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qin shi
21
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Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: Germany
Posted: 27th Aug 2002 16:19
Hello,

I would like to animate a model for a lot of different movements (not necessarily 'on the fly').
But if I have to move every limb seperately it will take too much time (and probably look strange).
The feature list says bones are possible.
Does DBPro contain a modeling programme capable of bones animation?
If not: Do you know any cheap programmes available that you can recommend?

Thank you.

Chris
GamzMan
21
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Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: M25
Posted: 27th Aug 2002 17:25
You could use Milkshape, it has allot of features and is easy to use. It also exports in MD2, MD3 and DirectX 8 format (all of which support bones and can be used in DBP)

http://www.swissquake.ch/chumbalum-soft/

Download the 30 day trial and if you like it buy it for only US $20 or EUR 25

The smart one is always the quiet one
AlecM
21
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Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: Concord, MA
Posted: 27th Aug 2002 19:45
It would be best to animate and model in a seperate package. somecost ALOT of money, others are free.

best free programs:
Gmax
Truespace 3 SE

Best expensive programs:
3dsmax ($3400)
Lightwave (in the thousands)
Truespace 4,5, or 6 ($149-$500 on a good day)
MAYA (you cant afford this)

Truespace is your best bet if your on a budget. if you sign up for the caligari (makers of truespace) news letter you will recieve some good offers. I own 4 and 5 and each only cost me $149. Truesace can aslo do everything you will need and its very easy to learn.

Goto http://www.shellshockede.com
Mike
21
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Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 28th Aug 2002 02:39
Hi

MAYA (you cant afford this) - Haha, spot on there m8
Truespace 4,5, or 6 ($149-$500 on a good day) - Actually TSpace 3 was given away free with like a $50 upgrade to TS 5 with it !!

Mike

VapourNET.com
Web Technology Experts
qin shi
21
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Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: Germany
Posted: 28th Aug 2002 02:57
@ Ectto X
I will surely download Milkshape.
The screenshots on their site look very promising.
Thank you very much.

@ FroggermonSSE
thank you for your list of programs.
I haven't looked up all of them yet, except for MAYA of course.
No, you are right, I can't afford it.
I will have a closer look at Truespace 5.
You use it and reviews are also favourable
Judging by what they wrote, $150 would certainly be justified.
While looking for it I also found www.3dlinks.com
Lots of information about 3D.

@Mike
Thanks for the hint, I will look for an upgrade then.

Chris
Silver Thread
21
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Joined: 28th Aug 2002
Location: Australia
Posted: 28th Aug 2002 16:49
what about Poser
it has a decent price tag and it imports and exports all populer formats. [url]www.curiouslabs.com[/url]

bisse_m
21
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Joined: 27th Aug 2002
Location: Sweden
Posted: 29th Aug 2002 00:15
I think you should try Character FX, it's a shareware 3d program just for animation and I've heard it really good. And it's also cheap, only 15$!
http://www.insanesoftware.de/

But I havn't tested it myself yet...

GamzMan
21
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Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: M25
Posted: 29th Aug 2002 00:40
Silver Thread Poser is no good for character modelling for games. The models are too detailed and have too many polys, it would slow your game down soooo much.

The smart one is always the quiet one
Silver Thread
21
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Joined: 28th Aug 2002
Location: Australia
Posted: 29th Aug 2002 13:43
Ectto , poser is not a modeler its animator so pollys can be low or high it all depends on the mesh you load into it

Anything else?
MrTAToad
21
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Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 29th Aug 2002 15:37
If your a student you could always get the Student version of a graphics package - Got Cinema 4D XL7 for £120

Yes, I really am THAT good...
qin shi
21
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Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: Germany
Posted: 30th Aug 2002 00:57
Obviously the term bones is used without a clear distinction between just being of help in generating the frames or if they are finally also supported by the 3D engine (thus helping to save a lot of frames).

I understand that many programmes are offered at a lower price (f.e. Truespace or student versions) but then they lack the possibility to use them commercially. On the other hand I would have the chance to upgrade them in the future.

Obviously there also are better special offers in the USA and GB than in Germany (sigh!). I could not find Truespace 3 for free with a cheap upgrade opportunity. (I think $50 for such a programme would be a real bargain.)

Poser 4 has the special price of EUR 216 at the moment.
But unless you are sure that this is really the programme you need, it can be quite a lot of money for a student. I will keep it in mind nevertheless.

Character FX and Milkshape seem to be good for a start with not too much money at stake. I think they might even complement each other.

Thank you for your suggestions.
You helped me a lot.

Chris
AlecM
21
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Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: Concord, MA
Posted: 30th Aug 2002 01:30
truespace can be used commercially, very easily too. it exports directly to X

Goto http://www.shellshockede.com
qin shi
21
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Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: Germany
Posted: 30th Aug 2002 02:56
Truespace 6 costs $600, TS5 $400, both commercial.
The (recent) $150 version of TS5 is non-commercial.
Truespace looks very attractive to me, but even $400 are too much for me right now. I will keep my eyes open, though.

Chris
Simple
21
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Joined: 28th Aug 2002
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 30th Aug 2002 15:57
I am using CharacterFX .... it's an excelent program and easy to use.

Spec - AMD Athlon 1000mhz - 256mb DDR - Gforce2mx 400 TV out - 30gb HD - 19" Compaq - DVD rom - CDRW - Firewire - ATI TV card - All linked to another PC with higher spec
Lampton Worm
21
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Joined: 4th Sep 2002
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 4th Sep 2002 20:07
Here here. I used CharFX, wonderful program, obviously written by animators not modellers.. if and when I get DBP I'll register CharFX. Sooooo... models in DB.. you can make a skeleton and then tie the mesh to the bones so the skin stretches ? Groovy. Most of my models at the moment have very obvious limbs Will DBP merge animations, i.e. if you're in a walking anim will it smooth to a rolling anim or does it just "jump" straight to it ?

Cheers.
Steverino
21
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Joined: 27th Aug 2002
Location: United States
Posted: 9th Sep 2002 07:54
I have trueSpace 4.3, and I found it very buggy when making .X models. Textures that look perfect in tS are upside down when you load the model into DB. Limb hierarchies that animate fine within tS move all screwy once the model is in DB.

I spent $300 on it, and the idea that I have to fork over another $150-300 for an upgrade in order to finally get the basic functionality I bought it for really burns me up.

Writing toy for surrealists -- http://www.iconpoet.com
AlecM
21
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Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: Concord, MA
Posted: 11th Sep 2002 23:43
qin shi:
Sign up for there news letter and wait for special offers. got both ts5 and ts4.3 for $149 each


steverino: truespace's mapping cords are a little wierd, just flip the texture once.

Goto http://www.shellshockede.com
Steverino
21
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Joined: 27th Aug 2002
Location: United States
Posted: 12th Sep 2002 05:18
Flipping works okay for leopard spots, but for precisely positioning a face on a head it doesn't do the trick. I seem to recall that 3D Explorer could convert one of the tS formats into DB-friendly .X models, though.

I do like trueSpace for animation, though. If they've fixed the .X handling in tS5/tS6, it would be a reasonable choice for an all-in-one solution.

Writing toy for surrealists -- http://www.iconpoet.com
qin shi
21
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Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: Germany
Posted: 12th Sep 2002 23:43
@ Froggermon

I took your advice serious and searched the whole site of Caligari for a newsletter. Unfortunately I couldn't find any.
If you know where it is, please tell me. Maybe I am blind, but there doesn't seem to be a newsletter any more.

Chris
AlecM
21
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Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: Concord, MA
Posted: 13th Sep 2002 22:56
if you sign up for any trial versions they have an option

Goto http://www.shellshockede.com
Dr Av
21
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Joined: 16th Sep 2002
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 17th Sep 2002 20:28
I got milkshape a few months back, once you get used to it it's really good... The biggest drawback it that lack of boolean operations.

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