3D Modeling tutorial questions.

Gammel · Post by **Gammel** » Thu, 6. Aug 09, 14:42

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/ ... /shipt.jpg

At least I don't think it is windows.

bladedranger · Post by **bladedranger** » Thu, 6. Aug 09, 14:54

oooooh

that i did by making a box extruding some of the bottoms polygons down then boolean subtract.....yeah thats not windows

Gammel · Post by **Gammel** » Thu, 6. Aug 09, 15:24

Ahaaa! I thought so!

I should get off my butt, stop watching Youtube vids, and start a new ship!

bladedranger · Post by **bladedranger** » Thu, 6. Aug 09, 15:39

Killjaeden · Post by **Killjaeden** » Thu, 6. Aug 09, 17:01

doubleshadow wrote:@enenra - you have my admiration for that nice GIF.
And I hate you for starting with a cube and ending with a ship. You are lucky you didn't post video of painting a texture. I watched something like that on CGTalk. And then I cried a lot.

Don't watch those pro's doing their models... you'll end up in depression

@enenra
Nice shape, i think i couldn't build something with this style (looks a bit like argon) - i'm the "boxy"-type guy^^ but i should try it sometimes...

Gammel wrote:Also, if I make two parts of my ship, and when I put the two parts together, in order to look right, one part pokes inside another part somewhat. How can I stick the two together in a way that makes all the hidden polygons inside the first object disappear. Since you don't see them anywhere, they don't need to be there, do they?
Or doesn't it matter?

If it doesn't stick out you won't see it ingame. It's because of the 'limited' graphic in the editor. Sometimes it doesn't make sense to merge them - because it would create more polygons. Sometimes it's useful. You will get the feeling

If you use multiple parts it's easier to change something afterwards. But you need to name all of them properly - if you want to select one piece and the list contains cylinder1-35 you won't get far =P

Best way to get inspired is looking for spaceship images... e.g. deviant-art

bladedranger · Post by **bladedranger** » Thu, 6. Aug 09, 17:30

Killjaeden wrote:Best way to get inspired is looking for spaceship images... e.g. deviant-art

i used google images to find this.

http://www.wallpaperez.info/wallpaper/g ... p-1199.jpg

and modelling it is taking time and my model doesnt look quite the same

Killjaeden · Post by **Killjaeden** » Thu, 6. Aug 09, 17:42

and my model doesnt look quite the same

inspiration =! copy ... yeah maybe some ships look really cool but it think it's not good to copy them. You can 'copy' the style but you should bring in your own imagination. And you picked a difficult ship (it has too much details for X3TC if you want to reproduce it).

Gammel · Post by **Gammel** » Thu, 6. Aug 09, 17:45

enenra wrote:Here a GIF to show how I go about modelling in SketchUp. From a pretty simple shape into a WIP design of a M7-sized ship.
(not yet finished, though)

[ external image ]

Wow, hey. I just saw this.
That's looking good. Keep up posted on the progress. I'd be good to see some of the techniques.
I don't suppose you could show me a close-up of that little engine nacelle thing you stuck on the side?

bladedranger · Post by **bladedranger** » Thu, 6. Aug 09, 17:59

@killjaeden: i wasnt planning on putting that ship into terran conflict i was just modelling it purely for experience and practice etc

the ship i tried putting in TC was invisible and then i stopped

@Gammel: sketchup doesnt use the same tools as gmax/3ds max it uses a pen to draw 2d lines that connected together make 3d polygons

Gammel · Post by **Gammel** » Thu, 6. Aug 09, 18:15

I know. I have SketchUp on my comp.

I just wanted to see how it looked. Inspiration and all.

bladedranger · Post by **bladedranger** » Thu, 6. Aug 09, 19:30

oh i thought you were saying about tecniques not knowing that enenra's sketchup model wouldnt be the same as the software you been using.

My bad

Gammel · Post by **Gammel** » Fri, 7. Aug 09, 04:21

Ok, there is something I need to know.
Say I have already made a shape, its already set to "editable Poly" and I have manipulated it somewhat. Now I want to divide some polygons so I have more to work with. How would I go about doing this?

A simple pic to show what I mean.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/ ... glines.gif

Killjaeden · Post by **Killjaeden** » Fri, 7. Aug 09, 07:14

you can cut faces in the edit poly->vertices mode.
There is also a modifier that can cut - dunno the english name. If you select all faces you get the thing like on the picture, but you can also select only some faces to modify only those.
The modifier is like a plane, you can rotate&move the gizmo. Really helpfull to cut faces at a certain angle.

btw you can copy&paste the modifiers - so you can make multiple cuts and don't have to pick the modifier out of the list each time and move it...
If you are done with the modifiers re-convert it to editable poly. The modifiers will be aplied to the poly and the modifierlist is 'clean' again.

Gammel · Post by **Gammel** » Fri, 7. Aug 09, 09:37

Dagamn, bloody cat just threw up on me.

Anyway...I get it! Use the 'Slice' function, set the slice plane up where you want it. Then check the 'Split Mesh' option. I got it.

Is there a way to do a reverse chamfer? Y'know how you normally put a chamfer on an outside corner. How can you put one on an inside corner. Sort it like a webbing.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/ ... hamfer.gif

Killjaeden · Post by **Killjaeden** » Fri, 7. Aug 09, 12:08

offcourse you can do... just use the camfer-tool on the inside edge of the box^^

Gammel · Post by **Gammel** » Fri, 7. Aug 09, 12:58

Silly question really, I should have just TRIED it.

Can someone do me a favour. I dont have any X games installed. And my copies of X2 and X3 are in storage. (Cause I have moved house and put most of my stuff in storage)
Can someone show me a close-up shot of the back of the engine of a Xenon P. Without the textures and effects.

Is that possible?

bladedranger · Post by **bladedranger** » Fri, 7. Aug 09, 13:09

i will do that for you now but there is another way of cutting using connect in edges mode -:EDIT:- gmax doesnt seem to have a connect tool

fully textured-you didnt want textured but its there anyway
http://eng.x3tc.ru/screenshot/ship.php?NDc4MjcxMDc

[ external image ]

Gammel · Post by **Gammel** » Fri, 7. Aug 09, 13:32

Hooooh!
Thanks.
Interesting.

Its cool to see the ships without their textures. Cause sometimes its tough to tell just what detail comes from the model, and what comes from the textures.

bladedranger · Post by **bladedranger** » Fri, 7. Aug 09, 13:33

Yeah i had a good look like that at the titan

enenra · Post by **enenra** » Fri, 7. Aug 09, 14:31

@DS
Hehe, thanks!

Killjaeden wrote:@enenra
Nice shape, i think i couldn't build something with this style (looks a bit like argon) - i'm the "boxy"-type guy^^ but i should try it sometimes...

Gammel wrote:Also, if I make two parts of my ship, and when I put the two parts together, in order to look right, one part pokes inside another part somewhat. How can I stick the two together in a way that makes all the hidden polygons inside the first object disappear. Since you don't see them anywhere, they don't need to be there, do they?
Or doesn't it matter?
If it doesn't stick out you won't see it ingame. It's because of the 'limited' graphic in the editor. Sometimes it doesn't make sense to merge them - because it would create more polygons. Sometimes it's useful. You will get the feeling If you use multiple parts it's easier to change something afterwards. But you need to name all of them properly - if you want to select one piece and the list contains cylinder1-35 you won't get far =P

Best way to get inspired is looking for spaceship images... e.g. deviant-art

Yep. I have a folder of ~150MB full of pictures. Mainly Concept Art, some renders as well. A great source of inspiration for a whole design and also for small parts of a ship. (Like to fill some underdetailed areas in a model)

@bladedranger
The concept art you posted... That isn't something someone should attempt to model if one doesn't already have a lot of experience. I wouldn't dare to try that. It's bound to end up very different from the concept. That is a pretty complicated shape. ^^

@Gammel
Well it's a pretty old model and I haven't worked on this for some time. If you're interested in how I did the engine, I have a file lying around on my HDD which contains some examples of engines I did. I'll upload it later.

egosoft.com

egosoft.com

3D Modeling tutorial questions.