Astronaut Tintin
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ElChristou
- Developer
- Posts: 3776
- Joined: 04.02.2005
- With us: 19 years 7 months
maxim wrote:ElChristou wrote:For the scaling, you will have to merge all models in one it's the easier way to do.
No, no, don't do that! I had a vision of Tintin following a XYZ-path while leaving the rocket, stepping down the ladder and walking to the tank.
maxim
Hello Maxim,
I'm quite curious to know how you can do that ?
I discovered Celestia for few months and I'm still suprising by his possibility
Regards,
Sirius A
"Comes one morning when any man wonder about the meaning of its destiny : <Stars, say why ?> and the Heaven answered <why not ?>" -Hank Mc Coy, XMen-
"Comes one morning when any man wonder about the meaning of its destiny : <Stars, say why ?> and the Heaven answered <why not ?>" -Hank Mc Coy, XMen-
lukr wrote:ElChristou wrote:Cool... If you need I have the rocket closed. As it is almost perfect (I have done a great effort to control all curves) why not using it?
Great! Is it the same one as the one I downloaded from the Add-on repository?
Another question. How should I scale Tintin relative to the rocket? Assuming Tintin's height is 180 cm approximately, what would be the height of the rocket? You must have dealt with this problem when you were working on the moonbase.
Hi Lukr,
I'm agree with ElChristou, your work is fantastic
, and your not a beginner !
Regards,
Sirius A
"Comes one morning when any man wonder about the meaning of its destiny : <Stars, say why ?> and the Heaven answered <why not ?>" -Hank Mc Coy, XMen-
"Comes one morning when any man wonder about the meaning of its destiny : <Stars, say why ?> and the Heaven answered <why not ?>" -Hank Mc Coy, XMen-
Ariane wrote:Hello Maxim,
I'm quite curious to know how you can do that ?
I discovered Celestia for few months and I'm still suprising by his possibility
Well, every model can follow a XYZ-path with a defined begin and end. Of course there wouldn't be any arm or leg movements, and fiddling around to get the proper XYZ-coordinates would be quite a bit of a work. But it may be probably a nice litte klimax to watch.
maxim
I got ElChristou's rocket model to include in the scene described above (Thanks BTW). However, I can't find a way to apply the white and red squares texture with cylindrical mapping. Anim8tor only seems to allow planar projections. Does anybody know whether cylindrical mapping is possible in Anim8tor?
I have also been working on Captain Haddock's head. Maybe some screenshots over the weekend...
I have also been working on Captain Haddock's head. Maybe some screenshots over the weekend...
Cylindrical mapping is Anim8or's default when you create a cylindrical or spherical primitive or lathe a spline. I'm guessing that a lathed spline would have been used to create the spacecraft's body because of its shape. As best I can tell, once you've invoked Anim8or's UV mapping, though, only planar mapping is possible.
You might try to learn how to use the freeware version of the program named UVMapper. It's supposed to be quite versatile. http://www.uvmapper.com/
Another method might be to copy the initial model so you have two (or more) objects, one red and one white. Then merge them appropriately.
(Delete polygons from the white model where the rocket is supposed to be red, and from the red one where the rocket is supposed to be white. Then place both at exactly the same coordinates. You can group them, but don't convert them into a single solid. Celestia can't handle that.)
Does this help?
You might try to learn how to use the freeware version of the program named UVMapper. It's supposed to be quite versatile. http://www.uvmapper.com/
Another method might be to copy the initial model so you have two (or more) objects, one red and one white. Then merge them appropriately.
(Delete polygons from the white model where the rocket is supposed to be red, and from the red one where the rocket is supposed to be white. Then place both at exactly the same coordinates. You can group them, but don't convert them into a single solid. Celestia can't handle that.)
Does this help?
Selden
selden wrote:Cylindrical mapping is Anim8or's default when you create a cylindrical or spherical primitive or lathe a spline. I'm guessing that a lathed spline would have been used to create the spacecraft's body because of its shape. As best I can tell, once you've invoked Anim8or's UV mapping, though, only planar mapping is possible.
You might try to learn how to use the freeware version of the program named UVMapper. It's supposed to be quite versatile. http://www.uvmapper.com/
Another method might be to copy the initial model so you have two (or more) objects, one red and one white. Then merge them appropriately.
(Delete polygons from the white model where the rocket is supposed to be red, and from the red one where the rocket is supposed to be white. Then place both at exactly the same coordinates. You can group them, but don't convert them into a single solid. Celestia can't handle that.)
Does this help?
I'll give that a try.
Now suppose, just suppose, that I had already joined different elements of Tintin's astronaut suit into a single solid, could the .obj file be loaded into another more fanciful modeller and be converted into a .3ds file that Celestia CAN handle?
bh wrote:
I mopped up the blood , what do you think?
[img][img]http://img89.echo.cx/img89/6702/haddock9ne.jpg[/img][/img]
Cripes...I hope the good captain is ok...there are laws you know!
I mopped up the blood
, what do you think?
[img][img]http://img89.echo.cx/img89/6702/haddock9ne.jpg[/img][/img]
lurkr,
I'm not quite sure what you're trying to accomplish by translating between obj and 3ds.
Anim8or can load obj and save as 3ds.
My understanding is that obj files don't have any texture information, so Celestia will draw the results all white. You'll still need to use something like UVMapper to color the model.
I'm not quite sure what you're trying to accomplish by translating between obj and 3ds.
Anim8or can load obj and save as 3ds.
My understanding is that obj files don't have any texture information, so Celestia will draw the results all white. You'll still need to use something like UVMapper to color the model.
Selden
Selden,
You mentioned previously that Celestia can handle objects where different elements have been grouped together, but not when they have been joined into a single solid.
Anim8tor unfortunately doesn't make mirrored copies of grouped objects; you have to convert them into a single solid. That's what I did when making Tintin's right 'arm-hand-fingers' from his left original (does that make sense?).
So will that be a problem?
You mentioned previously that Celestia can handle objects where different elements have been grouped together, but not when they have been joined into a single solid.
Anim8tor unfortunately doesn't make mirrored copies of grouped objects; you have to convert them into a single solid. That's what I did when making Tintin's right 'arm-hand-fingers' from his left original (does that make sense?).
So will that be a problem?
Sorry, I was being too concise.
Celestia requires that all of the elements of a solid be colored with the same material. If you merge several solids into one, and if each of them originally was colored with a different material, then Celestia will draw the resulting solid entirely with just one of those materials, which may or may not be what you want.
If you group several solids together, Anim8or will let you do many operations on them as if they were a single solid (although I think there are bugs in the "scale size" operator -- sometimes members of a resized group go flying off to different locations). Celestia still treats each of the members of the group as a separate solid, coloring each with its own material.
You can use copy-and-paste (Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V) to make identical copies of a group. If you need to mirror them, though, like with arms, hands and feet, indeed you have to do it one solid at a time.
I hope this clarifies things a little.
Celestia requires that all of the elements of a solid be colored with the same material. If you merge several solids into one, and if each of them originally was colored with a different material, then Celestia will draw the resulting solid entirely with just one of those materials, which may or may not be what you want.
If you group several solids together, Anim8or will let you do many operations on them as if they were a single solid (although I think there are bugs in the "scale size" operator -- sometimes members of a resized group go flying off to different locations). Celestia still treats each of the members of the group as a separate solid, coloring each with its own material.
You can use copy-and-paste (Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V) to make identical copies of a group. If you need to mirror them, though, like with arms, hands and feet, indeed you have to do it one solid at a time.
I hope this clarifies things a little.
Selden
More help needed...
I have finished the scene with Tintin and Haddock in Anim8tor. It looks just the way I wanted it.
It was perhaps a little naive that I could just export it as .3ds model and use it in Celestia.
Below is a screenshot of just Haddock in orbit around Mother Earth. There are three problems I need help with.
1) If you look at the oxygen bottles, the sides don't look smooth, even though they were nice and rounded in Anim8tor. How do I smooth the angles?
2) In Anim8tor the model's elements are 2-sided. However, in Celestia the inside of the astronaut suit for instance is transparent. How do I fix that?
3) Haddock's face is obviously a mess. I had painted some of the faces black to create a beard while the others were given a skin colour. Can Celestia deal with objects where not all faces have the same colour? If not, any suggestions for the beard?
[img][img]http://img93.echo.cx/img93/9094/haddock0xn.jpg[/img]
[/img]
It was perhaps a little naive that I could just export it as .3ds model and use it in Celestia.
Below is a screenshot of just Haddock in orbit around Mother Earth. There are three problems I need help with.
1) If you look at the oxygen bottles, the sides don't look smooth, even though they were nice and rounded in Anim8tor. How do I smooth the angles?
2) In Anim8tor the model's elements are 2-sided. However, in Celestia the inside of the astronaut suit for instance is transparent. How do I fix that?
3) Haddock's face is obviously a mess. I had painted some of the faces black to create a beard while the others were given a skin colour. Can Celestia deal with objects where not all faces have the same colour? If not, any suggestions for the beard?
[img][img]http://img93.echo.cx/img93/9094/haddock0xn.jpg[/img]
[/img]
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ElChristou
- Developer
- Posts: 3776
- Joined: 04.02.2005
- With us: 19 years 7 months
Hello,
1) as I don't know anim8tor I cannot give you the direct soution... but it's just a question of smoothing angle, you should find this setting without problem. Now the line on the semi sphere (top of the oxygen tank) is a problem with the 3ds format... once in cmod it will disepear.
2)Celestia draw the face depending on the normals... in this case the normals are from inside to outside... so if you invert the normals, you will have the contrary of the actual shoot (all transparent from outside, all visible from inside). One solution in that case is to duplicate the body of the suit, then make it a bit smaller (this mesh will represent the inner part of the suit), then you just have to invert the normals of this mesh to make it visible from inside...
3)You have to make separated elements; beard, face, hair... then apply your colors/textures to each one separatly.
I hope this will help.
bye
1) as I don't know anim8tor I cannot give you the direct soution... but it's just a question of smoothing angle, you should find this setting without problem. Now the line on the semi sphere (top of the oxygen tank) is a problem with the 3ds format... once in cmod it will disepear.
2)Celestia draw the face depending on the normals... in this case the normals are from inside to outside... so if you invert the normals, you will have the contrary of the actual shoot (all transparent from outside, all visible from inside). One solution in that case is to duplicate the body of the suit, then make it a bit smaller (this mesh will represent the inner part of the suit), then you just have to invert the normals of this mesh to make it visible from inside...
3)You have to make separated elements; beard, face, hair... then apply your colors/textures to each one separatly.
I hope this will help.
bye
Slowly getting there...
The move from Anim8tor to Celestia is proving more difficult than anticipated. I fixed the 'transparency' problem with ElChristou's and Selden's suggestions (thanks!). I remodelled the oxygen bottles and they now look acceptable, from a distance...
[img][img]http://img275.echo.cx/img275/7597/haddock36kp.jpg[/img][/img]
Remaining issues:
Weird flickering shadows cast on model (see below)
[img][img]http://img275.echo.cx/img275/6940/haddock14ph.jpg[/img][/img]
Close-ups still show creases. I have tried various settings of the smoothing angles in Anim8tor, but it doesn't seem to be translated into the .3ds export. Is that possible? Similarly, all the materials seem to have the same specular settings. Again, I did set them differently (eg. beard: mat black; helmet shiny++) in Anim8tor.
[img][img]http://img275.echo.cx/img275/5168/haddock25ua.jpg[/img][/img]
Don't worry, eyes and mouth will follow...
[img][img]http://img275.echo.cx/img275/7597/haddock36kp.jpg[/img][/img]
Remaining issues:
Weird flickering shadows cast on model (see below)
[img][img]http://img275.echo.cx/img275/6940/haddock14ph.jpg[/img][/img]
Close-ups still show creases. I have tried various settings of the smoothing angles in Anim8tor, but it doesn't seem to be translated into the .3ds export. Is that possible? Similarly, all the materials seem to have the same specular settings. Again, I did set them differently (eg. beard: mat black; helmet shiny++) in Anim8tor.
[img][img]http://img275.echo.cx/img275/5168/haddock25ua.jpg[/img][/img]
Don't worry, eyes and mouth will follow...
lukr,
The creases can be eliminated by translating 3ds files into cmod files and then fixing (repairing) them. ( use -u -w -n)
I posted the locations of the Windows binaries 3dstocmod and cmodfix and their documentation not too long ago. Do a forum search for those names.
The blotchy,flickering areas look similar to bugs reported for viewing Saturn when using ATI cards with obsolete OpenGL drivers.
I don't recall if you specified what kind of video card you have. Be sure you've updated to the most recent drivers. They're free for downloading from the manufacturer.
I don't know where the surface reflectivity information is being lost. CMOD format supports "specularity", so it should be possible for Celestia to draw them properly. The loss could be in the translation into 3ds by Anim8or or by the translation of 3ds into OpenGL (or into CMOD) by Celestia. Only Chris can say for sure.
I hope this helps a little.
The creases can be eliminated by translating 3ds files into cmod files and then fixing (repairing) them. ( use -u -w -n)
I posted the locations of the Windows binaries 3dstocmod and cmodfix and their documentation not too long ago. Do a forum search for those names.
The blotchy,flickering areas look similar to bugs reported for viewing Saturn when using ATI cards with obsolete OpenGL drivers.
I don't recall if you specified what kind of video card you have. Be sure you've updated to the most recent drivers. They're free for downloading from the manufacturer.
I don't know where the surface reflectivity information is being lost. CMOD format supports "specularity", so it should be possible for Celestia to draw them properly. The loss could be in the translation into 3ds by Anim8or or by the translation of 3ds into OpenGL (or into CMOD) by Celestia. Only Chris can say for sure.
I hope this helps a little.
Selden
selden wrote:lukr,
The creases can be eliminated by translating 3ds files into cmod files and then fixing (repairing) them. ( use -u -w -n)
I posted the locations of the Windows binaries 3dstocmod and cmodfix and their documentation not too long ago. Do a forum search for those names.
The blotchy,flickering areas look similar to bugs reported for viewing Saturn when using ATI cards with obsolete OpenGL drivers.
I don't recall if you specified what kind of video card you have. Be sure you've updated to the most recent drivers. They're free for downloading from the manufacturer.
I don't know where the surface reflectivity information is being lost. CMOD format supports "specularity", so it should be possible for Celestia to draw them properly. The loss could be in the translation into 3ds by Anim8or or by the translation of 3ds into OpenGL (or into CMOD) by Celestia. Only Chris can say for sure.
I hope this helps a little.
Thanks Selden,
The flickering shadow was indeed a driver problem. That was easy!
At ElChristou's suggestion I have previously tried the 3dstocmod and cmodfix programs, but I got a weird structure as output. I'll give it another go. However, if that still doesn't fix the surface reflectivity I might have to explore other modelers...
I'll keep you posted.