need a REAL tutorial...

[proton]

Inside LW book has a Building tut....that would be my first place to start....

[leigh]

That is an interesting predicament to be in, Rich.
It kinda confuses me though, because the way I see it, surely once you know how to use Modeler and the tools therein, then it would surely stand to reason that you could model anything you want to?

I know that is how it was with me, and I assume it's the same with most people :shrug:

Once I was accustomed to LWs modeling tools, I never did another tutorial again - I simply modeled. And you know what? I found that modeling a human head was far simpler than I had ever imagined it would be.

The most important thing to always have is good photographic/drawn reference. Once you have a good idea of exactly what it is you want, you should have no problem creating it :)

Just my 2 African cents (that is currently roughly equivalent to approximately 0.3 US cents) :D

[vapulus]

Originally posted by Leigh
...surely once you know how to use Modeler and the tools therein...

To be honest, I think that's his problem. Creating a building is one of the most basic things you can do in 3d besides something like "model a CD". The materials would be very difficult, but the modeling itself is all primitives. If you're having trouble modeling, rich, maybe you shouldn't be worried about building, and should be more worried about doing some basic tuts to get yourself acclimated.

[Arte]

Originally posted by Leigh
That is an interesting predicament to be in, Rich.
It kinda confuses me though, because the way I see it, surely once you know how to use Modeler and the tools therein, then it would surely stand to reason that you could model anything you want to?


Leigh:

It's not quite that simple Leigh. My first truly complex models were buildings. It took me about 2 months to get the workflow down on how to build a model quickly from an architect's design, that is the hard part not the modelling. But then there was no net:)

Thinks like smooth shift and drag, which we use every day for most models have close to zero use in preliminary building work if you want to work quickly without screwing up (Smooth shft is too dangerous for most building things I've found, others may disagree).

There were certain tools you use for buildings that don't get much use for organic modelling. An example would be macroform's Align and center which would centre and resize a background
layer according to a selection of points(That plugin kept myself and a lot of others using 3.5 on an Amiga for three years after LW went to PC, was really cool for 1995).

Learning to build generic windows and items and then placing and resizing them like that is all part of developing workflow.

Rich:
Basically I would recommend building from the ground up. Get your floorplan and place points at every corner according to scale. Once you have your corner points creating your floor plan, connect the point to create a polygon and extrude upwards to the height of the building. Basic model is now done.

Then follow through by marking where you want the windows and doors in another layer and cut into the walls.

If you want to add thickness I would recommend a plugin for that e.g HdPumpitt...

Use Generic windows and doors and place them using one of the alignment plugins using the 8 points (4 if there is no thickness) to distribute the frames properly. (If you want rounded windows you need more points;)

Anyway, if you get stuck just ask.

Good luck and hope this helps.

X

[dobermunk]

:scream:

Depends on what kinda building yer talkin' bout, folks. True to me self-defeatist nature, the first building I decided to tackle was Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim.

Sheesh. I did manage to get the spiral down and the interior finished, though. :surprised

[Daniel]

Why is everbody screaming for tuts?

There are many tuts for basic stuff U can to learn LW.

Than go and search a building that look like the one U need, search pics and model! Sure it's not a 5minute job, coz U wrote for close Ups.

Oh hehe, sounds like the other. But that's the way U have to go.
Work, Work and more Work :)
Have fun!
And don't forget, U can post WIP pics to get more help, that's much better than any tut! :wavey:

Cya.

[CIM]

Ppl. are just too lazy to ACTUALLY learn LightWave. They want everything done for them (the Poser way). :rolleyes:

[iBlue]

ewww poser, yuck! :scream:

*pukes*

[PaulyBarnes]

Creating a building is one of the most basic things you can do in 3d besides something like "model a CD".

Dude! now modeling a cd....that would be something. :D

[rich novak]

yeah, when i started modeling my building, i did it just like i modeled everything else... but by the time i was finished, i thought, "hey... my building wasn't supposed to look like a woman!!" ;)

"Ppl. are just too lazy to ACTUALLY learn LightWave. They want everything done for them (the Poser way)."

ass. if i weren't trying to LEARN, don't you think maybe i'd be asking where to BUY A BUILDING MODEL instead? you know, this community here rocks, but there's always some person who wants to be village idiot.

you comments on poser: http://www.lwg3d.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11782
something i didn't mention and don't normally mention, i'm in the military in the middle east right now, so trying to avoid poser if i want something decent looking is getting harder because of time.

i guess i should have been more specific in by building phrase. i'm trying to model a cathedral in paris. this particular cathedral has some seriously different architecture than a house, for instance. the windows are shaped funny, there are bevels and stuff on arches that i just can't seem to duplicate in lw, etc... which is why i'm asking for help. the inside lightwave book has a great tutorial on this little schoolhouse type building, but everything is nice and squared off. i've tried to use some of the same techniques that they show, but my architecture looks like it's exploding or something. off the wall stuff. there's a big difference between organics and non-organics, i have learned.

"It kinda confuses me though, because the way I see it, surely once you know how to use Modeler and the tools therein, then it would surely stand to reason that you could model anything you want to?"

i agree, but i guess the tutorials in the manuals didn't cover what the tools should do in different types of modeling (organic/non-organic/etc...) as well as i thought they did. i thought once i followed the tutorials i could pretty much model anything. i'm using lw 6, if you recall the tutorials i'm talking about in the manuals. and while i was doing the tutorials in the manuals, some of the tools have a different effect on something i don't want to look organic.

i can now do landscapes pretty well. i can get them to look pretty believeable... but they're random polygons, ground can look like anything. making a realistic squared and not-so-squared cathedral is more difficult than i anticipated. architecture isn't really covered well in tfm, so rtfm isn't enlightening me :)

that's why i came here looking for answers. constructive answers are helpful and i thank you for those, folks. "some people are lazy blah blah blah..." is unhelpful and something i'd expect from a newbie or something.

if i didn't want to learn, i'd just go out and buy. i'm really asking for help translating what i've learned into something i can apply to different types of models.

thanks!

ren

[kretin]

Hey Ren,

For the best feedback, my recommendation would be posting some pics of particularly troublesome areas and asking how people would approach creating those areas.

How to model a building is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string :p

[rich novak]

holy crow! my next question was gonna be "how long is a piece of string?" :)

i can't upload any images because of where i'm at... i can't ven sent attachments. my lw won't display backdrops... i'm going crazy! i wish things would just work proper...

my main concern, really, is that i believe i am interpreting either the manuals wrong, or the current tutorials wrong. i've read them. i've poured over them. i must be understanding something differently.

i'll see what i can do about posting some pics. i'll go back over the manuals.

i really want to avoid poser, pre-made objects, etc... i want to make everything home-made, just like having a 3d whiskey still up in the mountains. but time is passing, and i'm running out of options. i'll see about posting some of my 3d "humans" that i made with no background reference. they're pretty wacky looking.

thanks!

ren

[CIM]

No, the problem here is you are DEMANDING a tutorial, saying all current ones suck. This simply shows you're a noob who's afraid of actually trying something on your own.

Learn how to problem solve. Otherwise, you're not going to get very far in this LightWave or 3D thing.

[rich novak]

no, the current ones are fine for what they teach: background buildings. but if i built a background building for a foreground shot, THAT would suck. i think you're having troubles understanding.

and nowhere did i DEMAND anything. i need a real tutorial, because i fugured out the background buildings ON MY OWN, and they aren't what i NEED, but they're all i can FIND. i'll use smaller words next time!

and yes, i am a "noob." if to you that means i just don't know anything about 3d, well, that'd fine. but i know an elitist "i'm better than the newbies!" moron when i see one.

the fact is, i built a fairly realistic cathedral, but it was so detailed that my computer could barely handle it, so i'm looking for ways to do it better, more efficiently.

and don't ever call me lazy again. you have no idea how much of an ass you sound like. i'm doing all this from a friggin dusty tent right now, so i'd say that i'm trying about as hard as i can. pardon ME for looking for some experiance on the boards.

you aren't worth any more replies from me. don't waste your time replying to something you know i won't even read.

[Pengy]

I see CIM has dropped his dummy again..!!!!
Or has your teddy fell out of your pram..? :hmm:

Do you always have this "negative" aura CIM..?
The way i see it is the man was after some advice on tutorials, detailed tutorials and instead of giving your "professional" advice all you did was slate him!! Yeah, nice one!! I agree with your "Learn how to problem solve. Otherwise, you're not going to get very far in this LightWave or 3D thing." statement but why be so negative all the time eh..? God, lighten up, lifes just too short..!! :beer:

Take it easy
Pengy

[dark_lotus]

need a FAKE tutorial.

[rich novak]

"need a FAKE tutorial."

lmfao! if you wanna know how to fake it, talk to my ex wife! HA!

sorry about the garbage above this folks. i really hate it when people wanna start crap (over the internet of all places.) i wasn't coming here looking for trouble. i came here cause i'm reading the manuals wrong or something...

i'll see what i can learn on my own... but if you run across a tutorial you find helpful and think it's pretty good, do me a vavor and post it here eh?

thanks!

ren

[Daniel]

Hi Ren!

Some years ago when I started with LightWave, there where 20tuts nothing more, but that's long time ago.

Today U can find very much tuts, do not only check LW Tuts. Also check the other, for max, maya etc. Sometimes U can find solution for problems in other tuts.

As I already wrote, go and get pic of your dream building, analyze it, think how U could model the details etc.
Sure, that's not a 5minute solution, if U need it fast U should ask somebody to do the job for you, or buy any model :shrug:

Okay, and now have fun and surf the wave...! :cool:

Cya.

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