Working in 3D, need practice excuse.

CaptJack92a · Post by **CaptJack92a** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 8:45 am

I have been working in 3D modeling and such and plainly put, I need an excuse to practice on space ships and such. Is there anything needed that I can try out and work on and perhaps donate to the game's cause?

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 8:55 am

Well, that doesn't seem to difficult, a new ship is always great, so perhaps you can have a go at modeling one for EM.

Post by **Marvin** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 5:00 pm

Check Youtube for the old Flash Gordon serial. See if you can recreate one of those space ships.

CaptJack92a · Post by **CaptJack92a** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 7:22 pm

Where now?

This thinger? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGA3m0UmbZA

[Edited on 12-24-2012 by CaptJack92a]

Post by **Marvin** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 8:02 pm

Wow. Yeah. Exactly. (That is soooooo cool.)

CaptJack92a · Post by **CaptJack92a** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 10:27 pm

Well ok then. I'll just sit and do some random stuff and upload a zip file with a few obj files for consideration.

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 11:30 am

If you need inspiration, maybe this is helpful?

hank · Post by **hank** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 2:23 pm

Here's another link to ship concepts:

http://conceptships.blogspot.co.uk/

If I could get unbusy at work I'd like to spend some time on shipbuilding.

What software you using CaptJack?
One of the pics in Vipers link is from Blender. I have that one downloaded (its free). I also have one called Wings3D that is free. There are others that do Subdivision Modelling which I think is the method needed for EM shipbuilding since keeping poly count low as possible is important (but still show good detail).

My experience is with engineering CAD which doesn't work with games very well. Subdivision modelling is what I need to teach myself.

Good luck.

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:02 am

Hey hank, would you mind posting an image of that Wings3D? I'd be interested in how it looks, don't think I ran into it yet while browsing TurboSquid and others.

CaptJack92a · Post by **CaptJack92a** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:52 am

I work in Blender as well. I have been developing ship parts in separate to make it easier on myself to create ship models. I have also been messing with bump maps to try and get a nice detailed look with low poly. My first experiment with this is as shown here. http://castaliannotebook.com/blog/space ... ment/0001/
The model isn't supposed to be much to look as, this was more for the bump mapping and the rear engines being an imported separate object.

[Edited on 12-27-2012 by CaptJack92a]

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 11:34 am

Cool, I always love those color effects in the engines. I imagine the bump mapping you did on that one would look pretty good in a game.

By the way, I've been using 3dsMax. Have you had any experience with it? I was wondering, I recently also downloaded Blender with the idea of checking it out some time, mostly because I applaud open-source products. And seeing work created in Blender on the net, I can't see why it should be anything less capable than 3dsMax. Especially with it rendering techniques.

So I was curious, you obviously use Blender now, but is that because it's free or because you prefer it over 3dsMax?

CaptJack92a · Post by **CaptJack92a** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 6:49 pm

Both. Blender is free and has so many capabilities that both match and in some areas [for me at least] surpass Max. Some functions, max requires extra plugin, but blender has many of them build in. The fact it is open source is also a major plus. People are constantly adding new features that the developers then refine and actually add in for release. Max however is a company run, closed source program that you need to wait on the company for extras.
I do however see a few things max has a win over blender, but in not too long most of those will be fixed and obsolete issues. One feature I am jealous is Max's rayfire plugin and shattering effect. Though blender has similar plugins, they have proven hard to find, and use. [For me at least]

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 8:09 pm

Yeah I can see where you're coming from there. It's pretty much like Photoshop vs Gimp then I guess. I have always done my graphical work in Gimp from the get-go, and only use Photoshop if for webdesigns because the programmers practically insist on having group-layered .psd files for slicing. If you send them anything else they start making funny noises lol. But personally I would prefer Gimp over PS any day for the same reasons you prefer Blender. For printing work though I'm forced to use Adobe Illustrator, because the second best alternative is Inkscape, and it just won't cut it.

I've started watching a few Blender tutorials earlier today. I was extremely uncomfortable with the user interface at first (it feels very much 'Linux-like'), but it's beginning to settle in. Quite a difference to 3dsMax! Certainly takes some getting used to. But after having seen a couple of basic tutorials about all the interface features and how to work it, I'm starting to like it.
If it's not gonna give me any huge problems (which I don't expect), I'll probably gonna try doing that new ship I was gonna do for EM in Blender. I'm looking forward to it!
Open source is awesome!

CaptJack92a · Post by **CaptJack92a** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 8:12 pm

Oh yeah, forgot to mention. Blender has a learning curve bigger than any I ever seen. Eve online was easier to figure out. Anyway, it took me nearly a month to learn the basics, then another to learn the more advaned features, then another to get basic render techniques down. It is completely worth it though.

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:29 pm

Excellent, sounds like a nice challenge! Then again, I don't know if you have ever worked with 3dsMax, but I found it an extremely complex program to learn at first as well. I'm pretty sure it also took me a couple of months to get it down. After having worked with it for quite some time though, you tend to forget about that, but it definitely wasn't easy either. 3dsMax is just not a very intuitive program if you ask me, and the interface is far from attractive for my taste.
From what I have seen from Blender in the few hours I have actively spent on it today, it feels a lot more intuitive than 3dsMax. At least, once you turned that proverbial switch from 3dsMax to Blender interface, things seem to go a lot easier. I think I won't have a lot of problems designing that ship in Blender. Although I haven't gotten to the UVW mapping and texturing part yet, so I don't know how intuitive - or not - that works in Blender.

But, we shall see. The biggest impression Blander has left on me so far is that it's a very 'friendly' program. It gives me the feeling that it wants to work with me, whereas 3dsMax always did the opposite and felt like it was always doing its best to screw up my day lol.

CaptJack92a · Post by **CaptJack92a** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:33 pm

Aha! Yeah. Uv Mapping is not that difficult really, the only thing is mapping. When you learn unwrapping, you need to move the vertices around and learn where to place them to alight the image how you want. It's not that hard really, just a little more tedious than hard.

I hadn't tried Max, no but I watch some tutorials in it when learning some things about modeling. There are some tutorials blender just doesn't have. But anyway, let me know if you need any help or anything. I have grown pretty knowledgeable in Blender and can offer some advice if you need.

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:57 pm

Sounds like mapping works just about the same in Blender as it does in 3dsMax, and is equally tedious lol. From what I've seen so far, Blender has similar unwrapping features as 3dsMax, and since you mentioned moving vertices around in the map, I guess it works about the same. I hope there's a top-to-bottom mapping option in Blender as well, as I have found that to be the best way to go for space ships. Although that's more personal flavor than fact, of course.

Thanks for the offer of helping out, man. I'll probably have a question or two for you when I reach a hurtle.

[Edited on 12-27-2012 by Viper]

hank · Post by **hank** » Fri Dec 28, 2012 3:16 pm

Sorry, its took so long. Too many family in my house to get to the computer.

http://www.wings3d.com/

I've never posted an image but I'll try. Well shoot, I can't find a graphic of their logo. But here's another link to their gallery.

http://www.wings3d.com/?page_id=70

Hope that helps

I agree with CaptJack that Blender has a fairly high learning curve. Wings3D is a bit easier to pick up and model. Its been many many years since I used 3DSMax so its learning curve is unknown to me now. Lightwave was another one I used for a while and it was a bit tough to learn.

Oh, and my disclaimer: I am not good enough at all with Wings3D to know how well it works with game software but the info about it says its OK. Its a low poly subdivision modeller so I assume its models work OK with games.

[Edited on 12-28-2012 by hank]

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Sat Dec 29, 2012 1:56 pm

Thanks hank.

Wow, Blender's UI is taking more getting used to than I expected! I finally got used to it a little bit, and now my box select tool is not selecting vertices, but is zooming in!... Unable to find out so far why this is doing it, and haven't been able to find any setting to change it. Whereas half an hour ago, it worked as it should... Starting to get on my delicate nerves, if you're reading this in time, maybe you can help me out?

CaptJack92a · Post by **CaptJack92a** » Sat Dec 29, 2012 7:11 pm

Go to file>preferences> and look for restore defaults.