Guide to 2D/3D Contribution

[Maade]

Yes I know, from this side of view ok. It just looked like a start up guide for 3d beginners and then these Programms which have a great functionality in making movies ( I thought ) should be mentiont but of course nobody would try to make game development in Cinema or Softimage. Textures with multiple effects will mess up everything if you save as .obj . I think for start ups Blender is best. You can take a look if you are good at modeling and texturing and if you have fun doing this stuff. Maya and Max are more for advanced user which have the money. :-) =>like you said !
Your guide is very good written nice perhaps will try some stuff some time. If I find anything for Maya will send it then you can fill the last gap if you haven\'t done that already.

bye

P.S. : didn\'t want to bother you stay cool :-)
        don\'t want to use them for gamemodeling either

[infuzion]

Xara Xtreme
Windows: http://www.xara.com/products/xtreme/
Open Source Linux/OsX: http://www.xaraxtreme.org/

Pros:
+ cheap ($79USD d/l)
+ has the capablities of both raster (like Photoshop) & vector (Illustrator)
+ can import/export Photoshop/Illustrator files
+ can use Photoshop plugins/filters
+ easy to use if you know another graphics program
+ fast rendering speed, can even render effects real-time

Cons:
- not widely used
- open source version is not really released yet (view-only tech demo)

If you were thinking about buying PaintShopPro, or even upgrading it, skip PSP & go for Xara.  If you have Adobe suite alread, even Xara might help you render files faster.

Resources:
TalkGraphics forum
XaraOne.com

[ArcaneFalcon]

This strikes me as an ad more than anything else, and the \"post count: 1\" doesn\'t help.  I don\'t really see this competing with GIMP or PS personally...

:emerald:

[ArcaneFalcon]

Update.  This was really more of a compression than an update.  I got rid of all the excess crap that I don\'t think is really necessary.  Later if I\'m bored and I\'m tired of staring at the wall I\'ll go through and check all the links.

:emerald:

[Josellis]

ok, I need some help with 3ds max ...

I am starting with it (just made a few things succesfully from the included tutorials) and I am learning little by little everyday. I would like to get hold of the 3d models in the game, but I don't know where I can find them. I also have a few questions:

• What does CS do? Make all the data in a viewable form in which you can walk?
• What does cal3d do? (I know, it is a thing for skeletons, all I know ...)
• the cal3d link does not work, I found this page and I think it should be used instead ...downloaded it, but don't know what to do to install it.
• I installed a new menu in 3ds max, what does it export? (level, light, sprite ... what are they?)
• do I need to do anything else?

thank you.

[minetus]

if you are starting modeling you shoud forget CS/cal3d for now till you get more aquaitance with modelling.
here is a good tutorial for you to start practicing:
http://www.3dtotal.com/team/Tutorials/polgun/gunmodel.asp

[Josellis]

I still don't know where I can get hold of the current models ... and I am using 3ds max and I don't know if I cna import .blend files ...

[Karyuu]

The current PS models? These were exported in .cal3d format, and there is no importer. It's a one-way process.

[ArcaneFalcon]

Max can't import .blend files, but blender can export .blend files to .obj and .3ds which can then be imported into max.

The models for the game are in the CS format in your PS files, which can't be viewed in max or blender (technically they can if you reverse export them, which I've seen Zeraph do, but they were limited to the point of being worthless), and they will not be released in the original .max format.  In other words, find other reference.

CS is a game engine.  It takes your artwork and rules, and makes them work.

Cal3d is a library for making skeletal animations work.  Basically, developers write a few hundred or thousand lines of code (as opposed to many many thousands) and cal3d skeletal animations can then be used in the engine under development (in this case CS)

I'll look into the cal3d link.

The menu you installed was the PS exporter menu.  There is a link somewhere up there on how to use it.

Buy me dinner.

[Iamthom]

although the max->PS exporter is basically a "guess and see if it works" type operation when first trying to get it going. A few tips to get it working:

• Make sure you have an unwrap uvw modifier on your object

• You may only have one object to export, meaning, if you have a table and a glass on top, you must somehow make it so that they are attached physically, and using the same texture.

• Once you are done your model, add an/another "edit mesh" modifier, as the export gives an error if you dont.

• There will be a lot of trial and error when sizing up your item. I recommend that once you find the size, save that file and use it later for other models, as a reference.

If you are just starting modeling, then I really dont recommend setting your goals on making PS "mods" right now. First you gotta learn the very complicated program that is 3d studio max 

The current PS models? These were exported in .cal3d format, and there is no importer. It's a one-way process.

hehe for some reason this makes me laugh a lot. It sounds so scary, like youre sending your models off to die. 

[witchking]

Max vs Maya argument for those still stuck in the past with the outdated views on either package or simply curious:



This is an excellent and fairly objective video comparison between Max and Maya (158MB High-Res QuickTime video file):

http://draster.com/videos/downloadable/dRasterVidBlog02-TT-Con.mov

Here's what the author said:

"Which is better, 3ds max or Maya? Some detest the very thought of asking such a question while others relish in it. I believe the debate has its place but perhaps some get put off by it because it usually turns into the proverbial flame war.

To this end, I created a video that compares and contrasts the main feature sets of 3ds max and Maya. It's about 24 minutes long and is actually part of an almost 6 hour DVD video that is primarily intended to help users transition from one to the other. I'm sharing the fast paced conclusion chapter here. Please understand that I tried my best to be impartial and this is just my perspective as an artist/animator/software developer."

The video shows that both are extremely powerful and capable of virtually anything. And any claims that one is clearly superior to the other are invalid.

Last but not least, the comparison holds up quite well, even with the recent 3ds Max 9 and Maya 8 release. The most significant new additions to Maya 8 not mentioned in this comparison are interactive object creation and Direct3D support. Both have also gotten significant improvements with Mental Ray 3.5.

Enjoy. 

[ArcaneFalcon]

Thanks witchking, great resource.  Usually the biggest factor in which will be used in a (game) project is whatever the studio/group/developer has used before.  It's not a matter of superiority, but familiarity and preference.  To date, PlaneShift has been largely 3ds max/blender based.  Conversely, I know other CS projects are using maya for the majority of its content.  Like I said previously, if you're familiar with maya, the resources exist to make it work.  If you're not familiar with either (or familiar with both), I'd recommend 3ds max or blender for PlaneShift purposes.

[Andoryn Thaakor]

Maybe a bit superfluous, but it seems both Blender and Wings3D need the Yafray renderer separately now. The site for Yafray is http://www.yafray.org but anyone who tried downloading either Blender or Wings3D should have found this link on the appropriate site. Would be nice to strip the broken link to yafray from the guide though. Just to keep things up to date.

[ArcaneFalcon]

Thanks for the heads up.  I'll try to be around more often to keep this free of broken links, but help is always appreciated.  I've fixed your link, and also added a link to the modelling sticky by Cherppow in the blender tutorial section.

[capetorial]

hey, i got macromedia flash 8 pro (dont ask) and i dont know anything that gimp does that it doesnt (but i havent had that much experience with gimp) i made an entire user interface (working) in macromedia and that worked out fine, i was wondering if it would work for whatever on planeshift you need 2D art for or just user interfaces?