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There is the sum and total of my question. I would like to modify one of the pictures.
For example, I would like to take an Argosy and remove the markings that (for lack of better words since it is 3am as I am typing this) show the ship to be an Auroran ship. In other words, remove those little red lightning bolts. If this is all possible, then I would change the ships engine flame.
If this is not possibe, has anyone rebuilt the EV:N ships perhaps so that someone else can revamp them with out having to recreate them.
------------------ "I Work under the underboss who's boss works for the boss of the bosses who owns the "Taste o' Italy" up the block. "My boss the underboss of the boss who works under the boss of bosses but over my underboss is upset that you didn't check with him before opening the restaurant. "See what I'm saying?" (from Gen13 issue 49)
I remember hearing about a Mechanisto-rebuilt Kestrel, but I don't think very many people have replicated the EV Nova ships, and certainly not in Mechanisto. As for editing the existing ships, there would be two ways of doing this:
Manually, in Photoshop or a similar 2D graphics application, modifying each frame of the animation, or
Somehow getting ATMOS to give you the 3D models and textures used for EV Nova (which they've said they don't plan to distribute), and editing them in the 3D application Lightwave.
------------------ David Arthur (url="http://"http://davidarthur.evula.net/")davidarthur.evula.net(/url): MissionComputer and the Talon plug-in (url="http://"http://www.ev-nova.net/")EV-Nova.net(/url): Look, a three-headed cunjo! | (url="http://"http://www.evula.com/")EVula's Lair(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.com/survival_guide/")EV Nova Survival Guide(/url)
Quote
Originally posted by David Arthur: **Somehow getting ATMOS to give you the 3D models and textures used for EV Nova (which they've said they don't plan to distribute), and editing them in the 3D application Lightwave. **
I recommend torture. It's the only way in this case :).
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It's possible to recreate some ship in Mechanisto, but it would take an expert. I have an idea about the Argosy, as it seems to be a simpler model in most respects.
------------------ (url="http://"http://mywebpages.comcast.net/genea16/Rift.html")Rift Homepage(/url) (url="http://"http://pub101.ezboard.com/briftwebboards")Rift Webboards(/url) Apparently, common sense isn't so common... ~Nick
Originally posted by nwa728: I have an idea about the Argosy, as it seems to be a simpler model in most respects.
The Valkyrie would probably be doable too; and some others, if you're willing to spend an awful long time at it.
Try (url="http://"http://www.pov-ray.org")POV-Ray(/url). It does everything but empty your wallet.
------------------ NTi Ozymandias of the Red Shadow Organization
Originally posted by NTiOzymandias: Try POV-Ray. It does everything but empty your wallet.
And it requires patience. Lots of it. An awfully lot, actually.
------------------ Eat, sleep, eat, sleep Blödpinsel / Blood Würst
Originally posted by Vast Deathmaster: For example, I would like to take an Argosy and remove the markings that (for lack of better words since it is 3am as I am typing this) show the ship to be an Auroran ship. In other words, remove those little red lightning bolts. If this is all possible, then I would change the ships engine flame.
Isn't the Argosy already Auroran?
**
If it helps to get you one step closer, you can use a pirate argasy which doesn't have the lightning bolt. However, you may feel that you probably don't want the dark murky shade of the color.
Say, isn't the Auroran lightning bolt based off that one bolt from EVC's defender fighter?
And speaking of EVC, won't anyone release those darn original 3D model? If there is a 3D original model for download already please post it here. And I don't mean the ones Evula has modified, granted he's done a well job in photoshoping the colors, but I would of prefer the originals so could some alterations of my own, just like I did with the UE Battleship.
If they release the original EVO 3D models for download, what should stop them from doing the same for EVC, and perhaps EVN as well?
------------------ Nosumus Fortiolis Quad Volimus
Originally posted by NTiOzymandias: **Try POV-Ray. It does everything but empty your wallet.
Say, are you being paid to advertise POV-Ray? It's just that every topic mentioning 3D graphics I've come across recently features you extolling it's virtues.
Originally posted by what_is_the_matrix: **If someone has made models of the EVN ships (which I doubt, by the way), they're probably completely different from the originals (ie. a redesign of the ships to fit with some plug they're making, or something)
I guess the best solution would be, as someone already said, to simply erase the lightning bolts in photoshop. Keep in mind, though, that's a whole lot of frames that you'd have to modify.
Luckily for you, the Argosy is a relatively simple model (as compared to, say, the carrier), so in theory you could re-make the model and put on a new texture. Mechanisto, however, isn't the program that I'd use. Try POVRay ( www.povray.org ), or try Amapi, or some other inexpensive program.
The flames can be either easy or hard, depending on what you can do. If you know how to make flames in a 3D program, simply make an animation of the thing rotating, and then use the original argosy sprite (or mask, or whatever) to mask out the portions that shouldn't be seen. If you don't know how to make flames (and you don't want to find out), the you're going to have to make the flames using photoshop (frame by frame), and then use the original sprite (like above) to mask out the portions that you don't want.
I hope that made sense... I'm hungry and can't think quite straight.
Matrix
Well, I'm lazy and have a short attention span............what was I talking about...
Anyway I thought Mechanisto would be easier to understand than, say PovRay. I wish I could just get a Waco(?) Tablet and then draw what I want to appear, hit a key and watch the program create the image. If it exists, then the tablet is way to expensive, and then the software costs way too much.
So, I've taken a look at PovRay. After one night and one tutorial, it seems rather complicated. Is that what I'm stuck with if I don't want to spend 800 bucks?
I've never heard of Amapi. Since I am typing this out on my PC, I will try downloading it and see what it's like. I'm going to guess that the phrase "You Get What You Paid For" holds true, so that something like Lightwave 3d is far easier to use.
Thanks for the help. I will try to make sense of PovRay and Amapi, but I think I will most likely just edit the stills for the Ship purchase and remove the Lightning bolts.
I'll leave the Animation alone. (at least for now)
Originally posted by Vast Deathmaster: Is that what I'm stuck with if I don't want to spend 800 bucks?
No! Use (url="http://"http://squibix.net/mech-ev")Mechanisto(/url)!
Originally posted by Mazca: **Say, are you being paid to advertise POV-Ray? It's just that every topic mentioning 3D graphics I've come across recently features you extolling it's virtues.:)
Considering that POV-Ray is free, then yea, I guess we're getting paid... nothing. You left me out, Mazca... Oh well. I think I tend to mix POV-Ray into a list of other programs as well.
Let's see.... Vast, I believe that you're referring to a "Wacom" tablet. They're pretty good. I got a cheap one to use for a Flash class (I was getting tired of drawing with mice), but I haven't used it since.
The phrase "You get what you paid for" doesn't necessarily mean that a product is easier to use. Maya is the highest priced 3D software package on the market, and it is extremely powerful, but it is also extremely difficult to use. Softimage (which isn't as well known, and is definitely much less expensive) is very user-friendly, and the controls are (relatively) easy to use. Other cheaper programs generally won't have all the features that the expensive packages have. While I love using POVRay, it doesn't have the ability to work with many of the features that I use as an animator. For instance, it doesn't have IK skeletons, and cannot deal with particle systems. Meshes are hard to work with since POVRay isn't GUI, and there are many other complaints that I have with it. Despite that, it was the first "package" that I learned, so I find it easier to use than the more expensive programs. By the way, Lightwave 3D is not easy to use if you're a beginner. In fact, it's probably harder (for a beginner) to use than POVRay.
Danny, why Mechanisto? There hasn't been support for that program since the 90's. There are many other cheap/free programs that are better.
------------------ "Nothing is fool-proof to a sufficiently talented fool."
Originally posted by what_is_the_matrix: Danny, why Mechanisto? There hasn't been support for that program since the 90's. There are many other cheap/free programs that are better.
Because! No really, it's because I know what I'm doing with it and I don't want to bother learning anything else. I don't consider myself a 3D artist of any sort, so I'm not going to put that much (read: any) effort into upgrading my tools or my skills--to say nothing of paying for a modelling ap. As for other free programs, I tried POV-Ray (hopeless for someone of my limited capabilites), the free Strata (clunky, I thought) and Pixels 3D. You may ask why I recommend Mechanisto; and to that I say, it's just because everyone else de recommends it to such an extent. But it's fine, it's good; and I think the best images produced by Mechanisto artists are at least equal to what's produced in any other free ap. And it can do so much more than most people think it can, which is why I made my silly tutorial site: to get people started down the road to using it seriously and seeing what it can really do.
(And it may also have something to do with my giddy glee at being able to get to the top of Google's listing for (url="http://"http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q;=mechanisto")something(/url)! ((url="http://"http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr;=&ie;=ISO-8859-1&q;=squibix")Squibix(/url) doesn't count: that's cheating).)
------------------ 'Of course, some people do just have bad taste--how else can you explain the popularity of Michael Bolton?' (url="http://"http://squibix.net")Squibix Web(/url)
Originally posted by Mazca: **Say, are you being paid to advertise POV-Ray? It's just that every topic mentioning 3D graphics I've come across recently features you extolling it's virtues.:) **
The Russians.
Originally posted by what_is_the_matrix: While I love using POVRay, it doesn't have the ability to work with many of the features that I use as an animator.
You traitorous bastard.........
public execution
For instance, it doesn't have IK skeletons, and cannot deal with particle systems. Meshes are hard to work with since POVRay isn't GUI, and there are many other complaints that I have with it.
It is entirely possible to create an inverse kinematics system as a plug-in (include/macro file).
There are particle systems that you can download.
Between Meshwork ($30 mesh program), the mesh2 and bicubic_patch primitives, and solid meshes, as well as the "extrude spline" mesh generation include file and similar utilities, I think all those triangles have something going for them.
Mwuhuhahahaha. Off I go to reverse-engineer the bicubic patch........ !!
Originally posted by NTiOzymandias: **You traitorous bastard.........
Mwuhuhahahaha. Off I go to reverse-engineer the bicubic patch........ !!**
The main problem that I have with POV-Ray is that it's not an industry standard piece of software, and learning it won't get me anywhere in the industry. However, since I'm still a poor student, it was the first program that I learned, so I'm hopelessly in love with it... except when I try to animate stuff. I tried 3.5, but for some reason, it just doesn't work properly on my computer, so I'm still stuck with 3.1 (which isn't a bad version, by the way).
Oh, I forgot. NTi, check out my image that I posted in the EV image gallery. I want to put a halo around the planet, but I couldn't figure out how. I also couldn't figure out why the moon looks like an egg. Anyway, check it out.
(This message has been edited by what_is_the_matrix (edited 07-24-2002).)
Mechanisto is, contrary to popular believe, a powerful and capabable 3D graphics program. The things I found most useful in it was the shading tools(you didn't need to know how to make textures in a 2D program to make shaders in Mechanisto with more detail than just some bumps or something), and the multitude of transformations(which allow the creation of an inumerable amount of shapes). In those two aspects, I found Mechanisto far superior to Infini-D, which basically makes you have to do lots of textures and which has few transformations. However, and unfortunately, Mechanisto is lacking in many areas. But if you want a good 3D graphics program to start out with, Mechanisto is an excellent place to start.
------------------ You would have to be ignorant, derranged, demented, or dead to turn down the oppurtunity to fly an Azdara. (url="http://"http://saberstudios.evula.net/") Saber Studios (/url)-Your source for original EV/O/N graphics. (url="http://"http://www.evula.com/")EVula.com(/url)|(url="http://"http://www.evula.net/")EVula.net(/url)
This is probably a "stupid" question, but should I go and read the directions first before I go and try to do anything with either Pov Ray or Mechanisto?
I tend to be the type that does first then reads when I can't figure something out.
To try and build graphical things, it looks like I should do some reading first. (Some people are lucky, they can just jump into a progam and have it doing what they want without looking at the tree-ware. (not that there are any actual books, I just like that phrase )
Originally posted by Vast Deathmaster: **This is probably a "stupid" question, but should I go and read the directions first before I go and try to do anything with either Pov Ray or Mechanisto?
With Mechanisto, it is possible to just start in on your ideas without reading the instructions (although it's not a good idea). With POV-Ray, it is not. POV-Ray requires that you know how to write the necessary code. You get that knowledge from reading the instructions.
If you use Mechanisto, you would do well to read Squibix's tutorial. If you use POV-Ray, look for include files on the "Resources" section of the POV-Ray website. Both will get you very far.
Originally posted by NTiOzymandias: **With Mechanisto, it is possible to just start in on your ideas without reading the instructions (although it's not a good idea). With POV-Ray, it is not. POV-Ray requires that you know how to write the necessary code. You get that knowledge from reading the instructions.
If you use Mechanisto, you would do well to read Squibix's tutorial. If you use POV-Ray, look for include files on the "Resources" section of the POV-Ray website. Both will get you very far.**
Actually, I started my work by downloading other peoples' scene files, and then trying to figure out why they worked. That's also why people talk about all sorts of "basic" things that I don't know how to do yet (like normals for instance). If I were to go back, I'd still start the same, but I'd have paid more attention to the manual. I'd have gotten a faster start, probably.
Actually, you should read manuals and stuff as you're working. They usually have tutorials and stuff that go with what you're reading. While lots of people say it's copying, it's also the best way of learning how stuff is "supposed" to work, and also serves as a baseline for your own work.