Hey all,
One of the biggest attractions of A:M is being able to sell the stuff I create. Legally, you can’t do that with 3D Max Educational Version. But a question on the modelling process in A:M
For someone who’s never used Spline Modelling before, but is proficient in Box Modelling, how much of a learning curve would it be to learn the new system? Also, do they have cut features to easilly create new geometry like Max does?
Nothing like box modelling.
You are going to have ot learn how to model, basically point by point.
You might not like the sound of that, but you get some pretty serious control over the models you make.
I imagine you are going to curse the process the next couple weeks, but then, if you put a little into it, you are going to have the a-ha moment and you’ll start to “see” your models in your head and all should be good from there.
Any questions… just aks away!
Mike Fitz
www.3dartz.com
Well, for what it’s worth…I’ve been playing around with Max myself off and on for around a year, also doing box modeling, and I also picked up animation master a little while back, but I only started working with it the other day. (Had to finish off a bunch of other projects before I could justify attempting to learn AM.)
I decided to try something a little different where AM was concerned, since I’d already guessed the processs was going to be something entirely different than what I was used to…I decided to just open it up and start laying out splines, trying to visualize everything in 3D, with no reference pictures, or rotoscopes, I guess you’d call them.
Anyway, after roughly 40 minutes of playing around, the pic below shows what I came up with…remember; it isn’t SUPPOSED to be anything in general, but rather just an approximation of a generic face/head I had in my mind…may not be much to look at, and would no doubt take some serious tweaking to make it into something I’d want to seriously consider using in any capacity, but in all seriousness, I’d have to say that the process in general wasn’t nearly as daunting as I had imagined.
No doubt I’ve much more to learn where AM is concerned, and I suppose I could have chosen something much more simple to test the program/my abilities on, but I can honestly say that I’m really looking forward to actually creating something for real in AM now, and especially so since I’ve yet to even scratch the surface of AM’s potential!
I think there will be a learning curve, without doubt, but I also think that if you already have some skill with other 3D apps, it won’t be nearly as steep as you think it will. (Yes, splines may be different, but you are still working in 3D space, so to speak, and I found it so easy to move the work around in AM and adjust the vetices etc with immediate results; and I wasn’t even really trying!)
(Edit: one thing I probably should add here, is that I actually DID take the time to study the manual that came with AM, and tried to learn the various tools etc, before attempting to create anything.)
Spline modelling is smooth!!
Models stay so organic.
Spline modelling is slower than box modelling!!
Spline models are not as intense in size, so more on the screen you can have without bogging down your system.
Spline modelling is slower. I wish there was a hybrid, a box/poly/zphere interface with a spline backbone.
Nice Jeff. It looks like you’re at low res real time. Try pressing the PageUp key. Also, you probably don’t need quite so many splines. And you should start learning about hooks and 5 point patches. These make models hard to export though.
Another tip…don’t have more than 2 splines going through a cp.
Cool! Thanks for the tips, and I’ll certainly take them to heart.
I wasn’t actually attempting to create anything with that particular piece; more like I’m in “play” mode at the moment and just trying to get a feel for how this aspect of the program works.
I think I’m starting to get a good handle on it though, and I’m planning out a particular route to take in actually building something with a purpose…I’m about set to take a week or two off from business and just concentrate on AM, which I’m very much looking forward to…kind of anxious to try out some of the things I saw in the demo, and I’m cruising through some of the tutorials also, to see if something in particular catches my eye.
So, aside from hooks and 5 point patches, how well does it work when exporting to something like 3DS?
For that matter, is there a particular format that works better than others when exporting models from AM?
Obj is usually the best as it’s more likely quads and retains texture map information. You can get a free plugin for it…somewhere. Try searching the forum for info on it.
Of course, everybody is different, but my expirences with spline-based modeling left me with that - NO FUN - feeling. Fustrated, well tossing the disk into a dark crevious of my apartment is more accurate, but I’ve since learned to cope.
There is a lot more work (and time is seams) to get something real easy, like a building out of AM with splines as compared to the the same building in say Wings3D. Yet I’ve seen people take a dozen splines and make a perfectly proportioned head! Always astonished.
SOME BACKGROUND
I picked up AM about 6 months ago (maybe more) for 4 reasons, 1: best bang for the buck at the time, 2: that intro video on hashes website, 3: the training dvd the jeff lew put out and 4: really the more important reason, Wings3D use to export the hash really nicely. So, I thought I had the best of all worlds – quickly these points started disappearing.
Don’t get me wrong I like AM, I just have to jump through some hoops to get it to play like I want it to play - and I don’t play well with splines. I have bought 2 training CD, and the 2002 guide for AM and still get fustrated with spline modeling, and because of this have learned 2 tricks:
NEW WORKFLOW
1: All non-organic work, I do in Wings3D( or Silo), then export out as 3ds. Which I can import back into AM 90-95% effectively. Usually have one spline that always needs tweaking.
2: Create orgainic models in Wings3D then Silo, then export out as DXF - most flawlessly imports into AM.
Both options still allow me to do everything else in AM pretty easly - like boning/rigging characters ect. Most of my creations are low-poly or under 1000 patches.
Silo, with DXF export is really nice inside AM, but for those that dont want to shell out the extra 100 bucks, previous to using Silo, I used a free 3d converter (3d crossroads) that had been hacked to allow 4 point faces rather than 3 point faces - this worked fairly well.
Hope that helps.
//negative9//
OK all,
Here’s what I need. My copy arrived today, and I can’t figure out how to make even a basic model. The tutorials don’t seem to cover it too well, or I havn’t been checking out the right ones. Any good sites on how to start the basics of modelling in A:M?
Thanks
I would recommend starting with the “Basic Splinemanship” tutorials located at:
http://www.alienlogo.com/tincan/
Then, you might want to check out these tutorials:
Understanding Gammas in Animation Master
Mechanical Modeling in Animation Master
There are an assortment of tutorials located at:
http://demented3d.com/tutorial/
http://www.colins-loft.net/new_coop_tutorial/tutorials.html
There are a lot of tutorials (including these) on the ARM…and quite a few in the “Software Tutorials” section of the Hash Forums (free registration).
Hope these help.
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