The Big Picture October 2024 "Abandoned City"

[Agent0013]

Welcome to The Big Picture October 2024 "Abandoned City"!
The challenge is "Abandoned City". Do images of cities devoid of occupants, no traffic, no lights, no people. Ruined cities do fit this category.


For this challenge it would be great to have a small story, telling what happened to make it an abandoned city, but it isn't necessary. You may have characters in your scene as explorers, or investigators, or show wildlife taking up residence,etc. Your abandoned cities can be on Earth, or any other planet you can imagine. Abandoned Moon Bases, and cities on other worlds are acceptable.


Please keep your images PG, as kids can and do view these threads. The pixel size limits are no more than 3000px wide or tall, will the other direction can be any pixel size up to 3000px. The memory size limit is no more than 1000kb.

To start it off, here is my first image for this thread:


City on an Abandoned Planet


In our explorations of the galaxy, we have found many worlds that once harbored intelligent life. On many of those worlds, there were cities, usually in ruin. On this one though, was a city poking out of the water, with no sign of any living beings anywhere. Indeed we found that the entire planet was one big planet covering ocean, and soon we found that several cities were poking out of that ocean. Oddly the buildings appeared to be in excellent shape, just no lights in any of the buildings, and no occupants, not even water creatures. In fact there was no life of any kind anywhere on the planet. There was no underwater life, and no plant life, or even microbial life. The whole planet was sterile.


We landed on a large building roof and went forth in full pressure suits to explore. Our instruments told us that the atmosphere was a good nitrogen/oxygen mix, but we had learned not to trust that nothing harmful was in the air. On a previous world we had lost 5 of our crew, and I did not want another incident like that.


Our away teams flew to random buildings, searching for any data that could explain why the world was sterile. The planet appeared to have been abandoned only within the last year, but how did they carry every type of life that once existed on that world? There was not even any trace of deceased beings, animals, or microbes.


Someone in my crew said "Welcome to Planet Nowhere!" As much as I did not wish it to, the name stuck, even with me, so that became our official name for it.


We are still working to determine what happened, and how every form of life was totally removed, including any deceased ones. The only evidence we have found that anything once lived on the planet is the presence of the half sunken cities. This world will be one we stay at for some time. We are being very careful not to contaminate the planet with our own microbial life; making sure our pressure suits are fully sterile on the outside, and that none of them have any leaks, or breaches.

[Llola Lane]

Another great topic Agent... I'll see what I can come up with :) 

[SofaCitizen]

It's been almost five weeks since I left the compound and about three and a half since I arrived in this city. I don't remember it being so massive but then I was only four when we had to flee. Momma said I was crazy to come back, but it's been so long since the noises and smoke have died down - does that mean the monsters have left or are they just in hiding?

I have to know.

Not seen another soul in all the time I have been on this trip. Well, except for this strange little creature who hasn't left me alone since I shared the scraps of my dinner the other day. I think it's a fox but I've only ever read about them in the handful of books that were saved so what do I know?

I wonder if he has seen a human before? What is he thinking when he sees me exploring these lands? Does he know what secrets this place holds - or what dangers there are?

I spotted a fire in the distance this morning. Might be signs of life? Although, there was a bit of a storm overnight so it could just be a dead tree struck by lightning. Just in case I'll stash my pack somewhere safe and investigate with caution.

If this is my last entry then I guess it didn't go well.


----


I didn't really have any good ideas for this thread originally so just started to throw some assets into the page to see what would happen. Eventually got something that looked pretty good but didn't have a story until I thought back to an earlier render that I made for a different challenge on the Daz Forums that featured a big city in the process of being destroyed. Seemed like a good idea to make this render a "sequel" of that one. So I have attached both the render for this challenge and the "prequel" one for some context - I hope that is OK.

[Agent0013]

Both will do nicely! I'd like to see the story of the prequel. You could insert it into your original post text.
I love that you made the sequel be the first one of two in this thread. Kind of like the way the Star Wars series was done.
That's some awesome looking ruined buildings!

[SofaCitizen]

Both will do nicely! I'd like to see the story of the prequel. You could insert it into your original post text.
I love that you made the sequel be the first one of two in this thread. Kind of like the way the Star Wars series was done.
That's some awesome looking ruined buildings!

Thank you :)

I hadn't come up with much of a story for the battle render but since you asked I thought I'd give it a go. However, I fear I have gone off on a bit of a tangent - I did need to setup the scene and link it up with the sequel story but took a rather large scenic route and so it's quite a bit longer than I planned. Probably not a good thing seeing as this is a forum for images, not creative writing, but here it is anyways.

---

It was a Tuesday.  Nothing is supposed to happen on a Tuesday but that was the day the world as I knew it ended.

I'd had a fight with Frank that morning - he was supposed to have the whole day off work so we could take Cady to the park for her birthday.  But apparently, "Those useless contractors can't dig right without me to direct them.".  I argued back at first but I still let him go because I was so angry that he would choose work over our daughter and I didn't want her to see us arguing. I should have stood my ground and made him send someone else - he's the foreman and should have been able to do that. But I didn't and he left.

He'd only been gone about an hour when I heard the first explosion. It was followed by a low rumbling and the ground shook so violently we could feel it all the way up in our little apartment. I tried calling him but he wasn't answering his phone - I wanted to run to the building site but I couldn't leave Cady alone and certainly wasn't going to take her there.  I switched on the TV and the news was claiming "Gas Leak" - like they always do when they don't know what is happening.

And that's when I heard the shriek - like nothing I had ever heard before. It was so loud, so alien, so unnerving. I ran to the window to try and see something ... anything that could explain what was going on. And then that something did emerge, crawling up through the smoke and falling debris in the distance. A creature so impossibly large, so impossible in every way. Claws with giant teeth that were tearing through buildings like butter. It was like my reality was being re-written in that very moment and my brain must have shut down - not knowing how to process what I was witnessing.

I don't know how long I was there just staring out the window at this scene unfolding in front of me but I eventually became aware that Cady was crying. Of course she was. She was too small to see out of the window, thank the heavens, but the noises alone were enough to strike terror into me let alone a four year old. I held her tightly as that was the only thing I could do. I had no words of comfort as what can you say when the world is ending? I guess in that moment I had given up, accepted our fate, and so I just covered her ears as the noises grew louder and waited for the end.

At some point I realised that the shrieks and crashing were no longer coming from just the direction of Frank's work site. There was something else approaching from the other side - somewhere in the direction of the ocean. Booming and screaching sounds which were also so very alien but these had an even stanger element to them - like metal being dragged and scraped against itself and turned up to eleven. It didn't really matter to me at the time, the first creature would have been able to turn our building into rubble in moments, a second joining in would have just been overkill.

I drew Cady closer and told her to keep her eyes shut tight as the second set of noises drew near. They seemed to be moving faster and with more purpose. The shrieks grew louder and more agitated from both directions. I dared to open my eyes again, not realising I had closed them, so I could peer out the window one last time. There was a flash of white and a loud buzzing sound as something flew past the window. A helicopter? No. That wasn't right. Then, a dark shape moved to fill my entire vision - but all I could see was metal ... a machine. It was striding through the streets, taller than my window. We were on the 23rd floor so how could that be? No man-made machine could be that large?

The building shook again as it passed by, scraping up against the buildings as it squeezed it's way through along the street. It was then that I realised that it had not come for us - it was heading for the first creature quite purposefully. Why? I had no idea. Had it come to save us? Who sent it? Where did it come from? Was it just waiting around for this to happen? An endless list of questions ran through my mind - questions that I imagine I will never know the answer to.

And that's when my phone rang. It was Frank. Eager to pick up I fumbled the phone at first and when I brought it to my ear the sounds of a mighty battle came through louder and clearer. Frank was right there in the middle of it. He was trying to say something but the noises in the background were too loud so I couldn't understand what he was saying. I screamed through the phone at him to come home, but I don't think he could hear me either. There was a loud boom and a crash and then a breif lull. In that short moment I could hear Frank as he screamed down the phone - One word: "RUUUUUUUN!". Another explosion in the distance and the line went dead. I tried to call him back but there was no signal anymore. I still tried, again and again, but it was no use, I couldn't get through. Frustrated, I threw my phone against the wall - immediately regretting it. I sank to my knees and started to sob.

As I sat there, being rather pathetic, I felt Cady's hands on mine slowly opening my fingers and placing the pieces of my broken phone in my hand. I looked into her eyes, they were still wet from earlier tears but now, instead of fear, there was a calmness to her. She had no way of knowing that the phone was beyond repair but in her mind she was still helping. She was doing what she could while her mother was a mess. In that moment I felt so ashamed of myself - a harsh judgement perhaps, since how can anyone be expected to cope with a day like today? Even so, I was the adult in the room and my daughter needed her mother. I needed to save her. Frank told us to run and so that's what we needed to do. I took her hand, stuffed a few of her things in her bag and we ran.

The streets were utter chaos - as to be expected. People were screaming and fleeing left and right. I didn't really have a plan or a direction to go - I've always been a city-girl and so haven't ever really walked anywhere. But there was no chance of hailing a cab now, not with the streets full of rubble and destruction and it was highly unlikely that the metro was still functional. I don't know whether it was through divine intervention or just blind luck but after racing through the streets for what felt like hours we reached the outskirts of the city. There we found a hastily-assembled military camp - Soldiers, finally! There hadn't been any sign of them in the city itself but then I suppose they were just as unsure about what was happening as the rest of us. However, they had personnel carriers - a faster means to get away from the city and they were offering to evacuate us. So, we boarded and let them take us away - anywhere was better than here.

And that's how we ended up at this compound - an old military base a few hours drive from the City that is now full of us refugees. I don't know if Frank made it out, I can only hope that he did and he somehow finds us here. Even this far out, we can still see the smoke in the city and the noises .... the noises still keep me up at night. I don't know if they will ever stop or if I will ever get used to them. Either way, I guess we'll be here for a while so best to settle in. This is my life now.

[Agent0013]

SofaCitizen, your story is also art, which is what PFDLives is all about. I like that you took the time to write a story that had me rivetted to see what would happen throughout. You could likely do another part, that happens after the sequel image. I have no problem with the length of your story. Looking at some of my images, you will see I do the same as you, and I think it is really great to have a good storyteller/artist posting here at PFDLives. I only hope my stories are as good as yours.
Keep them coming, as I am totally enjoying your works.

[SofaCitizen]

Yes, I do love how you also add a story alongside your renders. I do think it adds so much to see a little of what lies beneath/behind the image.  I came to Daz and 3D rendering in general by wanting to create images inspired by certain songs - and so in those instances the story was mostly already written and my image was just gong to be a tribute or interpretation of that. Although, most of those ideas I have yet to start since I messed one up early on and so have been a little scared to tackle some until I got better. So, making up my own little stories and scenes is a good path towards getting to where I want to be and so will definitely be doing some more :)

I do also like mashing concepts together, throwing in some easter eggs and creating "silly" images. Plus, I do think making pretty pictures that do not have a "why" does also have some benefits as much as it kind of goes against my nature. So, a mixed bag of submissions but hopefully a home for all of them :)

However, hopefully we haven't scared off anyone else from adding to this thread. It would definitely be great to see lots more Abandoned City renders before the month is out!

[Agent0013]

I think the problem with the Big Picture is the size of the images being required to be no less than 1500px on a side. The Upper limit is of course 3000px on a side. I will most often do a 16 to 9 aspect ratio, which fits most widescreens, in case people want to use one for a wallpaper. I use those for wallpapers myself.


So, when did you get started with DAZ Studio? For me it was way back September of 2009. I started in 3D, using MicroSoft Office PowerPoint. I was in college at the time, and one of my classes required that I have a computer. It was the first time I ever owned a good one. My first computer was an old Coleco that was given to me. It did not have any of the modern operating systems, and was not very powerful at all; plus, when I turned it on, I had no instruction on how to use it, so I never learned anything on it. The computer was given to me, and since at that time I knew very little about computers at all, I took it to a pawn shop and sold it. I got about $75 for it. But when I finally went to college, I bought a Toshiba Laptop and at the same time I got the student edition of MicroSoft Office 2007. I learned about Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Publisher, all part of the Office 2007 package. PowerPoint quickly became my favorite of the Office apps, because it had 3D capabilities, and even animation. I used the shapes in the shape menu, and different fonts, and made them real digital 3D objects that could be rotated on all axes, jamming them together to make complex looking starships. I then made an animated clip about 20 seconds long at 24 frames per second. It showed the ship coming at the viewer, past a 3D planet I made. The backdrop was an astronomical photo. The Planet was moving from the upper left to the lower right of the screen. I was showing what I did to my college friends, some of whom were in my computer class. It got back to me Computer Class Professor.
One day he came to my desk, and said "I heard about some thing you have done on your computer. If I may, can I see it?"
Well I knew that what he was asking me about had to be the animation I had created using PowerPoint. "Sure!" I told him. I opened PowerPoint, called up the file, and and ran the animation for him.
He was so amazed at what I had been able to do in less than 2 months of learning. He said "I did not even know that PowerPoint had these capabilities! It's amazing that you found them! How did you find them?"
"I was trying out the shapes menu, and discovered the 3D abilities. Then I noted that the fonts could be made 3D as well. I typed my name 'Cleve Major', converted it to 3D, and saw the animate command. So I tried it by making the letters in my name rotate on the X and Z axes. once they completed the first rotation, I used the loop command to make it repeat the same thing over when I played it back." As I was telling him this, I demonstrated what I was saying.
Well by that time, I had an audience of fellow classmates wanting to see. The professor seeing this decided to forego the day's lesson to let them see what I was doing. He hooked my Laptop up to a 48 inch big screen TV. Then he turned to me and said "Teach them!" So I did a tutorial for my classmates. Many followed with me as I was explaining the process in a way that even an elementary school student could follow successfully.
Afterward, the Professor told me "You're a natural born teacher! That was a lesson worthy of an award!"
Within a week after that, he came to me and told me about a 3D app that was being offered for free. It was from DAZ3D, and it was Bryce 7. So I checked it out, created my DAZ3D account, and downloaded it. After installing it, I explored it. Some of my first images were not so great, but it was far more complex than PowerPoint, so I knew it would take some time to learn. Luckily I found a British friend named David Brinnen on YouTube. He was an avid Bryce user making video tutorials that teach how to do many things in Bryce. I followed several of his tutorials, getting on the fast track to becoming a good Bryce user. He and I are still in contact, and I have helped him learn a few other apps, which he then took the the next level beyond my own capabilities.
Well DAZ3D soon put together a bundle deal that included three of their then current apps; Bryce 7.1 Pro, Hexagon 2.5, and DAZ Studio 4.0 Pro, all for free. At first I thought Bryce was all I really wanted, but my friends and my computer Professor said they won't take up too much space on your hard drive, and there is a bridge between these three apps that lets you move items from one to another and back. In DAZ Studio you will have access to several rigged figures, and clothing for each of them, if they need any. So I grabbed the bundle. DAZ Studio became my main app, with Bryce becoming my modeler at that time.
I also discovered the freebies that DAZ3D was giving away on a weekly basis, and began building up my DAZ Studio library with mostly content I got for free. Indeed I have paid for very few content products at DAZ3D. I found other sites that have a large selection of 3rd party content products for free, and became a member of this very site, which helped me find even more 3rd party products I could use. Now I am the active(ish) administrator here. I'm a member of The Fantasy Attic (a sister site to this one), The Fantasies Realm Market, a market for content products attached to this site and The Fantasy Attic), DeviantArt, Renderosity, and ShareCG. All of these I recommend to you, if you do not already know about them.
If you are into 3D modeling, or would like to try it out, I can recommend a few good modelers I use:
1 - Wings 3D: My main modeller now, as it is easy to get started in, and you can access good tutorials by my friend David Brinnen at YouTube, plus ask me about certain aspects he ,to my knowledge,[size=78%] [/size]has not yet covered. I have experimented with some new tools in Wings 3D, and figured out some great ways to make them part of my modeling process. It also has a UV Mapping feature that allows you to make templates for making textures for your models. That has been a part of Wings 3D since I got started with it. I've not fully explore that aspect of it, but I can do pretty good with what I already know.
2 - Blender: For certain modeling tasks, this one offers tools that Wings 3D does not have. It is a full 3D modeler, scene composing, rendering, and animation app; and can use much of the DAZ Studio content, via a recent bridge that can convert the content to work in Blender. Rigged figures will work in Blender once they are converted. I rarely use Blender for much more than using its exclusive modeling tools for certain modeling operations.
3 - Project Dogwaffle Howler: This one is actually my favorite painting app, but a feature within it lets you use heightmaps to make 3D models. I have not fully explored that aspect of it but the models it produces are better than those same models done the same way in Bryce's Deep Terrain Editor. You get a much smoother and defined model in PD Howler. You can paint your own textures too right onto you models in PD Howler.
There are other modelers available, some I tried and had to uninstall because either they were too complex, or did not have features I was wanting.
DAZ3D's own modeler, Hexagon is so complex, I cannot figure it out, and I have been unable to find any good tutorials to follow for it. They may have improved the user friendliness recently, but I moved on long ago to other, easier to use apps.
Now I have told you my story on how I got into 3D art. I would like to see your story, and offer help where I can.

[SofaCitizen]

Oh, I didn't even think about that. Probably because I usually default for 16:9 renders for exactly the same reason - wallpaper and screensaver images for myself. Also, I do usually render them at a bigger size and so have to scale them down to post here so the minimum size has never been an issue for anything I have tended to make.

In terms of DazStudio I am only a toddler - discovered it around June 2022 I think. I was not fortunate enough to know anyone else that had heard of it :(  There was perhaps a "sliding doors" moment since I do remember obtaining a copy of Blender and maybe 3Ds Max (or something that sounded similar) around 25 years ago - however that never went anywhere since it's very complicated and there were no helpful YouTube tutorials back then.

Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of "raw skill" when it comes to art - I cannot draw, I cannot paint, I cannot sculpt. Obviously those are all things that I could have practiced and got better at but none really appealed enough to try. Creative writing I did perhaps work on a tiny-bit but mainly they were pretty silly short stories. I think I did write (or start to write) my own "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories back when those were all the rage. And because I was also kinda getting into programming at the time I made them on the computer.

I suppose photography SHOULD have been the thing I got into. Both my parents were avid photographers - they even met at their local photography club. Myself and my sisters were given cameras a few times when we were children (cheap ones obviously) and were encouraged to take photos. I don't remember getting much in the way of help, tutoring or encouragement - not sure if that was because we didn't show enough enthusiasm or we we just too rubbish. Though, in hindsight, I should definitely have asked.

So, I think whatever creative thoughts I had did end up getting largely ignored/squashed for the best part of 15 or so years - maybe bubbling up a few unconventional ways but largely not really having a proper outlet.

The thing that probably started me back towards looking for an actual creative outlet was helping my sister out with a few things for her guide troop that she was in charge of. It started out with some basic invites for a few events - nothing fancy at all but mainly because I worked for a Print company I had access to InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop and a larger variety of fonts. Because those went down well I was then asked to make a few badges - can't really experiment too much with those since every extra colour means a new thread which really ramps up the cost. Plus the effective resolution is so low that details will get lost easily.  However, somehow I ended up doing one that had an uber-basic cartoon of my sister and her friend (who helped run the troop) - it was really generic and basic with large heads on top of tiny non-descript bodies where the only thing that really differentiated the two figures was the hair. Despite this they both really loved it for some reason.

It was at this point that my sister asked me to take those two characters and use them to make a calendar as a gift for her friend - so taking what I did for the badge and expanding that to 12 unique and more detailed scenes/images. I said yes to that because it sounds like fun - however this was still before I had discovered Daz Studio and so I did it all in Adobe's Creative Suite - mainly Illustrator with a dash of InDesign and Photoshop. Illustrator does now have tools like perspective grid and puppet warp to make doing things like that easier - but not in CS4 version which was what I had. So I did everything the hard way - trying to manually warp groups of objects to fake depth in a very 2d scene and doing "poses" and expressions by moving and rotating points and groups of points in an abstract shape.

Again, I really should have figured that there was a better tool for the job but I figured they would either be too expensive or too complicated for me.

Despite taking AGES they did turn out pretty good all things considered. Couldn't really be called any good as pieces of art but they worked great for the intended audience - humourous and interesting with the added personalisation of in-jokes and references/easter-eggs. They went down so well that there was a sequel calendar and a one-off birthday card too. Not sure if there would have been a third - lockdown happened and so no-one was expecting to be able to meet up and exchange christmas gifts that year anyway.

Anyway, I guess that had "scratched an itch" that I didn't really know I had. It still took me over a year to learn that Daz Studio existed, but I got there eventually :)

With regards to the software you mentioned, I had heard of PD Howler but hadn't really looked into it since I now have an up-to-date Creative Suite install paid for by my day-job. Seems like it does more than I thought so I might have to take a look. Likewise Wings 3D which I hadn't heard of but Blender is still beyond me and so a simpler modeller might be helpful to get into. Unfortunately, time is in short supply right now and so I may have to push these back to next year when I may have more capacity.

I do know several of the sites offering free assets since I like to participate in the Freebie challenge on the Daz forums. I even managed to win 1st place in the most recent one :) I don't have a good idea for this next month yet tho.

I also do have accounts on DeviantArt and Renderosity - however I haven't uploaded anything to those in a while since it seems my work isn't overly cared for on either site. Renderosity seems mostly in favour of portrait-style artworks - which makes sense since a lot of the items they sell/promote seem to be outfits/fashion. However, I struggle to find the enthusiasm/inspiration to do those - although I keep saying I need to try and do some more. DeviantArt seems similar but perhaps geared more to the appreciation of slightly more adult images or those that are donw with more talented artists than myself. In addition, I got a bit fed up with it just started to get flooded by AI images.  However, I forgot to cancel my DeviantArt subscription and so when I have time I may try uploading a few of my better works I have done since to give it a second chance.

In terms of help - I think what I would like and is something that is difficult to obtain is some constructive criticism. Some of my images that I quite like didn't seem to be much liked and so it would be interesting to find out why or just get someone else's opinion about what I could have done better. I understand why no-one does that because in many ways it could come across as rude, insulting or demoralising if you say something non-nice about an image - but if I was making the same mistakes over and over or something I thought was obvious was so far beyond subtle that it was effectively invisible then it would be handy to know. Perhaps if there was a dedicated thread where you could post images that you expressly wanted constructive feedback? Not sure if that has been tried or if anyone else would be up for participating at all?

[Agent0013]

I understand the need for constructive criticism, but I have a hard time wording it in a way that is not offensive. What I do is proofread a critique over and over, making changes as I read, until it sounds like something I would not be offended by. That doesn't always work, but usually it's because the person being critiqued is predisposed to feel offended by any kind of critical review. Because of that, they won't last in whatever they are doing, because they won't improve.


Mayhaps together, you and I could work to improve our critique skills.


Now, I think the two images you posted in this thread are awesome, so perhaps you are better than you think you are. Just keep working at it, focusing on areas you think need improving, and you will gain more skills as you go. It's a long process, so exercise patience. Don't expect things to happen immediately, because normally they won't.


I actually got into art at the very young age of 6. My first grade teacher asked the class to draw pictures of what we wanted to be when we grew up. I drew a policeman. When she saw my picture, she was impressed that I was not drawing stick figures, but what she called "a man with meat on his bones!" To be complimented like that from the beginning put me on a path to become an artist. In practically all of my best jobs, I put my artistic skills into it. I got into woodworking at the age of 12 because of my first Woodshop class. It was so enjoyable, that I knew I was going to go for it as a career. Lucky me had Dad, Grandfather, Great Grandfather, and at least Great Great Grandfather as woodworkers before me. So I have what they say is "Sawdust in My Veins!" What's more is the fact that On my mother's side of the family is a buggy building company that made Empress Catherine The Great's Royal Chariot. She was the ruler of Russia back in the 1800s.
Now I  worked at a custom bus building company known as Metrotrans (no longer in business) where I became their top cabinet designer and builder. I did such high quality work, that customers were asking for me by name to be the one building the cabinets for their buses. I was the only one that could do certain things in that job, like making a wall fit the inside contours of the sides of the buses. In a later job I was renovating mobile homes, and my work increased the price those homes could sell for.
Then I worked at an Antique Shop repairing and refinishing wood furniture. I took an old chest of drawers that had been water damaged, cut the bottom drawer out because it could not be saved, disassembled the rest of it, stripped all the old finish off of it, made the repairs it needed, reassembled it and refinished it. It was not even worth $5 when I got it. It sold for $350 after I was done with it. That is a really big increase in value. My work and materials for the job was no more than $75 worth. The curly maple wood it was made from was the big selling point.
At college, the Chess Set I made brought $3,000 at auction. I earned the title of "Woodworker Extraordinaire".
Unlike most woodworkers, I still have all of my fingers and thumbs, because I have always made sure to follow all safety rules for every type of equipment I used. At Metrotrans, I became the boss of the cabinet shop, and decreased the amount of woodworker injuries by writing and posting a long list of safety rules, that even my bosses had to follow when they visited the cabinet shop. Rule number one is Safety must always be job #1! Second rule is Do not talk to employees who are running heavy equipment while they are running them. Whatever a visitor's concern is can wait until the job being done is at a point where it can be paused. Other rule were posted in a way that was relevant to the equipment they were for. there was nothing in that shop that I did not know how to use, and I knew the safety rules for all of them.. My reason for being so safety minded was because my Grandfather had lost his left index finger to a bandsaw. Then when working at Metrotrans my Dad lost his left index finger to the tablesaw. His accident was because someone came to him and distracted him while he was cutting pieces on his tablesaw. I was there when that happened. When they made me the boss of the cabinet shop, Dad was still working there, and he became one of my employees. Since he knew his job, and did it well, I never had to tell him what to do. Most of my other team members were the same way, and the ones that were not did not last. I did not have the power to hire or fire anybody, and I was OK with that. I could make recommendations concerning my team members to the upper command, and they usually took my suggestions and implemented them. They knew my stance on safety, and even adopted it for other areas of the plant; having the best of every department suggest safety rules for their departments. So my influence on the company was significant.
They gave me my head on one bus, to design the interior layout, and the cabinets to be installed. It was to be a Bus Style Limousine. It took me 3 weeks from the design phase to the finishing phase. The Limo Bus was entered in an auto show in Las Vegas Nevada, and took first prize for its category. That bus sold for a cool $3,500,000!
Aside from that I am also a singer and songwriter, and have been in 3 bands, one with my oldest brother and youngest sister. We did pretty good, having that sibling harmony that makes family groups so good, and doing original music gained us a small fan base. I am currently working to get my stuff out to the masses, looking to get a recording contract I can live with. So far, there has been only producers who want most of the profits off of my work, and since that to me is the definition of Lowballing, I reject them out of hand. Let someone be interested in helping me gain fame, and not so into just profiting more that me on my stuff, I will consider their offers. I'm not going to give them a free ride. As the writer and entertainer, I should get the biggest share of any profits made.
I am telling you all of this because it will let you know I can help. What's more, most of us here are the same way. This site, and the Fantasies Attic are both about being helpful to each other. So pitch your request and see what happens. I think you'll like it.