Cool3dReviews - 003 - Urban Sprawl 3, Block 3 by Stonemason

  • 8 years ago
Product reviews for the Poser and Daz3d enthusiast.

URBAN SPRAWL 3, Block 3 BY Stonemason

- 5 Blocks
- 50 Buildings
- 4 Trees
- 4 Vehicles: 2 Buses, 1 Truck, 1 Police Car
- 3delight and Iray versions
- Night, Day and Atmosphere for Iray

Urban Sprawl 3, the latest release from Stonemason, is a massively...beautiful city set in extreme detail. It has just about everything you no longer notice when you're walking or driving in any city.

In this set, you have buildings that include mid-sized city skyscrapers and old walkups with wrought iron fire escapes. You can actually go inside buildings and walk around or look out the windows. You can find large and small retail stores with display windows and diverse signage, some covered by steel gates or boarded up. Bowery type hotels and parts of town you wouldn't want to be caught or seen in, day or night. There are courtyards and a courthouse. Fences and billboards. Alleyways and one way streets. This set has large and small graffiti exactly where one would expect to find it. The concrete looks hard and weathered. The streets look baked and cracked by traffic and the sun. And it all adds to the realism in every render.

Because of its size, Urban Sprawl 3 may slow down older systems. It was noticeable after loading only two blocks. But I was using a laptop that was three years old when I brought it two years ago. So, speed may vary. Removing the trees decreased render times dramatically. But then, you have a city with no trees. No one wants that. Also provided with Urban Spawl 3 are a couple of buses, a truck and a NYPD police car. However, the doors don't open and the wheels don't turn. But these are just for show and they show very well.

This set works for day or night renders, unfortunately, only night, day and atmosphere presets for Iray were provided. 3delight, not yet. Otherwise, I would show you sunsets.

A drive thru (a visual kick the tires) was rendered for each of the five city blocks using the 3delight render engine in Daz3d. The drive thrus hope to highlight the detail and workmanship that went into creating and building Urban Sprawl 3.

Whether still images or animations, theres a location in this city to help tell your stories. This set may become you go to city...until, of course, Stonemason releases the next Urban Sprawl...

Pros: Massive 5 block, detailed set; extra props

Cons: No Poser version; no obj file