I have been using Wings 3D and I dont know if I like it or not. I think i like meshwork 3D a little better. I would like to start learning 3D animation so I know what to do when I get in collage. I also want to be a 3D artist. I am only 15 and I have four years to learn 3D. When I get to collage, the three main programs most collages will be offering are 3D studio Max and Maya. I never see any collages that use lightwave. I don't think I could afford Maya. But anyways I might purchase meshwork 3D just to kind of get started. Or before I purchase lightwave, maybe one of these programs would do me good:

Amapi 3D

Carrara Studio

Animation Master: 2003

Pixels 3D

Cinema 4D

Are any of those programs good to learn 3D and decent for game development? I just want a program to learn before I buy lightwave. If I start getting really good with meshwork 3D, well I be able to make better low-poly models in lightwave and would I get a good idea of how to use lightwave if I learn meshwork?

~jack

Wasn't all that mouse button thing fixed by 10.2.5???

Maybe???
Or maybe your wacom drivers interfere?

Quote:Originally posted by codemattic
really! how did you manage that?

I don't think I did anything special. :o

Right now I'm using a Logitech Wheel Mouse and 10.2.6, but the extra buttons have always worked, through several builds of both OS X and Wings.

Did you get the April Wacom driver update? The Read Me does mention some mouse-button-related enhancements. I don't have the mouse, so I couldn't say if those enhancements solve this particular problem, but it's probably worth a shot.

Hows about you Wings 3D users open a Wings 3D Thread?!?!

I'm rolling the Meshwork one, but I'm interested in Wings too, so lets get a discussion going in its own place?

I have a few questions that shouldn't get buried in this thread... it says "3D Animation Software" and I didn't see any animation in Wings.

Quote:Originally posted by snickrep
When I get to collage, the three main programs most collages will be offering are 3D studio Max and Maya.

Three thoughts:

1. If you want to get into collage, you might start out with paper and other physical materials before moving into the digital realm. Explore artists like Robert Rauschenberg or Max Ernst.

2. It's good to get a head start, but colleges will be more interested in your writing and, um... math skills than in your proficiency in a 3D app.

I don't need to learn how to draw... because I already know how to. I have won first place in a art contest of 2001, then second for 2002, and first again this year. If I couldn't draw I wouldn't want to be a 3D artist because being a 3D artist requires you to be able to sketch a character on paper before you model on computer. Maybe sometime I can show ya some of my art.

Never mind.

Good luck.

I am not sure what I want to do though. Should I buy meshwork 3D, then another 3D package around $50-300, then lightwave or should I buy a low cost 3d package and then lightwave. What is Animation Master:2003, Cinema 4D GO, Universe 3D, Carrara Studio, Amapi 3D, and strata like? Are they any good?

Yeah Snickrep, show us!!
Don't have a web site?

Email me from here (see link below post),
then when I reply you can email me some
files, I'll post to my idisk and post the link
in a new thread to discuss the art.

By the way, even though I have an art education
I NEVER sketch any models before making them.
My pencil skills have gone to hell in since starting
a professional graphics career, 10 years ago,
it just wasn't required to get paid.

But there is definately a benefit to having reference
material, like a sketch, but I find the internet full
of refrence material, making the pencil unneccesary.

Here is an example of JeroMiya's concept doodle turned into 3D. I used our game engine's mesh modeling features for 90% of the work, finished off in Meshwork.

Doodle at top, 3D in OpenSceneGraph at bottom of page.

and here it is textured in iGame3D

I simply traced the birds side view and went from there.

Quote:Originally posted by snickrep
What is Animation Master:2003, Cinema 4D GO, Universe 3D, Carrara Studio, Amapi 3D, and strata like? Are they any good?

I'd stay away from Animation Master; from what I hear, it's horribly buggy and the customer support is terrible. Universe is great, although the modeler has some idiosyncrasies that take a while to get used to. I'm not sure what the differences are between Cinema 4D GO and the XL version, but if they aren't anything major then that would be a good choice as well. iDevGames hosts an older version of Amapi for free, which is probably worth looking at (amapi.idevgames.com).

very cool! I would love to show you some artwork, but most of my work is at home. I am at school right now(boarding school). When I come home in a few weeks for summer, I will show you. I won't forget . Also, what is this igame3D? Is this a free game engine? Is it easy to use?

Quote:Originally posted by snickrep
Also, what is this igame3D? Is this a free game engine? Is it easy to use?

iGame3D is the evolution of Tobias Opfermann's T3D engine/editor. It comes in flavors, Lite (free) and Pro (license).If I ever get back to work on the manual for the Pro version I plan to publish a book and include the software in that. 18 pages of scripts and comments so far...only touched on one simple game I'm making up as I go along, haven't even put in graphics (in the book) yet!

Since the last update something broke between the various versions and I've been too busy updating Antack to check into what works and what doesn't. Tobi has been busy studying for a ten page math test, two more months and he'll be free from school.

You can start using the older T3D version now, and beta test Antack for me at the same time .
Antack Beta v2 051703

Follow the big T3D icon to the Read Me & How To's
Ignore the download links on that page. The instructions should be about 95% relevant to the new and upcoming versions.

Is it easy? I sure hope so, but I invented it so its hard to be objective about that, you tell me.

Ok I have to update the Antack GUI for all the new options.
Email me any questions/comments.

what software do you use to make your games?

Meshwork and Photoshop for models, bones and textures. (iGame3D Pro too, now with scriptable mesh drawing!)
Primarily I use .png files for reduced size.
Textures are limited to 256x256 due to people having low end video cards and running in millions of colors. Else I've had textures that were something like 2000x1024 or more pixels, without a hitch on 16mb video cards.

iGame3D (T3D Edit) for animation/poses of models.

Quicktime Pro and Graphic Converter for building animations (.mov). Also Final Cut Pro for fancy effect animations, but I haven't had need or time for many anims yet. One big explosion does nicely so far.

Any old text editor that saves plain text files will do for scripts. (damn that .rtf extension from TextEdit, I had to throw that app away to keep it from messing with my files!). So I use CodeWarrior or BBEDIT mostly for the text. But the SimpleText that comes with Apple's Dev Tools does nicely. Project Builder will work as well, but thats a lot more application than necessary. (join ADC and download dev tools now!)


I use rpl in UNIX to do massive text find and modify updates to thousands of files in a single command when necessary (only recently). God I love that thing!

I think thats it.

OK must get to that GUI!

After I learn to use meshwork I would like to learn a more advanced software. Mainly for game design. What are some good low-budget or expensive software?