[Mon]

The zbrush website suggests that it's an intuitive tool. bah! So far it's been a nightmare. I couldn't find any decent documentation on how to get those zspheres to do what I want them to, but evidently people have managed to create awesome stuff with it.

Has anyone of you guys tried it, successfully I mean? Does it beat ol' fashioned polygon editing?

The big question is: Is there such a thing as an intuitive 3d modelling tool?

here's the website:
http://pixologic.com/
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[ceenda]

Exactly the same experience here. I found the "tutorial" confusing more than anything. I got fed up after an hour or so.

[Prometheus-ANJ]

I haven't used it, but I liked the sculpting tool in MayaPLE. It was quite simple to understand although I haven't made anything yet. You can make a sphere with a certain number of faces and use the wacom to sculpt. Best for organic stuff of course.

I used to model in Imagine 3.0 back in the Amiga days. Recently when I started with 3dsmax I got very discouraged. Maya is slightly better for the 3d noob I think. Once you get a hang of 10 basic tools you can do a lot of stuff. Still, it's much more rewarding to paint I think.
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[B0b]

i tried to DL it earlier, but once i'd put my details in, it decided to hang my PC.. not had the courage to try again..

[Mon]

I'm still trying to get a handle on it... I won't give up! There are some tutorials by users on the web, pretty useful stuff..

I downloaded the Maya PLE, though all the controls made me want to scream. I know it's powerful, everyone says so, but the program is so complex that you have to have a huge amount of patience and interest in it to get anywhere. I just want to get the job done =)
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[tayete]

Don't let the interface creep you Mon. I had the same feeling the first time I tried it, so I didn't test it again in a long time. Next time, I decided to really try to understand the concept, and frankly, it is an astonishing sculpting package. With nearly no previous 3D background I could produce the pic below at my second hour with ZBRUSH.


My 2nd try with ZBRUSH:
http://www.pixolator.com/zbc-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=012053

First, it is a great modelling (and texturing) app
Second, its community is one of the politest you'll ever find

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[Prometheus-ANJ]

MayaPLE has a threshold you need to get over, and although it seems too steep at first, once you learned the camera tools, selection tools and the basic modelling tools you can do stuff pretty easily. It's about getting a workflow too, getting intous with the tools.

For low poly, I prefer to create a primitive, subdivide it in an appropriate number of sections.
Then I mostly work with Select Vertex and move or scale the vertices around.

Useful stuff under the Edit Polygon menu:

Subdivide -good for adding extra vertices/polys

Extrude face - also good for adding more material to work with. Under polygon/tool options you can tick Keep Faces Together if you dun want your faces to extrude like a hedgehog.

Delete and Merge Vertices - Use these instead of pressing the delete key on vertices (or you end up with wierd hidden data). For merge, you need to set the tolerance I think, it's under the options (little black dot right of the menu item).

Flip edge - sometimes flipping the diagonal of an edge will describe the shape you're after better.



Under the Polygon menu there is also the Append to polygon tool (edge mode). Just click the edges to add a polygon/face.

I often model in Quad mode, but I select faces now and then and Polygon menu/Triangulate them (and then flip edges) so I can see how the edges go. When I'm more or less finished I triangulte the while object.



Here's my first maya model that looks like something:

http://w1.485.telia.com/~u48508900/maya/
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[bnicolucci]

Try the ZBrush videos at 3dbuzz (http://www.3dbuzz.com/). They will get you up to speed with some of the basics and the very weird interface much quicker then the normal tutorials, IMHO that is.

B

[Max]

Prometheus: That model looks quite cool. Very nice concept, like in your paintings.
I have to start learning some 3d modeling too. I am a total beginner concerning modeling (modeled in 3dsmax2.5 years ago, nothing serious)
I have to know at least the basics. Is Maya PLE really good to start with?

[Mon]

thanks guys! prom and tayete, both your models look really cool!

I actually made a smaller breakthrough with zbrush last night, i spent half the night modelling on my trusty 300mhz at home once you start to get into it it's really rewarding, and a lot of fun!

nothing to show yet though, but there will be.

The thing i'm worried about with zbrush is that the meshes get so complex that it will make it difficult to animate them properly. I'm sure there is a setting somewhere where you can adust the density of faces on different parts of the object... but i don't want to end up with a bunch of awesome meshes that i can't use... not to mention the time and energy spent on learning the software!

tayete, have you tried to animate anything you've done in zbrush?
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