How Good, Or Bad, Is Mechanisto?

Okay. I've been using Mechanisto for a few months, and I've made some progress, but I get a little discouraged when I gointo the gallery and see all of these AWESOME ships made on these really expensive programs that I can't afford. Are there any Mechanisto masters out there that make really good ships? If so could you post some of your ships on the gallery so I can get a good idea of what Mechanisto can do? -Thanx-

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Never give up hope in
anything, persevere.

•Skyblade digs around in the Image Gallery for some of Squibix's work...

Got it! Here the "(url="http://"http://home.earthlink.net/~squibix/art/artships/jets.jpg")Pirate Fighter(/url)," posted half a year or so in the Image Gallery by Squibix. Is is by far the best work I've seen in Mechanisto.

As for Mechanisto in my own opinion, it's a pretty bad program. In the hands of an experienced 3D programmer, it can do amazing things, but it's hard to use and learn. You'd be far better off using something like Strata...

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-Cap'n Skyblade
-Battle for Sol - Episode III: The Worlds Beyond the Milky Way - coming soon -

Quote

Originally posted by Azdara Ace:
**Okay. I've been using Mechanisto for a few months, and I've made some progress, but I get a little discouraged when I gointo the gallery and see all of these AWESOME ships made on these really expensive programs that I can't afford. Are there any Mechanisto masters out there that make really good ships? If so could you post some of your ships on the gallery so I can get a good idea of what Mechanisto can do? -Thanx-

**

I think that Mech. is an excelent program. I HIGHLEY recomend it. It only renders in one color but I still like it.

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To err is Human, To forgive is Divine. Neither of wich is Marine Corp. policey

Personally I love Mechanisto.
My ships are definitely not up to the quality of SquidBix's Pirate Fighter,but they're still good.
I'd be happy to help you with any problems you may have.

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"Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's."
-St. Matthew's Gospel 22:21

Mechanist is by far the best program per dollar (IMHO). It takes a long time to learn, awkward to work with, and very time consuming. However, if you have money (most of us don't) get something else.

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Silent Night, a plug-in for Nova, will feature a small, unique galaxy. With only three races, I will be able to change the galaxy to my hearts desire. To help me finish it faster, I will not be slowed down by making ship graphic- I will use the ones from Nova.
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Approving someone else's work is not the same as creating it yourself- Bill Watterson, Author of Calvin and Hobbes

I've encountered some trouble using bump maps.When I apply the bump map to the ship it often gets strechted out. A good example of this is a ship I posted on the gallery awhile ago called "racing ship".I'm curious, why does everyone think Mechanisto is so hard? I learnt all thee basics in less than an hour, and I just learnt as I went along from there. I found Strata much more confusing.

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Never give up hope in
anything, persevere.

(This message has been edited by nwa728 (edited 05-31-2004).)

Another question. How can I make a cylinder with a hole in the middle? example:barrel of a gun

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Azdaras are the best fighters in EVO and can kill Igadzras in a snap! (If you are an Azdara Ace)

Quote

Originally posted by Azdara Ace:
**Another question. How can I make a cylinder with a hole in the middle? example:barrel of a gun
**

Stretch a torus... 😉
(url="http://"http://home.earthlink.net/~kwanza26/picts-stuff/the_bee.jpg")http://home.earthlin...uff/the_bee.jpg(/url)

PEACE YO!™

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It's ok to be naked, girl... I'm an Artist...
(url="http://"http://home.earthlink.net/~kwanza26")Kwanzasoft Graphics and Design(/url)

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Originally posted by Kwanzar:
**Stretch a torus... 😉
http://home.earthlin...uff/the_bee.jpg

PEACE YO!™
**

Well that would be too easy. 😉

Off the top of my head, the only Mechanisto master I know about apart from Kwanzar and Squibix is Danny. I could be wrong about him though (I'm fairly sure that he's exceedingly proficient with it).

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(url="http://"http://bbspot.com/News/2001/03/perl_test.html")Test Shows 99.99% of High School Seniors Can't Read Perl(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by diddlysquat:
**
Off the top of my head, the only Mechanisto master I know about apart from Kwanzar and Squibix is Danny. I could be wrong about him though (I'm fairly sure that he's exceedingly proficient with it).
**

I believe Danny IS Squibix...;) at least, they both use the same earthlink webspace...

PEACE YO!™

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It's ok to be naked, girl... I'm an Artist...
(url="http://"http://home.earthlink.net/~kwanza26")Kwanzasoft Graphics and Design(/url)

To make a cheap gun barrel you can
A. Carefully dent the cylinder.
B. Remove the top (in details) and uncheck remove back faces.
C. The torus.

Advice for new users- master the shader editor. Bad shaders can ruin a good ship and good shaders can make a bad ship surprisingly better.

You ask for samples of work so here is a link to a ship that I am working on (hence the wonderful shader) (url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/nnnormal/.Pictures/silent night/unfinished.jpeg")http://homepage.mac....unfinished.jpeg(/url)
It's nothing fancy just a nice little simple suicide fighter. Want to test fly it?

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Silent Night, a plug-in for Nova, will feature a small, unique galaxy. With only three races, I will be able to change the galaxy to my hearts desire. To help me finish it faster, I will not be slowed down by making ship graphic- I will use the ones from Nova.
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Approving someone else's work is not the same as creating it yourself- Bill Watterson, Author of Calvin and Hobbes

Personally I hated Mechanisto when I tried it. I found it way too fiddly. Try Strata instead.

ewan

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"It's a hundred and six miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a packet of cigarettes, its dark and were wearing sunglasses. Hit it"
- The Blues Brothers

I really had no patience to actually give mechanisto a try, so if you're like me, I'd go with strata 3d. I use it and have really progressed in the 3d corner. Sure, it's fairly simple (from a technical viewpoint), but its all you need in the beginning stages.

It's completely free, so give it a try at least: (url="http://"http://strata.com/strataproducts/strata3dbase/index.html")http://strata.com/st...base/index.html(/url)

When you've downloaded it, head on out to: (url="http://"http://www.stratacafe.com")http://www.stratacafe.com(/url) <---- this place is great for already-made models and excellent textures made exclusively for strata3d.

Also: (url="http://"http://www.stratazine.com")http://www.stratazine.com(/url) has beautifully made tutorials.

I think I've given all the low-down on Strata3d, so it's all up to you now.

GOOD LUCK! 🙂

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.... So, two guys walk into a bar...... the third guy ducked.

Mechanisto is a great program, but it can be kinda stubborn to learning it. Keep practicing, you can make some pretty cool stuff in it.

-Kevin

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Check out (url="http://"http://pub101.ezboard.com/bstarbasedelta")Starbase Delta(/url) or (url="http://"http://www.campbell2.f2s.com/phpBB/")The Daedalus developers forums(/url).
Feel free to contact me on AIM or ICQ, for any reason at all, it doesn't really matter.

I think I said this before,but I'll repeat it for the sake of these Strata3D infidels:
Mechanisto rox!
Now,If I new how,I'd post some of my designs,but I don't,so I won't.
Hey,that rhymes.

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"Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's."
-St. Matthew's Gospel 22:21