Learning 3D, Questions Options

[HERD]

Oh, IE ...
So jcompton was right, SK is out to get BG with 3D!

About rendering: Don't they have mainframe/deepblue comps to do it?

[Sir-Kill]

So jcompton was right, SK is out to get BG with 3D!

what?

no unless you are making a movie like Pixar does

[HERD]

Couldn't find actual post, but I remember when publishing of 3D tutorials was discussed, jc said that it will be a distraction for modders
I never seen an area made for 3D game, but suspect that puting it together with photoshop won't work, so low-poly will be important.

[HERD]

Making yellow brick road

 YBRoad.png ( 1.06mb ) Number of downloads: 27

[Sir-Kill]

cool. looks good

[HERD]

Stucco looks good to use for pumpkins, but wouldn't work as bump map. Is it normal?

Dried pumpkins !
 Pumpkins.png ( 457.58k ) Number of downloads: 8

[Sir-Kill]

hmm if my comp worked I could check but iirc stucco is not heavily contrasted you can up your bump level, or maybe you can tweak stucco prameters.
also change the specular levels and gloss but keep the gloss to 10 (if that is not the default)

[HERD]

about glossiness
When making material for metal parts which method is better : self-illumination or specular + glossiness or other. I know, there is a special tool under shader basic parameters in material editor, but want something quick till I learn it. When an object put in the area, does the sunlight interfere with materials like these?

 Eggplant.png ( 490.39k ) Number of downloads: 15

[Sir-Kill]

self-illumination should only be used if the item is giving off its own light, fire, glowing metal, etc.
so yeah you can use metal (instead of blinn)

I do not understand "does the sunlight interfere with materials like these" do you mean interact? if so, then yes, sort of, it actually interacts with the object.

nice veggies btw!

[HERD]

Accidentally discovered “line with smooth points”. Is there a way to make it move in all directions (all planes) when creating?

Probably bug? : when merging objects, if there is the same material in the scene, there is an option “Auto-rename material”. Comp freezes every time it’s clicked and says 100% CPU usage.
(Extremely proud of the basket )

 korzinka.png ( 268.09k ) Number of downloads: 12

[Sir-Kill]

lines when creating? no (not that I am aware). however you can create your shape with the right 2d shape then move the points in the 3rd direction later. I would stay away from smooth points. too much unneeded geometry.
If I want a smooth line I create one with the very least amount of points/verts. and only 3-4 sides, once that is roughly correct I convert it to poly and add a nurbs sub-division (much like a turbo smooth but easily removed and re-added)

you can also make odd widening and narrowing lines too. I think you can see the controls at the bottom of the spline rollouts (modify panel) but I cant remember for sure... damn I need to get my comp fixed x

Naming things (objects and materials) correctly and uniquely will prevent that. It is very important that you develop good habits when doing 3d. 2 things are important 1 is correctly naming things and 2 making good geometry.

real nice basket

[Sir-Kill]

well it took some time to remember what it was to make vines or tentacles (basically a cone shape that has a lot of bends).

here is how to make a vine on the ground:
make a line in the top viewport with as few points as needed to give the vine as natural appearance but no more (this will be your path). we'll be adding a smoothing modifier later.
you can refine your spline to add more vertices if needed using the refine button and clicking where you need them.

Move the points up/down, left/right, and back/forth until it is exactly where you want them to be.

Then create a rectangle (located next to line) in the front VP (this will be your shape).

Re-select your line then on the create panel go back to geometry. Then from the pulldown menu select compound objects. Select loft. keep it instanced (not copy nor move)

then just under the creation method rollout, select 'get shape' and click the rectangle, so far so good.

ok lets clean this up a bit:
under the skin parameters rollout, change the shape step and path steps to 0. since we do not need any more geometry.

now move to deformations:
click bevel, a window will open. this window is a curve editor (for lack of better term). You can add control points, move the points up or down and the ones you add you can move left and right. play around with them to get the feel of what does what.

Once that is done and everything is nice you can convert it to an editable poly if you wish but since you 'instanced your shapes you can change the shapes and your loft will change with it.

now convert to poly, then under the subdivision surface, check use NURMS subdivision, and un check Isoline display (to see all the divisions)

This post has been edited by Sir-Kill: Jan 9 2009, 09:36 PM

[HERD]

SK, thanks! After seeing this pic  loft_object_menu.png ( 14.07k ) Number of downloads: 4

in the tutorial , was looking for loft/path tool all over (my head wasn’t that clear after 3 days strait with max), decided that my version didn’t have it.
My blue dream is to make the line move in odd directions so it wont look like even spring and still go around objects.
Maybe with Noise or Distort or some other modifier?
 liana.png ( 553.52k ) Number of downloads: 10


I am going through all the tools, trying to learn as much as possible before fixing DL’s area for real.
Thanks to Array and Groups no more cloning-rotating by hand!
 bochki.png ( 153.36k ) Number of downloads: 10

Are specular/glossiness only seen if the surface is spherical, always have to apply turbosmooth?
(already developed bad geometry habits, poly count increases!)
was going for old, polished-with-elbows look on the table
 01_DvorInn1_80.png ( 133.22k ) Number of downloads: 17

[Sir-Kill]

I have a tendency to stay away from too many geometry modifiers, maybe that is why it takes me so long to make things.

start a spline with very few vertices just enough to get the general shape of your vine, no more than 6 then use the refine to make the jagged lines softer and smother. I find this method the fastest most natural.

on array there is also a tool that will clone along a path (again just using a spline) this could be useful for rail tracks or some other path.

specular mimics the reflection of real light. it is based on geometry but set them to what the object is made of i.e. water/wet surface will have a high gloss level where concrete would not. look around your (real) room at different objects and see how light reflects on the corners, flat surfaces, bends, and dents. notice the change in their own gloss levels.

no you dont always have to use a smoothing modifier I only use them on organic objects. but I build their geometry very low then add a smooth so the result is still a fairly low poly model.

if you notice if you smooth a long shape like a rectangle the ends collapse when you add a smooth. if you remove those ends before that it wont look so odd.

in the pic note that vertices do not need to be present on straight places on the spline and it would still look smooth.

This post has been edited by Sir-Kill: Jan 10 2009, 02:58 AM

[HERD]

Success!

 liana1.png ( 319.28k ) Number of downloads: 8


Bevel tool is a little difficult to master though.
Leaves look horrible, but I start to get the idea how they should be modeled to look better in scatter.

I have a tendency to stay away from too many geometry modifiers, maybe that is why it takes me so long to make things.

Based on what I read on the web, came to think that pros doing all fancy modeling only with splines - vertex by vertex. I realize that details are very important for models to look BG-stile (like yours), not like plastic toys (mine)

[Sir-Kill]

looks good!
yeah splines are nice. when you make your line you can check (under creation method) 'corner' to keep vertices count low.

I don't use models for leaves I use images w/alpha layers (I might have made these leaves in 2-3d) on a plane, the level of detail (LOD) for bg does not need modeled leaves but feel free to continue. you might come across poor shadows using planes and images w/alpha layers. there is a way to 'fake shadows' w/o using costly 'advanced raytraced shadows' in a final render.
here is a good tutorial http://www.the123d.com/tutorial/general2/shadow01.shtml

This post has been edited by Sir-Kill: Jan 11 2009, 01:13 AM

[HERD]

Can't believe it , but it all works!

 lianagrapes1.png ( 1.06mb ) Number of downloads: 16


Only one thing I would really like to know about 3d plants is how to make moss (on buildings and walls mostly)
Read about composite materials, but didn't try.

[Sir-Kill]

Sometimes I add moss and mildew to the map/texture I am using in 2d. If not I use mix maps . I think I went over mix maps with you once, and is my choice for adding moss if not done entirely in 2d.

composite uses the images alpha to determine how the final image should be displayed tho it can be a bit complex, since you can add, subtract, and multiply(?) depending on how it is set.

3ds can use photoshop images (.psd) it can utilize its layers as well. you can tell 3ds to use a flattened version or the layered one, however you can only use one layer per channel. so if you have 5 layers you need to use 5 channels.

(Ill have to confirm this later to be 100% sure but I think it will work)
this can be nice when using composite since you can copy the file name and paste it in all the needed channels and just change the channel to match the correct layer. again you can name your layers and I believe that is saved in the image as well.

This post has been edited by Sir-Kill: Jan 11 2009, 02:17 PM

[HERD]

Does this mix map look right?
 mix_map.png ( 424.97k ) Number of downloads: 15

I was going for smth like this, whith more volume:  moss_wall.bmp ( 312.55k ) Number of downloads: 6

Probably wouldn't be noticeable in the game anyway.
 moss_map.png ( 336.06k ) Number of downloads: 16


This post has been edited by HERD: Jan 12 2009, 03:25 PM

[Sir-Kill]

I cant see the first one very well but the second one rocks! are you using a bump map to puff up the moss?