Anyone up for it + free stuffs

Alphane

Alphane

Alphane

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For anyone interested in 3D rendering

Free stuffs

Also for anyone interested in 3D rendering.

Inspired by another thread about 'learning to draw', how about we have a 'learn to CGI' thread using these tools as it's base.

I've a couple of years experience using rendering suites under my belt from some 10 years ago. Have been looking to get back into it but as software is usually so expensive I've been unable.

So

Anyone interested in learining CGI together ?

Whether you've never stared at the message 'rendering' before or your a master artist really shouldn't matter hopefully, as everyone will have something that they can bring to the table.

Comments, suggestions welcomed
 
Ok , can't say I'm not a little dissapointed no one is interested in group learning project, but fair enough. At least the linkage got published in GD for those interested .
 
I'd love to get back into this (used to dabble ages ago) but seeing as I have so much other stuff to study, I'm struggling to figure out how the hell I'll fit it in.

Last time I used Bryce was Bryce 2! :eek: I was going to have a go with Blender actually. Not enough hours in the day. :/
 
Thanks for the link. I'd love to be able to give the time to a group learning project, but it looks like I'll have to go it alone instead :(

Never mind, if I make any decent progress, I'll report back.
 
I dabbled with 3DSMax back in 2.5 and while I managed to get somewhere with modelling, I never got around to understanding how to texture stuff properly. I was just using a default map (sphere/cylinder) etc which never looked amazing. I really should have looked into unwrapping or whatever it is people do.
 
Well maybe I was jumping the gun writing of the group learning thing, just as threads rarely go totally unanswered for so long round here I thought today when I logged in I was most likely flogging a dead horse.

3DS max was what I originally trained with (well TBH it's previous incarnation was the very first thing I used thing it was just called 3D studio in them days, or somesuch), and I took some time to learn 'Terragen' for landscape stuff.

Not entirely sure what functionality we can squeeze out of these packages but I'm certainly willing to try and push them to there limits, especially given a lisence for Max runs at ~£3G.

Gave Bryce a couple of hours last night (I'll post the final image in an edit when I've photobucketed it). Found it a little frustrating compared to the functionality I'm used to but the potential is there to get some good renders I reckon.
 
Alphane said:
Gave Bryce a couple of hours last night (I'll post the final image in an edit when I've photobucketed it). Found it a little frustrating compared to the functionality I'm used to but the potential is there to get some good renders I reckon.
Click to expand...

I ended up importing meshes into Bryce rather than trying to model anything in it as it was a pain to do much else. You could try to do height maps and import those but that limits what you can do somewhat. Not sure what it's like these days but yeah back when I used it you could do some very pretty renders. :)
 
PianoBasher said:
I dabbled with 3DSMax back in 2.5 and while I managed to get somewhere with modelling, I never got around to understanding how to texture stuff properly. I was just using a default map (sphere/cylinder) etc which never looked amazing. I really should have looked into unwrapping or whatever it is people do.
Click to expand...

UVW theory isn't partcularly complex , really all it means is what 'primitive' is the renderer going to use to align your image relative to your actual object, the most simple being plane, perhaps the most complex is the 'unwrap' which you mentioned - this means the engine flattens the mesh to a 2D image which can be exported to a 2D paint program and you can actually paint onto your surfaces, when you reimport and apply your image is aligned exactly to the surfaces of your mesh.

Hope this helps
 
Firstsunrise.jpg

Not entirely happy with the mesh resolution of the mountains, but here you have it.

For comparison

Some terragens I used to do

Not sure if terragen is still going as a free product, kinda lost interest in it when it went to a nodal structure for setup rather than a graphical one, might be worth investigating where it's at now (these images are probably a good 8-10 years old)
 
Just got $2500 of free software from that Daz 3D site (loads of plugins/guides & models are free as well at the min) so many thanks to the OP.

Will have a play at some point but concentrating on a uni project at the min.

Also signed up for the Autodesk student service as well, so loads of software to play with. :D
 
MonkeyMan said:
Just got $2500 of free software from that Daz 3D site (loads of plugins/guides & models are free as well at the min) so many thanks to the OP.
Click to expand...

Cool I'll check out the site a bit more thoroughly when I get the chance see what else I can pick up.

Kudos to 'Chaos' really for first posting the offer, I merely cross posted it, but glad I did and hope you enjoy :)

/edit also not a student :mad:
 
Hey know it's been a week but I haven't forgoten about this thread.

What my ideas are regarding this project

I'm looking into hosting a forum as I feel 1 thread on a forum is too linear IMO

Our 'theme' will be Prohibition and 1920's America, chosen for obvious reasons

Once I have a better understanding of the toolsets of the programs I'm hoping to write some tutorials.

I'm hoping we can make this project more than just a beginners guide (though I'm happy if thats all it turns out to be ) as there is much experienced and even expert artists can learn from each other, in my experience.

So hopefully this isn't just a.n.other pipedream that sinks into intraweebs oblivion but the start of an interesting project for those who want to be involved.
 
No replies so I'll just blog away to my self here.

Got a forum for the purposes of of running a RTS browser game alliance, I'm sure I could do a sub forum/group for the purposes of this project.

Also going to try and promote the same 'group learning' idea on the EVE official forums.
 
How is the software compared to the more mainstream softwares? (namely Max)

Have also been dabbling with 3d software for a few years now, not as much as i should be if i wanted to do it professionally but its a nice hobby. Here is my latest bit of work

 
TBH Rasta having not really full investigated the tools and it being some year since I have even opened MAX it's hard to say, but I'll give you my initial impresion.

Hexagon - Contains all the basic tools you should need including sub object, what it doesn't have is MAX's amazing tools for mesh manipulation , noise application say, though it may be possible to script plugins for some of this I'm unsure.

Bryce - Is a little akward I've found initially regarding scene composition etc, all the tools seem to be there, it is maybe I haven't learned the software well enough yet to be confortabel.

Now bryce (for the purpose of landscapes) has some functions unfamiliar in max (at least when I used it) Sky, clouds, sun and haze system are built in (which can be annoying if you don't want them) , pregenerated water planes, there may be others.

Daz - Is a charecter modeler, how the resources are handled seems a little odd, hopefully you can build your own packages of resources for it. Basic rigging functionality for possing and simple animation. Have used this one the least though.


Best way is to download them and see what you think yourself though really.

Also some nice intricate modelling on that object of yours. :)
 
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