Procedural Buildings and Cities

Sethren · July 15, 2007, 05:19:08 PM

Quote from: moodflow on July 15, 2007, 01:00:21 PM
City Engine appears to be the best by far. That guy should be at Siggraph in a few weeks and I'll go over and check it out. I'll be bringing my flash drive just in case he's generous (though I won't push the issue) ;-)

Good idea. I would love to go and i am only 100 miles away but no $ this year. Perhaps next year.

Sethren · July 15, 2007, 05:22:27 PM

Quote from: glen5700 on July 15, 2007, 04:43:08 PM

As far as the XSI plugin goes you can get the full working version of XSI 6 Foundation for 30 days. I believe there are no limitations on the software, it would give you a chance to get some obj's out of it.

http://www.softimage.com/downloads/XSI_Trial/default.aspx

Glen

I know but i'd rather buy it. The work i need to do would go way beyond the 30 days. Honestly though i really have no use for XSI. Houdini looks more interesting at the moment even though it's a more pricey application.

Sethren · July 15, 2007, 05:25:07 PM

Quote from: Moose on July 15, 2007, 07:07:44 AM

I have this DVD and really it's top-class - lots of nice little tips and tricks... incase you were scouting for a recommendation, that is . Though it's worth noting it's for H8 not 9, but if you're already au fait with 8 transposing to 9 won't be a prob, otherwise the recent UI changes may make this a tad more challenging(??). Additionally, Chris offers a glimmer of encouragement in this post - http://cmi.myfastforum.org/sutra505.php&highlight=houdini#505.

Concerning the actual DVD content... although it does provide you with a finished 'make-city-now-tool' of sorts, it's far more valuable in the knowledge it imparts wrt building your own custom tool(s) tailored to your own requirements.

P.S - (off topic) if you're interested in learning Houdini, David Gary (CMI instructor) posted a free teaser to a DVD he's developing covering noise creation for fractal terrain and water modelling - http://www.cmivfx.com/tutorials.asp - (Tutorial 57: Creating Noise Spectrums in VEX) if you weren't already aware...

I am downloading that Creating Noise Spectrums in VEX right now and i am going to take a looky at it.

rcallicotte · July 16, 2007, 08:45:36 AM

Sethern, have you tried Silo? http://www.nevercenter.com It's amazing and inexpensive.

Modo is less than Houdini and is pretty cool as well, but more expensive than Silo. What's nice about both of these applications (Silo and Modo) is that they are both on the verge of a new release and are offering the next major release for the price of the present version.

Quote from: Sethren on July 15, 2007, 05:22:27 PM
Quote from: glen5700 on July 15, 2007, 04:43:08 PM

As far as the XSI plugin goes you can get the full working version of XSI 6 Foundation for 30 days. I believe there are no limitations on the software, it would give you a chance to get some obj's out of it.

http://www.softimage.com/downloads/XSI_Trial/default.aspx

Glen

I know but i'd rather buy it. The work i need to do would go way beyond the 30 days. Honestly though i really have no use for XSI. Houdini looks more interesting at the moment even though it's a more pricey application.

Sethren · July 16, 2007, 04:57:18 PM

Quote from: calico on July 16, 2007, 08:45:36 AM
Sethern, have you tried Silo? http://www.nevercenter.com It's amazing and inexpensive.

Modo is less than Houdini and is pretty cool as well, but more expensive than Silo. What's nice about both of these applications (Silo and Modo) is that they are both on the verge of a new release and are offering the next major release for the price of the present version.

Yes, i have used Silo on some small occasions and i like it a lot for a modeler. Modo i looked into as well but just a bit to many modeling tools for me to memorize but i like what it does with it's shader tree and having a fast render system. Modo has some very innovative technology behind it's tool pipe i think.

moodflow · July 16, 2007, 04:59:46 PM

You guys ever try mudbox? Their demo is fully functional and I was shaping out alien heads, castles, and even dried logs within a few hours. They can then be exported as .obj files.

Its pretty neat.

rcallicotte · July 16, 2007, 05:43:14 PM

I downloaded the demo for Mudbox and haven't really tried it.

monks · July 17, 2007, 05:57:48 PM

QuoteI hate it when these University guys come up with some nice innovative software and never finish it and release it to the open public. The project just sits there with some research papers to read only

don't you just?

..so who's going to contact the author?...

I was aware of research in this field. I came across some stuff last year-some guy reconstructing oriental buildings using wavelets from aerial photos- that's extremely difficult, have you seen those buildings?

Some day we'll be able to explore a Blade Runner like universe- heaven!

-great find!

monks

Sethren · July 17, 2007, 06:46:18 PM

Quote from: monks on July 17, 2007, 05:57:48 PM

don't you just? ..so who's going to contact the author?...

monks

I might if i have time. I am still busy with GeoControl 2 alpha, working for Spiral Graphics. Trying to get off my butt to learn photography. I have some electrical jobs coming up as well. If i could expand time i would.

monks · July 19, 2007, 03:27:20 PM

Yea, so many things to do, and that's not including the things I'd like to do!

monks