Hi Garry..
Well all I have been trying to do, is to help out.. as I have tried for many
years...
But apparently I havent been able at all this time.. =(
Sorry if I confused you more with all my writing...
I hope you will get to a point where you can do what you aim for..
Good luck..
PS.
Even if I wasnt at all able to help you in anyway, I really dont think I
deserved some of your writings in the replies to me on this snake topic.. =(
At least it wont inspire me much, to try to help again..=(
DS.
Take Care
Best Regards
Stefan Gustafsson ( Beg-inner )
A Proud Owner and User of Real3D and Realsoft3D..
Hi Garry...
Well I dunno where to start..
Start ? (?)
Stef :
This is sucking the life out me now . Deeper down the rabbit
hole into the bottomless pit . This will also be my last mail on
this elaborate topic . We only have so many heart beats left at
our disposal ...
For me personally, polygonal is less intuitive, since I want
direcly to see how my model will look like in detail and behave
as I go along and model it. (My brain or my way of thinking,
if I have one that is, is working that way) So I always model in
'Smooth' Mode, and only go into Polygonal, when its more easy to
see, for snapping purposes or other.. but almost never for dir-
ectly modeling reasons.., but hey, that might only be me.. we
all are so different...!
I have been looking around and , hasn't Carlo given us a tool to
see a smooth SDS shape while working in polygonal mode ?
Since if one work in Polygonal mode and shall model something
"organic" you really need to add loads of resolution to see what
is suppose to be, and that overshoots the whole idea of SDS (at
least that is how I see it) I see this on models on the net, they
are really really heavy =) I only add resolution on my SDS where
it is needed for the look and also if needed for the part of the
model to be Animated correctly..
I am a beginner . I am suggesting a good way to begin _MAY_ be
to start in polygonal mode to learn SDS then progress from there ?
And did you even try both the Normal 'Scale' Tool with the options
set (s Key) and the 'Scale1D' Tool ?
Yes , of course .
To see that they were the exact same tool !
We are now bordering on the world of madness . This is how it
begins , I'm sure . One simple thing evolving slowly over time
until it becomes an evil life-sucking entity , growing ever
stronger with each cycle of it's existence .
I have related plainly ...
I have provided screen shots
I have given precise descriptions ...
I will not go down that hole again (I-will-not-I-will-not-I-)
Are you sure you dont have all these in your 'Tabbed' Tool-
bar ?? (see attached picture)
(I will leave the door to my apartment unlocked ... someone
please come and kill me)
(or did you just give up since you didnt find the 'Project to an
axis' option ?) I guess RS Team left this out, since 'Scale1D'
is a specialized tool, with that option already set, and not
needed to change it, (if users want to be able to change it,
they can use the "Normal" 'Scale' Tool...)
I can feel myself floating upward , towards the ceiling ... I
can see a hazy reflection of myself there , gazing back at me
through clear chrome eyes ...
Also, I only added the 'Scale1D' Tool as a SECOND way..(or may-
be to be used next time you need to perform exactly the same type
of scaling.. since then you dont need to think about setting any
options at all...just use the tool.) If its confusing if I provide
more than one way, I will stop doing that..
Now , when I even hear the word "snake" I feel vomit well up in-
side me ... where to run ? ... where to hide ? I panic ... I cannot
just puke right here in front of all these women and children !
You say the Nurbs Tools are logical...and the SDS are not..
For some things Nurbs tools are logical, others they arent even an
option..for certain modeling tasks. I dont agree that SDS are not
logical its just a total different way of modeling and as with new
ways of doing things, it has some basic principles to understand...
and there for one really need to do the basic tuts and some of the
good basic tuts that some RS pplalready released a long time ago..
Yes , totally different . For sure tutes are required .
All SDS Primitives´s shapes is clearly shown in 'Polygonal' Mode..
Well , sorry , but I didn't know that .
I think also the Manual (that is in many ways lacking, since many
things of all the tons of tools and features, are just mentioned or
briefly explained) But the SDS part of the manual, covers alot of
how RS SDS works.. and how to use the tools.. Also the Mini Tuts
that some users have provided on basic SDS, are really good...
Yes , that was one of my points . There are a ton of SDS tutes
available to use throughout the 3D world and that from a modeler's
point of view SDS is awesome .
From my point of view , it's a lawnmower that can clip hedges
and shovel snow and pave your driveway and wash your car and take
your wife to the movies and polish your shoes and walk the dog and
dig up a lump of coal and compress it into a shiny diamond and ...
... but I just wanted to pull out a dandelion !
You have many times pointed out how some things needs to be
understood, when working with 3D.. Take the topics.. like GI
and Simulations.. where it sometimes has been silly to even get
some basic things to look right or simulate well..(The discussion
on for instance Simulations has been going on heavily at times..)
Yes . 3D is intense, prolonged concentration of the highest order.
Sometimes , however , it is so very-very nice when you don't have
to concentrate to use something new, something supposedly "powerful" .
To be able to just open it's Tab on the toolbar and create and it
works and there are no "do this this, this , that then that then
this , no wait , oops , we'll fix that in the next version , so
do this for now then that then , hang on , left that part out of
the manual , better go to Forum/Mailist/IRC/stripclub ! "
Then you have stated that it needs some understanding and exper-
imenting to get things to work..and/or look good..sometimes..
Sometimes ? Seriously ? Every freakin' time ! I have 10 Ghz of pure
rendering power but I use it to heat my apartment in the winter .
Some of this depends on if you get the "Aha Feeling" or not, on
the areas that you get this feeling, you can over come many of
the obstacles that, for others that dont get that "Aha Feeling"
they might give up...
The lucky ones walk away . My "aha" will come on my death bed when
the priest asks "if you had it all to do over again , would you
have spent any part of your life , differently ?"
Surely we all want very powerful, but yet easy to use tools,
but there isnt any magic "Do it all" button.. (which I would
be needing at sometimes..=)
This is called "preaching to the choir" (in the english language)
Some parts of RS needs improvements
Ya' think ?
and some new 'Artistic' tools need to be added..
Really ?
But mostly, I have stayed with RS, since I really love the Freedom
it has, to do things in my way..and tons of other ways (this might
be confusing to ppl, but I see it as a strength)
It's advanced S/W . In the early days so much of it was so natural .
Now , we have VSL . Now we have the Gi shader . Now we have Java .
Now we have SDS . Now we have the Choreography window . Now we have
the UV Editor . All very, very powerful (need I complete this sent-
ence or is my point beginning to sink in ?)
The 'Parallel' Tool When applied to a very complex curveyou really
need to consider that you cant click too far from Original curve,
not further than the originals most complex curvey part allow..!
Also most parallel curves I have created that have some problems
can at most times be fixed by for instance adding 1 or more extra
points at problematic areas... and edit those abit...
I only used the 'Parallel tool' to make a tiny point , and that was
that it is perfect _AS IS_ , for certain things , but ...
RPL
Yes ?
Again, I say, I dont think at all SDS and RPL (or any other prog-
ramming language) can be compared in this way, I have really a hard
time to see how SDS can be anything close to as hard as Coding is..
maybe that is just me, and my crap and old C coding in my Amiga days
I used the power of RPL as a metaphor to be applied as a parallel to
SDS . Powerful ? Yes ! (won't bother to complete this sentence either) .
Well I hope you soon will get that "Aha Feeling" for SDS, so you
can start enjoy it.. since its really really cool...!
Yes , Cool-Like-Heroin !
Good Luck
Over n out from the Beg-inners corner
Thanks , but after having my TV connection removed 3 years ago so
I could put more concentration into 2D & 3D stuff , I have just
called today and had them come and hook it up again .
Life is to short to not sit/lay for endless hours sucking in mind-
less drivel while your 10Ghz happily churns away at an infinite
benchmark . Ahh , the smell of a 700 Watt powersupply overheating,
the noise of Dual Xeons , their Intel Windtunnel fans tearing at
the air .
Seinfeld reruns ! Friends ! HBO ! Sports ! The Playboy channel !!
Yes , SDS is wonderfull ! Perfect , just as it is ...
Take Care
Best Regards
Stefan Gustafsson ( Beg-inner )
A Proud Owner and User of Real3D and Realsoft3D..
Thank you very , very much ! You have freed me ! I will leave
the spinning plates to the jugglers from now on .
Cheers & I salute you !
studio
www.niagara.com/~studio
www.studiodynamics.net
