afecelis wrote:hey Vermeer! Long time!
Sorry for disappointing you, but it's a default model in max5
But I'm really improving my modeling techniques both in blender as in wings!!!! I'm trying to learn new stuff besides level editing to improve my all-around skills. It might still take me some 10 years to become as good as you though, heheheheh =D
yep, but where I'll be for then...
I was joking...
No, really, I expected you capable of such progress, seing how fast did you learn Blender from not knowing even the package to the level you aquired...lol...it shows how little attention do I put to the sample models included in the packages...I never open them...
BTW, I like Max now...has been my animation and overall tool for last times at companies...Now more than I discovered at work for time pressure , loads of tricks, I finally can work non linearly in max...
Anyway, is not...my favourite baby... It is Wings...
And after that, Metasequoia, and Ultimate Unwrap... and then Blender... In the free field. I started to like *a lot* Blender for character animation since a while...I'd like Blender though to improve a bit in materials and rendering stuff...
Blender is really a strange case...extremely advanced but being so apart from standards, lacks some features really old and basic in...*all* the other packages...smooth groups are in much limited packages...Metasequoia and Anim8or...You can say safely that they're less powerful than Blender...but...hey, they have an autosmooth, a real autosmooth (the blender feature is not that) for apply an angle (ie: 60º) to at least be able to apply so...If u modeled counting on...a 75º angle of smoothing...in original modeler...u can then restore the autosmooth exact angle in the final software, even if the smoothing was lost in some conversion...is not the ideal, but at least would be a deal... Ideal is...be able to set manually hard edges or smooth groups... Splitting vertices solution is no good for many game engines, plus increases performance cost, and more time doing the art...
Really...I asked for widgets for manipulating bones, for for many other character animation stuff...is arriving all (after many months, but yet don't see a fast pinning object like in xsi, nor 2d Ik chains which behave as expected -no need of adding extra controllers...) but...two of the things I cried for since 2002 when I arrived mor estrongly on the use of Blender, which were smooth groups and multiples Uvs inside Blender, plus lightmapping...arent yet there...havent read those links u put, I'll do now, but thereasons I read often about that are a bit...stuff like blender is not oriented to games...heck, like if...well, all 3d packages are oriented these days to both fields...there may be an exception, Cinema4d, but if you ask me, I see it as a foolish error, loads of suport can come from such a huge comunity...
The autosmooth feature included does not correspond to other softwares values, neither allow certain...smoothness...besides youonly can check in render, not fastly as you model, at least in my knowledge.
About smoothing groups, I think they still haven't been included and I'm not sure if they will ever be included.
"never" is a relative term...is an obvious need, so it will come, even to the pain of certain old blender members... ;D But to me, "never", in practical terms, has already happened...like 4 years since I needed it to consider moedlling in Blender, is enough never for me...Don't get me wrong, I do really like Blender. But that is one of the reason you will hear me so much preferring modelling with Wings (plus the mirai workflow...the He mesh mode in Blender hasn't advanced more, but would be a good chance...)
well, if at least they invent a way to port smoothing info from wings-->blender--->export ...I'll have no issue inconsdering less xsi and more blender for game character anims...
It's curious the package has even physics, gamebledner is really advancing, and all but...no smooth groups or multiple uvs...
some definitely say it's not the way to go.
Tell that to all AAA games in the market... :DDD
Or to...max, maya,xsi,cinema,milkshape,wings,lightwave,etc,etc,etc,etc....
lol is a very very old pro feature...
I think they have took it like a defy from game developers wanting their flag or terrain..a bit..well...
Luckily I know well there are others, very old users too, in the same thinking than I am , and with influence, which I never had...
Even in some of the main moderators, or visible heads there at blender org...
so, as you say...let's see what happens...I'm not too optimistic, tho...Blender for games could live without lightmaps provided lightmapping is done somewhere else (but I dunno of any lightmapper for linux, for example, maybe is my small knowledge of linux software..) ...but the smooth groups making *and* checking while you model in viewport, is really important for any game art, be it levels, objects, and how much in characters.....
ps. I promise I'll post a textured model I create in wings or blender next time
Tehehe.Come on friend... I know you're very good, don't need to do that
let's see...I havent read, but there was a plugin made by cambo, acted only in export...that option would only be good if imported smoothings from an OBJ and being able to set back at export time...not the solution, as one needs to see well the bendings while rig and animate, and how normals act there, but...still a better situation...
hmmmread that last thread...lol...is an split...I think I prefer just Y splits which was the old way...No need the extra step then...but is good way..it actually separates in objects, breaking the mesh and generating new vertices...I definitely don't like that way...yup, displays the hard edges in viewport...long, less elegant and slower proccess..besides, armatures and x format are usually problematic when coincident new vertices are generated...weights stuff, and the new weight, x format plugins getting messed, etc,etc...But the guy points out at the end a detail...split later not before rigging...the opposite than best way in max (tho there's not that linearity now in max last versions if know some methods) when u need to split... Seems then that if a generated vert is created, if is from an exiting weighted vert the new one would have its weight...I guess...then no probs...unless the x exporter get messed.Which is possible.or the engine itself.
As the other posters in that thread I do really think Wings3d specially has amuch more effective, fast, elegant and practical artist-workflow wise than this...I still think even maya and max methods are slower and have less advantages than wings...in wings u have its terrifically powerful selection system, so you asign a key shortcut for hard edges and smooth egdes another...and bang, paradise.
Imay sound a bit game art geeky, but man, games are moving more money than cinema these days...So I guess is not a field to left behind so much...I am not asking a proper normal maps or gloom effect, or shaders 3.o viewport suppot (check Truespace 7) , which may be comparable to pursuit caustics, etc, in the rendering, which they do... just ask for an old, verrry old Max 1 and probably previous... feature...;D
I knew there was a way, a possibility. Y splitting...but I prefer faster andmore modern methods in this sort of modelling feature...
yet tho, work can be done, is not one of those features that really stop being able to do the stuff...but it is one of those that make me prefer other tools in certain areas...If Blender would be the only free tool in the world, yep, you can do anything with it.
