#Alias/Wavefront
25 messages in this thread
Hi, we are in the process of buying an Indigo2 to run Alias, Wavefront and
Eclipse software to eventially create Architectural walkthru's and general
ray-traced graphics in strereo for large screen projection. Does anyone know if
these products are suitable for general architectural work? Our plan is to
invest in additional cards for on-line editing and dumping to SVHS recorders in
real time. Most of our geometry gets created in Autocad and we have up to now
done our animation in 3DStudio but we are getting impatient with recorders
running and Pentiums running for days. Any feedback will be wellcome since not
many users exist here in South Africa using this type of equipment for
architectural work.
Andre,
we have a cart load of SGI's (mostly Indigo2's) and also almost as many Pentium
100's and the PC's with 3ds are rendering faster overall – unless you get into
huge scenes requiring massive RAM. R4400's are a tad faster than Pentiums but
not a lot, but then 3ds seems to be much faster than any renderer we have on
the SGI side. Hardware rendering is not going to help you with raytracing
either. I suggest getting a DPS PVR board. You'll get great quality video (3:1
jpeg compressed) with no visible artifacts and it plays in realtime. It's like
a mini-Abekas but will store 15 minutes approx on a 4.3gb AV drive.
Martin,
The machine we intend buying is the new Indigo2 Maximum Impact using the R8000
MIPS chip and 128MB ram. The demo I saw
certainly was a lot faster than 3DS with a 100Mhz Pentium. Our models do tend
to get very large. What is the DPS PVR board you
are refering to and on what machine does it run? I'm also uncertain about the
various modules of Alias. Are there any you can specifically
recommend for architectural work? We were also contemplating the new J210 HP
machine with the Visualizer48 board for graphics and
a Parralax board for video. The raw specs are better on the HP but I'm
concerned about packages available for the HP. Any comments?
Thanks for the reply and I look foreward to hearing from you.
Andre,
>> Alias modules… Are there any you can specifically recommend for
architectural work? <<
I wouldn't recommend Alias at all for architecture. It's just not it's forte.
Martin…
<<<I wouldn't recommend Alias at all for architecture. It's just not it's
forte.>>>
Interesting. One of my classmates at the Alias Studio Level II session in
Toronto was employed as the chief technical illustrator for an Architectual
firm out in the mid-west. I've never seen a guy so happy as when he left to go
back to his new Indigo II Extreme <G>. He was talking about eventually doing
camera fly-bys in buildings/rooms that he would render in Studio, maybe
importing dxf files to get him started.
Maybe it just depends on the specific application, but this guy was no beginner
in the field of computer illustration. He was a ex-Mac & PC user, and was
really psyched with the SGI.
Mike/MA
Andre,
PMJI, but would this be a poor time to mention that the Alias/Wavefront
software does NOT run on the Impact series? In fact, they specifically
recommend against it (we're dealers, BTW). Couple of months down the road,
possibly.
Kevin Krell – Computer Support Associates
Sorry to jump in,
I was reading your conversation and saw the name Metro Light. Is this
the "Metro Light Studios"
Fred,
>> Is this the "Metro Light Studios" <<
correct. I run the PC production department. Until recently MetroLight was SGI
production only.
Martin,
I know you probably get people buggin you all the time but, are you
looking for anyone right now? I have a fantastic background, and I live to
fool people with effects.
Well, no point in me begging to you like a kid crying to his mom in a
toy store; drop me a line if you are curently looking for new talent.
Fred Ruff, 102137,301
Alias / 3DStudio Artist
3D Coordinator
Martin,
Has Metrolight developed a preferred method for importing Alias files into 3DS?
I've been getting fairly unsatisfactory results using the .dxf file generated
by Alias.
AP
<<<Has Metrolight developed a preferred method for importing Alias files into
3DS? I've been getting fairly unsatisfactory results using the .dxf file
generated by Alias.
AP>>>
Hello there AP
Schreiber/4D Vision have a great way of importing Alias/Wavefront *.obj file
with motion. You probably all ready know it's puppeteer.
Mike White
<You probably all ready know it's puppeteer.>
I didn't know that! Thanks, I'll check it out!
AP
Your welcome. The import motion file function is were you'll find it.
Say that ten time's fast.
Mike
My company's product, InterChange for Windows, can read/write what are known as
Alias "polyset" files. These aren't the native "wire" files, but given that
they're only triangles and quads, they're well-suited for 3D Studio. Call
(414) 674-5200 for more info… we of course read/write 3DS files, too.
I am very interested by your product. We are planning to make our next game
with 3DStudio for modeling and Wavefront for
light/textures/animation/rendering.
Can you give me some more details on Interchange?
Is this the same that was on Amiga plateform?
What can be translated? Mapping coordinates/Animation/lights/Textures
parameters?
thanks…
Laurent FISCHER / CRYO France
If you going use Wavefront, why don't you want to use it's modeler?
I assume you will for the more organic meshes.
Are you going to use GameGear?
If you send me your postal (paper) address in private e-mail, I'll send you a
catalog. Yes, Syndesis started out in the Amiga market. The product has
advanced quite a bit since then. At this time, we don't translate UV or texture
maps. Basic material info is translated.
Andrew,
we take Alias files into Wavefront and save out an .obj file. We then use a
utility called obj2asc which converts the obj to a 3ds ascii file. No UV
co-ords unfortunately but it was free on the Internet I think.
thanks for the info-now I just hope I don't >wipe out< looking for that file on
the Internet! >g<
AP
RE Wavefront OBJ to 3DS conversion –
I've used that little freebie utility a lot also, but it sometimes does not
work if the mesh is too big. In those cases, I use Truespace to import the OBJ
and then export a 3D Studio ASC file. Truespace is great for huge mesh
translation!
Jim
Jim,
>> I use Truespace to import the OBJ and then export a 3D Studio ASC file.
Truespace is great for huge mesh translation! <<
that's an expensive mesh translator <g>. Does it preserve UV mapping co-ords
and material names?
PMJI: we have programmed a Truespace to 3DS file converter that converts the
meshes, mappings, co-ords, lights, cameras and so on…
This is not a ready-for-sale product but it works (the most times <g>). If
someone is interested in this little program maybe I can upload it to ASOFT…
Michael
Michael,
>> Truespace to 3DS file converter that converts the meshes, mappings, co-ords,
lights, cameras and so on… <<
that sounds good. I personally am more interested in the SGI to 3ds file
formats, especially .obj to .3ds or .asc (3ds' ascii).
Hi Michael. I'd definitely like to take a look at your program. Would you mind
uploading it to me?? Thanks.
Kelly Dove
Yes, I`ll upload it to you. Please tell me what you think about it. Remember
that`s not complely finished and I think there were some problems when you try
to convert complex animations (the program can convert all animation
information).
Michael
P.S: the program needs DOS4GW.EXE. If you haven`t the file please contact
me…