Using InfiniD ?

I've been using InfiniD for some time with great results (visit my shipyard following the link below and entering Generation 4), but now I would like to make some more complex designs.
To be more specific, what I would like to do is to model some organic-like shapes working directly on meshes or however it is done. Does anybody know about any good manual about InfiniD where it is explained how to do that?
I have also done some animation works with InfiniD, but it lacks explosions, as I also don't know how to do them. Can anyone help me? I've tried to use the built-in explosion assistant, but the results are horrible.

Thanks for your help.
Greetings:
Juan

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Warlock Shipyard
(url="http://"http://warlockshipyard.iespana.es")http://warlockshipyard.iespana.es(/url)
Ship graphics and other stuff

Explosion assistant? Wherezat?

For explosions, Infini-D's particle effects are really cool. Use those.

Dunno how to do meshes, Captain Skyblade or Weepul will have to explain that.

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( (url="http://"http://www.webanimag.com/ayb/")All your smurf are belong to smurf!(/url) )( Generic (url="http://"http://ww.evula.com")EVula(/url) link )( monster! )
Mantaray: Supergenius and idiot rolled into one!

(This message has been edited by Mantaray (edited 08-27-2002).)

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Originally posted by Juan:
I've been using InfiniD for some time with great results (visit my shipyard following the link below and entering Generation 4), but now I would like to make some more complex designs.
To be more specific, what I would like to do is to model some organic-like shapes working directly on meshes or however it is done. Does anybody know about any good manual about InfiniD where it is explained how to do that?

Infini-D doesn't really do meshs - What you want is the Spline Modeler. It's pretty hard to figure out at first, but it can create some pretty excellent stuff, with a little time and effort... Ok, alot of effort. 😉

The lathe tool is part of the Spline Modeler - so you've already found the modeler. (AKA, "Workshop.") Just go to the "Layout" menu, and choose one of the free-form layouts, (can't remember which one.) or the "Cross-section Extrusion" layout. (note: I haven't used Infini-D much lately, (I'm also using 4.0) so the names may not be correct. Just look around in the menus - they're there somewhere.)

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Originally posted by Juan:
I have also done some animation works with InfiniD, but it lacks explosions, as I also don't know how to do them. Can anyone help me? I've tried to use the built-in explosion assistant, but the results are horrible.

Indeed, the explosion assistant is a piece of crap. There's really no good way to make a ship "explode", other then just making a big fire-ball thing with Particle Systems and/or lens flares/glows and then making the ship dissapear.

Oh yeah, and you might want to check out some older posts by Skyblade and Weepul and maybe some other people at the (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&number;=56")Image Gallery(/url) - great stuff in there.

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I'm Juan, but I'm not at my computer now and can't remember my password...

Yes, it was the spline modeller I was referring at. I have one really big trouble: how to make simmetric figures? I'm not saying making two different simmetric figures, but just one with simmetry.

Also, I find annoying that I can't select multiple objects. That would be really useful for making a large group of simmetric objects.

Do you know any other 3D program which has all those things better implemented (and easy to use)?

Thanks and greetings:
Juan

Organic figures in Infini-D can be hard to come by. The only programs I've ever had any moderate success with such models is using Lightwave's spline patches and especially Cinema 4D's hyper NURBS. As for Infini-D, you're better off with sticking to spline modelling, which is by far it's most powerful feature. The mesh editor, from my personal experience, is only good for such shapes as disfigured and randomized asteroids (refer (url="http://"http://dreamwave.evula.net/FirefoxLarge.jpg")here(/url)). I rarely ever use mesh modelling for my ship objects, as not only is it hard to get perfect results in, but you lose all your cross section and rail data that you get when your objects are in spline format.

I don't know of many programs that allow you to select multiple objects at once. But if you simply mean you want other objects to move when you change the location of the parent, all you need to do is link your objects. Once this is done, you can change the size and location of your parent object, and all the objects which are linked to it will do the exact same thing.

I've had a good deal of success with symmetric figures in Infini-D. Although my (url="http://"http://saberstudios.evula.net/3dimages/CargomasterExtraViews.jpg")Cargomaster(/url) wasn't symmetric once it was complete, I had to model those two cargo arms as symmetric objects. I always use cubes when I'm going to model something of this type - Infini-D gives you a lot more control.

I don't know how to make decent, animated explosians in Infini-D either, although I know how to implement good still shots. I normally simply add them via my background image ((url="http://"http://dreamwave.evula.net/FirebatLarge.jpg")example(/url)), but Weepul recently showed me a technique of simply creating a cool explosian and texturing it onto a transparent cube (very similar to the technique I use for the engine flames). I suppose that if you had the time to edit the size and shape of the explosian texture for every animation frame, you might be able to pull it off. It'd certainly take a bundle of time however.

I'd highly, very highly recommend Cinema 4D. It's a 28th century version of Infini-D, and extremely powerful (more so than Lightwave, I believe). If you want some amazing modelling abilities, get it.

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Joseph Payne - (url="http://"mailto: joseph.payne@tmgmedia.net ")mailto: joseph.payne@tmgmedia.net (/url) joseph.payne@tmgmedia.net

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Organic figures in Infini-D can be hard to come by. The only programs I've ever had any moderate success with such models is using Lightwave's spline patches and especially Cinema 4D's hyper NURBS. As for Infini-D, you're better off with sticking to spline modelling, which is by far it's most powerful feature. The mesh editor, from my personal experience, is only good for such shapes as disfigured and randomized asteroids (refer here). I rarely ever use mesh modelling for my ship objects, as not only is it hard to get perfect results in, but you lose all your cross section and rail data that you get when your objects are in spline format.

Perhaps i will try to practice more with splines. But I've never like them on InfiniD, as I see them hard to manage. I loved Extreme3D way of making those kind of objects: you just draw plain figures on the 3D environment, place them on the corresponding situation (so you have an easy direct control over the final result), select them all in order, and apply a skin over them. That was easy.
With InfiniD, sometimes I've found with problems when trying to make the simmetric figures of those splines, as they tend to mess-up and appear like hollowed (I see the interior of the back surface instead of the front of the front surface) or not well mirrored.

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I don't know of many programs that allow you to select multiple objects at once. But if you simply mean you want other objects to move when you change the location of the parent, all you need to do is link your objects. Once this is done, you can change the size and location of your parent object, and all the objects which are linked to it will do the exact same thing.

Yes, that's what I usually do, and it is most of the times the most powerfull way. But, for example, on my last ship, I want to change the size of about 30 defense anti-fighter turrets without changing their position. Making then sons of a parent and scaling the parent doesn't work, as not only the turrets make bigger, but their relative distance to the parent as well. I've grouped them together directly using the Sequencer, and perhaps there is another linking method that allow me to do what I want. The problem is that linking manually the 30 turrets to a parent on my old slow PowerMac 6400/200 is a really slow job (even at wireframe with no antialiasing).

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I've had a good deal of success with symmetric figures in Infini-D. Although my Cargomaster wasn't symmetric once it was complete, I had to model those two cargo arms as symmetric objects. I always use cubes when I'm going to model something of this type - Infini-D gives you a lot more control.

So, how do you make a simmetric of a complex figure composed of many minor figures?

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I don't know how to make decent, animated explosians in Infini-D either, although I know how to implement good still shots. I normally simply add them via my background image (example), but Weepul recently showed me a technique of simply creating a cool explosian and texturing it onto a transparent cube (very similar to the technique I use for the engine flames). I suppose that if you had the time to edit the size and shape of the explosian texture for every animation frame, you might be able to pull it off. It'd certainly take a bundle of time however.

Mmmm, I will try that transparent cube technique... sounds cools, easy and with fairly great results, but, not better a sphere than a cube?
And about sizing it, well, it could result just making the transparent cube or sphere larger from one animation time to another (begining from the impact point), and applying a pseudo-random relly fast turn to it, so the explosion seems to be changing.
Now the problem is to find a good explosion image that fits well on a sphere...

Greetings:
Juan
(url="http://"http://warlockshipyard.iespana.es")Warlock Shipyards(/url)