getting started with XSI 3 EXP

[raffael3d]

http://www.xsibase.com/tutorials/beginner.php

[dantea]

Has anyone else had this problem where you have to minimize the start menu task bar in order to get at the play controls? I find it highly annoying that not only do I have to run at 1280x1024, but also forced to use small fonts. Sorry, that I don't have a 21" monitor like everyone else.

[fig]

yeah, i noticed that too dantea, tho i was already running at 1280x1024. you can autohide your start bar to solve the prob pretty easily.

chris

[ThE_JacO]

you can solve it in 3 different ways

a) autohide
b) turn off the bar option "always on top"
c) spend 30 seconds of your life to edit the default layout and move the time line and playcontrol separators up by 20 pixels.

[qchan]

If you're taskbar isn't anymore in the foreground you should have the entire screen.

[sireel]

uhm ok so I take it buzz has the only softimage video tut out there?

[orion 77]

oi u big brown bear get back to cgchat or somebody will have to put you in a cage:p

[EdHarriss]

There are quite a few others on this page:
http://www.edharriss.com/tutorials/tutorials_all.html

[sireel]

Man I've been using 3ds max up until now and decided to explore a bit into the softimage territory with this free version and so far i'm really impressed. The UI is no nearly as difficul as Maya, not a hard to come to grips with as I imagined :) So far this seems like a great application!


oi u big brown bear get back to cgchat or somebody will have to put you in a cage

NOOOOOOOOOO I'm free I'm free!!!!!! :scream:

[dantea]

The problem with the layout editor is that nothing gets resized vertically. If you edit the default layout, then it's impossible to make everything visible.

[Shannon]

Dantea:

go to Ed Harris' page, go to plugins section, look for the interface and layouts section in there and you'll find a layout specifically for the task bar problem.

I had that prob too, I guess its real common.

I'm trying this out as well and am really struggling with point manipulation. I'm used to grabbing the arrow that points in the direction I want to go. Now I have to stop and think for a sec. and choose a mouse button. Im sure it all becomes automatic after a while. Unless of course I'm missing something that makes the move manipulator handle more interactive.

[Shannon]

Ok, I got it now. There is no interactivity in the move manipulator handle(beyond it's being a handle). The only way to constrain your move to one axis is to use the various mouse buttons on move. Or, to select the axis from the command palate. This will take some getting used to for me, comming from Maya where all those controls are on the manipulator itself. Seems far more cumbersome, and less visual in XSI, but I will try to adjust. I'm sure they have a good reason for what they've done.

Anyone have workflow suggestions?

[Shannon]

Wow, I sure am going through alot of modes and different buttons just to move a bunch of points around. I find the move points mode, which is great once you get used to the use of the 3 mouse buttons for constraints. But then if I want to move 2 or more points together, I need to go into tag mode, switch to global mode and then think about wich axis I wish to move in. Lost the flow by then.
It's definatly not the fastest modeler out there. But the implemention of subdivisions is outstanding. Once I discovered that the keypad +- keys control geometry approximation, I was blown away. Working on a crucial facial feature, I can experiment with almost instant feedback on how the subd version will sit.
Still hitting big workflow blocks with the tools though. Hoping that I either discover that there is a faster way to model here, or that I'll learn some outrageously cool feature that will reveal why the modeling workflow is as it is. Still looking for some workflow tips if any experienced users read this forum.

[Shannon]

Got a question. Am I doing this the best way.
When I start a box model, I like to throw on 1 level of subdivision to add geometry. I've been choosing "local subdivision ref.", then selecting my entire box. This gives me one level of subd, without the control cage, which is the way I like to start. Then I just work from there and when I want to see and or work on a high res version, I hit the keypad + key a few times and work.
Is this a common workflow?

[dogz]

learn the keyboard shortcuts you use the most and im sure you will start to fly in xsi..i can relate as alot of us can who come from other programs
cuzz xsi is so new to the world...but its worth lernin..cuz we are xsi fanatix...just x-periment with it...and check out all the posts on this list and read all the tuts as you go along and yull find your own best way to go the software..its pretty flexable for the way you want to work...have fun

[tachy0n]

Also check out the proportional modeling tools, which allows you to work in a more 'sculpting' fashion, by applying a soft selection to whatever you transform

[Shannon]

Thanks, I'll read up on that one right away.

Also, I just discovered that turning off "extended component selection" allows me to move around much faster. Actually, that little tip, changes my world. This should be off by default. It must screw up alot of newbies.

[ggg]

and oldies
why this setting isn't echoed in the script editor to make a toggle script toolbar button to go backnforth, as I often do, I don't know...

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