I point you to the search feature in the upper right of the screen, you will find a host of topics about this very thing. Confine the search to the Developers Corner and you should do fine.
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The Evil Spoonman
Albatross!!!
"Life is to important to be taken seriously."
"If there was such thing as normal, even the plauge would avoid it." - The Evil Spoonman
Welcome to the boards Nibbs.
Strata 3d pro is avaliable from (url="http://"http://www.strata.com")http://www.strata.com(/url). It's a free 30 day trial and after the 30 day's are up I don't know what happens. Mine hasn't ran out yet 
. If you can find any of the earlier versions of strata I think their completely free but I don't know, forgive me if im wrong. Some kind person who knows alot more than me should come along soon and give you some useful advice. Some good free textures for Strata can be found on this site (url="http://"http://www.stratacafe.com")http://www.stratacafe.com(/url)
Strata's a good easy to use 3d modelling program and it only takes you a couple of hours to learn.
TheRedeemer
(Edit: Damn links)
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- "Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers." Socrates 460-399 BC. Some things never change!
- Yes, I do have a sense of humour, I just can't remember where I left it
- Warning- High levels of dry sarcasm
(This message has been edited by TheRedeemer (edited 05-15-2003).)
(This message has been edited by TheRedeemer (edited 05-15-2003).)
Ewan has a full copy of an older Strata program on his (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/ewan/")website(/url). You can also get (url="http://"http://mac.povray.org/")Pov-Ray(/url) which I hear is a bit tricky to learn at first but once you get the hang of works quite well. Another program available for free is Wings 3D though you'll need another application to render and I don't have a link at the moment.
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I used to jog but the ice kept falling out of my glass.
(url="http://"http://www.0three0.net/l-1551/")L 1551(/url) - The official site of RONIN and The Way and the ten thousand things
I started out using Mechanisto, but now I've moved onto strata, but I can't remember why...
Anyway, both of those are free, like people said. Both have their strong points, though I managed to get more stuff done with mechanisto, mainly because I worked at it for several years, and Strata is... wierd. I can't get the hang of transforming shapes, but I'll het there.
Anyhow, good luck, and keep searching untill you find one that you like.
~A~
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"How can I make it go faster?" -Me-
Search for it with the search feature. LOL
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Stephen
sec222@mac.com
Yeah... okay.
The search thingie is on the top right of the page, just below the post reply button in threads, and somewhere near that on the board page.
It's a gold mine for this kind of problem... it's been asked a million times, and all the good answers are there if you persevere...
~A~
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"How can I make it go faster?" -Me-
I would recommend pixels 3D ( (url="http://"http://www.pixels.net")www.pixels.net(/url) ), they have a 30 day free trial, and have forums, and in the forums there's a guy which has a page full of tutorials for it.... besides, its not too expensive
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(url="http://"http://www.geocities.com/infini_d_maniac/")Curufinwe Studios(/url)
Be aware that Wings 3D requires a Mac running Jaguar (OS X 10.2.x).
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Starfleet Adventures: A Star Trek TC for EVN (url="http://"http://www.ev-nova.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=145") Discussion Board (/url)
Starfleet Adventures (url="http://"http://www.ev-nova.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=71")Progress Log(/url)
It is better to feed the goat than it is today.
Quote
Originally posted by Azdara:
**I couldn't figure out wings if my life depended on it... It's about as easy to use as a... a... something.
That didn't work out how I wanted it.
~A~**
I found it difficult to begin with, but after a bit of playing I managed to make (url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/ewanc/ewanship/multiview.jpg")the Black Swan(/url) and (url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/ewanc/ewanship/signetmultiview.jpg")the Black Signet(/url).
-edit-
Oh yeah, those were textured and rendered in Strata 3D 3.0.2 free. (url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/ewanc/ewanship/heard_small.jpg")This is a scene featuring them both(/url). Scene set up and rendered in Strata 3D 3.0.2 free with the nebula and Stars added in Photoshop 5.5. the nebula was made using the Zombula technique and the stars are from Hudson's starscape.
-edit-
Once you figure out whats happening, its ok to use. You need a 2 button mouse to use it properly (if at all).
ewan
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(url="http://"http://www.evula.org/ewan/")Ewan's Lair(/url) | (url="http://"http://dreamwave.evula.net")Dreamwave(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.northernswamp.com")Northern Swamp(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.com")EVula's Lair(/url)
"In this world gone mad, we won't spank the monkey - the monkey will spank us!"
(This message has been edited by Jules (edited 05-19-2003).)
Ooh... pretty!
They look like they taste nice Jules. 2 button mouse? Are we in Bill Gates' house?
Oh well. Is meshworks comparable? I thought it looked pretty easy to use...
Then again, the leaps an bounds made by my discovery of lathe and Extrude should keep me busy for the coming month...
~A~
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"How can I make it go faster?" -Me-
(quote)Originally posted by Azdara:
**Ooh... pretty!;)
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Never meddle in the affairs of dragons,
for you are crunchy and taste good with
ketchup.
**
Quote
Originally posted by Jules:
< snip>
Yayy! Another Wings3D user! I use Wings for practically all my modeling. It's very easy to use once you get the hang of it. Having a 2-button + scroll-wheel mouse really helps. Left click is select, right click is context menu, middle click-drag is rotate around object, and middle scroll is zoom in/out. You can accomplish most of those things with keyboard shortcuts, but the mouse is easier to use.
-Vaumnou
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Did you know that 63.8% of quoted statistics are made up on the spot?
"He's too late. SEE?!? THE CLIFFS OF INSANITY!!! Hurry up!"
"You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. .... Radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat." - Albert Einstein
I downloaded Wings and took a peek... and I still like Lightwave better. Big surprise 
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The Evil Spoonman - I Am Everywhere, I Know All
Albatross!!!
"Life is to important to be taken seriously."
"If there was such thing as normal, even the plauge would avoid it." - The Evil Spoonman
Quote
Originally posted by Azdara:
< snip>
Actually 4 button scroll wheel
Meshwork is great. I used that a lot recently - Im using it for all the techy ships for Jager's TC and Wings 3D for all the organic ones. I find Meshwork really easy to make angular and techy ships while I find Wings a lot easier for fluid modelling. Its good to have a few programs at your disposal when it comes to modelling. My current range is:
Strata 3D 3.0.2 free
Cinema 4D XL7 with Body Paint (I hate this program - I bought it thinking it would be a good upgrade from Strata but I cant figure it out at all)
Infini-D 4.5
Meshwork
Wings
Terragen
I used to spen a lot of money until I came to uni
Quote
Originally posted by Vast Deathmaster:
< snip>
Yeah I use a wireless Logitech. I think Im going to get the wireless optical explorer mouse soon though Ive used it on my friend's PC and its a great mouse.
Quote
Originally posted by Vaumnou:
** <snip>**
I use Strata and Meshwork for most of mine. Wings I found a bit complicated to use, but Im getting used to it now I knew about everything about the middle click thing - thanks
Quote
Originally posted by Evil_Spoonman:
< snip>
Heh, big surprise I really want lightwave, but I think I need to get a new Mac first Somehow I dont think my poor old pismo could handle it :frown: Im not getting rid of her just yet. When I move out of halls I will need a computer to take to the Computing lab for the T1 connection
ewan
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(url="http://"http://www.evula.org/ewan/")Ewan's Lair(/url) | (url="http://"http://dreamwave.evula.net")Dreamwave(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.northernswamp.com")Northern Swamp(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.com")EVula's Lair(/url)
"In this world gone mad, we won't spank the monkey - the monkey will spank us!"
(This message has been edited by Jules (edited 05-20-2003).)
(quote)Originally posted by Jules:
**Yeah I use a wireless Logitech. I think Im going to get the wireless optical explorer mouse soon soon though:D Anyway, Lightwave is much simpler than Maya, much more powerful then Strata, and Mac compatable, unlike 3DS Max.
Is the new version of Strata any good? I was thinking of trying it out, but it's kinda big... really big. I don't want to get it unless I know it's worth it.
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The Evil Spoonman - I Am Everywhere, I Know All
Albatross!!!
"Life is to important to be taken seriously."
"If there was such thing as normal, even the plauge would avoid it." - The Evil Spoonman
**
Its pretty cool. I like it
The new options it offers are great compared to the old versio Im using for all my modelling. Ive got a way to use radiosity at the moment though. I might try and render out my model in that for a test
Did you get the textures and everything working properly?
ewan
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(url="http://"http://www.evula.org/ewan/")Ewan's Lair(/url) | (url="http://"http://dreamwave.evula.net")Dreamwave(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.northernswamp.com")Northern Swamp(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.com")EVula's Lair(/url)
"In this world gone mad, we won't spank the monkey - the monkey will spank us!"
New version of strata?
What version is that? Any new features? This sounds nice...
Also, is formZ any good? (Radiozity that is) My brother might be getting it because he's doing architecture... could be a good thing for me.
~A~
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"How can I make it go faster?" -Me-
(This message has been edited by Azdara (edited 05-21-2003).)
