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after teaching myself flash and working with graphic design, I'm ready to move up in the realm of 3d animation. I'm not sure what kind of software is out there, if anybody recommends anything, it would help out a newbie ship designer.
So far I'm in the process of downloading strata 3d base, is there anything better? Or any shareware out there?
------------------ -The answer to most of life's quandaries: It's good for the exact same reason it's bad. -Often wrong, never in doubt.
Well, Animation Master (www.hash.com) is only like $200 and it's what Jeff Lew used to make The Killer Bean 2. A lot of people seem to be using Infini D. Atmos used Lightwave. If you're a student, (url="http://"http://www.journeyed.com")www.journeyed.com(/url) has all the major packages (3DSMax, Maya, Lightwave, Softimage XSI, etc...) at student rates (like mostly under $1000). Yea. If you want to take the harder way out, download POVRay. It's not a modeller like the others, but rather a raytracer. It's generally harder to learn than the others, and it's harder to make organic shapes, but still I tend to use it. Why? It's freeware and is only like an 8 mb download. I used it to make my Gundam 0083 Teaser plug.
Matrix
------------------ Captain: What happen? Mechanic: Someone set up us the bomb! Operator: We get signal. Captain: What!
If you mean Strata 3dbase v3.5, there's definitely something better out there - Strata 3D 3.0.2. An earlier free version, still available if you look hard in the right places, it has some features that were removed from "3dbase" - some of them, such as animation, essential for EV work.
------------------ "A taco is merely a rigid, deformed tortilla." - Thomas Castiglione "There will be MUCH CRUSHING!" - Pink
Quote
Originally posted by Gul Banana: **If you mean Strata 3dbase v3.5, there's definitely something better out there - Strata 3D 3.0.2. An earlier free version, still available if you look hard in the right places, it has some features that were removed from "3dbase" - some of them, such as animation, essential for EV work.
**
I did find a copy of 3.0.2 One problem is that the freeware asks for a registration code, I registered with Strata.com, but they sent me a code for 3.5, do you know where I can find an old code? I'm searchin hotline now, but if you have any leads this will make my life a lot easier
Originally posted by what_is_the_matrix: and it's harder to make organic shapes
You haven't tinkered much w/ metaballs, yet, have you? Go take a look at my homepage ( (url="http://"http://www.rit.edu/~jxc1906")http://www.rit.edu/~jxc1906(/url) ) for some examples of what I've managed to do in POV-Ray. Oh, and for reference purposes (for anyone else who's interested): (url="http://"http://www.povray.org/")http://www.povray.org/(/url)
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What's a metaball?
Divals
------------------ "And then god did come up from heaven and said, 'Do my bidding, you pitiful, powerless, weak humans! Go and spread my li... er, I mean truth, throughout the world!' And then he did laugh most evilly, and the planet of Mososuis did split in half, with one half becoming the moon, and the other half, bearing all its inhabitants, did fly into the sun. Yes." -from the Book of Relics, planet Rikka Ever wonder if illiterate people get the full effect of alphabet soup? (url="http://"mailto:micahg@microserve.net")mailto:micahg@microserve.net(/url)micahg@microserve.net
Well, until the last couple months, I didn't understand how metaballs worked. I took a Softimage class and metaballs were in the coursework. I just forgot that they were in POVRay. Thanks for reminding me. What I meant, though, was having lots of flowing lines on your ship (say like making a F-22 in POVRay).
Hey Wyvern, did you make those ships in POV? If so, I'd love to see your scene files. If you did do that stuff in POV, how did you get that volumetric light effect? I've been trying to figure that out for the past year.
Originally posted by what_is_the_matrix: **What I meant, though, was having lots of flowing lines on your ship (say like making a F-22 in POVRay).
Hey Wyvern, did you make those ships in POV? If so, I'd love to see your scene files. If you did do that stuff in POV, how did you get that volumetric light effect? I've been trying to figure that out for the past year.**
Volumetric lighting??? There's no volumetric lighting in any of those scenes... Oh... You mean the glows? Made using "media", in POV-Ray; look in the texturing section of the manual. And yes, I could probably hack together an F-22-ish thing in POV-Ray using metaballs. It would take a bit of effort, and some ship-specific macros (to make the wings), but it could certainly be done. One thing to keep in mind is that POV-Ray has more control over metaballs than any other program I've seen - nothing else allows you to tinker w/ component strength on an individual component basis, which is required for some of the niftier effects - like sharp points.
So that green glowy (volumetric-like effect) beam coming from the top of the ship in the smaller scene is a texture? Wow. I've looked through the manual, but it was kinda hard for me to figure out. I'm just trying to figure out how to make an engine glow that doesn't have a hard edge (like most of mine end up having).
Matrix.
Originally posted by Kuji: **I did find a copy of 3.0.2 One problem is that the freeware asks for a registration code, I registered with Strata.com, but they sent me a code for 3.5, do you know where I can find an old code? I'm searchin hotline now, but if you have any leads this will make my life a lot easier
Just use the code they sent you. It works for both versions. I just did it myself.
------------------ BIBLE: Basic Information Before Leaving Earth
Originally posted by Silver Eagle: **Just use the code they sent you. It works for both versions. I just did it myself.
I must be insane, it wouldn't let me before....I'll try again. Thanks.
Originally posted by what_is_the_matrix: So that green glowy (volumetric-like effect) beam coming from the top of the ship in the smaller scene is a texture?
Wait... No... it was under textures prior to 3.1; now it's under 'interior' - here's a simple green glow: pigment{rgbt 1} hollow interior{media{emission rgb <.1,1,.1>}} put that into a sphere (or anything else w/ rounded edges), and you'll be all set, though you may have to tinker w/ the emission value depending on the thickness of the object.
(edit) Oh, and, FYI, the larger scene on my homepage was made using Bryce, not POV-Ray. (/edit)
(This message has been edited by Wyvern (edited 04-26-2002).)
The site for registering 3.0.2 is still active: connect.3d.com
Originally posted by Wyvern: Wait... No... it was under textures prior to 3.1; now it's under 'interior' - here's a simple green glow: pigment{rgbt 1} hollow interior{media{emission rgb <.1,1,.1>}} put that into a sphere (or anything else w/ rounded edges), and you'll be all set, though you may have to tinker w/ the emission value depending on the thickness of the object.
Yea, but how do you get those soft edges? I've used emission many times before, but I keep ending up with hard edges.
Originally posted by what_is_the_matrix: Yea, but how do you get those soft edges? I've used emission many times before, but I keep ending up with hard edges.
What you have to do to make sure you'll get soft edges is make sure that either the thickness of the object at its edge is zero, or the media density is zero, or both. And by edge, I mean the 2D edge of where the camera sees an edge. A sphere will always produce soft edges when used w/ emission, so give that a try to start with.
Dam thing... My code isn't working.. It tells me that I'm not connected to the net or that I'm trying to use an Invaled code...
------------------ (url="http://"http://evula.com") EVula's Lair(/url)| (url="http://"http://starfleet-ssf.com/index2.html")The SSF(/url) | (url="http://"mailto:jager@evula.net")mailto:jager@evula.net(/url)jager@evula.net
I have this same problem. I've got Strata3D 3.0.2, and I registered, and my serial number doesn't work. I even reinstalled and re-registered, and nothing different happened. I just get a screen that tells me my connection is down, or 3D.com is down, or to phone or email them. They haven't replied to my email, so I don't know what to do.
------------------ (url="http://"http://www.foresight.org/Conferences/MNT6/nanohook.mov")This(/url) is the most frightening video I have ever seen.
I've jsut been talking with Jager, helping him register/learn the basics of Strata and whatnot, and he said neither his code or mine would work in OS X, but it worked fine in OS 9. Not sure why that is, if this is applicable to you, try it.
------------------ Calvin: I'm a man of few words Hobbes: Maybe if you read more you'd have a bigger vocabulary...
Originally posted by BariSaxGuy5: **I've jsut been talking with Jager, helping him register/learn the basics of Strata and whatnot, and he said neither his code or mine would work in OS X, but it worked fine in OS 9. Not sure why that is, if this is applicable to you, try it.
That would make sense, Classic probably wouldn't allow Strata the same kind of access to your net connect to register that it gets in the real OS9, thus not allowing you to register.
------------------ (url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/thorprime")NovaBurst Home(/url)
I've got 8.6, and it doesn't work for me at all. It doesn't try for very long, so I have a feeling it's not getting a good connection. I've got cable, though, and everything else was running perfectly at the time (internet-wise).