I'm looking for a relatively simple shareware app to create halfway decent 3D images - people, that sort of thing. I'm trying to put togther a game, and want to create characters on the cheap.
Does anyone know of something that'll do this sort of thing?
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I'm not sure if it would work too well for character animation, but Art of Illusion (Art of Illusion.org) is pretty good, and its free. Also i saw something called Sphera (?) which is currently in beta, search for it on versiontracker.com.
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Character animation is one of the more complex 3d graphics tasks (to put it lightly!) You'll need a fairly powerful and/or specialized app to make halfway decent characters.
I believe that (url="http://"http://www.blender.org/")Blender(/url) is still free; from what I understand it's fairly powerful, but very quirky and with a fairly steep learning curve.
There's usually an older version of (url="http://"http://pixels3d.com/")Pixels3D(/url) available for download; which is probably less powerful though less quirky than Blender. Expect to get fairly frequent "Upgrade to the shiny new version for only $xxx!" spam from the company, though.
(url="http://"http://www.hash.com/")Animation:Master(/url) is very well spoken of by quite a few people; it's more or less designed specifically for character creation, though at $299 it's not exactly shareware.
(url="http://"http://www.curiouslabs.com/")Poser(/url) is not nearly so flexible as the above apps, but it has the distinct advantage of including ready-made human figures, clothing, and props to save you the trouble of creating your own. I don't believe the latest version is available for Macintosh yet, though.
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check my links page under 3d
(url="http://"http://www.redknightentertainment.com/rkewerks/htmldavesworld/coldstonelinkspage.html")http://www.redknight...elinkspage.html(/url)
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(url="http://"http://www.redknightentertainment.com/rkewerks/htmldavesworld/coldstonelinkspage.html")Coldstone Links For - Art, 3D, Animation, Problem Solving, Tips and tricks.(/url) Morvera ner Morden
(url="http://"http://www.electricimage.com/products/amorphium.html")Amorphium(/url) is about $100
(url="http://"http://www.eovia.com/car3dbasics/product_intro_c3db.jsp")Carrara Basics(/url) is $99. I have the full version, and really like it.
Like Glenn said, Poser is a good choice, but there are only a few characters that come with it. The rest need to be found as freebies from sites such as (url="http://"http://www.renderosity.com")Renderosity(/url). be sure and heed the commercial/non Commercial tags though. Poser 5, as stated, is not available for the Mac yet, no sweat though. If you have the luxury of time, you can wait for (url="http://"http://www.daz3d.com/products/studio.php")DAZ|Studio(/url) to be released. It's looking pretty sweet. DAZ also offers weekly, commercial use freebies on their site. Most require their Michael or Victoria figure.
As stated before, there is a tremendous learning curve for organic modeling. I'm not trying to slight anyone, but unless you've got tons of experience, Poser or DAZ|Studio are your best bets. Keep in mind the cost of models, Poser is not a 3D app perse, it's more of a construction kit. Searching the Renderosity site will also clue you in to some magazines that offered Poser3 full version for free on their CD. You'll have to find said back-issue and pay a fee, of course, factor that into the wait time for the free DAZ|Studio, and I think it only works in OS X, that may be a stumbling block for some as well.
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BretFein sez:
**I'm looking for a relatively simple shareware app to create halfway decent 3D images - people, that sort of thing. I'm trying to put togther a game, and want to create characters on the cheap.
Does anyone know of something that'll do this sort of thing?
**
meshwork, $30.
if you use a simple geometric character model, ie akin to FinalFantasy7 or FinalFantasy8, you'll be fine.
That and learn how to use 'bones' you can easily create your models,manipulate them, and using the 3D preview window;
adjust lighting,switch phong shading on and off, and drag off each pose as a frame. I like it, I use it, and it has its place, but the more complex(artistically) the model is the less suited it is for Meshwork. By that i mean, any thing on par visually with comic book art, fighting games(Street Fighter Ex+, Tekken 2-4) etc. But for RPG sprite work it works fine.
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(url="http://"http://www.geocities.com/ellrx/index.html")eLL' softWare: Wood...Last Updated 06.22.03(/url)
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... I'm like Imhotep but don't flaunt it.
{ edit }
(This message has been edited by ellrx (edited 06-24-2003).)
Quote
Originally posted by ellrx:
meshwork, $30.
if you use a simple geometric character model, ie akin to FinalFantasy7 or FinalFantasy8, you'll be fine.
That and learn how to use 'bones' you can easily create your models,manipulate them, and using the 3D preview window;
adjust lighting,switch phong shading on and off, and drag off each pose as a frame. I like it, I use it, and it has its place, but the more complex(artistically) the model is the less suited it is for Meshwork. By that i mean, any thing on par visually with comic book art, fighting games(Street Fighter Ex+, Tekken 2-4) etc. But for RPG sprite work it works fine.
(/B)
Cool - and it turns out I had that one on a MacWorld disk.
Okay - did I mention I don't know much of anything about this? So, what is a geometric character model or bones? I'm guessing they're basic generic models of people, right? Next question would be, where can I find them?
Thanks
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BretFein sez:
**Okay - did I mention I don't know much of anything about this? So, what is a geometric character model or bones? I'm guessing they're basic generic models of people, right? Next question would be, where can I find them?
**
bones, are what you use to pose and manipulate the model, however they have little to do with it being human or not, for instance a 16 Wheeler/Semi Truck could have a bone...where? it would be located between the cab and the trailer. A bone is just a point of rotation. the meshwork help has a detailed esplanation included ( and if that doesn't wwork bug the guy at (url="http://"http://www.igame3d.com")iGame3d(/url), he's helpful )
A geometric character model.
is whatever shapes you'd use to design your character's body, draw your character then draw them again comsed of true shapes and then translate that into the 3d. Areas that require more detail such as the face, draw portraits and build those areas with more detail...which might be as simple as adding a few cones and distorted cubes, or further dissecting complex shapes such as lips into several polygons then fusing them together.
(random: when it comes to arms and legs use multiple connected cylinders(the more the rounder) and scaling them at various points...think bamboo)
where to find these models, there's probably some links at (url="http://"http://www.codenautics.com/meshwork/")codeNautics: Meshwork site(/url) but in general you have to pick up models from developers who use meshwork and publish them. I'd build my own if i were you.
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(url="http://"http://www.geocities.com/ellrx/index.html")eLL' softWare: Wood...Last Updated 06.22.03(/url)
(url="http://"http://ellrx.web1000.com")eLL' Walker: 'olio(/url)
... I'm like Imhotep but don't flaunt it.
Quote
Originally posted by ellrx:
**. I'd build my own if i were you.
**
Yeah, people are hard to do though. I'm sticking with my Poser people until I can spend more time with it. I keep finding these new, expensive hobbies though 
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dampeoples sez:
**
Yeah, people are hard to do though.
**
well if anyone can develop a style that's recognizable and expressive then i feel that its more than meets my expectations.
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(url="http://"http://www.geocities.com/ellrx/index.html")eLL' softWare: Wood...Last Updated 06.22.03(/url)
(url="http://"http://ellrx.web1000.com")eLL' Walker: 'olio(/url)
... I'm like Imhotep but don't flaunt it.
Quote
Originally posted by dampeoples:
**
Quote
Originally posted by ellrx:
**. I'd build my own if i were you.
**
Yeah, people are hard to do though. I'm sticking with my Poser people until I can spend more time with it. I keep finding these new, expensive hobbies though
**
Is there someplace online that provides a Dick & Jane version of people-making? I've got Meshwork now (amazing what those MacAddict disks can contain) but I'm pretty inexperienced. Well, okay - very inexperienced.
Okay - basically, what I want to do is put together a game based on the old series, Space 1999. I just need a few bodies to put in it, and a few uniforms or the occassional spacesuit to slap on them. Uniforms should be easy to vary - just make one, then change the color of the left sleeve. After that, I'll try enlarging a few heads or throwing in a giant octopus-like creature you have to hack away at....
Once I know how to do all that stuff, anyway....
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You can search sites like (url="http://"http://www.renderosity.com")www.renderosity.com(/url) for tutorials, or check Google. Just don't get discouraged, keep in mind the level of experience required to write such a tutorial.
You'll also see a level of bias towards the more high end 3D packages. Ignore these too. Anyone can steal Maya or Lightwave, that never made them a decent artist though. My advice would be to try the free one's, learn about 3D in general, then pick a package based on your finances, and stick with it.
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Quote
Originally posted by BretFein:
**Okay - basically, what I want to do is put together a game based on the old series, Space 1999. I just need a few bodies to put in it, and a few uniforms or the occassional spacesuit to slap on them. Uniforms should be easy to vary - just make one, then change the color of the left sleeve. After that, I'll try enlarging a few heads or throwing in a giant octopus-like creature you have to hack away at....
Once I know how to do all that stuff, anyway....
**
I was a big Space 1999 fan when I was a kid, sounds like a cool project.
Your doing this in Coldstone? I have a big green tentacle horror I made when I was trying coldstone out.
Also you can use the generic people models in the iGame3D Pro download: bob and bobetteT4, as well as the BobJedi, there should be a trooper guy as well. You can very easily change the textures for these, and either script the texture changes or take these steps:
duplicate model
rename model
duplicate textures
rename textures to something like modelname0.png and modelname1.png
I think regular bob only uses 2 textures. Planar mapped, because I'm no U/V texture expert.
bobbetteT4 has 3 texures.
BobJedi has a few more because his lightsaber needs the glow thing.
The trooper is also only 2 textures.
You can set up poses, and rotation and export of screen capture in scripts.
I haven't had a need for this, so I haven't tried it.
should work like this in iGame3D Pro.
make "bob"
move -2 // in front of you
lux true // self illuminated
time 2 // current running time
seti 2,f1
sets 2,".bmp" // string 2
repeat 180
addi 2,1
sets 1,"bob" // string 1
sets 3,i2 // string 3 is the time
append 1,3 // string 1 + string 3
append 1,2 // new string 1 + string 2
player // select player so you don't screensnap the selection circle
screensave
get "bob1"
axis
addf 2,2 // add 2 to bobs Y rotation
spin
endrepeat
Well that will produce 180 bmps of bob rotating named "bob1.bmp" etc, it looks like getting screenshots of bob in pose animation mode requires some other trickery. Not impossible, but you also have to edit all those images and produce alpha channels for all of them as well. I had to go through the same process with Poser when I was doing Coldstone. Unfortuneatly I batch processed and batch ruined several hundred images, else I'd donate them.
Well if you want the green tentacle thing send me mail and I'll go digging for it.
Good luck.
And thanks for the plug ellrx.
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