Help Needed - Mob Modeling

[GeorgeS]

I started modeling last sunday, and progress will be incremental of course, so a little at a time. The froglok model was done sunday and the head is giving me some difficulty. I will let you know via PM where you can download the work. Once the frog's textured then it's off to other ones like the bat, snake, spider, and then a few humanoid ones. I'm looking at my model repository now and looking for stuff that will work. I'll also keep the poly count under 1000 tris.

II bought another 20" display (for dual display) sunday so I have these side by side so modeling one one panel and references on another are possible. Looks like I had to go this way so I have more pro-end tools to work with. I'll show some screen captures this week

GeorgeS

[Windcatcher]

WOW! I hope you didn't think you had to spend money on this, though those sound like great toys to have anyway -- I hope the wife/gf understood (grin). I cant wait to see what you come up with.

I've written four new OpenZone tutorials for mob modeling with Anim8or, but when I finished them I realized that the process was way too tedious for my liking (I usually take some shortcuts like modifying the .AN8 files directly, but they won't do for a tutorial). I've decided to make some enhancements to my software to try to make things easier:

1. Expand OpenZone's .AN8 import ability so it can handle grouped objects (partially done, can load groups as long as they aren't rotated)

2. Expand the client so it will also look for objects and creatures in separate .XWF files in the zone's .XWA archive (done; if the .XWA contains objects.xwf and/or creatures.xwf, it will load them as well).

3. Add force-loading capability to the client when dealing with .XWA files (done, but untested; requires an upgrade to OpenZone first).

4. Change OpenZone's export to .XWA so it puts objects in objects.xwf and creatures in creatures.xwf rather than putting everything in a single .xwf file.

5. Add .AN8 export capability to OpenZone. This is good to have in general but part of it is also necessary for step #6.

6. Add tools to OpenZone that tackle some of the more tedious parts of mob modeling, such as copying a model, removing all variants, copying an object to make a variant, etc. These need step #5 above since they'll involve modifying Anim8or files.

7. Rework the tutorials to use the new OpenZone features.

This will probably take a few weeks, but the results will be worth it. I can use whatever you make without all this, but these changes will make it easier for everyone else to take all of the needed steps to make mob models usable. If you want to see the models I've already made, they come with OpenZone 7.6 in the /library/creatures folder (.AN8 files are Anim8or files).

[GeorgeS]

No worries, after I sold the 98 LS1 vette, I had a few bucks to spare. Selling it made her happy and I could buy all sorts of stuff - that made me happy. I actually found her using the pc more now!

I also bought a touchtablet 2 years ago, but found it a bit clumsy for details. I am still learning the art of texturing (if there's such a thing).



When I get a prototype model ready, you can then let me know what changes need to be made. I understand humanoid models - 2 arms and 2 legs spread apart is standard. Whether you need them triangulated or not is simple for me. I can triangulate as the last step. Non humanoid models are one of many that I am working on. snakes, and bats for example, latter have wings which flap and snakes wiggle around. I guess the animation should be easy for those.



GeorgeS

[GeorgeS]

So far so good. Spectre's, and snakes are textured and done. I tried working on the frog and had real difficulty finishing the head. So far I am modeling these with some difficulty, but texturing is a real challenge. I found texturing organics pretty hard and was wondering what your work flow is.


GeorgeS

[Windcatcher]

I usually use CorelDraw for the basics, just so I have the right things in the right places and with the right colors, and then I use Paint Shop Pro for touch-up work. Unfortunately the best I can get with this method is what I included with OpenZone. Using my method works much better for things like clothing, where I can layer things and build clothing textures that reflect the cloth layers that make them up.

[GeorgeS]

I'll be looking forward to the help file.

So far, here's my progress:

1) 4 Froglok's done some with weapons (not sure if you need them equipped...)
2) 4 Snake models - done
3) 2 Spectre models - done, still being textured
4) 5 Rats fully textured - done
5) 3 Bat models - not done yet
6) 12 spiders several different ones made all textured - done
7) several Beetles - currently doing these
Lion/Tigers in queue
9) Human models (still thinking how to best do these)
etc..

Still would need to know a few things

Where do you prefer the axis center of each model? (Feet level, body level)

Size - I gues I can scale these to a given metric

Quads? - I box model using quads only. No one uses tris anymore, except for game output since most games only accept tris, or at least triangulate. What's your thought?

Textures must be in .png .bmp? in x^2 X y^2 I resume?
What's the largest texture size you can use(512x512)?

What about the export format? (I can do .3ds, .obj, maya/wavefront, .cob, .x, etc..)

As you can see there are many work flow things I would need first so when I create the exports, the models are almost ready for you out fo the 'box'


GeorgeS

[Scorpious2k]

Originally Posted by GeorgeS

So far, here's my progress:

1) 4 Froglok's done some with weapons (not sure if you need them equipped...)
2) 4 Snake models - done
3) 2 Spectre models - done, still being textured
4) 5 Rats fully textured - done
5) 3 Bat models - not done yet
6) 12 spiders several different ones made all textured - done
7) several Beetles - currently doing these
Lion/Tigers in queue
9) Human models (still thinking how to best do these)
etc..

WOW!!! Awesome!!!!!

Looking forward to seeing all this