Yandros on 28/8/2011 at 04:48
And the master returns, if only for a moment...
Ottoj55 on 30/8/2011 at 20:03
don't use anim8or's texture tool, its crap. use lith unwrap and make proper texture maps.
dlw6 on 31/8/2011 at 04:20
Quote Posted by Ottoj55
don't use anim8or's texture tool, its crap. use lith unwrap and make proper texture maps.
I think it depends on the complexity and purpose of the project. Anim8or is slow going compared to Blender, and version 0.95's UV tool is less capable but also less buggy than version 0.97. Also, Anim8or can render bizarre shadow artifacts when more than 3 lights are casting shadows in a complex scene. But Anim8or is easy to use, and the principles you learn can be useful if you decide to move on to a professional-grade tool like Blender. I spent months back in 2006 trying to learn Blender, and got pretty good with the meshes, including joins and welds. But the textures never worked for me; I tried to follow the tutorials and never got the advertised results, so I went back to Anim8or.
Obviously, I had a lot of help when I was starting out. Yandros and others encouraged many of us to try Anim8or starting in 2004. Targa taught me to make an object from Anim8or into a BIN file in 2005, though I don't remember how anymore. Lazarus taught me about video editing in 2006. It was fun to learn and I still apply the modeling and video skills now and then.
Some years ago, I created the outro video (drone destroyed and the aftermath) for Privateer Gemini Gold as a 1280x720x30 AVI, using a variety of tools to make the textures, Anim8or to "shoot" each scene, and Adobe Premiere for post-production editing. Each scene was 5 to 14 seconds of finished video and took all night to render, which definitely made my pace myself toward the end. But it worked, despite the"improper" texture mapping. Compared to that, the classic T1/T2 style videos I made for a couple of FMs were simple.
This past spring, I used Amin8or to model the interior of a large 2-story building that was still being built, including furniture and decorations, and then made walk-through videos, so a 3-star general and a couple of 1-star generals (including my boss' boss) could see how the place would look. That took a couple of weekends. The architects should have done it, but this was a government building so, lowest bidder and all that. The generals liked the result, so it was worth the work and a lot more fun than other work I might have been doing.
So anyway, I agree that Anim8or's UV tools aren't as efficient, but they do work. What inadequacies do they create in, say, a finished BIN file?
R Soul on 31/8/2011 at 14:33
It won't do any harm to the bin file, so the method you use is a matter of preference. I used to use Anim8or's tools, and when they weren't sufficient, I'd use LithUnwrap. That program can show the texture in the background, and can show you a 3d model preview. Some people have suggested UVMapper, but since Anim8or now has basic UVMapping (cylindrical etc), it seems futile.
A while ago I switched to Blender for two reasons:
1. I've been making objects for another games, which uses .dds textures. I started using Anim8or but it became tiresome to have to make jpg versions and then swap them after exporting.
2. UVMapping is very good, and once you get used to it, it becomes quite easy.
I first looked at Blender version 2.49, but the interface seemed broken, so I removed it. Then I tried 2.5x, which has a new interface, and after watching some (
http://www.blendercookie.com/getting-started-with-blender/) video tutorials, I found it quite easy to use.
Sluggs on 15/9/2011 at 08:43
You know what I really love about Anim8or?
1 unit is the same in Anim8or as it is in Dromed which means you can make model versions of bsp brushes at the same size as they are in Dromed without worrying about scale.
Is this the same with other modeling programs?
The Watcher on 15/9/2011 at 09:53
In lightwave, 1 metre is 1 dromed unit, which makes life pretty easy.
R Soul on 15/9/2011 at 13:13
It's the same with Blender. I've been using that for a while now, mainly for things for my rFactor track, but I've made a few thief objects too. Units don't mean much to programs. Vertex coordinates are just numbers, and it's up to each program to decide how to interpret them, and there's no reason for 1.5 to be read as anything other than 1.5. In rFactor the basic unit is a metre, whereas in Thief it's a foot, but in neither case does one have to rescale an object.
Although I barely use Anim8or nowadays, I think the simplicity of the interface is a good thing. A fancy interface can make a program look hard to use, which can put people off. Of course in truth a simple object is easy to make in any decent program, but first impressions are important.
