graphics

Zyvorg

im writing a plug-in for nova, could someone recomend a good program for creating ship, planet, weapons, etc. graphics also some documentation on how to use the program to create the graphics would be nice. im on a windows computer and writing it with evnew.(this is my first plug-in)

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Kestrel rocks!

Masamune

I understand that you're new here and don't know, so I'm not going to ream you :). This question has been asked ad nauseum, unfortunately. Use the Search function, and you'll find everything you ever wanted to know about just this.

For quick reference:
Common 3D programs for Ships: Bryce, Lightwave, Strata, Mechanisto, Wings3D, Maya, Infini-D, SoftImage....
Common 2D programs for Touch Up: Photoshop. I use Appleworks, but I'm lame.
Common 3D programs for Terrains: Bryce!, oh damn, can't remember that other one... LunarCell or something.

All of the above programs have pretty steep learning curves, but there's online tutorials for all of them. Good luck!

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~Charlie
Sephil Saga Homepage: (url="http://"http://www.cwssoftware.com")www.cwssoftware.com(/url)

Jules

Quote

Originally posted by Masamune:
Common 3D programs for Terrains: Bryce!, oh damn, can't remember that other one... LunarCell or something.

That would be Mojoworld...

ewan

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'It's only when you look at an ant through a magnifying glass on a sunny day that you realise how often they burst into flames'
- Harry Hill

orcaloverbri9

Quote

Originally posted by Masamune:
Common 2D programs for Touch Up: Photoshop. I use Appleworks, but I'm lame.

I use both. AppleWorks is especially useful for tiling (if you're an idiot and render your sprites at the wrong resolution that is...well, ya live and learn. :)) and masks. Oh, how useful it is for masks.

Quote

Common 3D programs for Terrains: Bryce!, oh damn, can't remember that other one... LunarCell or something.

MojoWorld is one, but...Terragen, dammit!

When you make the sprites, use the LASIK technique. Ever wonder how the Nova graphics are so crisp and detailed? Here's how you do it:

- Render your sprites at double the size you want.
- Open the file in Photoshop and apply an Unsharp Mask filter (Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask in my version (5.0))
- Scale it to 50% its current size.

If you're wondering if it's worth it, here's a helpful image:

Posted Image

If you're not convinced it's worth it, then whatever, but your sprites will suck compared to ATMOS'.

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The programmer's code of entomology: there's always another bug.
Windows users: stop asking for plugins. (url="http://"http://www.aznt.com/EVN/EVNEW/")Make one yourself.(/url)
(url="http://"http://www.cwssoftware.com")Sephil Saga Website(/url)
(url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/search.html")Add-ons Search Engine(/url)

(This message has been edited by orcaloverbri9 (edited 01-30-2004).)

Lindley

I highly recommend Terragen for landscapes. With zero prior 3D knowledge, I was able to figure it out within the promised 15 minutes, with the help of the getting started guide, and have now used it for most of my TC's planets.

The only problem with it, is that it can't do structures. If Terragen came with an option to add simple geometric shapes, it would be perfect.......

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Azdara

Well that's why terragen sucks a bit. It's no good if you want to build a big cityscape or something. This is a real barrier in the way of the plug I'm doing the graphics for: To get the right industrial feel there is no quick fix, and it's looking like I'll have to do the landing scenes as well, at least the inhabited ones.

Terragen... good for uninhabited stellars, but rolling hills do not give the impression of a metropolis powering through the day.

I should ask for some tips on making a city... later.

~A~

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

Masamune

Terragen! That's the one I was looking for! Is LunarCell or LunarAnything a program at all?

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~Charlie
Sephil Saga Homepage: (url="http://"http://www.cwssoftware.com")www.cwssoftware.com(/url)

what_is_the_matrix

Quote

Originally posted by Azdara:
**Well that's why terragen sucks a bit. It's no good if you want to build a big cityscape or something. This is a real barrier in the way of the plug I'm doing the graphics for: To get the right industrial feel there is no quick fix, and it's looking like I'll have to do the landing scenes as well, at least the inhabited ones.

Terragen... good for uninhabited stellars, but rolling hills do not give the impression of a metropolis powering through the day.

I should ask for some tips on making a city... later.

~A~

**

Making a sprawling metropolis is difficult no matter how you look at it. The fastest way I've seen (though never tried) is you make a square block of buildings, and copy and paste them, rotating to make them look different and not tiled. A good technique is to have a billboard or a building block off a good portion of the screen so you don't have to fill as much.

Matrix

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"Interestingly, according to modern astronomers, space is finite. This is a very comforting thought -- particularly for people who can never remember where they have left things." - Woody Allen

(url="http://"http://htf.mondominishows.com/valentine/main.asp?seed=7375&serial;=214877")The funniest valentine I've ever gotten.(/url)

Dr. Trowel

Quote

Originally posted by Masamune:
**Terragen! That's the one I was looking for! Is LunarCell or LunarAnything a program at all?

**

LunarCell (by Flaming Pear) makes planet graphics -- as in spobs-in-space, not landing pics. They also have a program (Photoshop Plugin?) that makes nubulas (nebulae?); some people use that for backgrounds for the large-format shipyard pics.

what_is_the_matrix

Quote

Originally posted by Dr. Trowel:
**LunarCell (by Flaming Pear) makes planet graphics -- as in spobs-in-space, not landing pics. They also have a program (Photoshop Plugin?) that makes nubulas (nebulae?); some people use that for backgrounds for the large-format shipyard pics.

**

Glitterato makes nebulae, but from what I've heard (and seen), it's pretty crappy. A much better method is the "Zombula" developed by Admiral Zombat, but I don't have the link on me.

Matrix

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"Interestingly, according to modern astronomers, space is finite. This is a very comforting thought -- particularly for people who can never remember where they have left things." - Woody Allen

(url="http://"http://htf.mondominishows.com/valentine/main.asp?seed=7375&serial;=214877")The funniest valentine I've ever gotten.(/url)

orcaloverbri9

Quote

Originally posted by Dr. Trowel:
LunarCell (by Flaming Pear) makes planet graphics -- as in spobs-in-space, not landing pics. They also have a program (Photoshop Plugin?) that makes nubulas (nebulae?); some people use that for backgrounds for the large-format shipyard pics.

Actually, LunarCell is a plug-in...and it rocks!

Really though...I mean, it's so easy to make planets...

matrix: Hmm...we need more topics like this...lots of references that I can hunt around for, only to find that they kick ass...

EDIT: Aha! Found the Zombula technique!

(url="http://"http://zombat.roosteredge.com/Nebula/ntute.html")Linkage(/url)

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The programmer's code of entomology: there's always another bug.
Windows users: stop asking for plugins. (url="http://"http://www.aznt.com/EVN/EVNEW/")Make one yourself.(/url)
(url="http://"http://www.cwssoftware.com")Sephil Saga Website(/url)
(url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/search.html")Add-ons Search Engine(/url)

(This message has been edited by orcaloverbri9 (edited 02-01-2004).)

Zyvorg

Thanks guys.

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Kestrel rocks!

ThorPrime

There have been quite a few 3D programs listed here for ships and such, but (url="http://"http://www.maxon.net")Cinema4D(/url) has been left out. It works great for ships, planets, terrain, cities, nebula, pretty much everything. The nebula and planets are generated by a bunch of built in 3D shaders like; clouds, earth, fog, stars, and lots more.

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(url="http://"http://snow.prohosting.com/thorprim/")NovaBurst Home(/url)

Masamune

Holy crud! ThorPrime!? Wow, haven't seen you in ages. Dude, I still use NovaBurst for maps... you should start supporting it again.

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~Charlie
Sephil Saga Homepage: (url="http://"http://www.cwssoftware.com")www.cwssoftware.com(/url)

Lindley

Quote

Originally posted by ThorPrime:
**There have been quite a few 3D programs listed here for ships and such, but Cinema4D has been left out. It works great for ships, planets, terrain, cities, nebula, pretty much everything. The nebula and planets are generated by a bunch of built in 3D shaders like; clouds, earth, fog, stars, and lots more.

**

I've taken a look. Seems fairly user-friendly, aside from the whole "can't save anything in the demo" bit. (Perhaps Snapz Pro could help there....)

However, have virtually no experience with 3D programs, I wasn't able to make it do a whole lot just by fiddling around. I don't suppose there's a good tutorial anywhere? Didn't see one on their site right away, but its possible I missed it....

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pipeline

Quote

Originally posted by what_is_the_matrix:
Glitterato makes nebulae, but from what I've heard (and seen), it's pretty crappy.

Actually, when used cleverly and in conjunction with real nebulae, Glitterato can really rock.

Dave @ ATMOS

what_is_the_matrix

Quote

Originally posted by pipeline:
Dave @ ATMOS

In my defense, the only experience I've had with Glitterato is what I've seen on the Image Gallery. Good looking nebulae are few and far-between.

Matrix

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"Interestingly, according to modern astronomers, space is finite. This is a very comforting thought -- particularly for people who can never remember where they have left things." - Woody Allen

(url="http://"http://htf.mondominishows.com/valentine/main.asp?seed=7375&serial;=214877")The funniest valentine I've ever gotten.(/url)

(This message has been edited by what_is_the_matrix (edited 02-07-2004).)

Azratax2

Quote

Originally posted by pipeline:
**Actually, when used cleverly and in conjunction with real nebulae, Glitterato can really rock.

Dave @ ATMOS**

Coool. Care to give us some hints about how it might be used so as to "really rock"? I have only seen it suck...
-Az

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It is here. EVNEW Public Beta (url="http://"http://www.aznt.com/EVN/EVNEW")www.aznt.com/EVN/EVNEW(/url)
Stuffit is a piece of .sit.

ThorPrime

Masamune, on Feb 7 2004, 01:52 AM, said:

Holy crud! ThorPrime!? Wow, haven't seen you in ages. Dude, I still use NovaBurst for maps... you should start supporting it again.

Sorry for bringing up such an old post:

I lost the source to NovaBurst a long time ago in a hard drive crash. I would have loved to continue development on it, but it was beyond my motivation to re-writeit from scratch.
A couple people had requested the source and I gave it to them. If anyone who has a copy of the source reads this, please email it to me at ThorPrime@gmail.com

Requiem

Well, while this is up here, I'd like to point out that LunarCell is quite bad... Compare the pics. One was made without LunareCell, and the other with LunarCell.

http://pacehaldora.s...aBruocsella.jpg-LunarCelled

http://img.photobuck...rin/planet2.jpg-made bby hand

Sorry, just had to point out that LunarCell isn't all that great...

This post has been edited by Requiem : 22 November 2004 - 09:44 PM