Old 03-09-2008, 06:45 PM   #1
lossfound
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Default 3d rendering for idiots?

I've played around with hacking a few skins, and would like to make a novelty skin that no one will ever use in a million years.

One thing it needs is solid gold faders.

Really crappy looking solid gold faders.

I've picked up on context clues that a few folks (White Tie!) do the 3d thing either as a hobby or a dayjob. I tried to figure out Max and all that about ten years ago; the desire died even faster than the time I got that flamin' hot personal-ad response from a girl who turned out to be a Republican.

Yes, I know Blender is out there, I've toyed with it too, but I don't know if I have the time to figure it out just to make some crappy looking solid gold faders for a novelty skin that no one will ever use in a million years.

So- is there a good quick 3d rendering app out there for schmoes who just need to generate a few crappy looking solid gold faders?
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Old 03-09-2008, 07:28 PM   #2
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Uh, wouldn't it be easier (assuming the only thing you're going to 3d-ify is the faders) to just use a raster editor like Photoshop/PhotoFiltre? Do a little highlight & shadow for the 3d look, throw a crappy looking gold gradient in the mix, bang! you're done.

Also, check this thread out re: novelty themes. Just sayin' ...
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Old 03-09-2008, 07:38 PM   #3
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You're probably right, but I would like a little custom embossing on the faders too if I can pull it off.

Are you saying there is a greater need right now for a 70s-porn theme than the one I have in mind? There is in fact a somewhat close relationship.

In any event, I don't mind wasting a little time or even a moderate amount of time to make myself laugh. A lot of time? Yeah. I mind that.
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Old 03-10-2008, 03:22 AM   #4
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Default Adobe Illustrator

Hi - Adobe Illustrator allows you to extrude basic shapes into a 3D form... its a lot easier than Max. Only issue is that you have a vector file, but you can always import to Photoshop.
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Old 03-10-2008, 11:13 AM   #5
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http://forms.caligari.com/forms/ts3all_free.html

Caligari TrueSpace 3.2. Free and very easy to use.
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Old 03-10-2008, 12:51 PM   #6
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That's a GOOD tip... handy to know... thanks!
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Old 03-10-2008, 05:20 PM   #7
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Hey, thanks to both y'all. I knew Illustrator could do 3d extruding but I can't even get the thing to apply the color gold consistently, even though it'll show it to me. Also, I suck at the Illustrator pen, horribly. Ten years now and I can still barely draw a circle with it.

TrueSpace used to be a big deal - I thought it was supposed to be hard too - but I'll give that a go too, it looks like fun.
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Old 03-10-2008, 05:34 PM   #8
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Maybe this one:

http://www.blender.org/

Don't use this one myself, but I've heard people have had decent results doing graphical, concept-ID stuff with it.
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Old 03-10-2008, 06:11 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lossfound View Post
TrueSpace used to be a big deal - I thought it was supposed to be hard too - but I'll give that a go too, it looks like fun.
Nah. Very intuitive. It's like the Reaper of 3d apps. The 3.2 is a very old version but it's excellent for basic 3d rendering.
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Old 03-10-2008, 06:33 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by carbon View Post
Maybe this one:

http://www.blender.org/

Don't use this one myself, but I've heard people have had decent results doing graphical, concept-ID stuff with it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lossfound View Post
Yes, I know Blender is out there, I've toyed with it too, but I don't know if I have the time to figure it out just to make some crappy looking solid gold faders for a novelty skin that no one will ever use in a million years.


Blender looks way, way cool, but whenever I've installed it it takes me approximately 3 minutes to realize I have no idea what I'm doing and probably never will. I hope to have some excuse to figure it out someday, but a couple of faders that will end up about 20x30px on screen are probably not it.

Last edited by lossfound; 03-10-2008 at 06:38 PM.
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Old 03-11-2008, 01:15 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lossfound View Post


Blender looks way, way cool, but whenever I've installed it it takes me approximately 3 minutes to realize I have no idea what I'm doing and probably never will.
3 weeks to 3 years would be probably more like it.
Although I think you can make a decent rendering of the faders at the end of the first week.
Usually tutorials is the way to go if you're a beginner.
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Old 03-11-2008, 01:36 AM   #12
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Anyone using Real Draw ? Seems good:

http://mediachance.com/realdraw/index.html
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Old 03-11-2008, 04:49 AM   #13
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I would say that starting out in theming by working in 3D, which would require learning a 3D app first could well be inadsvisable and inefficient to an almost insane degree. If you can draw something on a bit of paper, you can do it with 2D tools in your computer, even if you start out by doing draw / scan / trace. I recommend doing it in a vector editor because the editability means you can tweak till it looks good; try Inkscape.

A standard Reaper button is 20 pixels square; just 400 pixels in all which is very very few to be able to describe the effect you want and it be clear and detailed, so its very helpful to have absolute control over what pixel goes where. That's easy in a bitmap editor, a little harder in a good vector editor, almost impossible in 3D. If you render big, crop and scale down it'll look roughly the same, in a blurry indistinct way, and you might well find yourself thinking "huh - I'd have done better if I'd just drawn those pixels in by hand".

I've used a lot of 3D applications over the years, now I just use Blender. Its not perfect, but is capable of absolutely stunning results and if you're just starting out I contend that you'll find that the community, support, documentation, community scripts and tutorials place it head and shoulders above the competition. You need to get over the big first hurdle of its slightly nutty interface, but do the Noob to Pro and you'll be flying. I've seen people getting great results within weeks, but as with any 3D app its a big learn; don't go 3D unless you're motivated, patient and sure you need to, would be my advice.
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Old 03-11-2008, 04:13 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by White Tie View Post
I would say that starting out in theming by working in 3D, which would require learning a 3D app first could well be inadsvisable and inefficient to an almost insane degree. If you can draw something on a bit of paper, you can do it with 2D tools in your computer, even if you start out by doing draw / scan / trace. I recommend doing it in a vector editor because the editability means you can tweak till it looks good; try Inkscape.
Hey WT - yes, I agree with you re: the sanity of all this. My original post was to ask if there were any really basic 3D apps geared not so much toward complex, completed landscapes / scenes / animation and such, but more toward just quick and obvious modeling of simple, singular objects.

All this said, I tried TrueSpace last night and found it unbelievably unintuitive, at least for what I was hoping to do to begin with; I went out and tried Blender again, this time with some of the tutorials (including the one you cited), and while there's clearly a degree of counterintuitiveness and a serious learning curve there (and accordingly a return-on-investment to consider seriously as it would pertain to THIS particular "project"), I think it might not be so bad as I've long thought. Might be really fun to learn over the summer in any event.

So while you're here, I know from the Olga thread that Blender was used for the interface there - for your own themes are you mostly shying away from that approach in favor of vector software (even bitmap editors, which although you have a great point absolutely makes me shudder)... or do you just use whatever is called for? I'm mainly curious as your work looks great.
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Old 03-11-2008, 08:46 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by White Tie View Post


I've used a lot of 3D applications over the years, now I just use Blender. Its not perfect, but is capable of absolutely stunning results and if you're just starting out I contend that you'll find that the community,...

Tell it Doctor! You da MAN!!!
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Old 03-11-2008, 09:36 PM   #16
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Not to throw too much more into the mix, but I've used Anim8or for creating 3D objects before. It's a fairly simple freeware 3d modeling and animation program that's been around for a number of years and is still being actively developed. You can get it at anim8or.com

But really as WT said, you can do a LOT of "pseudo 3D" stuff with a good paint/2d graphics program such as Paint.Net or Inkscape, both free or donationware.

cheers
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Old 03-16-2008, 08:31 PM   #17
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Hey lossfound, now that you've got your faders are you gonna do this theme and post it? Any time I read something like
Quote:
...a novelty skin that no one will ever use in a million years
(twice, no less) my curiosity is piqued :P
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Old 03-17-2008, 06:33 AM   #18
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What? Nobody using POV?
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Old 03-17-2008, 06:10 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by adlaius View Post
Hey lossfound, now that you've got your faders are you gonna do this theme and post it? Any time I read something like (twice, no less) my curiosity is piqued :P
That depends. My next problem: I need to find a suitable image of a... well, let's call it a "sheet" of diamonds. Why, may you ask?



I've been looking for a suitable .jpg for the better part of two weeks. And, y'know, done other stuff too.
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