I prefer modeling in wireframe too, and use a quick render to check
things out. I've been using Realsoft since the Amiga days (3.0 I think)
and back then there were no SDS objects, so I will almost exclusively
use analytics. I generally cannot get SDS to do what I want and I wind
up guessing when the points, edges, faces should be sharp or rounded or
whatever. Once I do have an SDS kind of how I want it, I'm scared to
mess with it. Same with meshes really, I just never sat down and
learned them well enough to be proficient. Of course you would also
think that after 10+ years I'd be a Realsoft expert, but alas I don't
have the luxury of making a living doing graphics and 3D (but I sure
would like to), so it's just a hobby that usually gets the short end of
the time-stick.
Where do I mess with "geo quality"? I have an idea, but I'm not exactly
sure what you're referring to.
> "Oh, yes ... the real answer to "how do I manage these beasts" is
that I know that I have no intention of involving them in animation.
They are all designed to be mural sized prints."
Mural sized? Cool! As for animation, I sure would like to be able to
animate a scene that large (but not at mural resolutions, more like DVD
quality.) The lightcycle animation I'm planning will easily have 1000's
of analytic rectangles that will have to appear over time as the
lightcycles move and leave a "jet wall" behind them. I'm still trying
to even begin working out in my head how I will manage that. I hope
Realsoft is up to the task. I've also always been leery of complex
animations that can only be played backwards using "undo". That really
makes it hard to get things right by experimentation.
I really like your tip about dropping finished parts of a scene into a
folder that's marked real time invisible. I have no idea why I didn't
think of something like that, it's so obvious. Thanks!
Matthew
Neil Cooke wrote:
Thanks for your words Matthew,
Glad the constant/color material is useful. OT: I really like the fade
material in that folder as well.
how you manage
such a large scene?
The simple answer is "painfully". But it's not that bleak. Perhaps the main
feature is to use analytics at every possible point. Surfaces are then
handled with a minimum of bump material work and if reflection and
transparency materials are also held to an absolute minimum so much the
better. Have only one or two lights and only ever have one (main) light with
ray-traced shadows checked.
But where's the fun in that? My current project is as complex as the one's I
pointed you to and it's all SDS and I gave most surfaces a tweaked "brush
steel" material and the folly doesn't end there. I have to render it in
quarters and join it in post but this works superbly in RS so no problem
apart from the days involved. I draw solely in wireframe mode and shift the
viewport ray-trace render to "black and white" with white unchecked for
screen re-draws to see how things are going.
And because I render at fairly substantial pixel counts I follow Vesa's
advice of some time back and play with AA levels, thresholds, etc. Bernie
was shocked that I didnt play with "geo quality" but that was because I
didnt know it existed. And a hint from Chris, I think it was ... keep
TaskManager available because sometimes RS file updates during modelling,
etc, work can take a while, Chris's point was that so long as the RS process
is ticking over it will generally come out the other end Ok.
Oh, yes ... the real answer to "how do I manage these beasts" is that I know
that I have no intention of involving them in animation. They are all
designed to be mural sized prints.
But also I'm still learning. The reason these images are all Analytic is
because for a couple of years I simply did not want anything to do with SDS
or Nurbs. The reason the scenes are so big is that I didn't know they
couldnt be. Etc..
That's my book for the day. Got some ladders to draw.
Neil Cooke
----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthew Hagerty" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, July 01, 2006 2:12 AM
Subject: Re: Changing color of multiple ojects at once?
Thank you all for the suggestions, I think I can make something work
now. Neil's makes the most sense to my brain, so I'll give it a try
first, but I'm certainly going to experiment with everyone's suggestions
if only to better understand the software.
Neil, those images are incredible! Care to share with us how you manage
such a large scene? Do you model parts individually and pull them into
a master scene? I seem to always model and set up my scene in the same
file, probably because Realsoft does not separate the modeler from the
scene/renderer/animator like many other packages (not that it's bad,
just different.) But then again, I've never made a scene as complex as
the one you linked to below.
Matthew
Neil Cooke wrote:
In case this helps ... maybe copy the "color" material from the constant
folder in the materials library and rename it color1, copy again and
call it
color2 etc. ... grab all things that must stay black for example and
assign
them color1, etc. I use this system to create slightly different
coloured
stoneworks in the link below ... the exaggerated colour image is used
for
checking what parts I have assigned etc. Go to the fourth and fifth rows
of
images down on this page:
http://www.neico.co.nz/3d/neico0601.html
I don't know about animating this since I have never needed to look into
it.
I use that constant/color material a lot.
Neil Cooke
----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthias Kappenberg" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, June 30, 2006 5:42 PM
Subject: Re: Changing color of multiple ojects at once?
Hi Matthew,
What's with a identifier or a "user defined channel",
and a material with "if" statement?
Matthias
----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthew Hagerty" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, June 30, 2006 12:48 AM
Subject: Re: Changing color of multiple ojects at once?
Vesa Meskanen wrote:
Hello
I'm not sure how to map "to the scene" and where do I find the
Map2Obj tool? Also, I guess I'm missing how this will let me
quickly
change the color of the various objects of the model that represent
the model's color?
Sorry! My reply was apparently aimed at users who already knew how to
change the colors using map2obj.
The method I described has the following idea: you create a material
(texture map etc). which defines the colors. Material defined color
is
then converted to object colors. After that, objects can be animated
and the color will not change. Using this principle, one can color
thousands of objects in a couple of minutes 'automatically'. I am no
longer sure if this is what you wanted.
Let me try to explain another way. I have a model, a lightcycle
inspired from the movie TRON. The model has about 60 or so objects
that
make it up. Some of objects, like the main body, tires, etc. are a
color such that you would say "that lightcycle is blue, or yellow, or
red", etc.. Now, there are also parts of the lightcycle that are
always
going to be white, some that are black, some that have materials,
etc..
So, to change the "color" of the lightcycle, I currently have to
either
multi-select or individually select each of about 35+ objects and set
the color. I was wondering if there was some way to assign a tag of
some sort, or group the objects that make up the those that define the
"color" of the lightcycle, and change them all at once instead of
individually or multi-selecting all 35+ objects every time.
Matthew
