I was thinking, I love modeling and animating, and other forms of 3D work, and I do want to make my endevors (or at least some of them) publicly available. However, I hate making sprites of these models. I dont know if any other modelers feel the same way. So I propose a model Shipyard. All previous shipyard sites I have seen have provided sprites, but such a model shipyard would allow users to modify and render them however they like. I believe that this will allow artists to submit models that they aren't actually going to use but would like to distribute, and they will not have to go thru the added effort of rendering the sprites. It would also be a great resource for new artists, it will allow them to beter understand advanced modeling/surfacing/animating (if people want to submit animation scenes) techniques. I know that, while I won't post all of my models/scenes, there are quite a few that I am intrested in making publicly available. Anyway, I may (with help) be able to run and host such a service (If ambrosia won't, though I really hope they will, as i am sure they could do it beter and more reliably than I (and with far less effort), and it could contribute greatly to the EV development community. How does everyone feel about such a project (both those who would submit and those who would like to use such a service). Model formats could be left as is, or a common format decided upon. Anyway, if there is a good amount of support for such an idea, i will further persue it; if not however, I will let it lie. So please respond one way or the other.
Joe

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Quote

Originally posted by jdh545:
**I was thinking, I love modeling and animating, and other forms of 3D work, and I do want to make my endevors (or at least some of them) publicly available. However, I hate making sprites of these models. I dont know if any other modelers feel the same way. So I propose a model Shipyard. All previous shipyard sites I have seen have provided sprites, but such a model shipyard would allow users to modify and render them however they like. I believe that this will allow artists to submit models that they aren't actually going to use but would like to distribute, and they will not have to go thru the added effort of rendering the sprites. It would also be a great resource for new artists, it will allow them to beter understand advanced modeling/surfacing/animating (if people want to submit animation scenes) techniques. I know that, while I won't post all of my models/scenes, there are quite a few that I am intrested in making publicly available. Anyway, I may (with help) be able to run and host such a service (If ambrosia won't, though I really hope they will, as i am sure they could do it beter and more reliably than I (and with far less effort), and it could contribute greatly to the EV development community. How does everyone feel about such a project (both those who would submit and those who would like to use such a service). Model formats could be left as is, or a common format decided upon. Anyway, if there is a good amount of support for such an idea, i will further persue it; if not however, I will let it lie. So please respond one way or the other.
Joe

**

While this proposed "model shipyard" would reduce work for the artists and allow for greater customability for the user, that is assuming the user has an acceptable 3d program (and many users of shipyards would not).

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Well, like i said, modle formats could be worke daround to some degree, but if it comes down to lightwave users only sharing with anyone who can use .3ds .lwo .obj or .dxf, then so be it, most people can use one of those formats. It isnt a solution for everyone, but it would be a GOOD solution for many.
Joe

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I would (try to) use such a service and probably still fail. Something that I've always wanted would be a ship graphic maker in which all formats would be accepted, and you could do simple things like adding textures(ones that looked like ships), changing colors, alterations (i.e. adding front wings to a viper), and adding logos and stuff. This super ship program would then also make all the frames I wanted, turning, lighting, banking, and maybe some basic animation. The main graphics would be supplied by graphic makers and Ambrosia on a site where they could be downloaded.

I'm just dreaming, but I don't think such a thing would be too difficult. I also think I would be willing to pay 20$ for that kind of program, as I always am trying to manually change graphics in graphic converter, photo delux(how do you spell that?) and expert color paint.

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I am ME hear me roar!
Meeoowwwww

that's kind of a cool idea, but the formats would be a pain. .dxf is so inefficent.

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Adventure Dog: Everyone's favorite little black and white dog.
In a fight for peace, you must fight for equality, not revenge.

.obj or .3ds is the best common format.
Joe

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Quote

Originally posted by jdh545:
**.obj or .3ds is the best common format.
Joe

**

.3ds is prettey good. I think the idea of a model shipyard would be cool, i personally love modelling, but cant take the strain of converting a ship to a sprite format.

On another note. When models were submited, could they somehow retain their textural properties?

l e g i o n

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The heart goes streight from sugar to coffee.

You could submit their maps with them, but if you did not want to, you wouldnt have to. I agree though, I hate making sprites.

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Jeez, guys, making sprites aren't that hard.

Matrix

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"Nothing is fool-proof to a sufficiently talented fool."

I think it's a pretty good idea, except that most 3d users here use Lightwave or Strata, and I don't have any of em. ElectricImage (the one I use) can export to Lightwave formats, but I could never test if it worked in Lightwave.

Anyway, I would be glad to make a website or something for this idea if you needed one.

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Well I would at least need help making the website, and deciding on its interface. Oh and Matrix, it is not that it is hard to make a sprite, but it does take time, and it is not enjoyable; it is boaring and repetitive, and for a model that you will never use yourself, it is unnecessary. Plus, it is beter for the guy who is using the shipyard to get a model, which he can edit and change, then to get a uneditable sprite.
Joe

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This would be a brand-new concept for a shipyard...
Well, if there are enough people like you, jdh545, making such a shipyard would a a great deal of creativity and originality to the available EVN graphical web resources, provided a solution is found to the file format problem...
I'm with you all the way!!!

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-signature in development stage; please wait-

The way I see file formats is this: you upload the model/scene in both its origional format and whatever common format is decided upon. So a modeler who shares the same tools gets the full benefit, whereas someone with something else will still get to use it (if not as easily and seamlessly).
Joe

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I like the idea. As this would definitely count as a resource for the EV community, I have no problem helping out by providing some webspace on (url="http://"http://www.evula.net/")evula.net.(/url) I would like to see a serious start on the site before I set up the spot, though.

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Cool, that is a very generous offer. I would appriciate it very much. However, I do not know how you run your space, and I would hate to have such a site bog you down. The thing is that if people upload their models (preferable to them hosting them themselves), the space used could be quite large, especially if folks were to uplaod two versions of each model. But if space (and bandwidth) are not major constraints, I would be pleased to try to get a site up and running. However, I will need some help, so if anyone is intrested, please, don't hesitate to voulenteer.
Because I don't expect an enormous influx of models, I think that each model could be uploaded by the user (with any comments or preview pics), and then sorted manually by a site admin (or two), (much like the EVN addons board). That way content could be controlled more easily. Infact, we could borrow some of Ambrosia's code if they didn't mind. But anyway, I shall try to put something together ASAP to let you see it.
Joe

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Quote

Originally posted by jdh545:
**You could submit their maps with them, but if you did not want to, you wouldnt have to. I agree though, I hate making sprites.

**

I also think this is an excellent idea. There are clusters of ship models here and there in other model farms, but a collection of ships designed to work with each other would be a most useful thing, and not just for us here. I am a stodgy and unimaginative modeller myself (which you will be able to witness yourself in my upcoming plug) but I would be most willing to introduce files to such an archive.

.obj and DXF lead the list of common file formats. Although many formats outside of DXF can support material colors, my preference has always been .obj with UV mapping and included texture map as JPEG. With something like the freeware ap UV Mapper -- (url="http://"http://www.uvmapper.com/")http://www.uvmapper.com/(/url) -- it is easy to create a new template and new texture map.

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"I know the stranger's name."
Turandot

EVula, I have begun construction of a prototype site, right now I got a front page/nav bar, and general outlines for other pages. I will do some further work, but before I can actually code the site (which is not something I enjoy), I would like some people to help, so if you can help, post how you can here and we will talk.
Joe

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Quote

Originally posted by jdh545:
**EVula, I have begun construction of a prototype site, right now I got a front page/nav bar, and general outlines for other pages. I will do some further work, but before I can actually code the site (which is not something I enjoy), I would like some people to help, so if you can help, post how you can here and we will talk.
Joe

**

I'll help out in any way I can:
(url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/mantaray5/")http://homepage.mac.com/mantaray5/(/url) This is a little site I made for my hobbies and things. it's pretty much a joke, and only a few links work, but it looks pretty cool.

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Ok, that is one, what I really need is the actual code to run the site, I can do the front end easy. If I can not find someone who can code it, and I can't borrow someone else's code, then I guess I could code it myself, though it may take a while. I am really not sure how exactly I want to set up the file uploading/distribution at the moment, so this area is knida fuzzy, ideas and sugestions are welcome.
Joe

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Quote

Originally posted by jdh545:
EVula, I have begun construction of a prototype site, right now I got a front page/nav bar, and general outlines for other pages. I will do some further work, but before I can actually code the site (which is not something I enjoy), I would like some people to help, so if you can help, post how you can here and we will talk.

I don't have the time to do it for you, but I'd be more than happy to provide suggestions for improvements upon the prototype that you've done.

Also, I just realized something: I could just include the model shipyard in (url="http://"http://www.evula.com/shipyard/")my Shipyard,(/url) as it's going to be getting a facelift soon (both to accomodate all my downloadable planets, and to make room for the Saber Stuidos files). I'm sure I could make room for another hosted Shipyard, although I'm not sure about the specifics of how it would work...

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