I''ve always been a fan of trueSpace, though the animation tools could still use work.

Here''s an example that I''ve recently finished for a projects I''m working on:



This is about 2 hours of work, modeled from a cube.

- Nick Robalik
http://www.digital-soapbox.com

do u use that truespace to model for game ?

"The shortcut is not always the best way "

Metal Typhoon

quote: Original post by paulkp
Can you tell me how I can manage with sub object materials? This so called "easy" and good UI makes my brain explode. I know map ID is a part of object, but how I can set some polygons for Map ID 1 and how can I see what polygons are Map ID 1? How how, oh god how..

Sorry, I can''t tell you because I don''t have 3DS MAX installed on this pc I''m currently working with..

(but there''s a very nice manual included with 3DS MAX... )

quote: Can you tell me how I can manage with sub object materials? This so called "easy" and good UI makes my brain explode. I know map ID is a part of object, but how I can set some polygons for Map ID 1 and how can I see what polygons are Map ID 1? How how, oh god how..

Are you refering to putting two different kinds of materials on one object? If so, than it''s simple. Your object needs to be an editable mesh (although I think you can do this with splines etc...) You select the faces of the object (ie- sub object polygon), you then go to material editor and apply the material to the sub selection, by pressing the little button that applies the material or you should also be able to do it by draging into the viewport.


Hmmm, just a note for everyone, if you go to www.3dlinks.com you''ll notice a contest "Titans of 3D". Before I write the article I will be doing that first so you have plenty of time to have your say.

--------------------------
"640K ought to be enough for anybody." -Bill Gates 1981

I got the free version of Truespace to work on my comp. The interface kinda bothered me though. Is there any way to make more than one viewport? Camera movement is weird too. I didn''t use it for too long, and it got erased when I formatted my comp. Can you make a skeletal structure for animation? I''m trying to make a few preliminary models for a game I''m making and I guess I''ll be relying on free modelers and Truespace is my favorite of what I''ve tried.

"Nukeuler....it''''s pronounced nukeuler..." - Homer Simpson

"Where is that thing.........
...for digging.....food?"
"A spoon?"
"Yeah, yeah."

Yes u can have more than one point of view. and also u can put skeleton structure for animation !

"The shortcut is not always the best way "

Metal Typhoon

I hope I''m not too late but here is my little personnal review of Maya.

First I went to www.aliaswavefront.com and asked for their free trial demo. You should get that CD only for the tutorials and videos! (its free). I think most of the standard feature of maya were working (except the more advanced ones you will find in unlimited, such as fur and cloth (which I''ll be talking later).

First, when you load Maya, you might be scared by the interface. Because it doesnt not exactly tell you what to do. I didnt read the manuals because I want to know how much I could learn without them. After a while you will realize you *really* need a 3-button mouse, and the keys q,w,e,r and t Okay, so know you can move around in your viewport, and you realize that everything you do (I do mean everything) is recorded in MEL script, so you can easily customize the interface as you wish, with your own MEL scripts or with pre-defined command. So that was why the interface was a little bit scary, you need to build it by yourself, to your needs. Very nice. Now, let''s make some objects. Everything goes easy, and after a bit, you''ll find out that sometimes it is faster to type in the command than use the mouse (I guess programmers will love this!)

Creating and modifying curves is easy. Lofting them and creating surfaces is as easy. For some reasons, I prefer MAX polygon tools, but I believe if I used Maya more I ended up preferring Maya''s polygons tools. I didn''t really dig into animations but it was very easy to build a skeleton (I didnt attach vertices to it but it seems easy enough). Texturing is a lot more complicated than with other programs, but in the end it pays to work on your texturing methods (you WILL need reference for this one because it felt a lot more technical than artistic as approach.)

Basically, it felt a lot like MAX, except it handles NURBS and patches a LOT better. Also I heard the non-linear animation tools are great, but I hadnt had time to really use them (just with the tutorials on the CD). What is cool is you have complete control on your hierarchy and on EVERY objects you create, I don''t know exactly how to say it, just try it out for yourself and you will understand.

Another word on interrface: it is totally context-sensitive as there is ifferents menus for modelling, animations, texturing and rendering. This way you can always concentrate on exactly what you are doing.

As for the MEL script, it looked easy enough yet VERY powerful (did you know the big scenes in episode 1 where all the jar-jar (is that his name?) are fighting was almost entirely controlled with mel scripts? - or so I heard). It seems a lot easier to use than MAXscript (which I never understood).

Later, I had the chance of playing around Maya Unlimited, I just tried the cloth and fur plugins and oh my god this is sweet. The physics calculations were fast (this was a powerful workstation) and the result were so cool, with very little work involved.

Bottom line: Maya is a great programs, BUT, I don''t think it is the best for games, because I didn''t like its polygon tools. But I guess it would be very easy to export your data to your own format with MEL scripts. Anyway, if your game needs prerendered scenes you might want to consider it, but the render quality was not so great without plugins (opposed to lightwave or softime -or the latest cinema 4D XL 7-).

But if you didnt know it has been used in projects such as Final Fantasy, Star Wars Episode One, Little Stuart, Vampires the Masquerade and Hollow Man... you know its good. The "Build" version is around the same price as MAX / C4D or Lightwave I believe...

Anyway it''s not the software but the artist who uses it!!!
But in the case of Maya, the artist who uses it will just work a little faster I believe

For the anonymous poster :

-how you made the model??.. ok, truespace don''t have background (eyedrop) image, so if very difficult to draw..

quote: Original post by dimitri_gamer

Your object needs to be an editable mesh (although I think you can do this with splines etc…) You select the faces of the object (ie- sub object polygon), you then go to material editor and apply the material to the sub selection, by pressing the little button that applies the material or you should also be able to do it by draging into the viewport.

I knew this, there was just a bug in 3DS. When trying to assign a material in a polygon of box which was slightly scaled at the bottom (mastaba-shape). I added bevels at the top and bottom sided and THEN it works well. Ah, well..
I like that UV-tool, it''s one of good things in 3DS.

Suggestion: the next time anyone posts about whatever modeller, if you can, PLEASE INCLUDE A URL!!

another question: since it seems to be mentioned at least once, which modellers support 'background bitmaps'... i.e. taking a 2D graphic and 'subimposing' it beneath the coordinate axes, so you can use it as a reference?

Rhino does, I haven't figured out how to do it in blender (I still can't figure that out... or get it to work right)... and I don't know about the other modellers...

--Tr][aD--

Edited by - TrIaD on July 9, 2001 2:29:09 PM