What applications does everybody use to make images for ships? Applications do...application does...Erm, oh well. Anyway, which applications work best?

Thanks.

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"No! The giant squirrel came THEN Dib came."

I prefer (url="http://"http://www.maxon.net")Cinema 4D(/url).

There is also Strata, which can be downloaded free somewhere around here, Lightwave, 3D Studio Max, Softimage, Maya and many more I can't recall right now.

I find that the biggest difference between the programs I've worked with is the learning curve. I've seen programs incredibly easy to learn, but the output leaves much to be desired. Lightwave, Softimage and Maya can do amazing things, but you have to know what you're doing. I've seen 3DS Max do neat stuff.

maxon.net maintains a user submitted image gallery for Cinema 4D, and there's a movie called (url="http://"http://www.wired.com/animation/collection/phil_mcnally/pump_action/")Pump Action(/url) that was done in C4D.

If you don't want to shell out for a program (Ed. version of C4d is around $500, Commercial, $2000+), your best bet is Strata.
Cinema 4D will splat a graphic on top of any render in demo mode.

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What platform are you concerned with? I use Lightwave and Photoshop on the PC. I could use others though just as effectively but I happen to have those. I think that the ever popular 3D Studio would work or even some of the shareware or freeware 3D apps would work as well. It is more what your used to using than one being better or the best. Just my humble opinion.

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Nothing like the smell of burnt rubber in the morning. - Now let's see some Tiresmoke!
(url="http://"http://www.rsdg.net")www.rsdg.net(/url)

My personal favourite is Bryce 5 cause it is easy to use. Oh, and there is a comment in the Nova FAQ that ATMOS used it too.

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You can download it (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/vftp/dl-redirect.pl/PlugPackV16.sit?path=evn/plugins&file;=PlugPackV16.sit")here(/url)

Does anyone know where I can be getting these? Or at least demos of them. By the way, I'm on a mac.

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"No! The giant squirrel came THEN Dib came."

ATMOS probably used Bryce to make the landscape images. I know for a fact that they used Lightwave for the ships. Personally, I got started on POV-Ray, and have since learned Lightwave. I know that Cinema 4D, Strata, and Infini-D are very popular on the EV Image Gallery. Mechanisto is also used, but it isn't very popular.

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

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Quote

Originally posted by Psychonaut:
**Does anyone know where I can be getting these? Or at least demos of them. By the way, I'm on a mac.

**

I think there´s a free version of cinema 4d 6 XL out there somwhere....I got it on a computer arts CD...
Doesn´t have all features and cinema 4D is at version 8 right now...But it´s free and i found it useful until i started using 8.0....

try....www.cinema4d.com

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And then there were silence.................

Mechanisto is free and has a shallow learning curve. However, it is a very limited program. It has a lot of modeling functions such as bend, taper, etc. but cannot do any Boolean functions whatsoever. It is an excellent program to learn the basics on, and in the auld EVC/EVO days you could make respectable ships with it. For making real Nova ships, though, you get what you pay for. Still, I recommend it if you are just starting out in your CGI hobby. In fact, should you decide to go in for Mechanisto, I have a number of object models and textures in Mechanisto format that you might find helpful. If so, email me at tallguy1138 at yahoo dot com.

By the way, I use Bryce 3 for my modeling.

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To quote a pillar of American society: D'OH!

But, where do you get these programs?

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"Nothing is impossible with crons and submunitions."
-me

(url="http://"http://www.google.com")http://www.google.com(/url)

search it.

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In a fight for peace, you must fight for equality, not revenge.
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Quote

Originally posted by PBoat101:
**But, where do you get these programs?

**

it was cinema 4d ce 6 that was free..sorry....and it was 3D world magazine..

try.... (url="http://"http://www.cinema4d.com")http://www.cinema4d.com(/url)

or the 3D world homepage (url="http://"http://www.3dworldmag.com")http://www.3dworldmag.com(/url) ...it´s in 3D world issue 43 last year..

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And then there were silence.................