Strata 3D question

Hey guys, I am making some ships in strata 3d, and I came across some problems while making my newest ship. I wonder how you add engine flares, glows from windows and stuff like that. can anyone help me?

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If a god of love and life
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Originally posted by NemesisX:
**Hey guys, I am making some ships in strata 3d, and I came across some problems while making my newest ship. I wonder how you add engine flares, glows from windows and stuff like that. can anyone help me?
**

I generally create engine flares by creating an object of the desired shape, giving it a transparent texture, and adding an aura effect, which usually requires some tweaking to get the look right. As for window glows, it's best to add a glow map to your texture. Create a black image with the same dimensions as the texture map and add white wherever you want the glows to appear.

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thanks man!

oh, and I might be able to figure this out myself, but if you have the time... how do you create an aura effect?

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If a god of love and life
ever did exist, he is
long since dead. Someone, something... rules in his place."

On a related subject, has anyone ever made a good guide to making EV/O/N ships in Strata 3D?

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how do you create an aura effect?

The Aura is in the FX tab of the Resource palette. Using it is easy, you just pick your color and fiddle around until it looks cool. If you want more details, just ask.

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On a related subject, has anyone ever made a good guide to making EV/O/N ships in Strata 3D?

Hm, sounds like the kind of thing I'd need.

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Originally posted by mrxak:
**On a related subject, has anyone ever made a good guide to making EV/O/N ships in Strata 3D?
**

I started making a series of them but never made it passed the shuttle tutorial (that was going to be the simple/first ship tutorial). I would normally offer to finish them but I have too much work at the moment (exams and stuff). Maybe in the next few months I will get round to it.

My advice would be to use the (url="http://"http://www.strata.com/strataproducts/strata3d/3dmanual/")Strata 3D Online Manual(/url) to get used to the program and interface, then just much about in the program using all the tools for a while until you get the hang of it.

ewan

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I would use a faint inner aura for the engine glows, with a much brighter outer aura. The object can be all transparent and have a faint plasma-esque luminosity map.

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In a fight for peace, you must fight for equality, not revenge.

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Originally posted by Jules:
**I started making a series of them but never made it passed the shuttle tutorial (that was going to be the simple/first ship tutorial). I would normally offer to finish them but I have too much work at the moment (exams and stuff). Maybe in the next few months I will get round to it.

My advice would be to use the Strata 3D Online Manual to get used to the program and interface, then just much about in the program using all the tools for a while until you get the hang of it.**

That'd be great if you got the time to finish it. A lot of people would probably like to have a good guide for ships in Strata 3D. Maybe fimwat could include it in his (url="http://"http://www.oxy-web.com/evnep/tutorials.html")tutorial collction(/url). That way a lot of people could use them (and at the same time learn shäns, shďps and the like).

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"What goes up must come down, unless it reaches Escape Velocity and flies off to Palshife to join the Rebellion." -mrxak
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I actually already have one tutorial made, but it has nothing to do with the actual modeling of ships in Strata. It is more to do with the spinning and animation of them. It was also written about 1BN (Before NOVA) but can probably be adapted quite simply. (url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/ewanc/tutorial.html")It can be found here.(/url)

Hope it can be of use to someone out there.

ewan

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(This message has been edited by Jules (edited 05-09-2002).)

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Originally posted by Jules:
**I actually already have one tutorial made, but it has nothing to do with the actual modeling of ships in Strata. It is more to do with the spinning and animation of them. It was also written about 1BN (Before NOVA) but can probably be adapted quite simply. It can be found here.

Hope it can be of use to someone out there.

ewan

**

Thanks man, thats exactly what I needed!!! makes his little HAVOC fighter spin

weee!!! it is rotating

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Originally posted by sparky:
**I would use a faint inner aura for the engine glows, with a much brighter outer aura. The object can be all transparent and have a faint plasma-esque luminosity map.

**

hmmm... sounds good, I will start experimenting as soon as I get home 🙂

Thanks

good luck, and remember, the aura seldom seems to look like what the sample shows...

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Adventure Dog: Everyone's favorite little black and white dog.
In a fight for peace, you must fight for equality, not revenge.