Rendering Programs

David E. Gervais · #1 November 20th, 2004, 12:31 PM

I don't think DBPro is geared specifically towards a single type of game, I plan on doing 2D puzzle type games, so aside from possibly making a nifty 3D splash intro or some such thing I'll be sticking to the basic 2D stuff. I looked at a list of their 2D and 3D commands and they seem to cover all the bases.

Way back when I remember trying a special Version of DarkBAsic that was downloadable for people interested in entering a Alienware PC demo contest. In 4 lines of code I made a spinning se5 CD Rom with label and shiny side surface. the only drawback with the demo Version is that it only functionned for the time the contest was running and when you compiled the game/demo the exe was a whopping 5meg in size. (yes even my 4 lines of code ended up as a 5 meg exe.) I hear that the full Version will only link the 'used' functions and therefore make for much smaller exe.

Anyway, the 3DCanvas/DBPro combo seems like a good deal. But getting it will depend on whet kind of budget I have after buying all the gifts for xmas. chances are I'll have to wait til 2005 to get it. Unless I borrow some money which I don't like doing.

Anyway, let me know how you find the demo of 3DCanvas. I'd be interested in your opinion.

Cheers!

AgentZero · #2 November 27th, 2004, 05:33 PM

3DCanvas seems pretty good, though I must say I am less than impressed with the tutorials. A lot of it's camera controls and object resizing tools will feel vaguely familiar to the Bryce-initated, although like pretty much every other program out there, it lacks Bryce's clean simplicity. Still playing with it though...

Timstone · #3 November 27th, 2004, 06:41 PM

Wow Agent Zero, the image of your ship really looks awsome! Great job! Why won't you stay with Bryce? From reading your Posts, I get the feeling you've been playing with this program for quite some time. And you mentioned that you don't have too much time on your hands. Why take the trouble of learning a completely new program while there is still some room to grow in your old program. I don't want to say that you make bad images, but it's just a kind thought. Please don't take offense of it.

I'm glad I have to money to buy 3DS MAX 7. It costed me (hold on to your socks!!) $1900, but the program is absolutely great. There are so many plugins, tuts and textures available. Like David said it has a very steep learningcurve, but I'm getting better at it. I doubt if it will ever replace SolidWorks as my prime modeling program, but it sure makes sweet renders (of course I use it for more then just a renderer).

Edit:
Wohoo! I gained a rank!!!

AgentZero · #4 November 27th, 2004, 06:49 PM

Thanks, Timstone. The only reason I'm thinking of moving away from Bryce, and doing so grudgingly, is that Bryce cannot export to .X, or as far as I can tell, any format that can be converted to .X, which means that I can't make shipsets for Starfury or SE5. Which is a bit of a downer since they've already got me working on SE5's component pics...

Timstone · #5 November 28th, 2004, 05:52 AM

Have you done asearch for custom plugins for Bryce?
One of the first things I searched for when I got max 7 was a plugin to convert to .x. Luckily I found it.

Aiken · #6 November 28th, 2004, 06:37 AM

According to this page you can export Bryce meshes to .X format:

David E. Gervais · #7 November 28th, 2004, 09:09 AM

Yup, I know about this, but for some reason anything I import then save as .x does not load in modeler programs. the .x export seems to be bugged. Also the exported model looses any and all texture mapping info even if the original loaded model included this info.

The problem I had has been solved. I found out you can save 'any' bryce object boolene or not simply by grouping, selecting and 'Adding' it to the preset library. (click on the tiny down arrow beside the 'Create' menu and at the bottom of the 'object selections' you will see the 'add' button. click it and any object or group of objects will be added to the current catigory.)

Cheers!