Working on a new project

I noticed something for quite some time whenever I search for a business on Google Maps.  There doesn't appear to be any detailed images showing the businesses.  I decided that I should not only create maps of the buildings, but also upload images with my 18 megapixel camera to help create some realism for the user to see.

I've done one in the past with my phone camera, but the quality isn't as decent as my main camera.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/NE7ippXu0dR9ScCdR7GP15YFMDEX9XGIMKPogM20Siw?hl=en-US

As a side note, please visit my DeviantArt page for more images!
http://vernancelet.deviantart.com/

My next project

Here is an image of my next project.  I obtained some information of a mini blueprint of the group of buildings.

Busy like a bee

I've been very busy for the past month.  I'm currently taking classes at SCC, including doing some work for the club.  I've been also going to meetings.

I'm planning to work on my next building project sometime soon.

Town is planning to pave down part of Mill Dam Road for a bicycle route and nature corner

The city is planning to build a new center and bicycle route down in Mill Dam Road.  Because the Starrs Cave Center is owned by the state and not city, they are wanting to build a new one in order for the city to own it.  They also want to build a large road leading to this center.  Problem is that there are houses there that have been there for more than 40 years and that it wouldn't be in much use because of how far back it is in there.  The city cannot afford with building something like that.  Many of the people in the area are pissed off with the situation and the person who is ahead of the deal is one of the supervisors at Starrs Cave.  The project suppose to start either 2012 or 2013.

Update:  I was told that they have been trying to convince the entire area to do this for the past 6 years.  The big problem is that they could vote on kicking everyone out regardless if they didn't want it or not.  It reminds me of the time when the city tore down the entire Manor area in order to sell the land to a company to build a mini mall, even though they changed their minds in building it there.  The lot is still empty and the asbestos is still there on the property ever since the buildings were torn down.

I wonder if the cause was that the property tax is high and the city has strict rules that buildings have to apply to.  After all, union businesses are excluded out of property taxes, like Wal-Mart.

What the city and Starrs Cave center should concentrate on is the agent orange that is in both the cave, the water, and in areas around Skunk River.  Agent Orange isn't something people want to mess with and it shouldn't be ignored.

Burlington Mixing Company building is complete; problems with it

Well, the model is complete.  However, its too big to upload to warehouse.  So instead, I uploaded the file in this link for you to see yourselves.

Because of these errors of file size of being too big, I decided to reduce the detail of my next models, but at the same time have some form of detail added.

Sketchup file

Light poles at SCC now available on Google Earth

All but one layer of lights have been added into Google Earth layer.  That particular layer are the lights that are located in between the two dorm rooms.

Article about my work in todays newspaper

In section 3C, there is an article published about me and my work.  It's in The Hawkeye Newspaper.
You can also read the article on the website as well. 

http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/Faces-082111

Added next piece to building; Information about light pole models at SCC

I'm almost halfway done in finishing the model.  I'm having edges pushed both in and out of the model to add more detail to it.  This is an experiment.

Also, I received a couple of notices stating that the light pole models do not exist (as a building model).  I think its like that because the system hasn't been updated to accept models of trees, benches, lights, etc.  Anyway, I received an email from Sketchup after I filed an appeal, saying that they reversed their decision.

The Hawk Eye interview; WIP of my next building

Yesterday, I had an interview from The Hawk Eye in regards of my model making.  I also had some images taken of myself and my laptop showing one of my models as a display.  The article would be published in the paper this Sunday.

On my way back home, I came across to this particular building.

I took some photos of around the building in hopes to create a model out of it.  I'm using new techniques in showing more detail of a building.

Parking lights layers created for SCC

I added several layers of lights for the parking lots and drive-ins.  Hopefully it would be accepted.

Google Sketchup crew accepting trees in their layer!

I was reading this post earlier and I was surprised that they are now looking for trees as a separate layer for both parks and areas with buildings.  I'm currently working onto placing trees around SCC.

Oak Street School (W.I.P.)

Here is a WIP image of the school so far.  99% of the textures were created by me using the photos that I have taken.

SCC collection processed and finished!

The entire campus is finished being published for the Google Earth model!  After about a month of waiting, not to mention a couple of so months of constructing the models, it finally paid off.

Changes in application

I made some changes in the application. The absent list originally showed nothing at all. I fixed that.

Here is what it would look on the device once you open up the absent list.

Here is the coding jazz that is required for the RSS to work.  I spent many hours trying to find a way to make it stream from the webpage to a RSS feed.

And here is where its taking the data from.  In theory, I think it would update for each time the webpage updates since its linked to the website.  We'll just to have to wait and see if it works when the Fall semester begins.

Southeastern Community College Android app now available!

I have successfully uploaded the application for free!

Link to app

Update on SCC App

I'm still working on the application, but I am adding some more details to the application so far.  Here is the icon that I made.

Southeastern Community College baseball diamonds complete! (Non-complex Version)

Here is the lesser version than the original.
Link to model

Southeastern Community College baseball diamonds complete! (Complex Version)

Dear God.  Way too much work put into this model and it went way above the complexity level.
Link to model

Southeastern Community College baseball diamonds W.I.P.

Here is what I have accomplished so far.  I have some ways to go, but I did manage to get most of it done.

Added second sign to the college

I forgot that there was a second sign at the college so I managed to take the original model and place it in the second location.

Southeastern Community College sign complete!

Finished completing the sign.  It isn't 100% accurate because I wasn't able to make the height of the rounded top part as accurate as I wanted to be.
Link to model

Southeastern Community College Large Dorm complete!

It's complete!
Link to model

Southeastern Community College Large Dorm WIP

Here is the WIP of the large dorm at SCC.  I managed to do the complexed roofing.  Now all it needs is some texturing and its complete!

Bing Maps image placement to Sketchup models uploaded!

I received a request recently of a tutorial on how to take bird eye images from Bing Maps and apply it to Google Sketchup models.

1490 KBUR radio station model completed!

Radio station model is now complete!
Link to model

3 buildings added to Google Earth layer!

The dorms, vacant building, and the department building have been accepted. I guess the other two models haven't been accepted because they were uploaded very recently.

Southeastern Community College App designed

I decided not to read complex books to create an App download for Iphone and Andriod. Instead, I'll use a online editor to do it for me.

The feeds include the news broadcasted from SCC's Blogger RSS feeds, including their Youtube channel.

Finished Southeastern Community College Metal Barn!

Phew! That is over and done with.
Link to model

Fixed Time Zone

I noticed that my timezone was off by two hours. I re-adjusted it to Central Standard Time.

Southeastern Community College Steel Barn (W.I.P.)

Working on a late project tonight. So far I put in 2 1/2 hours of work and accomplished this so far. I'll do the skinning after I go to sleep.

Southeastern Community College Greenhouse/ Storage Building complete

Finished working on more buildings for SCC.
Link to model

Completed SCC Dorms

Here are the completed dorms.  There is still one large dorm building left to complete.
Link to Sketchup Model

Couple of models being worked on; one project dropped

I've decided to drop the church model due it problems trying to line up the details that I wanted.  I started working on two separate models instead.

The first one is the radio station here in town.  Note that the red and white model was made by someone else and that I needed a tower as part of the model building.

The second project that I'm working on is of the college.  I have changed my mind in building anymore buildings of the college, but since I looked into the buildings again to see how complex they are, it looked not as complicated as I thought it would be.

On track

Sorry for the late entries.  Here is what is going on so far.

I have completed the Southeastern Community College school, including the building that is behind it.  Before I had turned in my first part of the school to Google, I added a building that the school is constructing on that will update the model to current standards.

I added a vacant building on the list for two reasons:  I want to see if someone would be interested in buying it since its on Google Earth and that it was a very easy model to create.









My next project is to work on this building before the fire had destroyed it.

Windows Live Photo program doesn't work right

The program that I've been trying to use for making a photosynth sort of works, but doesn't give the wide panoramic full detail view kind of thing.

Problems with Gigapan and Microsoft ICE stitching software; trying new alternative

I've been having problems using the Gigapan stitching software that it came with the Epic 100.  It freezes at 25% and no matter if I used either my laptop or desktop computer, it would still freeze at 25%.  As for the Microsoft ICE, it freezes and crashes at 75%.

I'm attempting to use Microsoft Live Photo Gallery to make this work right.

Gigapan Epic 100 Review

So I tested the fairly new Gigapan and I found some interesting and shocking things about in using it.

Pros:
-Takes pictures perfectly
-Lines up images nicely
-Semi easy to use

Cons:
-Drains the 6 AA batteries in about an hour and a half

The Gigapan toke some awesome photos in a perfect alignment.  Once you get use to using it or obtaining a manual online for further instructions, you will have a decent panorama image in no time.  What's useful with this device is that it has a robotic arm attachment that can be set up to snap the photos for you.  Also, there is a robotic turning device that is used to turn the device from the positions that you manually set.  You can even pause the device in case of cars or people walking by in the path of the camera.  If a picture was taken or wasn't taken that wasn't needed, you can pause the device and go back to the last position that it messed up on and repeat the picture step.

The downside to this device is that it drains the batteries like crazy.  It's best to either have more than 3 pairs of 6 AA batteries to last you for more than 3 hours worth.  Also, because of the settings your camera requires, depending on the battery life, it would drain in about an hour and a half at the most.  The draining of the battery could be the result because I kept having some problems setting it up or was testing some things out.

Most of the time it displays that it will take a total of 19,000+ or so images to do a single panorama.  This can be fixed by setting up the Gigapans position.  You would have to do this every time you want to take a panorama in a different location of position or else it will end up with a crap load of images.

In conclusion, its a good device, but if you are willing to put up extra money for the Gigapan Epic Pro, it will save the battery hassle by having only 1 battery that it comes with and you can either plug and use it or take it out and charge it separately.

Gigapan Epic 100

The results so far from the test of the Gigapan Epic 100 is marvelous!  Unfortunately it's a bit too late now to start a complete panorama sequence due to the lack of time of day and the batteries that I put in are low and that I need to go to the store to pick up rechargeable batteries and a charger to go with it.

New camera equipment

I bought a video and picture camera a while back, including a stand for them both.  In addition, I'm receiving a GigaPan 100 in the mail tomorrow to help improve the picture taking process.

Interesting Panorama made by someone

He did an excellent job in organizing some good photosynths.

Titan Millar

An Abandoned Underground Subway?

I found out some interesting and new information about an abandoned underground subway under downtown Burlington.

It stretches from the new Burlington Police Station all the way to the Burlington Hotel.  It could be farther or a bit shorter in length, but that was the rough length of the tunnel.

It was being worked on during the 1800's and then was later halted for an unknown reason.  It could be because of the creek that runs under the town somehow leaked into the tunnels, causing some ground water to build up.  Another reason could be because of how the Mississippi River was flooding back and forth so much that the water leaked into the tunnels.

The entrances, which I'm not for certain if they are closed off, are the new Burlington Police Station and the Burlington Hotel, both having a deep basement in order to access the two different entrances to the subway.  The steps going through these entrances is made out of wood, which its extremely dangerous to walk on due to the moisture buildup. A ladder would need to be put down into the entrance in order to get all the way down and back up safety.

Supposedly, the old Burlington Public Library, which might have moved the information to the new Burlington Public Library, has original blueprints and other information of it actually being worked on.

I have not looked into see if this was true or not, but a friend of mine has a friend that actually went down into these tunnels.

UPDATE:  Neither the Historical Society nor the Burlington's Public Works has any information of this whatsoever.  Therefore the information that was provided to me is false.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!  Here is the place for you to find out more information about my work, as well as myself.