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What should I make?
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These pages are a copy of the official truespace forums prior to their removal somewhere around 2011.
They are retained here for archive purposes only.
What should I make? // Roundtable
Post by J90 // Sep 20, 2008, 8:21pm
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J90
Total Posts: 107
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I can't decide what to model.
Please make some suggestions.
I am not very good at modeling so it would be great to make it suitable for somebody like me. I am not good at texturing either.
Thanks |
Post by W!ZARD // Sep 20, 2008, 9:07pm
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W!ZARD
Total Posts: 2603
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I can't decide what to model.
Please make some suggestions.
I am not very good at modeling so it would be great to make it suitable for somebody like me. I am not good at texturing either.
Thanks
Pick something that's a little challenging but not too challenging. Jacks Organic Modeling Course is an excellent way to start as he shows you step by step how to create a weird fish which gives you an excellent start with getting accustomed to the tools.
Another suggestion - model something you know - your ipod, your cell phone, your house. These simpler types of product will also allow you to get a feel for what the tools can (and cannot) do.
Last suggestion, ask for help here when you get stuck - which you probably will at some stage!! Ask specific questions and you'll receive specific answers.
Hope this help0s |
Post by kena // Sep 20, 2008, 9:50pm
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kena
Total Posts: 2321
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You could also model from the challenges. Make a movie icon, or a fantasy dwelling. or look back at the older challenges and see what you can do with them. They are good practice.
You can also pick a subject and do a google image search and try to model something based on a picture you see. Just one object. Sometimes that one object will give you an idea for a whole scene. |
Post by Breech Block // Sep 21, 2008, 6:36am
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Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
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You've already received some great tips from Wizard and Kena. The only thing I would add is that you may want to model something you own. Being able to physically hold the item you are trying to model can be a great advantage in the early stages. And, IMO, the most important thing is pick something interesting. You are going to be spending a considerable amount of time staring at this thing and unless your really into it you may well get bored\tired of it. Also, you might want to start a thread in the Work In Progress forum. Not only will this help you to focus your commitment, but enable you to receive feedback and encouragement from the rest of the trueSpace community.
HTH |
Post by splinters // Sep 21, 2008, 7:46am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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All good suggestions there. When I was starting out the forums were less 'inviting' to a newcomer(they only seemed that way) and I rarely went there.
I bought 'Inside trueSpace 4' by Frank Rivera and read it cover to cover. I set myself the goal of modelling ordinary objects; a remote control. some keys, an antique tap etc. In doing this you find different ways of creating the shapes, curves, surfaces etc. to do the job and over time you build up a mental library of how a feature or tool can be used to create an element.
After years of practice, you find that you recall those same techniques when creating your own objects and scenes.
In a nutshell; practice makes perfect. Start small but keep at it until you get it right...don't accept 'OK' or 'it looks a bit like it'. Choose a simple object and master recreating it before choosing something more complex.
On a similar note, I thought modelling was the Holy Grail of 3D....but over the years I realise texture, lighting and composition are equally important; sometimes more so!
My texturing still needs work but I would like to think that I have got a good sense of composition and lighting in my images.
The other day, I used HDRI with a student who had spent an hour making a basic model. Dropping that light in there brought it to life and he was amazed. I told him that sometimes I may only spend a few hours modelling/building a scene...but I take two or three times longer composing and lighting it...:D
Hope some of this ramble helps...;) |
Post by seavu // Sep 21, 2008, 8:36am
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seavu
Total Posts: 46
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Start with Cornell boxes. They're easy to make, need all the basics of modeling, fun to light and render, and look good. Try google for examples. |
Post by splinters // Sep 21, 2008, 9:14am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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seavu, I am not sure what a cornell box achieves other than testing out rendering. Often there is a box room with a couple of primitives, often just two cubes.
No disrespect intended, but how will that be a good start for learning to model using the tS toolset?
To quote the wikipedia entry;
"The Cornell Box is a test aimed at determining the accuracy of rendering software by comparing the rendered scene with an actual photograph of the same scene." |
Post by J90 // Sep 21, 2008, 9:34am
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J90
Total Posts: 107
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Thanks everybody for your suggestions.
I will model something that I own. |
Post by RichLevy // Sep 21, 2008, 9:42am
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RichLevy
Total Posts: 1140
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The short cut to modeling:
If you have a digital camera, take a picture of something around you...
Example:
The side of your house
Your car
door
garage
sinning room table
What you need to do in order to get a good picture without that evil perspective distortion is... try as hard as you can to be looking stright at the model head on, make sure your shoulders are parallel to the object, that you get 100 % coverage for the entire object... than click the shutter.
Tips:
do not stand too far back, you want the texture for this object to cover as much of the screen as is possible.
Be careful about the time of the day you choose to take the picture, shadows are bad, and too much sunlight causes blown out highlights. Take the picture when the object is in nice even lightsing.
Bring the texture/picture into TS, place it on a cube or plane than start to model it in using the Add edges Tool... When you finish you will have learned how to create nice models in TS that you can use to populate your 3D environments fast, quick and easy. This technique can be as easy or as complicated as you choose, it's up to you on how far you choose to push it.
Rich |
Post by seavu // Sep 21, 2008, 2:06pm
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seavu
Total Posts: 46
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splinters, Of course the "official" Cornell box is of no interest. I was thinking of the modified ones you see on galleries like the Indigo/Luxrender/Yafray websites (and should have said so). A few of them are amazing, like filled with water and so on. So I would add it's a chance to get creative too. I did one in ts and learned all kinds of technical things about flipping faces, adding unique materials to a mesh, texturing. This is modeling at it's simplest but punch a hole in the wall and add a window, add some cloth to a box for a sofa and you have an architectural model. You'll have to figure out how to do those things, but that's the point. |
Post by J90 // Sep 21, 2008, 4:34pm
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J90
Total Posts: 107
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splinters, Of course the "official" Cornell box is of no interest. I was thinking of the modified ones you see on galleries like the Indigo/Luxrender/Yafray websites (and should have said so). A few of them are amazing, like filled with water and so on. So I would add it's a chance to get creative too. I did one in ts and learned all kinds of technical things about flipping faces, adding unique materials to a mesh, texturing. This is modeling at it's simplest but punch a hole in the wall and add a window, add some cloth to a box for a sofa and you have an architectural model. You'll have to figure out how to do those things, but that's the point.
ok, I modeled a simple sofa |
Post by noko // Sep 21, 2008, 7:51pm
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noko
Total Posts: 684
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Looks good to me, like how you broke it down into different sections. The cloth drop on top looks really good and realistic, is that using cloth feature in WorkSpace? Plus it looks like you rough up the sofa pillows, in other words they don't look like perfect resized cubes. |
Post by J90 // Sep 22, 2008, 9:23am
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J90
Total Posts: 107
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Looks good to me, like how you broke it down into different sections. The cloth drop on top looks really good and realistic, is that using cloth feature in WorkSpace? Plus it looks like you rough up the sofa pillows, in other words they don't look like perfect resized cubes.
Thanks.
I used the workspace cloth simulation for the cloth, both cushions, and both arm rests. and darktree shaders.
Modeling it took a few minutes. To get the cloth effects well times a few minutes by at least 20 and that is about how long it took. |
Post by noko // Sep 22, 2008, 1:36pm
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noko
Total Posts: 684
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Sounds like you know what you are doing in tackling a modeling problem. Break it down into bite size steps, work them one at a time until project is finished. Except in 3d seems like no project is ever finished, always something more to add :D. |
Post by TomG // Sep 23, 2008, 8:15am
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TomG
Total Posts: 3397
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Nicely done! I really like the rumples and wrinkles in the cloth and in the sofa itself, definitely a feature often missed in 3D work of objects of this kind.
Tom |
Post by Steinie // Sep 23, 2008, 8:25am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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Nice job j90.
Of course you realize that was step one in realism?
Step two is adding patterned material.
Step three is dog hair.
Step four is candy, gum wrappers, cereal, cracker crumbs and unknown creatures under the cushions.;)
Keep up the nice work! |
Post by J90 // Sep 23, 2008, 8:27am
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J90
Total Posts: 107
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Thanks Noko, Tom , and Steinie for complements.
That Cloth simulation sure works for thinks like cushions and other things like a flat or half flat ball. The arm rest cushions slid off the arm rests though. I was wanting to get them more worn or less puffy looking but adding cloth constraints caused the cloth to come alive. In a sense that they didn't want to be placed there.
Nice job j90.
Of course you realize that was step one in realism?
Step two is adding patterned material.
Step three is dog hair.
Step four is candy, gum wrappers, cereal, cracker crumbs and unknown creatures under the cushions.;)
Keep up the nice work!
I can't find or come up with a good patterned material. The leather looking material doesn't even look like leather .
I would like to replace the shaders with an actual tiled pattern so I can render it with dribble :D
Dribble makes it look much better |
Post by frootee // Sep 23, 2008, 8:27am
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frootee
Total Posts: 2667
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wow... that looks like a couch I had a few years ago... where'd you find it? :)
Seriously J90... looks good. I like the fact that you were going for realism here; as Tom pointed out, the 'throw' on the back of the couch looks like it's been ruffled, same as the cushions. They look like they have gotten some good use.
Keep up the good work!
Froo |
Post by J90 // Sep 23, 2008, 8:54am
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J90
Total Posts: 107
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wow... that looks like a couch I had a few years ago... where'd you find it? :)
Seriously J90... looks good. I like the fact that you were going for realism here; as Tom pointed out, the 'throw' on the back of the couch looks like it's been ruffled, same as the cushions. They look like they have gotten some good use.
Keep up the good work!
Froo
Thanks Frootee. :)
Noko said "Except in 3d seems like no project is ever finished, always something more to add ".
It is true, there is far more to do to make this simple couch look better. :D |
Post by noko // Sep 23, 2008, 5:37pm
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noko
Total Posts: 684
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Why of course ;), someone sitting on it and of course inside of a fully decorated room :D.
Just kidding, if one reaches the goal of the piece, that maybe the best time to stop since adding more add on's will sometime loses the original theme. Then again you are also adding to your personal collection of unique models which you will have stashed away for another project. |
Post by J90 // Sep 23, 2008, 5:45pm
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J90
Total Posts: 107
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Why of course ;), someone sitting on it and of course inside of a fully decorated room :D.
Just kidding, if one reaches the goal of the piece, that maybe the best time to stop since adding more add on's will sometime loses the original theme. Then again you are also adding to your personal collection of unique models which you will have stashed away for another project.
Your right. I should add more stuff :D |
Post by Breech Block // Sep 23, 2008, 6:05pm
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Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
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Nice job J90, far better than my first efforts with tS. You also have a good eye for detail. It will be very intresting to watch your images improve as your skills progress. |
Post by J90 // Sep 23, 2008, 7:50pm
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J90
Total Posts: 107
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Here is the couch without any arm cushions or cloth on the back because they won't stay after running the cloth sim.
And a coffee table that took 5 mins to model.
Plus the some ugly carpet
The lighting needs work. I tried HDRI but lighting is blue. I will work on it some more. |
Post by trueBlue // Sep 23, 2008, 8:53pm
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trueBlue
Total Posts: 1761
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I like the first one much better and I was very impressed how you went about creating your first object. You can stop the Cloth Physics Simulation and create a static object out of it. Check the "Continue" attribute in the PhysEngine panel. Stop the simulation when, where, and how you want your mesh to look like. If you want to save a static mesh at this point, enter and then exit Point Editing by right clicking your selected object twice. You can also Flatten it.
http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showpost.php?p=73864&postcount=10 (http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showpost.php?p=73864&postcount=10) |
Post by Steinie // Sep 24, 2008, 1:48am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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That should be in the FAQ |
Post by J90 // Sep 24, 2008, 8:04am
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J90
Total Posts: 107
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I like the first one much better and I was very impressed how you went about creating your first object. You can stop the Cloth Physics Simulation and create a static object out of it. Check the "Continue" attribute in the PhysEngine panel. Stop the simulation when, where, and how you want your mesh to look like. If you want to save a static mesh at this point, enter and then exit Point Editing by right clicking your selected object twice. You can also Flatten it.
http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showpost.php?p=73864&postcount=10 (http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showpost.php?p=73864&postcount=10)
I knew about the "Continue" check box. But I didn't know I have to enter and then PE mode or flatten the history for it to actually stay.
Thanks for the info.
Another small addition. Not yet finished |
Post by seavu // Sep 24, 2008, 8:46am
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seavu
Total Posts: 46
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Nice job on the lamp and light. That looks really good. |
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