Questions Thread
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You are currently reading a thread in /3/ - 3DCG
You are currently reading a thread in /3/ - 3DCG
The old QTDDTOT thread hit post limit. Starting a new one.
Post all the questions you dont want to start a thread for in here.
I'll go first.
How do you open a multi-layer EXR image in photoshop? I've installed the Open EXR plugin, and all I get is a black frame when I import. With and without the plugin. I've tried searching around forums and such, but I haven't found any concrete answers apart from "huh that's weird, works for me!" type shit.
Any help?
is there a tool in blender that lets me choose exactly where i want my hair emitter to be or i have to build it per object
>>510521
You can use vertex groups to specify where hair emits / doesn't emit.
>>510522
does game engines read vertex group tho?
>>510523
I don't really use game engine, so I'm not sure.
It cant hurt to try it out though, I'm sure it's supported, as it's a particle system.
What's the deal with Sculptris? Is it good enough to not buy zBrush? I know the tool difference is huge but you can do awesome stuff in sculptris tho.
>>510528
sculptis is for training, but you won't be able to get production ready meshes with it
also, is there a render good and fast as keyshot? don't feel like paying loadsofmoney so i can get good offline shots for my assets
>>510523
Of course game engine supports vertex groups, how else would rigging game models work.
But that is not the problem as the bge doesn't support hair system.
>>510517
Anybody have any info on this?
I've been trying and I still haven't gotten it to work.
Is there any way to get blender to export a .psd at least?
I've tried manually putting each render layer/pass into photoshop, but it always ends up looking wrong.
Pic related is a crappy mspaint diagram of how I have my layers set up in photoshop. Bottom most being on the bottom layer/group and top being the top layer/group.
You can export your rendered image as .EXR which has all the rendered passes included.
Also, your photoshop layer blendings are all wrong.
There is a 50 min. tutorial on youtube that pretty much explains the entire process of render output mixing etc in post. youtube.com/watch?v=Gq5YWSpvME8
>>510685
I've followed that tutorial. It goes over how to set up render passes properly, but nothing on how to export them to somewhere else.
In the OP I've also mentioned I've exported as an exr but all I get is a black image. Both for regular exr and multilayer exr.
>>510687
You need Photoshop Extended in order to be able to work with multilayer 32bit EXR. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30Sf22jgJbQ
>>510693
I have creative cloud though, I had thought that it was extended by default.
Just wondering, does anyone here ever feel like the programs they use, no matter which one, fight against them every step of the fucking way?
Hi /3/
What is a good starting software for simple mechanical modelling and function testing like proof of concept animation? specifically firearms receivers and trigger groups, lots of lateral movement, threaded surfaces, pivoting, captured spring/guide-rod assemblies, and spring tensioned cams. working in metric measurements.
I have limited experience with Blender, and started looking into Fusion3d when I remembered this board was here.
does it matter what software I pick? or is there one that is more ah, mechanically, oriented rather than the really cool artistic stuff
>gif related is more textured than what I need, but basically what I'm trying to accomplish.
>>510894
inventor
>>510896
>inventor
holy shit it even has stress analysis that's awesome
so can I just bank a bunch of email addresses and live on free trials, or does autodesk have a machine registration?
>>510894
Do you have more gifs like this? It's actually pretty nice to watch, preferably firearms. Assuming you have more, no big deal if you don't, I'm just curious.
>>510905
sadly no, /k/ is all webm now. the rest of what I have are still shots from videos and animations specific to my project. but I know what you mean, after I posted, I watched the loop probably a dozen times lol
>>510899
just do student license, same as full. it just says made with student license when you open it. but you just press "ok" and its gone
>>510683
I'm not at my PC, but when I used the open exr plugin for after effects, I had to specify each individual r, g and b channel to open before I got any results? I know that's not all that helpful, if I remember I'll try and look at it when I get home.
In renderman for blender, how do I scale textures? Or do I have to scale the UVs itself?
>>510718
Yes. This is my entire experience with anything related to 3D modeling, rigging, or animation. Learning the programs is impossible when you go so far as to get the same build version as the program in the video and still run into tons of issues the tutorial creator is not. I've given up on trying to work with and learn these programs at least 10 times now because of the random issues that no one can explain and how unintuitive any of these programs are. It's like giving a baby the instruction manual to a GameCube and expecting them to recreate Avatar in After Effects.
Hi guys,Im having this little problem
>pic related
Im having 2 uv maps of the same parts, is it possible to delete one of them?
>>510894
SolidWorks with flowsim. SolidWorks is better than inventor imo.
>>510967
its not possible
why not just re-unwrap with the seams?
you can hide with H i think
>>510952
you either scale the size of the texture which will not affect its position on the model
or you can simply rescale the UV's
>>510977
what about HSMworks? autodesk says its Inventor+Solidworks
>>510967
I don't know if this is your exact problem, but if you really have 2 uv maps, deleting one of them is simple as going into object data panel and clicking the minus as in pic related.
>>510983
Haven't heard of it, checked it out, its a cam suite, nothing related to cad or sim.
cad(computer aided design, it means software for easier engineering)
cam(computer aided manufacturing, it means programs that make the cad model into machine code for machines with cpu or cncs)
sim(simulation, it means suites for simulating cad models with real world physics, used to test the part/model with physics before manufacturing).
I personally tried out both inventor and sw, I loved sw, its has a better camera control and selections. They are basically the same program, but the Inventor control scheme is retarded, I didn't want to try it out more extensive after I found out it's just the same shit as autocad 3d(control wise), that disgusting cube ontop is fucking retarded as shit. If you're the anon asking for mechanical software recommendation, go with SW, it has tutorials inside the program, don't know about inventor, it probably does too. Do you have experience with mechanical engineering at all?
Best/easiest to learn animation suite? Can be animation+modeling like Maya or 3DS or specialized animation, I have models already, I just need to animate. Also, does anyone know any good tutorials on animating non-humanoid characters? Like a toaster or a worm or some shit.
>>510987
thanks, I had no idea what CAM stood for
I really appreciate this, and no, next to no experience, I'm gonna be teaching myself until I can afford to go to school again
>>510997
Full animation packages don't differ a lot.
>>510980
Are those really the only ways with renderman?
There aren't any UV nodes that let you scale the UV from the node?
>>511003
yes there is, its called mapping
at least that's how its called in cycles
>>511000
Mechanical engineering is not easy to teach yourself. If you had the right books and access to a metalworking shop or something like that you can, but otherwise I doubt it. I studied in high school, what I remember the steps of mechanical engineering were:
1st: 2d mechanical drawings. Learning the projections, cuts, mechanical engineering patterns and symbols(for example the stripe pattern means you're seeing the inside of a virtually cut part).
2nd: Then after that a few types of metalworking of course with steel, if you can work with steel, you can work in 99% of metalworking shops/factories in the world. Lathing, milling, welding, casting, sheetmetal bending, cutting, punching, forming are mainly used to manufacture most things. If you can see those in person, the whole production, know how they work, even try manufacturing something, that will be enough for this step.
3rd: Next is, well we call it мeтaлoзнaниe(metal knowledge). This part is the part to study without practice. It's also the most important for serious engineers. You study metals here. It's important to know steel and other metals. I used to have a whole book, that was basically a legend of steel letters that indicate what the steel is. There's tool steel, medical steel, stainless, hard, soft, etc. All are different and are made for different purposes and by adding different metals to add different properties to the alloy. Another part of this step is material resistance, it's a subject about the resistance of structures, vibrations, dynamics. Between those two, there are few more subjects, can't exactly remember right now. Learning ISO, DIN or whatever your country's standart is really important. You need to know what kind of raw steel is sold where your job is, I worked as a mech engineer and at least in my job it was part of the job to know available raw steel.
>>511000
cont.
4th: The last step is to learn CAD and CAM, because this is what is used in most good factories in developed countries. 2d drawing on pen and paper is easily transferred onto autocad. With a few extrusions and cuts, it's easily transferrable to SW as well.
Tbh, there are ways to teach yourself those things, but I don't know if there are self-taught engineer literature in your country. I'm sure the Germans and Russians have a lot of books on the subject of self-teaching engineer, my teachers told me. So if you know Russian, or German search for such books. Also, a mech engineer bachelor degree is something good to pursue. If you can manufacture steel products, you easily learn to manufacture almost everything, excluding electronics. Only electronics require more precise manufacturing than steel.
>>511008
>>511009
I took a cad class in high school like 6 years years ago, played around with static design in autodesk and blender.
I pretty familiar with structural engineering and carpentry, didnt have any real opportunities to pursue metalworking or engineering, even autoshop work, ended up with construction gigs and working in a woodshop, but I learned quite a bit about different types of metal there, tool steel ratings for blades and their pressure, vibration/speed tolerances. not too much about welding, though.
I would say I'm very familiar with the theory, not so much practice of metal working.
I know some German, but not enough yet to learn this, I think. Learning Russian is another dream of mine, I love the way your language looks and sounds, not to mention your country's history.
America has a little businesses and clubs llike FabLab (they started in a few other countries as well) where one can take their designs to and get them 3d printed or milled on a CNC
Again, your responses are very helpful and I appreciate it a great deal, anon
>>511005
But it doesn't have a mapping node like cycles does.
Only thing closest to it would be the manifold2D node but that doesn't really do that much.
>>511014
I'm not Russian, though. But mechanical engineering is something good to pursue. So, godspeed, anon.
So I'm learning displacement mapping..
Why is the map on the left so badly stretched? What should I look at to reduce that projection? Also, can I achieve that look on the cuboid on the right? (each shape has exactly the same texture on it)
>>511056
add math node to the image and change the values
>>509694
I'm a complete beginner, so here's my newbie question. How do I get eyelids like the ones in the OP picture? I want the eyelid to have a different colored texture to represent makeup, but only on the part that covers the eye and just above it. I understand how eyeballs work, you leave a hole in the face mesh and put a sphere behind it that can rotate for looking different directions, but how would one set up a controllable eyelid? I want my eyes to be as expressive as possible, so the eyelid, and morphable eye outline are a must.
Posted in wrong thread before.
>>510517
Looked for this online already and couldn't find anything coherent, mostly how to bake out but not put in:
I have an unwrapped mesh with a corresponding normal map.
I'd like to take the mesh into zbrush and apply the normal map, then divide the mesh a few times, and use the map as a guide for polypainting a diffuse.
But I don't know how to apply a normal map to a mesh in zbrush. The shame runs deep.
Sophomore in community college, I'll be transferring soon to a decent uni with mechanical engineering major. I wasn't too interested in the major since it was chosen for the sake of family tradition, but 3D animation seems like something that I'd love to get behind.
Is it possible to get into those fields while majoring in mechanical engineering? I've done some really simple 3D modeling in Inventor, and I think I'm at least above average in drawing. I can speak Korean/Japanese with some background to their cultures if that helps.
I've read the sticky and will teach myself on my own time, but I'll also be spending most of my time for school. I just hope that CAD skills are relevant when it comes to animation.
How do I outsource my rendering "to the cloud"?
>>511314
if your'e going to study mechanical engineering, apply your 3D interest to that field. I took technical drawing in highschool and wish to hell somebody at the time of me deciding to learn media shit and start in 3D had had the wisdom to tell me to apply it to something technical.
If i were you i wouldn't bother learning animation as anything more than a hobby.
>>511314
Honestly I think your path is a better choice than going pure animation route. So many students want to be animators, unless you're a fucking wizard at it you're not going to stand out. I'm a modeling and I forced myself to learn animation to help show my character models and whatnot. It's kind of gross when my ability is better than a lot of students majoring in animation. So focus primarily on your CAD stuff, and try to learn animation on your own time that will augment this. If it's something you really love and you gain a lot of ground in, maybe shift gears later, but for now an engineering degree is probably a lot more valuable for your future.
>>511314
what show is that
>>511461
Neon Genesis Evangelion.
This specifically is from the movie Rebuild of Evangelion. One of them anyway, I think the first.
You don't need to watch anything to watch the movie (the movie is a reboot), but watching the anime series would definitely help.
>>511393
>>511458
Damn, that's the answer that I was expecting, but not the one that I was hoping for. I suppose its natural for one of the most popular hobbies to be one of the hardest industry to get into.
I'll try to specialize in CAD in school, and hopefully I can get hired by some Japanese car company and be opened to any possible opportunity.
>>511461
Its from the movie series called Rebuild of Evangelion. Not all of the webm is cg, but its one of the most famous usage of it in anime since good CGI rare due to sakuga enthusiasts.
Hey /3/, probably really fucking dumb question here.
So I have the 3D-scanned-.stl-model of a piece of wasps-nest.
I want to edit the 3D-model in C4D, so that the space between the 'floor'-planes (for a lack of better wording) is see-through or tunnel-like (see reference-photo of the object).
Whenever I'm trying to model that though, I get weird artifacts and don't know what I'm doing wrong (see close-up screenshot for reference). The tools I'm using in C4D are just the Pull and Wax-tools in negative-mode, where they just take stuff away fromt he model instead of adding it.
English is not my native language, so i don't even know what I'm supposed to Google to get around this problem, and I feel like there has to be an easy AF solution to that that I'm totally missing, there is no way you CAN'T do that in 3D-sculpting on the PC.
Hope someone here is able to help, cheers /3/
New to blender, ruan into a problem with the subdivide tool. I have a simple quad face selected, subdivide doesn't divide it, or affect it at all. Instead, I'm looking in wire mesh mode and I can see the centers of the other faces on the mesh lower a small amount each time I click to subdivide the face, except for the center of the face in question. And if I click it a lot blender slows way down and eventually crashes. No idea what kinda black magic it is, I can't see any new edges or vertices being made.
>>511504
face in question
I dont fucking get this shit
How do I get things to just work easier
How can I make a head acutally head shaped?
I hear you can just AD triangles to make things look better and have it warp around into like a circle, ive seen people do it on say a stomach
This is fucking maddening
>>511506
post the blend file
>>511504
switch from object mode to edit mode
>>511506
delete that face and make a new one, just click F to fill the gap between edges
I just
blender
why
just
how do i import this to fucking obj
how do any of you deal with these shitty programs, i've been trying to put two materials onto a single model for like an hour now in 3ds max
>>510959
>Steep learning curve
>Better quit
Good attitude, you'll go far kid.
>>511476
Didn't mean to discourage you with that. I mean, don't give up on animation, just don't throw out what you're doing to make it your main focus. Engineering is a safer career path but you never know. Keep doors open.
How the hell do I into Maya's interface? I started with 3DS Max and it felt extremely intuitive, I switched to Maya because I heard it's going to be better in the long run and it seems like everything is 10 times harder to do.
How would I go about having a material render as alpha regardless of what's in the scene in blender?
Not a transparent shader that works with the image, just straight alpha. Like cutting it completely out of the image.
Just for an example, in pic related.
I'd want to have the white bands to render only as straight alpha as a png. So if I opened the entire image, the white bands would show as transparent regardless of what's in the scene. Leaving the background information intact.
Even if part of it were in front of a sphere, the white areas should render as transparent even if it's in front of something.
I'm not sure if blender is able to do something like this. If it is, I'm not really sure how to go about it.
I realize it might be kind of counter productive to try and use this as a solution, but a project of mine needs something like this.
>>511641
It's called the holdout shader.
It will make the whole object transparent, but you can mix it with any other shader and use your striped image as the factor. You might want to plug the texture into a color ramp for more control.
how to do dismemberment/gibbing? Doesn't have to be as detailed as image, it could be even simpler.
>>511653
Model body parts separately and when is time for the dismemberment just replace the whole model with the chunks. This is pretty much the simplest way of doing this, and I'm sure you know that's not how they did it in MGR.
STUMPED
T
U
MOTHERFUCKER
P
E
D
Has anyone been able to find a place that posts marketplace assets?
There are some old assets on torrent sites but nothing recently.
>>511495
BUMP
guys please, does noone know what the fuck I could even possibly google?
>>511623
Steep learning curve? it's more like trying to go up a cliff with a jetski. complex programs do not have to be so complex they hinder your ability to get things done. i can know nothing about visual studio and still open it up and program without using 95% of its capability (debugging, team, version control, and much more). you pretty much need to know EXACTLY everything about what you want to do or you have absolutely no chance of getting anything done in these programs.
>>511687
And yet thousands of people learn them all the time. Complex programs need to be complex so artists can achieve what they want to, and once you get used to the busy UI you'll find it's nice that there are multiple ways to solve any problem. There are so many starter tutorials out there for all the big software I can't believe your inability to learn it is due to anything more than laziness.
I don't know if this is the right thread for this, but when I add a 'Shell' modifier to my (3D scanned) model, some corners of it pike / stab / leak / poke / tear through the outer shell.
I've tried converting it to an Editable Poly and then manually pushing the verteces back but that didn't work.
How do I fix this?
>>511716
As you can see, I've tried unifying normals too but that didn't help either.
>>511716
I solved it like this:
>add 'Shell'
>'Select Inner Faces' (or something like that)
>'Edit Poly' >> Polygons (already selected ^)
>Hide Selected Polygons
>left with only inner side of shell
>Relax the living fuck out of it
>Unhide outer shell
>No more shit popping through
Probably not the most ideal solution but did the job anyway, so.. eh
how do i turn on the middle mouse button to zoom in and out of the zbrush model???
it doesnt zoom for some reason
>>511718
There's a relax brush in the paint deformation tab of the Editable/Edit Poly modifier that allows you to only relax those spots that really need it.
>>511737
ZBrush isn't meant to be used with a mouse. Get a tablet.
when I weight paint I get these solid blocks of influence instead of a gradient
it's probably something to do with my mesh since nothing changes when I reset paint settings
wat do
>>511759
enter vertex selection mode, select everything, edit mesh > merge
I've actually reversed this intentionally before in order to vertex paint poly faces instead of it averaging across a face.
Also, try resetting the tool settings.
>>511760
wew no idea how that happened thanks
How should I go about modeling the pelvic/groin area of a human?
It doesn't have to be detailed, but I do need to find a way to connect it to the legs that I already modeled.
Should I just scrap the legs I already made and do the pelvis first?
how do i render something in blender as PNG and have alpha transparency with it?
>>511791
Check transparent under film in the render tab of the properties panel.
>>511646
Works perfectly.
Thanks.
I didn't think it'd be that simple. I figured I had to jump through a bunch of hoops for that shit.
Ok so I'm pretty new to 3D modeling. I'm using Mudbox and want to know if I can somehow get rid of all the upper detail layers in a model once I make a Normal map. Because right now they take up a shit ton of HDD space.
>>511799
you mean saving steps? you can usually control how much it saves in each model.
models shouldn't weigh more than 100mb
>>511803
I ended up figuring out how to delete the higher subdivision layers, since I don't think I need those after I make a normal map.
Anyone know some way I can obtain a pre-historic version of 3ds Max, ca 3-6, maybe even older.
I don't have torrenting level to track down esoteric stuff like this.
>>511948
Don't know the answer to your question but if you are unhappy with the current version just go for one of the really stable older ones like 2008 or 2012. There is nothing in the 'Studio Max R3' etc that is somehow missing in the newer max versions, you'd just cripple yourself by using them.
One exception is if you've got hold of some really exotic plugin you absolutely feel you must use that never got updated.
>>511786
It's helpful to model your character topology in such a way that there are transition zones where you can easily break off and isolate an area.
Like having your leg, arm neck waist, ankle, wrist etc transition trough a area where there is a continuous ring loop.
This way your character is always ready to evolve and update so you can 'frankenstein' it by adding for example say new limbs to an old torso as you improve your topology over the years.
Or just convenient to add different clothing items etc without having bothering with intersecting any underlying mesh.
>>511661
Actually how did they do it in MGR? All the ways I can think of replicating it just seem to computationally expensive to do in real time, especially on consoles.
Is a bent normal the same thing as a world normal?
>>510517
you need to know how to raw to know how to model?
>>510517
is there anything wrong with using modo for modelling game assets?
i really like the UI and it's currently the program i can handle best
>>512110
No.
Just started with 3Ds max, is there any way I can add a sphere primitive to my current working object, so that the symmetry modifier applies to it ? Pic related, I just have the eye as a different object from the rest of the face
Ok so I know nothing about 3D modeling. I do know enough to ask this question though.
I want to laser engrave a 3D mesh on acrylic and edge light it. I know you can buy 3D files, but I saw "people" for like $300+. Surely it's not that expensive for something more simple? Do I have to have a 3d modeling program to open it? I just need a 3D mesh in photoshop/coreldraw. Can any of you fine artists help an idiot like me out?
>>512168
*I only need a 3D wireframe/mesh in 2D
>>512152
If it's pivot is in the centre of the head you can just use another symmetry modifier on the eye.
how am I supposed to close some of the loops from chin/jaw to the upper body? the neck area I mean
I've looked at some industry models and they just close them with triangles but is that the best way?
http://sendvid.com/788f1spp
playing around with blender fluid simulation
the bowl doesn't seem to want to behave as a fluid obstacle. Fluid's 310 resolution, bowl's set to shell fluid obstacle.
>>511986
I'm not sure, but it seems just like a procedural method.
Every cut is unique based on your actual slice. Even more so in blade mode.
I don't know much about game design, but I think it's the work of some clever scripting rather than modeled gibs.
When making something in Blender, does it matter the size I make it at?
When I drop it into say Unity will it be able to be scaled?
>>512168
Add symmetry modifier, then select it and press 1 (alternatively, click the little + on its left, then select Mirror). This lets you manually move the mirror plane. Just snap it to the center of your head and you're done.
Alternatively, you can go into the head's top Edit Poly modifier, select Attach in the Edit Geometry rollout and then click the sphere. This will make it part of your head mesh, causing all modifiers you added to your head to affect it.
Are there any other renderers with features similar to Luxrender's light groups?
Is a strong foundation in 2D required to model 3D? I'm interested and also in community college, so I have the ability to take some art classes, but do you guys advise it? I'm not artistically inclined at all, so where do I start? Art 101? Can people with no drawing abilities at all still take that class?
How can I make the other half visible during sculpting with mirror modifier on?
How can I get a spiral curve to wrap around an object in blender?
More importantly, an object with some degree of complexity.
I've been using the shrinkwrap modifier with varying degrees of success.
In the example, I can get a spiral to wrap around simple shapes pretty well.
But in the second example, as soon as introduce different angles to the wrapped object, the spiral messes up completely.
Also in the second example is the type of curve/spiral I'm using.
I've tried all three different types of spiral, but none gives any better result than the other.
Any ideas?
>>512633
Try to put it above the multires modifier, it should already be visible, I don't know what's going on there.
>>512633
MODS MODS MODS!
Anyone know where I can find digital tutors/lynda/any other good maya tutorials? I'm specifically interested in the Digi tutors baric intro to maya video but I can't find it anywhere.
>>512651
*to Maya animation
>>511948
There's gmax which can still be downloaded from Turbosquid. It's 3dsmax from 2002-2003 but with no rendering and limited exporting.
I'm builing something in cinema 4d for later 3d printing.
it'll be laser sintered and to save material i need to build shells from solids.
I split the models in different parts and fused them with a boole operation. now I have about 4 complex solids and I have to create shells from them.
extruding the inner gives really weird surfaces on the inside.
thickening via the explode fx is better but still not perfect.
is there a better way ?
also is there some kind of mass boolean union ?
I'm trying to create this sort of ribbed effect for this model and I was wondering if there's someway to do this quicker and more uniformly. The right side is what I'm essentially trying to do which I can accomplish with Extrude>Scale>Move each face individually. On the left I do the same Extrude>Scale>Move, but I have all faces selected at once and it doesn't create as many intermediate faces as I need opposed to doing each face individually. Any suggestions?
>>512805
I know Blender has an "Extrude Individual" that extrudes individual faces, try looking for the Maya equivalent (assuming it exists). You'll still likely have to scale the individual faces though.
>>512805
It's been a while since I used
Maya, but I think it's called keep faces together. You have to disable that, but I don't remember where it is.
>>512641
you can do it manually by extruding a plane with snapping tool
might take more work and precision but it depends what you want to achieve
i think its somehow possible with screw modifier+ empty but i wouldn't know the technique behind it
Anyone know what causes this in Roadkill?
I explode a model and import it. Sometimes there will be a random edge from one piece extruded out and connected to a point on another piece. Usually the two parts are very far apart which is odd.
It's not a mistake in modeling, only happens occasionally when imported into Roadkill.
Not a big deal, just curious.
>>513025
Heres another pic zoomed out. These are two separate parts in no way connected in the model.
/3/ how do I make a decent ass and groin? I've been sitting here mashing my head against this issue for hours trying to get something that looks nice.
I'm starting with three cylinders for the torso, arm and leg and then I stitch them together, but that may just be the wrong way to go about this. This is my first attempt at making a character.
My end goal is to make a character model based on the Bravely Default proportions, hence the huge fucking hips. Also why I want a passable ass on it.
how do I animate properly in blender? I know how to rig, how to weight paint, how to set up IKs but my animations always look stiff as fuck. I might be impatient and rush things a bit too much but are there any more techniques to make things look fluid and alive?
>>512641
crazy idea but it might just work who knows
try using the boolean modifier with a big screw mesh that you put on top of a copy of your original mesh. It could let you get a mesh with vertices all in the right places that you could just expand and fiddle with however you like it.
>>512633
look down in the options on the Tools menu, there's a place with '"Symmetry" that lets you choose an axis.
>>513161
use reference videos
read animator's survival kit
time your animations in real life
use mocap
using reference videos are your best bet, just remember to do keyframes in lower intervals
>>513161
do not start by having millions of IK controllers, only experienced animators can make good animation with a lot of controllers
Hi built some stuff in c4d and beveled it.
when i meshcheck it everything is fine.
now I had to reszie ist drastically and suddenly the meshchecker is going crazy.
where ever two polygons meet I get " bad polygons".
is taht something with the mesh checker or have the meshes really gone bad ?
>>513179
Not aero enough.
>>513197
'i think tha bike is super hot , but it's probably a pretty shit tt bike.
I'm exporting a genesis 2 mesh with a shaping preset from daz3d (using "send to Zbrush button" ) to Zbrush
I click export with deformations, I modify the mesh in zbrush and click goz to update basemesh, for some reason daz3d scales down the mesh and fucks everything up, the hair stays in the same place but the body shrinks down.
I'm using zbrush 4r7 and the latest daz
>>513160
My humble opinion: At first sight, I noticed the musles are a little too far apart, this naturally affects the buttocks. Adding a horizontal edge loop or two on there would help to acomplish roundness.
Take this with a grain of salt since I am not accustomed to Braverly Default's art style.. just try it out, see if it helps
>>513267
So I ended up re-doing the model in the mean time, and you're right I had that bit too far apart.
This attempt went a lot better, still need to move things around but I have a general form that doesn't look too bad. It's at last butt like.
Is Zremesher even worth using?
Even with guides, the edge loops that it pushes out are just fucking horrendous.
How is this done? 2D? 3D? After effects (what effects to use)?
>>513304
wierd...doesn't really look like 2d or 3d
>>513304
2D with After Effects or any program that can warp.
Though it's pretty well done, so I'd guess that several frames of animation were drawn and they transition to one another through warping.
I know Emofuri is a program that pretty much helps do it for you. Though not with the quality of the webm you posted.
>>513302
not for a final product. use it to have a exportable mesh to retopo in topogun or maya or w/e. people that use zremesher for a final product are plebs without any actual experience working
>>513317
Alright, good to know.
>>513304
MODS MODS MODS
Should character animation be saved for later on?
I hear conflicting reports on this. On one hand, several sources use a walk cycle as pretty much the first (and only) thing to learn in terms of 3D animation. Others will focus on playing around with mimicking physics using simple objects. The majority are just some asshole recording himself setting keys for 20 minutes and not going over any of the tools available.
It really doesn't help that anything remotely complete, in-depth, or thorough seems to be locked behind a paywall.
My experience with retopology is slim, so I'm sure there's other issues I should be dealing with.
However, what the fuck do I do for something like a muzzle or a snout? When working with so few polygons, how do you go about adding tight creases without fucking up the rest of the mesh with more edge loops?
Sorry for beginner questions.
>>513471
Is the mouth and nose going to be animated? If not just cover them up and let the normal maps do the heavy lifting.
>>513304
https://vndb.org/v16266
https://vndb.org/v16266
https://vndb.org/v16266
this might be the stupidest question ever asked but, when sculpting using blender, are you supposed to start of with a basic shape i.e. square, sphere. and sculpt it into the desired shape for start off with a base mesh i.e. wanting to make a character and starting with a human mesh and sculpting it into the character
Well, I'm trying to bake normals from a copy of this character that's been subdivided to smooth things out.
Problem is, the normals are baking like shit, with all kinds of triangulation and what have you. And they sometimes aren't even pointing in the right general direction so I get triangles of brightness in darkly lit parts of the model for example.
I tossed my .blend up on dropbox if someone wants to take a look. I'm stumped, never did this with a character model before and I'm clearly missing something here versus what I'd do for furniture or something like that.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/eh7tmzn4xoec17a/bd%20base.blend?dl=0
>>513659
its a bug, went to object data and switched maximum draw type to solid and your topology is fine. looks like the render baked the hard edges instead of the soft edges, so i checked to see if you marked sharp and that wasn't the case
luckily i only do my baking with xnormal, try that (without modifiers) and report back
>>513575
a good way to start sculpting is to apply multiresolution modifier to a cube and hit subdivide, when you have some 100k polygons you can begin to start sculpting
>>513661
Apparently setting all faces to shade smooth fixes things.
Is there no way in blender to bake a normal map to a damned flat shaded object though? I guess it doesn't matter as the fbx exports with the normals looking fine if I set smooth shading on the faces. It comes out looking fine in UE4 that way.
>>513663
try this and go again in blender
anyways, if its not working go to xnormal,make sure both models are smooth shaded prior and hit bake, do a 256 to make it fast
>>513664
Ugh, went from triangles to awful gradients.
I'll just do smooth shading I guess. It APPEARS to bake normals right when smooth shading is on at least.
>>513665
This is how it looks if I bake with faces set to Smooth Shading, bake, and import to UE4. Apparently Smooth Shading just means "use vertex normals"
>>513666
still its a terrible bug, make sure to report it
So I have this rigged model from The Sims 4 up in Blender.
If I want to make animations with it, would it be easier to stick with the tools in Blender or import it into another software?
>>513666
Well, of course that's what it means. What did you think smooth shading did?
It calculates the vertext normals, then interpolates the normals when rendering (or baking). With it off it just uses (or bakes) the plain face normal on the whole triangle.
Maybe I don't understand what you're doing. What were you expecting to happen?
in all honesty, what's the ideal modelling software for a beginner like me to use? i've read the sticky but i'm still not convinced.
i'm thinking of using blender because i have a bit of experience, but how about 3DS max, cinema 4d, and shit like zbrush?,
>>513673
basically what happened that it automatically picked what vertex groups are smoothed, just like in xnormal when you pick "average normals" meaning it baked flat shading into smooth shaded model
but what i can't explain is why it also baked triangles, what a shitty old bake tool
>>513674
blender is free, and you get updates for free
>>513669
do it in whatever feels good for you
>>513675
is blender good for wanting to make high quality models? not super high quality, just high enough.
>>513680
well you be the judge, search for blender foundation films, they are nice to watch and are all made in blender.
this is a 3d model made in blender
>>513677
Is the animation tools in say, SFM, easier to use than in Blender? Is it possible to export a Blender armature into SFM and vice versa?
>>513682
if SFM accepts fbx files then why not
>>513673
You know, I'm not sure what I was thinking it did. I had to code a fucking model renderer from scratch in OpenGL so I should have realized that's what it was doing... so I'm just getting stupid with age I guess.
Looking for someone who knows about modelling for 3D Custom Girl.
I have this model of an old style toilet I'd like to use for a game I'm making and wanted to know if anyone around here could convert it into a .TAH file so it could be used with 3d custom girl. Preferably with the lid able to be opened and closed. I'm happy to throw some cash your way if you can help out.
https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model.html?id=ub6a22159-5eaf-4f56-8e6f-616428051aec
Really dumb question but I've seen this in Blender for a long ass time in tutorial videos. How do I enable this rotation widget thing?
>>512222
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgwKPP2ZEjI#t=10m50s
His donut tutorial is pretty good too
Hey /3/, whats the best practice when rigging, do position the bone in the center or towards the skin?
Like for a finger say, should the bone run through the middle or more toward the top of the skin?
>>513697
See the red/green/blue axis on the bottom bar of your 3d view? That button turns the widget on/off, and the three buttons to it's right will toggle the positiong/rotation/scale widgets. Use shift-click to turn on several at once.
>>513705
Absolutely awesome. Never knew about that feature. Only ever had the translate ever selected but I can see them all being useful in some way without a keyboard shortcut all the time.
>>513704
the middle.
you insert the first bone around the pelvis straight in the middle, unlock x-ray to see if its right
>>513692
a toilet? you're sick, anon!
>>513730
It's a point and click adventure. Of course there's going to be a clue hidden in the crapper.
i got blender to make a shimakaze player model for gmod since i couldn't find on the workshop
i have a model from mmd already in blender, but what do i need to do to make it compatible with source's skeleton so i can weight paint it and such
i've already checked for doubles, and there aren't any that i can see
>>513806
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oet1SJ3yhE0
yo guys,
I have to model something to be 3d printed.
I have to use some booleans as well as beveled edges.
the triangles I get from the booleans fuck up my bevels.
however if i disolve most of them and have n gons instead, the bevels come out fine.
the .stl s need for printing are only trinagles anyway, so is it cool to use lots of n gons ?
using c4d btw
>>513819
huh, that's one of the first things i watched when i was looking around for help, but i didn't see him import the player model
thanks anon, i think i've got this now
I tried playing around in Zbrush and the awful interface made me nope out
What's a capable sculpting software that a 2D artist can get into quickly?
>>513874
Just customize it. 2d artists love zbrush, look up Meats Meier.
>>513879
great ,thanks !
>>513864
At least in Blender, there are ways to triangulate n-gons, if you think they could be a problem.
Maybe try that after disolving to re-triangulate the mesh without the fucked up displacements?
I can't get Houdini to run on my machine, neither does FumeFX.
Is there any other way to simulate smoke and fire and export to open vdb?
Blender does not export to open vdb (yet).
Cinemas Turbulence FD does not export to open vdb (yet).
PhoenixFD imports vdb but does not export them (fuck you guys!).
Maya fluids? I have no idea.
Realflow does but i need smoke not water.
Any ideas?
Anyone know if there are any custom maps available for 3dsmax over the stock selection? I'm mainly interested in any 3D procedural maps like Cellular. Doesn't matter if it costs money.
>>514005
Nah those are all ancient now. Get substance designer and buy a few substances off the store.
is there a site that can make custom d20's? looking for a site to put single color pictures on each side. also dont want to spend out the ass for something i only want a few of. or at least anyone who could create the sketch to be 3d printed. ive scoured the boards for somewhere to post this and i still dont know if this is the right place
Super noob question..
How do I make a surface paintable in Maya 2016? I tried using live surface and I can't get the paint effects to follow the surface I have. Did maya change how to do this?
>>514010
Generate>make paintable
>>513914
I got it solved.
Instead of using a cracked version of Houdini, the free Apprentice version does the trick (exporting/caching Open VDB).
Also seems like yesterday a new RC version of Blender is out with a new openvdb feature.
Good timing, yay!
Now i just need to learn Houdini and/or Blender, all while learning Modo and Clarisse. Good times!
It's impossible to convert a .max file into .obj without the use of Autodesk products or otherwise import it into blender, right?
>>514275
this is what you have
>>514285
He's asking if you need max / maya to convert a max / maya file to another file type.
>>514275
>>514286
Yes, you need Max to convert a .max file to anything else, the switch from .3ds to .max was done exactly so that people wouldn't try and do this.
.max contains all sorts of scene data besides the mesh; lights, particles, modifiers, and so on, so attempting to do a straight conversion without being aware of the contents would certainly lead to bad results. You have to open the scene in Max and make sure that what you're exporting is a type of content that is actually compatible with other programs.
In zbrush is it possible to mask/unmask more than one polygroup at a time? so when i'm in move mode I ctrl + click on a polygroup and it masks everything else but the one I clicked. It seems insane that I can only apparently do one polygroup at a time and can't just for example press shift + ctrl + click to unmask more than just one. Is there a plugin or something that adds this functionality? I refuse to believe that it's not possible to do this.
>>514288
I don't know if this will help, but you can hide the polygroups you don't want.
shift+ctrl+click one of the polygroups you want to work with and it will be isolated, then shift+ctrl+click it again and it will be hidden but all the others will come back. Then shift+ctrl+click the ones you want to work with and they will be hidden one by one. When you're done shift+ctrl+drag on an empty space and it will invert the visibility of the polygroups bringing back the ones you want to work with and hiding the ones you don't.
Here's a dumb question, but when I'm modeling a character, should I work in perspective or ortho? Which is more useful when? I'm very new at this.
Finding good reference imagery for front and profile views when modeling+sculpting a likeness is hard, even for incredibly popular faces.
It seems like a pretty standard part of the modeling/sculpting process to find good front/profile reference imagery when sculpting a likeness, so are there any particular methods people go about using to find good reference material?
>>514555
Use both. I typically model without perspective, then turn on perspective once I feel like I've got the base shapes looking good. I'll take a look at it to make sure it doesn't look odd while in perspective.
Some people do it the other way, sculpting in perspective and then checking how it looks in orthographic. It's pretty much up to you.
>>514555
Both
I sculpt using a rather flat perspective and switch to ortho to really check proportions. Its surprising sometimes how badly you fuck up the shapes if you only work in perspective. Ortho is your corrector, if it looks good in ortho it will look good on all perspectives.
A tip for checking ortho is to check the figure with foreshortening at a slight angle. At first its weird because the persepctive is not what you expect but once you learn how to start at a point and slowly work your way up or down checking how each shape relates to the next one closest to it. Also rotate rotate rotate. It takes some time to get used to ortho 3/4 but it pays off.
>>514570
if you are box modeling you absolutely must have front and side images (in T-pose if possible), its really hard to find those kind of images unless you are willing to pay money of it, i would say paying whatever sum of money for few good references is essential to your modeling
Where are some good places to start with Houdini? Are there any tutorials you guys would recommend?
I'm tried following a tutorial that was far too advanced for a beginner on accident and it was like trying to decipher a fucking alien race.
This program has a lot of shit going on.
I render using mental ray in Maya 2015. Is there a way to use my NVIDIA GTX 980 to render instead of my CPU? Seems l dumb that NVIDIA makes mental ray and it doesn't even use their graphics cards to render.
>>514649
If i'm not mis-remembering, MR has prototype GPU acceleration, though i haven't tried it.
>>514650
I downloaded the MEL script for the prototype about a week ago and it doesn't appear to work at all when I run it.
Anyone know what's the 3d software name that got lots of presets for creating tree,building,humans ect.
So I tried a clean install and it's still like this. Only 3DS Max 2016 though, my 2015 still works fine
>>514691
3Ds Max can do all that, there are trees, windows, railings and doors prefabs from his old architectural versions, including textures. Humans can be fully arranged from it´s bread-and-butter character animation stuff. It´s simple stuff, but not all bad if you´re in a tight schedule.
>>514704
hmm do you know any other software that got similar things like that. I know 3Ds Max.
>>514691
daz3D?
Sup guys
could you help a clueless idiot out?
i used to make shitty machinimas with wow model viewer
wanted to make something better looking and without getting copyright letters from blizzard
I've got some time on my hands to learn the basics, can you give me any hints at where i should look at?
>>514747
Oh poor anon, you never had a chance
I need a serious sculpting application and blender doesnt cut it performance wise for what I need.
So its either zbrush or mudbox. I really would like to use z brush since it seems to be the most popular and it has some poly model/hard surface capabilities, but I cant pay 800$ for a software at the moment( I plan use it commercially) and mudboy has 10$ monthly subscription which would fit my bill. As far as I can see zbrush doesnt have subscription licences.
What do?
>>514851
mudbox is worth it,despite the criticism there are plenty of professionals using it
Should I buy a "professional" graphics card if I'm using software like Max and Zbrush and UE4? Are these cards aimed towards CAD and other technical programs? I'm never doing any real heavy lifting in max, no scene renders or anything, sometimes baking normals from a highpoly.
My old card (radeon 6870) died and I don't want to lower my graphics settings in the few games I play to add some rendering power that I won't use.
(Sorry I double posted this, didn't see this thread)
>>514872
How does mudbox handle high detail/high polycount compared to zbrush?
>>514851
Zbrush is orders ofmagnitude a better all around program and modeler. Mudbox has great painting tools
>>514885
On the other hand mudbox has a more traditional ui and its very easy to use. Also vertex displacement.
Zbrush learning curve to get to know all the functions is very steep and the ui is alien
All that said i still prefer zbrush altough i use both at work
>>514874
Quadro cards are terrible for gaming comprehended to any normal videocard at half the cost.
As an artist the most important thing for you to work on IS REFINING YOUR SKILLS. Don't worry about getting a super high end card. When you're at the level where you actually need a card like this you'll probably already have a job where one is provided.
Ages ago there was a thread posted on /3/ asking for opinions about an upcoming 3D software called "Neobaroque" or something like that.
Can someone link me to it? Somehow I can't find it again.
>>514849
Oh cmon, i wanted to do something in this direction vimeo.com/106365507 w/o the sexual tone.
i know my way around video editing and post production,
just needed a hint at what to look at. obviously i dont want to model anything, i just need some footage of humanoids i can chromakey, any program with a library of stock rigged models would have done.
playing around with SFM but its kinda meh.
I'm a student in a tight spot currently and I'm wondering if someone can help me out.
I have two versions of Maya on two different computers, one is Windows and one is a Mac. I made some models on my Windows machine that I need to move over onto my Mac, but the format apparently isn't compatible?
My Windows device, for some reason, will only save Maya files as .mlt, but I need them as .ma. Unfortunately I'm missing a charger for a day and I don't have the time or battery life left on the Mac to just start over.
The weird thing is that my Windows device opens .ma files fine. It just doesn't list the option to save as .ma.
So I have four .mlt files that won't open on my Mac, and I don't know how to go about converting those to .ma if they won't open. How can I switch between the two?
I've just started working on a sword. I rotated a cylinder to be better aligned with the front view, and the I applied a bend, but the bend is still relative to the original orientation (as if I didn't rotate it) how do I make the bend use my current orientation?
Rigging for the first time. I have IK set up for the leg with a pole target for the knee. Why doesn't the knee follow the pole target and bend outward like this?
>>515010
Because you're an asshole. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=blender+pole+angle&t=
>>515020
I already adjusted the pole angle though.
It's perfectly fine in the resting pose, it just bends outwards once I move the foot up as if it completely ignores the pole target.
how do I lower the mouse wheel zoom sensitivity in after effects? jumps from 50% to 100%, it's annoying, i want like 50 to 60 to 70 etc.
>>513682
sfm is easier to animate for starters, but a pain in the ass to make a custom rig to work there, and also exported models from blender generally look bad compared to what other programs do, it fucks up the light in the model somehow.
I think maya it's better for single character animation, try it out
How do big companies get their textures? Do they take pictures of whatever material (wood, brick walls, etc.) they need or use products like Substance designer?
>>515266
both
id imagine they make their own custom materials and plug it in substance
some games in 2016 are still an image slapped on a mesh
>>515267
But with the pictures how to they get normal/displacement/spec maps for them? Do they just have texture artists slaving away making these?
>>515268
no the pictures ones are usually on flat surfaces like monitors,walls,roads etc.
the ones with the normals are made in something like substance
Is there a way to consistently sell non-comission 3D models? You know, so you don't have to deal with the whole client-side bullshit.
If you're making decent quality 3D assets, where would be the best place to sell them? Game engine stores? Social games?
I won't touch Second Life, that's for sure. Horrible rigging and everything else.
Hey. I'm a bit of a retard, how do I rotate the camera in Blender?
I picked up a bit of the other commands on how to do stuff from tutorials but none of them ever explain how to actually move the camera.
>>515304
Ctrl+Alt+0 to snap it to your current view.
R to rotate like everything else
Shift+F to FPS FPS like mode. Press Tab to fly.
>>515304
just check "lock to camera"
>>513692
Still looking for help here.
The guy I usually commission just disappeared. Can anyone else help me out?
>>515304
just select the camera and press R
you can transform it like any other object (G for translate, S for scale, R for rotate) and constrain transformation to whichever axis (x, y, z, shift+x, shift+y, shift+z)
hey guys, i'm putting together a build for 3d (maya). trying to keep the cost around 1000. any comments / criticism / advice would be hugely appreciated since i haven't built a computer in years.
not pictured: windows 10 and a monitor
>>516312
Don't get an Amd graphics card. Cuda is the future.
![e44803cdf4773df36d6ad9d6ae9fcbfe[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/dePTRyK.jpg "e44803cdf4773df36d6ad9d6ae9fcbfe[1].jpg")
Is an effect like this at all possible with Maya nparticles? I've tried fiddling with it but at best I get steam suited more to chimneys and boiling water pipes. Can't find any tutorials relating to it either.
>>516317
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CUDA#Supported_GPUs
So I should get one of the GPUs on this list, then? Does this offer any particular benefit to a layperson doing basic 3d work?
>>516321
I have a 970
Nvida has better rendering technology at the moment. Better compatibility with all software
Iray rendering will be in Substance painter 2 and future substance products.
https://www.allegorithmic.com/products/substance-painter
http://www.nvidia.com/object/iray-for-maya.html
Cuda is compatible with 3d coat. I notice a huge speed boost with it. You can also use it in things like xnormal to render very fast ambient occlusion maps beats waiting 45 minutes.
Didn't know the thread still bumped up.
Want to ask your thought on [ image ], is that a technically correct way to do that kind of shot ? Or is that just because the artist has so much "creativity" that they decided to take it with a different way.
>>516317
>>516324
Don't listen to those shills. Amd basically is destroying nvidia right now with cheaper cards and opencl is gaining ground in gpu rendering. The super underdeveloped cycles opencl beats cycles cuda when comparing r9 390x vs a titan.
https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/856240/r9-390x-is-beating-the-titanx-in-blenders-cycles-render-engine-unacceptable-/
All gpu renderers will support opencl in the near future. Some support it now, some will support it in the next version(Octane). For viewport performance amd is better, it's cheaper and faster. For gpu rendering, well depends on the renderer, choose a renderer and if you're certain you're going to stay with this renderer for all eternity and it's not getting an opencl update, get nvidia, otherwise get amd. Fuck nvidia and their ultra-jewish shit of gimping their own cards.
>>516324
I had no idea. Thanks for the advice, I knew I could count on /3/
>>516332
the plot thickens. shills, what say you?
>>516336
They can say nothing, actually.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/gpu-ray-tracing.html
Check this page. Out of 9 renderers, 3 support opencl and 3 will suport it in the near future or the next version(octane).
I have this diagonal line that has a value of 0 in none of the axises. There are bunch of verteces on it that I want to align. I am using maya, how do I do that other than deleting faces and retopologizing
>>516336
Nvidia cards support open cl 1.2 too and who is to say they wont eventually support 2.0. I use Knald an open cl gpu powered normal map/ ambient occlusion creation tool and it runs fine.
https://www.knaldtech.com/knald/
Cheaper always means cheaper components Amd has higher power draw and run hotter and noisier. I cant hear my 970 over the case fans.
>>516336
For 3d you wanna go nvidia. It's the industry standard.
Choosing amd over it is like choosing paint.net over photoshop.
If you're a regular gaymer, doesn't matter.
If you wanna do light 3d, it doesn't matter
if you wanna go hardcore dev, 95% of studios go nvidia.
>>516373
because? what's the advantage of using nvidia?
fucking shills.
>>516360
Yeah, look shill, I don't hate nvidia, it's their jewish tactics I don't like, not that amd don't practice them to some extent, but nvidia are just retarded. I agree cuda is more mature than opencl right now, but you can almost get 2 r9390x cards for the price of one 980ti and they have better performance, literally.
>>516312
I personally would suggest you wait out for the new finfet cards before buying, cause then, prices will probably drop and you might want to buy a new gen card. But certainly go amd, nvidia needs to learn to stop shilling and using stupid business tactics. You can use vray rt, octane 3 will come soon, also cycles. For viewport performance amd have always been the better cards and no nvidia shill can lie about this.
I have zero knowledge in 3d modeling. How much time would I have to spend on learning until I will be able to make static low-poly assets like pic related?
