#Imports to 3D Studio
9 messages in this thread
In addition to what John says about bitmaps vs. object-oriented
vector graphics, bitmaps _can_ be used in 3D Studio as backgrounds,
as texture maps on materials, or by compositing them in layers
through the Video Post dialog box in 3D Studio. 3D Studio accepts
Gif, TIFF, and Targa bitmap formats, among others. It doesn't
directly support Paintbrush, or Deluxe Paint formats. So you'd have
to do some conversion first.
But how about an image that you would want to animate like a horse? I have seen
some really neet GIFs of a horse, but I could never get those mesh frames to
make a horse. Is there anyway you could you use the outline of a horse to make
the mesh frames?
Judy
Corel Draw has about the best "auto-trace" utility that I've seen. In
that, you can output the result as an .ai or .dxf file, and then
bring it into the 2D Shaper in 3D Studio before lofting it into a 3D
object. HOWEVER, it's not quite as easy as it sounds. The autotrace
generates a lot of vertices, and is more or less successful,
depending on the quality of the original raster image. When you get
it into the 2D Shaper, you'll have to do a lot of vertex editing to
get something you can loft, and the end result will be what looks
like a cardboard cutout of a horse, rather than a true, 3D horse. It
would be far easier to simply map a bitmap flic of a running horse
onto a 3D plane as a combination texture and bump map. It would still
look like a cutout, but you'd have it up and running in no time.
What I'm trying to say is: 3D animation takes work. Ask anyone on this
forum. It's relatively easy to do flying logos or to model
mechanical or abstract objects, but humans and animals are extremely
difficult. I have not yet seen a 3Dtruly lifelike 3D animation of a
human figure or face.
– Jack
I am also amazed at the lack of literature on 3D Studio. There are tons of
stuff out about mastering Corel Draw or Harvard Graphics etc. but nothing about
3d Studio.
Also re animation. I have Deluxe Paint ANimation. How does it
compare with
auto animator or Auto Animator Pro. Do you have an address where I
could send to get information on these products.
Judy
Being a developer of 3D Studio and AniPro, I'm probably the wrong person to ask
about competitor's products. But since I've never used them, I can honestly say
that I don't know anything about them. As far as the lack of books, I suspect
that the more complex a product is, the longer it takes for the publishing
industry to get on the bandwagon. I used to work for a magazine, and I know
that it was much easier to write about software that we could master in a
couple of days, than applications that took weeks.
– J
How can I get some literature on your products? I never seem them talked about
in the trade mags. I would like to know what is the complete product line and
how much for each product etc ? Aren't you folks located in Baltimore, MD ?
Judy
We have three products, all of which are released by Autodesk, which
is located in Sausalito, CA. Two of our products, 3D Studio and
Animator Pro, are sold only through multimedia dealers. You can get
the number of a multimedia dealer nearest you by calling
800/879-4233. A third product, Multimedia Explorer, contains Autodesk
Animator, which is the original, low-resolution (320×200) version of
Animator Pro, bundled with some other stuff. It's available through
any software retailer who carries it. As far as prices, it varies with
the dealer, but the standard rates, plus or minus a few dollars are
$3,000 for 3ds, $800 for AniPro, and $200 for Multimedia Explorer.
(Not sure on that last one, it might have changed.) As far as the
trade mags., you'll probably see 3ds mentioned in any magazine that
concentrates on video animation software–unless it's specific to
another platform, such as a Mac.
– Jack
Uh… you know some guy that mastered 3DS in two weeks? Acckk!
I think the reason that books aren't coming out is that it's hard to
present the material in a book and it's nearly impossible to keep up
with the hardware and software releases. I have sat down to write one
more than once and if I had really gone at it, it still would have
been obsolete when it was published.
Nonetheless, I'm going to make a valiant attempt this summer…
Books on CDROMS will help alleviate the problem in doing books on
graphics and animation. I paid $63 for a book on computer graphics
the other day… it has maybe 30 color plates in it. To do the thing
justice, the book would cost $125 and I don't think anyone wants to
pay that for an already obsolete book <grin>.
C#
Did I really say "master"? How about "almost get a handle on"? (You know, the
question marks should probably be inside the quotation marks instead of
outside, but it's always bothered me that way.)
– J