Ship designs.

The Vortrex

You might have read that I am starting my own TC. And I asked for a ship designer there (also weapons and outfits), but I decided to do it myself. I tried Wings 3D, but I didn't understand it, and I'm goiing to try Blender now, but I'm still very young, so I don't think I'm goiing to understand much of it either. Cause in those manuals they always use very hard English, and my English sucks (as you might have noticed :D).
So can any1 please teach me, or show me an easy to use program?
Thanks, The VortreX

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You can run but then you die tired

The Vortrex

Ok, like I said, I didn't understand. Please help me!

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You can run but then you die tired

Entarus

First of all , calm down this isn't a chatroom. That said I'm sure someone more experienced in graphics than me will come along and give some info. The advice I can give you is : Search. !

Try searching with keywords like "3D" , "Strata" , "3D apps." etc.. . There have been numerous topics.

And I'd just like to say that its wonderful that you want to try it yourself.

Just remember the road is long and hard , but the results are worth it.

Entarus,

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mrxak

I can't really help you either, but I'd like to comment that your english does not suck.

I'd also suggest "3D tutorial" as a good search.

what_is_the_matrix

Quote

Originally posted by The Vortrex:
**So can any1 please teach me, or show me an easy to use program?
**

There's no such thing as an "easy to use 3D program" 3D graphics are simply too complicated to be something that you can pick up in a weekend. It takes years of practice. The best thing to do is experiment, and if something works the way you want it to, remember that and build on it. Since there are very few ways that anyone could possible meet face to face, the only real way of learning the basics of 3D graphics is by trial-and-error. Specific problems can be addressed by members of the boards, but to just say "teach me everything you know!" is unreasonable simply due to the amount of material that would have to be covered. In colleges, there are entire classes devoted to 3D graphics (technically "animation," but for the sake of the boards, I doubt that many people will try to animate characters, but rather create starships).

Matrix

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"Nothing is fool-proof to a sufficiently talented fool."
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jdh545

I do quite a bit of character animation, and I find that what I learn in that arena gets me to think about other arenas diferently, especially with various animation techniques.
Joe

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"Life is tough, but it's even tougher when you're stupid."
-John Wayne

The Vortrex

Well, now I realize that my request was a little hard to fullfill, but thats probally cause I saw the programs and panict, hehe. But today I'm goiing to fool around with Blender. So, wish me luck

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You can run but then you die tired

The Vortrex

Heh, I've got a little problem. Cause I decided to stop with Blender and start with Wings 3D (it's easier to use, hehe). But that's not really the problem. My problem is, how can I color my stuff, cause I made a beautiful ringworld (I think it's quite beautiful for beiing my first 3D image :D) but it has a grey color, and it's supposed to be something like Earth. Any suggestions on wich program I should use and in what format I should save?

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You can run but then you die tired

Curufinwe_Fëanor

i dont really know wings3D, but you should search on the program for a thing called "Texturing", which is a synonim for color, textures, etc

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The Vortrex

Ok, I shal do that!

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You can run but then you die tired

Azdara

And if it's supposed to be earth, find a map of the world... ready made texture!

Mind you, you may want to make sure it's free to use first, no one would notice anyway, but it's good manners...

~A~

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"How can I make it go faster?" -Me-

The Vortrex

Hehe, that's indeed a good trick for Earth, now I know how others made it so real, hehe.
And I've found a few tutorials about texturing, and some free textures. But in those tuts, they say add material.
How do I do this (in Blender yes, I know, I switched back, hehe)

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You can run but then you die tired

Onyx

I'm not familiar with Wings3D, but I do know that there are a few constants across any 3D platform that you should be looking for. First and foremost, I feel safe in assuming that this program has a userbase, and that said userbase has an online outlet to share ideas and help each other out. Perhaps folks have even written tutorials. A little google searching can go a long way.

Secondly, no matter the program, they all share distinct, concrete principles. Boiled down to the most basic form, you have polygons, which have surfaces (color, texture, specularity, etc.), and are lit by lights (spots, omni, directional, etc.), and are viewed (rendered) through cameras. Every 3D application around contains at least one of these aspects, if not all three (there are dedicated modelers and animation systems that do not have rendering capability.

You may already understand all this, but I thought it might need some saying. So, search around for some hardcore Wings3D users for program help, search around here for help specifically for creating in-game graphics (one thing we know really well), and good luck to you!

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Curufinwe_Fëanor

Quote

Originally posted by The Vortrex:
**Hehe, that's indeed a good trick for Earth, now I know how others made it so real, hehe.
And I've found a few tutorials about texturing, and some free textures. But in those tuts, they say add material.
How do I do this (in Blender yes, I know, I switched back, hehe)

**

look for a blender forum and ask there.... sorry, but noone here uses blender...

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Masterplan Play that funky music white boy!

The Vortrex

Ok, thanks guys, I found a complete tutorial of 358 pages, I think I will find everything I need in there. But thanks for all the tips anywayz
And Curufinwe_Fëanor, what do most people use then? Stuff like Infini-D or what?

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You can run but then you die tired

Azdara

Hey Onyx, what do you use for your stuff, just out of interest?

~A~

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"How can I make it go faster?" -Me-

Onyx

Quote

Originally posted by The Vortrex:
**Ok, thanks guys, I found a complete tutorial of 358 pages, I think I will find everything I need in there. But thanks for all the tips anywayz:D
And Curufinwe_Fëanor, what do most people use then? Stuff like Infini-D or what?

**

You're quite welcome. I think the user base helping eachother out thing exists for jsut about any program with a respectable circulation, in case you are mystified by anything else down the line.

Personally, I use (url="http://"http://www.lightwave3d.com")Lightwave 3D(/url), which I find suits all my needs. Zombat, Sparky, and Weepul also use this program. The main "con" is that it costs some $1200 ($400 if you're a student). I know there have been many discussions here about it already, so do a search if you like. Many people here use Infini-D, Strata, Bryce, Carrera, and Mechanisto, with a few braving the text-based modeling in POV-Ray. Since we are mostly Mac users, not very many people are into 3DSMax, and for some reason or another nobody here seems too taken with Maya or Softimage. As far as I know, you are the only person using Blender or Wings3D.

As could be gleaned from the above paragraph, there are tons of programs out there for 3D. Finding one that you like is only a small part of learning how the 3D digital world works. I've seen stellar work out of all the packages I mentioned.

Lastly, making graphics are only a small part of making a TC. If you start by laying down a coherent universe and some rudimentary storylines, your job will be a lot easier than simply saying "I need a couple cool-looking fighters". I've found that making graphics for a scenario are a good aversion to writers' block, in fact. A little planning can help this project of yours from becoming vaporware, as so many others have fallen. That said, I look forward to seeing what you've come up with.

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(This message has been edited by Onyx (edited 08-28-2003).)

Azdara

Ah, lightwave taunts me again... When I'm rich, maybe.

On an aside note, I actually have 3DS Max, on my other computer (It's a P iece of C hit) but I don't like it. And I have access to FormZ (my brother's studying architecture, by way of an explanation), but I'm still using Strata 3D... Mainly cause I don't like any of the others. I know people keep saying that it's better to get lightwave, but I've got my sights set on Strata pro...

Oh well, back to the drawing board.

~A~

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"How can I make it go faster?" -Me-

(This message has been edited by Azdara (edited 08-29-2003).)

what_is_the_matrix

Quote

Originally posted by Onyx:
Personally, I use Lightwave 3D, which I find suits all my needs. Zombat, Sparky, and Weepul also use this program. The main "con" is that it costs some $1200 ($400 if you're a student). I know there have been many discussions here about it already, so do a search if you like. Many people here use Infini-D, Strata, Bryce, Carrera, and Mechanisto, with a few braving the text-based modeling in POV-Ray. Since we are mostly Mac users, not very many people are into 3DSMax, and for some reason or another nobody here seems too taken with Maya or Softimage.

I use Lightwave, and I would also use Softimage/XSI, but since it's only for PC and Irix, I'm kind of stuck.

Matrix

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The Vortrex

Try Blender, it's free and you can do alot with it. And it's for PC, Mac (OSX), Linux, and alot of other systems

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You can run but then you die tired