised:

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## RedKettle

> This is going to be a huge reference for me when doing my temple and guild hall maps


I am actually interested to see how you continue your temple. I remember seeing your perspective sketch in the thread about the temple's shadows, it looks like a very impressive idea!

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## Jalyha

Thanks! I got caught up on something else, but I'll get back to the temple soon!!  :Smile:

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## Wingshaw

Hey RedKettle, nice work.

I'd be really keen to see how this works out for you. The facades didn't work too well for me, but if you can pull it off here, I might be inspired to go back and try again (thankfully, I have Katto's help on Birdseye now).

I'm also happy to offer the files I developed if it will be any help.

Long live THWMFTDOBEIS!

THW

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## RedKettle

Thanks for the encouragement (and reps everyone!). 

I still haven't had a chance to revisit many aspects of this method since the end of last year, but at the time I was finding it a very versatile tool. It has proven to be useful in a number of different contexts, here are a few other examples below:



(Upper Left) The dorms here are just beginning but I am trying to use more generic/versatile shapes than in the previous attempts. To me it has a 70's vibe though. 
(Lower Left) The Victorian Mansion is just beginning (about 2-3 hrs in and I am working from a floorplan I made), but this one has been shelved since I cringe every time I look at the windows. For some reason they don't look right to me.
(Upper Right) There are also some facade studies in there looking at breaking down the facade into even finer detail (those studies came before the Victorian, where each window is a separate component), so the different elements can be reused for multiple facades.
(Lower Right) In the final corner I was exploring with curved/faceted walls, and somehow the end result made me think -Skyscrapers!-, so that is the direction I went next.



The skyscraper study is unfortunately not done enough to make a real post yet, but I will when/if I get enough of it done. Interestingly there are only 8 components in the whole skyscraper so far, and this is after about 2.5 hrs of work, with no internals. Also, I was aiming for about 100 floors, but my computer started giving up at around 60, so that is why this one stopped here.

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## RedKettle

Here is another attempt in a similar spirit to the unfinished great halls above.

I finally had a specific building that needed designing!!!, and it is a little bit of an odd duck. It was built by a cultish organization that maintains itself by copying hand drawn/written documents (in a world with no printing press/photocopiers). As they have grown more influential the copying has become almost a religion, with a complex bureaucracy ensuring that the copying brings in revenue. There are other parts to the organization that eventually have other interests but this building is about being the copying HQ. It houses a large number of lower level clerks that take care of public requests for copies, as well as higher level clerks/scribes in private rooms that take care of more sensitive copying needs. It also needed some rooms set aside for the Upper Level Management who run the whole organization.
I had a building plan started at one point quite some time ago but I remade it using desks to ensure I could squeeze enough workspace into the structure. 

The result is a rather mundane set of boxes, so developing the exterior was an exercise in decorating a box. It needed to look a little more bureaucratic that the last few attempts, and I think I at least succeeded in that. I did not keep good track of my time on this one, but I am over 10 hours so far, not counting the work on the plan.




And one view showing the desks so you guys can compare it to the plan. There would be chairs as well but the desks were enough to push the file into 'takes too long to work on' zone.


This is just the first step for this building, however, since the Copy Cult falls out of favor after a while, and the building is abandoned and partially destroyed. Eventually a group of magic users re-occupy the building, filling in the demolished areas with their own additions. For that iteration the plans are not done yet...

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