i have made a new ship plug in, except i can't figure out how to make sprite for it. does anyone know of a ggod program to use to make sprites? and where to get it?
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Peter
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Well, there are many programs available to a prospective graphics artist. At the least expensive, you have POVRay 3.1 (hopefully soon to be 3.5). It's a free download from (url="http://"http://www.povray.org")www.povray.org(/url), but has a slightly high learning curve. On the other hand, many people on the dev board use it, so help is close by. Next is Infini-D (which has since become Carrera). I don't have much experience with it, but it a graphical modeler, as opposed to POVRay, which is a text-based raytracer. They both have strengths and weaknesses. There is Strata-3D 3.0.2 (not the latest version) which has been suggested by many artists on the board. It's a hard find. There's the less-known Amapi, which is pretty cheap (I think $200, but I'm not sure), which does NURBS (Non Uniform Rational B-Spines, or something like that). There's also Animation Master (www.hash.com) which is $200. Higher on the scale is Lightwave (which ATMOS used to make the graphics for Nova), which runs $1,300. Comperable are: 3D Studio Max, SoftImage, SoftImage XSI (Neither SI, nor XSI are available at this time for Mac), and Maya. They all run upwards of $1,000 (Maya is a whopping $6000).
Since you'll probably not be going high end, I'll suggest POVRay, Infini-D, or Strata 3D to you. It depends on how much you're willing to spend, and how hard you're willing to try to learn the piece of software. Unless you're really good, chances are that you won't be able to learn them in a weekend. It can take years to really master a software package. I'm not trying to discourage you from making your own graphics, but I'm letting you know that learning how to make graphics is not an overnight process. It's been over two years for me, and I'm still learning how to use POVRay. I've been working on SoftImage at school for over a half a year, and I'm barely scratching the surface.
I'm encouraging you to make your own graphics because that ability will allow you to help other people who are desperate for graphics on their plugs. Graphics designers what work for free are in short supply, and we need all we can get so we can expand the Escape Velocity universe like it was meant to be.
Matrix
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"Nothing is fool-proof to a sufficiently talented fool." -
hey matrix, i don't have that kind of money to spend. so would you think about helping me for the sprites for a ship called the UE Dreadnought. my email is bigwhite@localnet.com
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Peter -
Well, Strata3D Base is free. While a number of functions are disabled, you can still do some decent work with it. Someone posted some really sweet pics somewhere is here of work they did with it. I also used it for my ship(check my thread for a look if you want). It'll take a little fiddling around with, but I like it so far.
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Paul "Haust"
Giampaolo
prg@smellycat.com -
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Originally posted by Disco bison:
< snip>You could start by registering and starting your own topic... I think that a lot of people have complained about your spamming every topic that you've entered.
Matrix
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"Nothing is fool-proof to a sufficiently talented fool."(This message has been edited by mrxak (edited 05-16-2002).)
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Amapi 3D v4.15 is free and I find it just a great program, although I've just started its really cool. The problem is that it doesn't do "Spining animations" as far as I can tell and also the texturing part is quite poor. If you just modeling things though it wonderful, but do anything else is hopeless. (unless I'm wrong, and I hope I am)
(url="http://"http://amapi.idevgames.com/html/download.html")Here(/url) is the site, it contains d/l for both Mac and Windows and it gives you th ereg. code on the site
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If violence doesn't solve the problem, youre just not using enough violence. -
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Originally posted by what_is_the_matrix:
You could start by registering and starting your own topic... I think that a lot of people have complained about your spamming every topic that you've entered.Yes, I have noticed this too.
Disco bison, please stop spamming these topics or more serious action will be taken against you other than just warnings like this. It would be a good idea to (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/Ultimate.cgi?action=agree")register(/url) as well, so you can start your own topics if you have questions, and only reply to topics if you have answers or relevant comments. (url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/cgi-bin/ubb/search.cgi?action=intro&default;=9")Searching(/url) is also a good way of finding answers.
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"What goes up must come down, unless it reaches Escape Velocity and flies off to Palshife to join the Rebellion." -mrxak
(url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/vftp/dl-redirect.pl/TheChallenge101.sea.bin?path=evn/plugins&file;=TheChallenge101.sea.bin")The Challenge(/url): A deadly test of skill and power (new version 1.0.2 coming soon)
(url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/mrxak/Haikus/haikus.html")The Haiku Archive(/url): Collected Works of the Rabid Haiku Generator -
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Originally posted by mrxak:
It would be a good idea to register as well, so you can start your own topics if you have questions, and only reply to topics if you have answers or relevant comments.Besides, registration is FREE! There's no reason why you shouldn't have an account.
Matrix
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"Nothing is fool-proof to a sufficiently talented fool." -
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Originally posted by bigdaddy:
**i have made a new ship plug in, except i can't figure out how to make sprite for it. does anyone know of a ggod program to use to make sprites? and where to get it?**
Try Bryce3d. The current version is 5, but there are often older version give aways with magazines, if you keep an eye open. Dont automaticaly assume bryce is only good for landscapes, put enough effort into it and you can turn out some great stuff....
l e g i o n
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The heart goes streight from sugar to coffee.
(url="http://"http://www.planetpixel.co.uk")http://www.planetpixel.co.uk(/url) -
Legion, is your site down? I tried your link, but to no avail.
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"Your death will be the proof that Horus does not lie."
Roger Zelazny, Creatures of Light and Darkness -
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Originally posted by Phil Barron:
**Legion, is your site down? I tried your link, but to no avail.**
Sorry, yes it is. I forgot to edit my sig... Its been down for about a month now. The ISP wanted me to start paying a heck of a lot of money for the privalige of the name. Im in the process of rebuilding it at the mo under a new name, alot of my artwork on there was starting to look a bit dated. Watch this space
l e g i o n
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The heart goes streight from sugar to coffee.
(url="http://"http://www.planetpixel.co.uk")http://www.planetpixel.co.uk(/url)