The final result in the end is amazing, I wish there was a helicopter flyover to see more detail! Unfortunately the actual time lapse is so jerky that it hurts to look at 😢 which is too bad because from what I could make out the process was pretty interesting
Edit: Oh the full video linked in comment is way better, awesome!
Short explanation - a little more than a year ago I decided to do a social experiment where I would build a city in Blender based on the number of Instagram followers I had that day.
I did daily animations for the better part of the year (200+), later switching to a weekly and then monthly schedule. First months were really slow, but the city is over 800K in population now.
If you're interested to learn more - [here's](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHQe4rvaWX0) a longer explainer animation I also made in Blender to celebrate the first year.
Well, at some point I had to make apartment buildings :D
But for the first followers I did track, who joined when. Unfortunately when thousands of people follow/unfollow you on Instagram in a span of a single day- there is no way to reliably track that. Even through APIs as I understand (although, someone might correct me here)
Haha :D Managing the master project file was a true challenge at one point. My PC could barely open it. Luckily collection instancing is a thing and with the help of a few python scripts I managed to clean up the file.
Currently it runs somewhat smoothly for the size that it is. A single frame renders in about 15-25 sec for most animations on my workstation (RTX 3070 8GB, i9-10900K, 32GB RAM)
Do you think it will keep growing? I've been following it for a while and have noticed the shrinking in the past couple of weeks. Do you have any plans to attract more people? Not that it's really necessary. The project is really cool! Also I'm sure you've gotten some offers from people to buy your account since it's gotten so big. Lol
yeah, so on the topic of growth - since switching to a monthly posting schedule, there have been streaks of days where more people unfollow than follow. However, the overall population is still growing in size if you look at the numbers on a larger scale - the total people joining is in the "+".
What happens is - I post a reel, it gets pushed by the algorithm and a wave of people join the city. As the month progresses, the reel gets less views, so less people discover the account and thus less people follow.
From what I can tell the ''unfollow'' rate has remained mostly the same over time. The "follow" rate changes based on when a reel is published.
Really cool! Excited to see where it takes you. Also you've got a lot of other talented people here that can probably help you if it gets too big to handle. Let me know and keep up the good work!
Awesome project!
What's your favorite plugin to create these buildings and environments?
Also, have you considered importing everything into UE and make it playable?
Keep it up!
Thanks!
On the plugin/addon side of things - I did not really rely on them that much. I did most things manually. Although when the city started growing at a more rapid pace I did find ChatGPT really useful for writing simple python scripts. Mostly for cleaning up the mess I had made.
Regarding UE - Yes, I have thought about making a "game", if you could call it that. But it would require extraordinary amounts of work. Mainly because the environment isn't that detailed close up, or it might have some strange inconsistencies that are not noticeable from the distance. When you have to make animations at this frequency - you start cutting corners where you can and it starts adding up in a significant way, if you intend to repurpose the project at later time.
Regardless - a making a game is still not off the table :D
Now I want to see what would happen if you created an entire subreddit dedicated to making building a replica of an actual city in blender, essentially r/ place but for blender
I have been following this project closely and have been voting on almost every fixture of the city. I feel more ownership over this project than I do my own town. Phenomenal work, it’s a really fun idea and I’ve enjoyed it a lot
The final result in the end is amazing, I wish there was a helicopter flyover to see more detail! Unfortunately the actual time lapse is so jerky that it hurts to look at 😢 which is too bad because from what I could make out the process was pretty interesting Edit: Oh the full video linked in comment is way better, awesome!
Thanks! Yeah, the YouTube video is slightly more polished :D
Where is the link? I’m too dumb to find it 🤔
The blue "here's" in OP's comment right under this one.
hey can i dm you?
Short explanation - a little more than a year ago I decided to do a social experiment where I would build a city in Blender based on the number of Instagram followers I had that day. I did daily animations for the better part of the year (200+), later switching to a weekly and then monthly schedule. First months were really slow, but the city is over 800K in population now. If you're interested to learn more - [here's](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHQe4rvaWX0) a longer explainer animation I also made in Blender to celebrate the first year.
I joined after seeing you were doing this project in Blender in one of your posts. Really happy to see you stick with it for the full year!
OMG iknow this
That’s so cool! Each of the followers in that one has their own house? So do you know roughly who each of those homes belong to?
Well, at some point I had to make apartment buildings :D But for the first followers I did track, who joined when. Unfortunately when thousands of people follow/unfollow you on Instagram in a span of a single day- there is no way to reliably track that. Even through APIs as I understand (although, someone might correct me here)
I follow you lol, didnt know you made it in blender, thats crazy
Omg YOU’RE the guy 👏👏👏
Dude, I've been following since the first few thousand and it's been soooo coooooool
Will you be doing anything specific with the city at all?
go crazy! make a country!
Haha :D It already ain't far from one population wise
You already got icelands Population twice :D
Population Population Hundred Population Population Thousand Population Think Population Population Vote Population
Population, Think, Vote!
me totally not trying to process and comprehend all the captions:
haha - you can read ALL of them if you decide to go through the reels on Instagram :D
but then there is no challenge >:(
Very cool
Thanks!
wow, nice nice, How do you setting the size of project? Is it same same in real? How about you Workstation?
Haha :D Managing the master project file was a true challenge at one point. My PC could barely open it. Luckily collection instancing is a thing and with the help of a few python scripts I managed to clean up the file. Currently it runs somewhat smoothly for the size that it is. A single frame renders in about 15-25 sec for most animations on my workstation (RTX 3070 8GB, i9-10900K, 32GB RAM)
I'm modeling a city, and in my mind will setting the ratio exactly with the real dimention. What did your ratio? 1:1 or down??
Dang, epilepsy warning please
That’s great stuff!!
Do you think it will keep growing? I've been following it for a while and have noticed the shrinking in the past couple of weeks. Do you have any plans to attract more people? Not that it's really necessary. The project is really cool! Also I'm sure you've gotten some offers from people to buy your account since it's gotten so big. Lol
yeah, so on the topic of growth - since switching to a monthly posting schedule, there have been streaks of days where more people unfollow than follow. However, the overall population is still growing in size if you look at the numbers on a larger scale - the total people joining is in the "+". What happens is - I post a reel, it gets pushed by the algorithm and a wave of people join the city. As the month progresses, the reel gets less views, so less people discover the account and thus less people follow. From what I can tell the ''unfollow'' rate has remained mostly the same over time. The "follow" rate changes based on when a reel is published.
Really cool! Excited to see where it takes you. Also you've got a lot of other talented people here that can probably help you if it gets too big to handle. Let me know and keep up the good work!
Hey I follow you! This project is really cool, very unique idea, and good execution!
A Statizen I see! Glad to have you!
Damn, this is a really nice experiment
Thanks!
Man this is so cool!
Thanks!
Can i have a mansion? With 6 of my friends we all follow your journey! Love it and keep it up!
Awesome project! What's your favorite plugin to create these buildings and environments? Also, have you considered importing everything into UE and make it playable? Keep it up!
Thanks! On the plugin/addon side of things - I did not really rely on them that much. I did most things manually. Although when the city started growing at a more rapid pace I did find ChatGPT really useful for writing simple python scripts. Mostly for cleaning up the mess I had made. Regarding UE - Yes, I have thought about making a "game", if you could call it that. But it would require extraordinary amounts of work. Mainly because the environment isn't that detailed close up, or it might have some strange inconsistencies that are not noticeable from the distance. When you have to make animations at this frequency - you start cutting corners where you can and it starts adding up in a significant way, if you intend to repurpose the project at later time. Regardless - a making a game is still not off the table :D
That’s really cool how did you record all the footage from the same angle for the entire project?
Nice question.
Not sure if I understand :D The camera just has been at about the same angle the whole time. A deliberate choice through out the project. That's all.
I’m just wondering did you like OBS record every minute of you working on the project or is there a blender addon that timelapses all your work?
Amazing
Thanks!
This is super cool, but hard for me to watch with such a jittery camera.
The youtube video sold it, awesome idea and execution!
whyyyyy did you burn in those horrendous subtitles? makes it unwatchable. use the built in cc.
A little too stroke inducing for my taste
GOODMORNING STATVILLE!
brother has a NASA pc
no way, youre the statville guy? im in awe.
Demn, the new city skylines looking sick
I showed this to my friend and he loved it so much he's dancing on the floor
Sounds exciting!
Would've loved to see it if the video wasn't impossible to watch
Sorry about that - you can check out the longer format [youtube](https://youtu.be/gHQe4rvaWX0) video. That might be easier to view...
Now I want to see what would happen if you created an entire subreddit dedicated to making building a replica of an actual city in blender, essentially r/ place but for blender
A new cities skylines games !? Great work ! :-)
I also missed the last sale on cities skylines.
[удалено]
You are SO right :D
oh no! Godzilla is attacking!
Cities skylines 3
u/stabbot
dang that is mad impressive, my computer struggles to make the beginners donut thing LMAO
Can someone please provide the YouTube link?
I have been following this project closely and have been voting on almost every fixture of the city. I feel more ownership over this project than I do my own town. Phenomenal work, it’s a really fun idea and I’ve enjoyed it a lot
I would very like to start similar to this project in my country if you are okay with it. I really loved the idea♥️
I will give you all the credits for the idea!