Blackjack_Davie Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 I've never worked on a model that i've hated until now. I never want to make another of these or anything similar to this any time soon. I don't mind tedious work, its the needless redundancy that got me. For some reason, the normals wouldn't stand still, they kept flipping on me in random directions. Every time I reopened the file. . . flip! Rotated the object. . . flip! flip one set of normals, another set flipped. GRRRRR!!!! maybe its just my machine, or the version of AM I'm Running or my use of 5 point patches. . . I don't know. anyway, i've attached the project file incase anyone else would ever need a storm drain cover. My pain is your gain. . . irongrateprjfiles.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackjack_Davie Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 WOOT! my hunch is paying off. Basically I modeled the sewer grate so i could do a screen render, and take a snap shot of said render and use it in Photo Shop as a tile to make another more elaborate floor. First test is pretty good, needs some finessing but for a first try, I'm happy. I'm basically making an environment for my female model, walk cycles are fine stand alone actions, but actions like sneaking, running and jumping look weird out of context, so I want to give her a set to act in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAngus Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 WOOT! my hunch is paying off. Basically I modeled the sewer grate so i could do a screen render, and take a snap shot of said render and use it in Photo Shop as a tile to make another more elaborate floor. First test is pretty good, needs some finessing but for a first try, I'm happy. I'm basically making an environment for my female model, walk cycles are fine stand alone actions, but actions like sneaking, running and jumping look weird out of context, so I want to give her a set to act in. Yeah, I recall the tedium ,also, of doing those type of models too. I remember using that duplicator plug-in in A:M for some of it (somehow) which cut down on the time it took to create. The results were worth it in your render here. Not to steal the thread here but, here's the one I did, just to illustrate the/your point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelley Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Were you trying to build it as one large single piece? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackjack_Davie Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 Yah. the sewer grate is one piece. I was playing around with the idea of using cutter bones to nock out the holes in the metal, but i scrapped that idea and just went with one piece of geometry. Lol, I don't mind other people placing their work on my threads, it all serves the goal of furthering the community right? Though, you need a grill. charcoal'd be nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brainmuffin Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Couldn't you have saved a TON of time just making the image map in Photoshop? I think I could knock that out in like twenty minutes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackjack_Davie Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 probably. But I do want one grate model that can be manipulated by a character. I'll try. . . eventually. . . to remodel it using 4 point patches instead of 5 pointers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veehoy Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 The result after 5 minutes work, imported through the Illustrator wizard. The splines doesn´t look to good but renders without any artifacts so if you want clean them up it`s your choice. At least a better starting point than doing it all from scratch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelley Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Nice grate, but Blackjack's corners are all rounded. I think that made the difference. I too, thought of making an elongated cube and replicating them. But I don't think that's what B.D. was shooting for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veehoy Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Well, wouldn´t be much of a problem making it with more rounded corners in Illustrator so it would still be the way I would go about it. Edit: A picture says more than yadiyadiyada........got some artifacts here due to triangular patches.....still a very good starting point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heyvern Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 I find using copy/flip/attach to be a wonderful time saver with models like this. I only create one section and c/f/a it several times to create the final object. For instance create one section of the grate with one "hole" and c/f/a till I get as many sections as needed for one side, attach one corner, cfa that complete quarter section across, cfa for the whole thing down. I've done this before so that even if I don't like the completed model I just break the splines and delete 3/4 of the object, make tweaks, do it again. I have to admit that the AI import is really really... really fast. Even if you have to clean up some spline connections it is faster than other methods. -vern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackjack_Davie Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 How did you make the rust material? plated plug in with one of the atributes being a turbulance mat? Also, what's this Illustrator plug in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veehoy Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 That rust material is just something I threw on, it´s one of the Darktree shaders, you`ll find it under Shaders-Metal: http://www.darksim.com/html/downloads.html. Believe it was Rusty Steel. The Illustrator plugin is the AI wizard (Adobe Illustrator), right-click in a model window-plugins/wizard/AI. Locate your Illustrator file, these were just imported with the default settings. And like Heyvern said, some clean up may be necessary..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacman Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 To help some with the annoyingly vague answer about Adobe Illustrator. Adobe Illustrator is a stand alone program that costs about $600 or you can get the entire CS3 Package for about $2,500. You create vector graphics which can then be imported to AM. It's nice to recommend another alternative but please provide more information about what you are doing. Not everyone has that kind of cash to toss around. Wade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackjack_Davie Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 If your a college student or know a college student, you can get the CS (creative suite) package for $600. I comes in 2 varieties that I know of. Web suite which has Photoshop, Illustrator, In design, go live, flash, shock-wave and dream weaver. Then there's the movie package which has illustrator, photoshop, premiere after effects. . . and others, i have the web suite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veehoy Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Sorry for the annoyingly vague answer, but if one look closer at what was actually written one might probably forgive me for the mistake of misreading his post. Not all here speak native english...... or is as intelligent as others. As far as the subject of Illustrator goes, you might consider having a look at http://www.inkscape.org/, I do believe it has AI export and is free so it should leave you with some cash to toss around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heyvern Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 I don't think your answer was vague at all Veehoy. Anyone who uses computers for graphics and doesn't know what Adobe Illustrator is (even if they don't own it or use it) has been living under a rock for 20 years. Not all answers like that require a detailed response. That's what the internet is for. 20 year anniversary of Illustrator 88. Happy Birthday! Man I miss Mac OS 6. -vern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacman Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Sorry I am having a bad day and took it out on the wrong peeps. Wade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veehoy Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 No problem, Sacman. We all have days like that And Heyvern......I miss a Mac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackjack_Davie Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 any of you ever got the email with Illustrator 1.0? lol, One of my co workers sent it to me a while back, to think, the first illustrator was only 800k? wow well, here's a test render of the structure I'm using as a scene for my space epic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brainmuffin Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 If I'm not mistaken, though, you can create something with photoshop splines and export it as an .ai file. I'm fairly certain I've done this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heyvern Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 Yes, you can export paths from Photoshop as Illustrator format and they can be imported to A:M. I've done this before. However I know that the latest versions of Photoshop have a new type of vector support for Illustrator format ("Smart" layers? Or something like that). I don't have that version of Photoshop so I'm not sure if the exports will work the same. -vern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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