Okay I got this idea from another thread. Those of you that use 3D programs to make units, post a screenshot that best illustrate what you have.

I use Bryce5 from Corel. $80.

This is a very very EXTREMELY easy to use animation and rendering program. It's mostly used for landscape work though. If anyone is familiar with www.DigitalBlasphemy.com that guy's original work was done in Bryce until he moved onto using the much more expensive Lightwave. (The same as Babylon5 and the Star Wars movies)

Bryce has very poor modeling creation built in. It's only primative objects and a type of boolean addition that takes come getting used to. Texture mapping is done with ease, with thousands of built in textures from rocks/mountains/planets/leaves/glasses/metals/clouds/liquids/ and all sorts of other things. But the problem I have come across is that there is no utility that allows me to accurately map a complex shape such as an aircraft body or something like that. For those I can only hope for texture maps that come with models.

I cannot create anything more complex than a mountain range in Bryce, so I must import all the models that I use from the internet. Bryce can important nearly all formats available except .max and milkshape files.

The animation feature is very easy to use, but it's rather like clay animation. You advance the timeline one frame, move an object, advance the timeline again and you move the object again. Repeat until you have the desired motion. It can become quite tedious. Sometimes it takes me 5 hours through trial and error to teach something how to walk. So that's the bad side.

Cons: I have no way of telling an object to act like a desired material, whether cloth, rubber or solid metal. So realistic sails on sailboats are out of the question for me. As stated above, I mush choreograph all movements myself, so there are no handy "skeletons" that are included in Bryce as are other programs.

But I've been using the Bryce family since 1997 and I've gotten very used to it. It's not perfect but it can still compete with higher end software if you are ingeneuous and know a lot of tricks.

This picture below shows my Montana Super Battleship in mid-broadside. The line drawing that you see is what I normally see, but a nice feature is that I can selectively render an area and not wait for the whole screen to render.

Here is an animated gif I made of the broadside using only the line art that I work with. It's very handy to previewthis before I start rendering and waiting 1 hour plus for the finished product.

Animation (http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/animation.zip)

Pay close attention to the directory structure.

And when I want to change textures, this window pops up, allowing me great leeway in modification. More textures can be chosen easily and modified to your heart's content. Importing pictures for use as textures is also easy. For this texture I had just asked Bryce to make a random creation.

Haha!
Pov-ray:

I´m a newbie concerning units, but I´m working with Open FX. The program is freeware and good for newbies although it lacks.

Adler

C4D; I love using this program; except for the particle emitter I still am having a problem with. Model is from sifi3d.com

I'm using C4D as well, but an outdated version (v5.3). I think it's a great piece of software.

BTW, what are your problems with the particle emitter? maybe I can help a bit, although my old version may not have all the features of the newer versions.

I use Blender maybe one of the best 3d animating programs you can get for free, IMHO. I havent yet mastered maikng models but can make fairly simple objects. But i ve gotten pretty darn good at the particle functions.

@Aaglo- Nice! From now on im going to say thigh = 15 and The Angle of my left foot is The angle of my left leg + 90 + 0.5*sin360 :crazyeye: :lol:

Oh BTW, Blender has a Game Engine :D

Edit: Forgot the pic :blush:

@Vbraun
If I were you, I wouldn't laugh. Otherwise you might find my Rtoes in the same coordinates as the center point in the line between your Lhip and Rhip :evil:

Oh i meant to say "Seriously nice work though" after wards :p ;)

I should have added that you should also state the strengths and weakenesses of your programs like I did.

can i post a picture from MS Paint i did from middle school?
:)

I'll let muffins show some OpenFX stuff off, as his are better than mine. Not having tries any other programs (apart from rhino, for something completely different). I would say OpenFXs advantages are in it's simplicity in the basics, while it has some quite complicated things, some of which are not at all usefull, and some of which might be, but which need to be experimented with.

I'd say it's lacking a bit in specail effects, and some of the more advanced stuff.

Basically I feel it's a good starting program (and it's FREE - good for skint students), but I might move on to blender in the future, as many have said it is more powerful. I'd prefer to see what more I can get out of OpenFX though (I'm still noticing new things I can do)

can i post a picture from MS Paint i did from middle school?
:)
The very 1st sentence says 3D programs. This is meant for the new guys to go window shopping. If you want to post MS Paint and get laughed off, go ahead. I have a really bad attitude when it comes to trolling. Ask the Mods.

Jeez, Muffins, get over here! I'd just embarras the Open FX community if I posted!

Ok,
Pov-ray.

Strengths:
- It's relatively easy to do modelling yourself. You can create quite magnificent stuff by just using simple forms: sphere, cylinder, cone, box and torus. Just mix them, cut them, scale them, rotate them - you can do a lot with just those basic forms
- It has an in-built animation system. By using trigonometric functions (sin, cos) you can move things quite alot around
- It's free
- It doesn't require much from computer (altough the rendering becomes faster with a good pc)
- It has many wonderful features, if you have the time and patience to look for them
- It develops your 3d-thinking :p :lol:

Weaknesses:
- Text-based interface: you have to type everything (some people use moray for modelling, but I'm not one of those. I've tried it, and I feel more comfortable with the text interface. So this is not necessarily a weakness, but since most 3d-programs have a visual interface, then this may be a bit scary approach on the subject)
- You really can't use any normal 3d-models available in the net. Well, you can use some, but you really can't do much animation with them. The reason for this is, that (AFAIK) the models are in some sort of mesh form. And that's where pov-ray is poor - the mesh is it's downfall. You really can't animate very complex meshes. And making meshes with pov-ray is tedious job, where your 3d-thinking really gets tested.
- And due to the previous clause: humans and most other livelike creatures are complex to animate. Well, simplest things are easy (walking and standing idle :lol: ), but adding a sword and swing it like it could do some damage, then you might be strougling a bit. Try these at your own risk.

I like it :thumbsup:

The animation feature is very easy to use, but it's rather like clay animation. You advance the timeline one frame, move an object, advance the timeline again and you move the object again. Repeat until you have the desired motion. It can become quite tedious. Sometimes it takes me 5 hours through trial and error to teach something how to walk. So that's the bad side.

Wyrm, you know you can keyframe, right? :confused: Of course, if I were to attempt something as complicated as walking, I'd call my brother and ask him to send me some of his cell animation books that he used for his college classes. Basically these books have diagrams that show what the key frames for walking, running, different letter/word sounds and such are supposed to look like. My brother, BTW went to college for this and will soon be making his debut in Hollywood circles, if all goes well with the production company he's joining.

Anywho, once I figured out how keyframes worked in Bryce, I was able to do the death animation for my airship fairly quickly. I also have been playing around with Poser 5 (slow as it runs on my computer) and figured a few things out, and have been toying around with a leaderhead animation (I'll post a screenshot of that later tonite).

Yes thank you. I know about keyframes, paths,and the Advanced Motion Lab. I was merely explaining what the process is like for those that have not seen the program. Remember, been using Bryce programs since 1997.

Hard to say what the weaknesses of Cinema 4D are - one is certainly the damn high price, but with this exception I can only recommend it. Even my older version is fast, flexible, relatively easy to learn, and has lots of powerful features. OTOH I have no experience at all with other 3d packages, so I'm probably quite biased ;)

I think I wouldn't be able to work with a 3d program without a graphical user interface, like aaglo does it with PovRay. I would be totally helpless with this software (which only makes me respect his units even more) :goodjob:

Well the most problem that I’m running into is trying to find a good explanatory tutorial for the emitter system and how to use the mocha function. The most I can find are tutorials on version 7; I however did find one for the 8.5 version that I’m using.

This program was very costly at around $35,000 only because I’m going to school to learn about graphics programs, sadly they teach about 3Ds MAX and light wave, which I still have yet to attend as this stupid general education, is still lagging on.

As far as the strength and weaknesses of this program… Uhhh… I don’t know yet give me a year and I’ll get back to you on that one.

Allright I use G-Max I got it with my Flight Simulator 2004 and I will try and get it posted of were to go it is Freeware.
Strengths:
+A lot of objects and other crap to choose from.
+Can do complicated animations
+It is FREE
+and other stuff I haven't found
Weaknesses
-Hard to learn if you don't know what you are doing like me :)

Here is the site to get an Idea
G-Max 3D Modeling tool It's FREE (http://www.discreet.com/products/gmax/)

For Blender:
Pros:
-Built for Ease and Speed of modelling
-Has an easy to use skelton system
-Good for texturing (If you know what your doing)
-Fairly easy and logical Interface (If you know what your doing of course)
-A powerful particle fx thing.
-Its more powerful then OpenFX
-Its Free
-Small downoal size
-A Game Enigine
-Lots of tutorials (on the web)
-And it comes with a monkey head mesh :p
Cons:
-Not very easy to learn
-If you dont know what your doing it will completly confuse you.
-Some difficulties with duplicating animated objects.

I cant think of anything else.

You can find it here:
http://www.blender.org

-Its more powerful then OpenFX

I've seen this stated quite often lately. Is it more powerful at modelling, or animating, or both? I'd quite like some details. What can it do which OpenFX can't?

How is it for animating, Vbraun?

I've seen this stated quite often lately. Is it more powerful at modelling, or animating, or both? I'd quite like some details. What can it do which OpenFX can't?

Im not exactly sure. Buts thats what Neomega says :p But i think it is more powerful in the modelling myself.

How is it for animating, Vbraun?

I dont really have a lot to compare it too but i know it's a lot easier then POV-Ray ;)

@GA-Does OpenFX have anything like this?:

This program was very costly at around $35,000 only because I’m going to school to learn about graphics programs, sadly they teach about 3Ds MAX and light wave, which I still have yet to attend as this stupid general education, is still lagging on.




The cost you stated does inclde the schooling, I hope. If you are paying that price for schooling and they are not teaching the product which you have chosen .... Do you also have access to the programs you mentioned (3DS & Lightwave)? If so, are all of those programs provided for your education? If so, then overall, it's not a bad deal. The full package for each - retail - would add up to around $8500 or so.

In regards to which program I use .... I hate trying to use something without a basic understanding of how it works. I have OpenFX, Blender, POV-RAY, Bryce 5, GMAX,and a few more freeware programs. I am trying to learn via books, online tutorials, and the helpful hints posted here. I have yet to compare them head to head, but maybe that is something I will do this weekend to see how they match up.

Hey can anybody tell me were I can get Open FX???

Oh and I am using Anim8or...it is pretty easy and has an animator....I am thinking about try ing something new. Can anybody tell me were to get Open FX??

- TP

About POV-Ray, it really depends on how you think. If you're very logical and mathematically inclined like me, the text-based system isn't too bad, just very tedious. It's mostly math. For more artistic, visual people, it's a nightmare. One big downside to POV-Ray is that you have no way of seeing what you've done until you render, which can take a while when you start getting into complex scenes, and I imagine it takes a looong time to render a complex animation. :eek:

Hey can anybody tell me were I can get Open FX???

Oh and I am using Anim8or...it is pretty easy and has an animator....I am thinking about try ing something new. Can anybody tell me were to get Open FX??

- TP


This link should help ..... http://www.openfx.org/

I use OpenFX myself :)

It's split between two main progs. The 'Designer' where you can create you 3D models and the 'Animator' where you can animate.

The Designer module has many rather powerful features like extrude, mirror, weld, duplicate, boolean, lathe and about a dozen others. You can either build from primitive shapes or draw by hand (very powerful with extrude). Models can be given colours, transparency textrues, glossiness or maps. Maps can be applied as a plan, cylinder, spheric or fixed-to, and can be applied as a decal (like for a label on a see-through glass jar).

Skeletons are dead easy to insert and attach in your model.

The Animator module uses keyframes and is fairly powerful. It has many useful little effects and lots of cool post-production effects too. It doesn't have particle effects but if you're clever then you can work ariound that :p

Good points -

You can both create 3D models and animate them with OpenFX.
It's cheap (ie - free :) )
It can export its' renders to just about any format you can think of - both stills and animations.
It can open several mainstream 3D formats.
It has a very simple/plain graphical interface as well as the menu system (this is either a good point or bad point according to your personal prefs)
Animating is dead easy and quick once you know what you're doing

Bad points -

The tutorials that come with OpenFX and the tutorials at the website are not that good. The help files are not even finished and will only help you with the basics.
It has a few bugs in it that you need to be careful of (nothing serious). using the same texture on two different objects and the boolean function come to mind :lol:
The worst point is the sharp learning curve, especially if you've never used a simialar 3D prog/animator before.
20mb to 40mb downloads depending on the version you want

Below is an OpenFX created and animated model with a few simple effects thrown in.

actualy muffins, I meant to show off the interface. We all normally see the end results.

I started 3D modeling and animating two days ago. I am using Anim8or, but I have about two other programs. Honestly the only reason I'm using this one is because it's the only one I could find decent tutorials for. Animating is quite simple, although I don't have any background to compare to, besides making flipbooks out of bibles when I was in grade school.

One down side is I can't seem to load any models not Anim8or file. I'm working on a generic mech unit and here is a still of it. It is the first thing I made on my own. If you want to see the eggplant I made all you have to do is ask me nicely. But seriously I would like to learn some of the other freeware programs I have(Blender, OpenFX) so if anyone knows of any detailed tutorials for these please let me know. Would be much appreciated. I'll even show you my eggplant. it's a picture. of an eggplant. just. EGGPLANT!!!!!

The cost you stated does inclde the schooling, the full package for each - retail - would add up to around $8500 or so.

Yea it's not a bad deal at all, I just hate the general education crap that I have to pay for. As for the graphics programs being provided by my school I do get the education that I need, which is one major reason why I’m attending is so that I can get the good stuff with training.

In about a year and a half I hope to be able to create video game graphics.

The cost you stated does inclde the schooling, I hope. If you are paying that price for schooling and they are not teaching the product which you have chosen .... Do you also have access to the programs you mentioned (3DS & Lightwave)? If so, are all of those programs provided for your education? If so, then overall, it's not a bad deal. The full package for each - retail - would add up to around $8500 or so.

Here I thank the gods of raytracing that I bought years ago the very first version of C4D for 180 DM (was before the Euro time) and became registered user which means cheaper upgrades :) Still I did not buy the last two upgrades because they became too expensive ....

CrazyAce, I'm not sure what the "mocha function" is. Either my old version does not have it, or it is called differently in my German version. However, the particle options my version offers are quite easy to use. For example, creating smoke/flame output from rockets, like shown in the pic of vbraun's rocket launcher, is done with just some mouse clicks. You create one emitter, then a sphere with a flame or smoke material. You drop this sphere into the emitter object, then you place the emitter at the end of the rocket - done. Of course you can edit several parametres too, but that's no big deal.

Or do you want to create something special with particles?

I use 3DMax myself. I started out with Rhino, but it was very limited. Then I tried out Gmax briefly, then decided on getting 3DMax.

PROS- What can't it do ?

CONS- Price

Here's the particle effects script screen.

I use 3DMax myself. I started out with Rhino, but it was very limited. Then I tried out Gmax briefly, then decided on getting 3DMax.

PROS- What can't it do ?

CONS- Price

Is there a high learning curve? I mean I took one look at the interface and got lost. Bryce is almost video-game simple.

@aaglo if you like typeing in the points and doing that all by hand Gmax allows you to do so.

Wyrmshadow, working with the basics isn't too bad once you learn to navigate the menus. Learning to navigate the menus and controls is intimidating at first. Once a person goes beyond the basics ,then the learning curve steepens.

The first time I fired up Max after installation, I saw all those menus and thought holy smokes, I then turned it off and didn't try to learn it until about six months later.

Muffins didn't post a pic of the OpenFX designer. It is much the same, but different....

Oh, and I wouldn't say it is too hard to learn. Once you get the basics, its quite easy to learn, and the basics are quite easy to get.

Hey Wrym why not open a thread were people can post there 3d models like .3ds.......ect

Hey Wrym why not open a thread were people can post there 3d models like .3ds.......ect
Because those can tend to be huge.

Indeed. Even a small model can have several MBs.

Adler

who here uses 3ds max?

How do I change the 3d model to a pcx or bmp or gif or ect.....?

Do I need a Plugin

If you have Open FX you can change the model without big problems although the program is limited. In Open FX you can also make from that model gif or flcs. These are easily transformable. for this work I use Fast Movie Processor 1.41.

Adler

Drivebymaster, you cannot change the model itself to pcx or bmp since those are not 3D model formats, they are picture formats. Now if you're talking about saving screenshots/animations,you have to hit F10 (render) then hit "save file" then choose destination and format. At that point you have many formats to save the still or animation as.

Allright I use G-Max I got it with my Flight Simulator 2004 and I will try and get it posted of were to go it is Freeware.
Strengths:
+A lot of objects and other crap to choose from.
+Can do complicated animations
+It is FREE
+and other stuff I haven't found
Weaknesses
-Hard to learn if you don't know what you are doing like me :)

Here is the site to get an Idea
G-Max 3D Modeling tool It's FREE (http://www.discreet.com/products/gmax/)

I don't suppose that Gmax supports .Lwo Format?

ahhh i see now ok.

@marinecorps I use 3dsmax also but gmax is easier for my comp to run on and 3ds max makes my comp work harder so i make the models in gmax export the whole thing as a P3D and then go into 3ds and play with it even more.

Well, gotta keep my earlier promise.

Poser 5

Advantages: super simple to use, Imports and exports most major 3d object formats, has a fairly good variety of figures, clothes and other accessories available, with more readily available on the net. Also, you can add a skeleton to any imported mesh, so if say, you find a good gorilla model on line, you can add a skeleton in minutes and have him swingin' from trees in fairly short order. The program is also fairly cheap (around $190)

Disadvantages: Requires some beefy system stats (fast processor, lotsa memory and a good video accelerator), otherwise it runs like molasses in winter. Some of the features, such as the Hair and cloth editor can be a royal pain in the a--. Other than primitives, you can't really make your own figures and such.

Screenshot:

Is Poser strickly used for Leaderhead type stuff or can it also be used for infantry models?

I think it can be used for infantry models....I will have to download the plugin for 3ds max

I guess there's another thing I didn't add for a con for 3DMax. If you're just working with a model, you're fine, but once you start animating, it chows down on your system memory and processor. The latest animations I've done with multiple particle systems has really choked my system. If I did animating/modelling for a living, I'd buy a dual processor system (Max actually recommends it) to handle the workload. Since I'm just toying around with Max, and playing games on my comp, i can't justify buying a dual processor system and developer grade graphics card.

Is Poser strickly used for Leaderhead type stuff or can it also be used for infantry models?

Yes, it can. Kinboat, if I remember correctly uses Poser to animate all his units. As a matter of fact, when I get this leaderhead done, I'm going to use Poser to create a King_Alexandria unit for the regicide short game, and give her an attack animation of hurling holy magic around, so that other people could use the unit as a sorceress or something like that.

As far as free programs go, I've been playing with Anim8or and Open Fx. What I like about OpenFX is the ability to add multiple cameras, and the fact that Morpheus has provided a template for filming the various needed angles for units. What I don't like about it is just about everything else. Building skeletons is sooo much easier in Anim8or. The bones are beefier, you can set and see the angles, and in figure mode all you have to do is set your unit in default, so when make the various sequences(attack, run, fidget, etc.) you always start in default.Very simple. I tried animating in OpenFX and just got frustrated. Personally I like the screen the layout in Anim8or. It makes designing a synch. It's my free program reccomendation :king: . I say try Anim8or. BTW I was having trouble with FLICster, loading my PCX's, so I scoured my program library from my first computer in '95, for a proper paint program, and I found a shareware version of PSP v.3.1. It works for what I need. Very retro. :cool:

What I don't like about it is just about everything else. Building skeletons is sooo much easier in Anim8or. The bones are beefier, you can set and see the angles, and in figure mode all you have to do is set your unit in default, so when make the various sequences(attack, run, fidget, etc.) you always start in default.Very simple. I tried animating in OpenFX and just got frustrated. Personally I like the screen the layout in Anim8or. It makes designing a synch. It's my free program reccomendation :king: . I say try Anim8or. BTW I was having trouble with FLICster, loading my PCX's, so I scoured my program library from my first computer in '95, for a proper paint program, and I found a shareware version of PSP v.3.1. It works for what I need. Very retro. :cool:
Most of those things can be done in OpenFX as well ;) maybe it's cause you know anim8tor better?
Also, have any units actually been made and released using anim8tor?

you can get a shareware version of PSP 9 now, I'm assuming it would be much better than v3.1 :p

Most of those things can be done in OpenFX as well ;) maybe it's cause you know anim8tor better?
Also, have any units actually been made and released using anim8tor?

you can get a shareware version of PSP 9 now, I'm assuming it would be much better than v3.1 :p
True Dat Dease. I agree with you 100%. I do know Anim8or better because I find it easier to use. Selecting lines, joints, or faces, etc. I am using OpenFX, for some animation, but I design in Anim8or.
I'm not sure who's made units with Anim8or to date, all I can say is just wait. I should have my first unit in the near future as soon as FLICster stops F@$#*&G with me. Or as soon as I sprout a brain out of this tumor on the top of my neck :eek: .
I was gonna get PSP9 but I use dial-up, and I didn't feel like waiting three hours for it download. I thought it would be funny to mention the old school junk I'm using I.E. my whole PC system :cry: .

Ok,
Pov-ray.

Strengths:
- It's relatively easy to do modelling yourself. You can create quite magnificent stuff by just using simple forms: sphere, cylinder, cone, box and torus. Just mix them, cut them, scale them, rotate them - you can do a lot with just those basic forms
- It has an in-built animation system. By using trigonometric functions (sin, cos) you can move things quite alot around
- It's free
- It doesn't require much from computer (altough the rendering becomes faster with a good pc)
- It has many wonderful features, if you have the time and patience to look for them
- It develops your 3d-thinking :p :lol:

Weaknesses:
- Text-based interface: you have to type everything (some people use moray for modelling, but I'm not one of those. I've tried it, and I feel more comfortable with the text interface. So this is not necessarily a weakness, but since most 3d-programs have a visual interface, then this may be a bit scary approach on the subject)
- You really can't use any normal 3d-models available in the net. Well, you can use some, but you really can't do much animation with them. The reason for this is, that (AFAIK) the models are in some sort of mesh form. And that's where pov-ray is poor - the mesh is it's downfall. You really can't animate very complex meshes. And making meshes with pov-ray is tedious job, where your 3d-thinking really gets tested.
- And due to the previous clause: humans and most other livelike creatures are complex to animate. Well, simplest things are easy (walking and standing idle :lol: ), but adding a sword and swing it like it could do some damage, then you might be strougling a bit. Try these at your own risk.

I like it :thumbsup:

Sounds interesting. Where can I get it?