I'm looking for advice on what the best (and affordable) apps for modeling objects and plants and will output compatible formats with TG2.
Thanks
there are some free plant modeling software that are available free like plant studio....I dont know about object modeling....
try doing a google search and see if you come up with anything....
For plant modelling, there's plant studio, and for everything else, there's Blender (www.blender.org).
Quote from: dhavalmistry on March 24, 2007, 06:43:46 PM
there are some free plant modeling software that are available free like plant studio....I dont know about object modeling....
try doing a google search and see if you come up with anything....
I usually end up installing a lot of crap when I go the google route lol. Hoping to skip that part of the process by asking around.
Thanks, I'll check both those out.
Also, does the trial version of Xfrog allow exporting?
Quote from: VorpalBlade on March 24, 2007, 07:16:22 PM
Quote from: dhavalmistry on March 24, 2007, 06:43:46 PM
there are some free plant modeling software that are available free like plant studio....I dont know about object modeling....
try doing a google search and see if you come up with anything....
I usually end up installing a lot of crap when I go the google route lol. Hoping to skip that part of the process by asking around.
Thanks, I'll check both those out.
Also, does the trial version of Xfrog allow exporting?
Yes it is fully functional for 30 days.
Quote from: old_blaggard on March 24, 2007, 06:47:01 PM
For plant modelling, there's plant studio, and for everything else, there's Blender (www.blender.org).
Wow! How can Blender be free?
The stuff they show in their gallery looks pretty damn professional.
Plant studio seems pretty synthetic. I think I'll give Xfrog a go. If it's as good as it looks, I'll buy it.
And you can make very good trees with Blender with this plugin http://www.geocities.com/bgen3/ and if you want human figures try this one http://www.dedalo-3d.com/index.php?par1=LXfPCglTkrz,lTGgUBwGIBTUpzFlI&sec=80a900c749d186cdb953a4e5c912c650
Quote from: Costaud on March 24, 2007, 10:35:28 PM
And you can make very good trees with Blender with this plugin http://www.geocities.com/bgen3/ and if you want human figures try this one http://www.dedalo-3d.com/index.php?par1=LXfPCglTkrz,lTGgUBwGIBTUpzFlI&sec=80a900c749d186cdb953a4e5c912c650
Very nice! Thanks
Noone else has mentioned it, so I'll put in a plug for MilkShape3D - www.milkshape3d.com. I've been using it for a while and I like it a lot.
At Daz3D.com, there are some free objects. Michael 3 and Victoria 3 are free. DAZ|Studio (to model and export the object file) is free. There are clothes and many other useable objects there for free.
For modelling objects there's the open source (free) procedural modeller gSculpt - http://gsculpt.sourceforge.net/ . It's still in development but seems very good - check out the videos to see it in action.
If you have cash to spend I'd also recommend Silo - http://www.nevercenter.com/ - priced at $109 which for what you get - good toolset and fast workflow - is pretty cheap really. If you buy before the upcoming ver2 is released you're entitled to a free upgrade to ver2 and it'll allow you to get your hands on the regular beta releases till then too. Version 2 is a complete rewrite and includes the addition of sculpting tools, so the price on release will be higher at $159 (assuming you're still interested).
:)
Nearly a whole page an not a mention of Wings3D, shocking ;)
http://www.wings3d.com/ (http://www.wings3d.com/)
Amapi 6 is available for free at this address (you need to register but it's free) http://forums.polyloop.net/software-misc-logiciels-divers/
And Truespace 3.2 is also free here http://forms.caligari.com/forms/ts3all_free.html
Damn. Now I've got my work cut out for me trying all these apps!
Thanks everyone
And here is the excellent Cinema 4D CE (it's free but if you want to save scene larger than 800X800 if I remember you have to register with Maxon) http://www.truecombatelite.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=63477&sid=b6e888d552332e32af21271e1fadb65d
There's also ngplant (http://ngplant.sourceforge.net/).
for plants you could try xfrogs 30 day demo, fully functional but the licence for over 30days is pricey...
also go wings3d ;D ;D
Quote from: king_tiger_666 on March 25, 2007, 08:26:27 PM
for plants you could try xfrogs 30 day demo, fully functional but the licence for over 30days is pricey...
also go wings3d ;D ;D
I was going to download Xfrog last night after work, but the site was down :( If it does what the images in the gallery show and its easy to work with, I'd be willing to fork out the $300 for some really natural lifelike flora.
I've downloaded and used many of the programs mentioned in various posts. Today, the main 3 programs I use for plants/objects are:
Grass: Bantam 3D grass
Why: multiple blade shapes per tile, create grass clumps, multiple groups per grass object for additional variation, easy to use
Trees: Arbaro
Why: easiest tree generator to use (IMO, graphical diagrams help explain settings), easy to setup different versions of the same tree/object. , samples provide good starting points for different tree types. Just remember to give java lots of RAM ;)
OBJ conversion: <edit.. minor blockhead moment>PoseRay</edit>
Why: easy to fix baseline problems, converts materials to groups if necessary, most stable I've used when imported into TG2 (compared to Blender & Wings)
I haven't done much in the way of buildings, but I have had a play with Google Sketchup and it's very easy to use. The registered version supports file export into usable formats and there are a lot of models that other people have shared of real buildings.
Well I downloaded Blender and I'm getting Xfrog tonight. Got the next two days off and I'll be picking up some diapers on the way home!
;D ;D ;D
Quote from: bigben on March 25, 2007, 11:01:39 PM
OBJ conversion: PovRay
A tiny spelling mistake ;), it is PoseRay (http://mysite.verizon.net/sfg0000/ (http://mysite.verizon.net/sfg0000/)). Its customary usage is to import models into PovRay (http://www.povray.org/ (http://www.povray.org/)) but has also other functions.
The main interest for TG users is the fact that PoseRay reads reliably everything which even remotely looks like an OBJ file and writes out squeaky clean OBJs, removing lots of compability problems among different apps.
Bye!!!!
Yes I can confirm that PoseRay is very good to write OBJ file. Anybody have tried Cinema 4D CE!!!!
Quote from: latego on March 28, 2007, 12:51:34 PM
Quote from: bigben on March 25, 2007, 11:01:39 PM
OBJ conversion: PovRay
A tiny spelling mistake ;), it is PoseRay (http://mysite.verizon.net/sfg0000/ (http://mysite.verizon.net/sfg0000/)). Its customary usage is to import models into PovRay (http://www.povray.org/ (http://www.povray.org/)) but has also other functions.
The main interest for TG users is the fact that PoseRay reads reliably everything which even remotely looks like an OBJ file and writes out squeaky clean OBJs, removing lots of compability problems among different apps.
Bye!!!!
Great piece of software ;D
Its a shame it doesn't merge materials :-\
Cinema 4D for FREE?
Now that is a seriously good choice :)
Some links about plant modeling that may interest you:
Algorithmic Botany at the University of Calgary
http://algorithmicbotany.org/
Image based plant modeling .pdf-file
http://www.cs.ust.hk/~quan/publications/plant.pdf
JAVA online-L-System for experiments
http://andreea.francu.com/lgrammar/fractals.html
An L-parser
http://home.wanadoo.nl/laurens.lapre/lparser2.html
Have fun!