Any 3D artists here?

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hardcore_gamer
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Any 3D artists here?

Post by hardcore_gamer »

Been learning 3D modeling/texturing for about 8 months now and I was wondering if there are any other 3D artists here. If so then what's your fav software? Modo? Blender? Maya? Etc. And why do you like that software more than others? How long have you been into creating 3D art? Do you mostly just create game assets or do you also create art for it's own sake?

The software I use:

Modeling: Modo
Sculpting: Zbrush
Texturing: Substance pack
Animation: Modo
FX: Houdini (haven't really dabbled much in FX yet, though).

I personally use it mostly for making game models (I am even working on a secret project I won't share with you just yet!) though I will probably use it more for making art as well at some point.
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leileilol
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Re: Any 3D artists here?

Post by leileilol »

Modeling: Blender
Sculpting: Blender
Texturing: Blender
Animation: Blender
FX: Blender
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Nash
 
 
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Re: Any 3D artists here?

Post by Nash »

Blender for everything, for the cost of nothing!
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Sgt. Shivers
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Re: Any 3D artists here?

Post by Sgt. Shivers »

I mostly use blender for modelling and texturing, but all my FX and material stuff is done in Unreal since that's my engine of choice for 3d. I used to use Maya but I moved to blender because it's less intensive on my computer and it's also free.
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Apeirogon
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Re: Any 3D artists here?

Post by Apeirogon »

I have frined which learn modelling 6 mouths, and he mostly use maya. Because someone told to him that maya more suitable for sculpting. But now he says that difference between zbrush/max/modo/maya/blender/etc. is not so great, i.e. they all have have approx equal features.
Even more, he learn "how to %insert model thing%" using blender video tutorial in maya.

But I dont agree with it.
Im not 3d arist, I rip models from games, so I forced to use max. Because almost all games have model converted from "max" format to "games own" format.
This also means that I change a little animations/vertex position of models, which corrupted a little due self-made "game format to max" script.
One day I try to use blender for it and....well, without google I cant use it. Yes, another gui problem.
In max I found, and understand how to use, material editor, curve editor, etc. editor by myself. The only time that I use google for max is to find answer to question "how transit animations from one model to another".
And for blender I dont even got how select and move "starting" cube without google.

So, for me blender will remain the best 3d program to do the best nsfw video by overwatch, until it finaly have normal gui.
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Re: Any 3D artists here?

Post by hardcore_gamer »

Apeirogon wrote:I have frined which learn modelling 6 mouths, and he mostly use maya. Because someone told to him that maya more suitable for sculpting. But now he says that difference between zbrush/max/modo/maya/blender/etc. is not so great, i.e. they all have have approx equal features.
They don't have equal features at all. Blender's sculpting abilities are completely different from that of Zbrush. Actually, I don't think ANY program comes close to having the sculpting abilities of Zbrush. Like, at all. It's like comparing Ms paint to photoshop. That said Zbrush does have a pretty poor interface so many people struggle to learn it.
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Re: Any 3D artists here?

Post by R4L »

Nash wrote:Blender for everything, for the cost of nothing!
Except maybe the cost of convenience. Blender is not fun to use lol.

With that said, I use blender for ripping and importing models, but eventually want to learn how to make my own models.
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Re: Any 3D artists here?

Post by kodi »

Blender for everything except some texture stuff.
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Re: Any 3D artists here?

Post by Clay »

Blender, scultpris, and sometimes substance painter.
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Re: Any 3D artists here?

Post by hardcore_gamer »

I wonder if the need for coding is actually the real reason for why there aren't more modelers creating stuff for mods. Making the model is only a part of the challenge, since afterward you have to write the code for the model, animations, decorate/modeldef etc.
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Re: Any 3D artists here?

Post by leileilol »

1. Pipeline issues. MD3 exporting is an inefficient niche; asking for a working skeletal format that we can export to already... has been deemed futile.
2. Aesthetic issues. Models in a spritely world will stand out and not necessarily look better (especially during all that time when normals on models weren't exploited)
3. Techinical art issues. Animations will forever look stiff and lifeless no matter how many frames at a high rate you throw at it within the limited animation system. It'll only ever "oooh my good the hi 3-D grafik" in still screenshots.
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Apeirogon
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Re: Any 3D artists here?

Post by Apeirogon »

No pe. In total chaos conversion animations looks good.
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Re: Any 3D artists here?

Post by hardcore_gamer »

leileilol wrote:1. Pipeline issues. MD3 exporting is an inefficient niche; asking for a working skeletal format that we can export to already... has been deemed futile.
2. Aesthetic issues. Models in a spritely world will stand out and not necessarily look better (especially during all that time when normals on models weren't exploited)
3. Techinical art issues. Animations will forever look stiff and lifeless no matter how many frames at a high rate you throw at it within the limited animation system. It'll only ever "oooh my good the hi 3-D grafik" in still screenshots.
I don't really agree with these points for a few reasons. I will address each individually.

1. You can create the animations using a traditional modeling tool such as Modo or C4D (don't know about Blender but I hear it's possible) and then convert the animation into md3 frames, which then in return can be converted into a single md3 animation.

2. Then make everything out of models to replace sprites completely. I would also argue that the recent addition of PBR rendering for Gzdoom is a massive game changer in regards to how good looking you can make 3D models appear now compared to before.

3. I believe the highest framerate possible for model animations is about 25-30 fps (I don't remember the exact number so it would be nice if somebody clarified this) which isn't so bad. And animations looking stiff has nothing to do with framerate. Stiff animations are the result of bad animation. Does this look stiff?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfueWn4103g

The cold hard truth is that the reason 3D models in Doom have sucked so far is because they are amateurishly made. The modeling is mediocre and the texturing is bland and lifeless. The animation is also robotic and crude. This, not because it's not possible to create and animate good looking models, is why they suck. Hopefully the introduction of PBR will increase interest in creating 3D models for Doom.
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Re: Any 3D artists here?

Post by NeuralStunner »

hardcore_gamer wrote:1. You can create the animations using a traditional modeling tool such as Modo or C4D (don't know about Blender but I hear it's possible) and then convert the animation into md3 frames, which then in return can be converted into a single md3 animation.
There's also the Blender exporter Nash dug up. In the end, though, no exporter can solve MD3's core problem: Vertex animation is horrible for large-scale work. Say you have twelve humanoid models that use the same animation set. You have to propagate these animations across all 12 model files and re-export them (which only makes them files even larger as your animation bank grows). Skeletal animation is a must if non-static models are ever going to be taken seriously in Doom modding.
hardcore_gamer wrote:2. Then make everything out of models to replace sprites completely. I would also argue that the recent addition of PBR rendering for Gzdoom is a massive game changer in regards to how good looking you can make 3D models appear now compared to before.
It's still no substitute for proper vertex lighting, which in turn is not feasible without proper directional lighting. Ambient sector lighting could be sourced for this, but it would be nothing more than a hack: Your model is always going to be lit by the sector that the actor currently originates in, anything sticking into a differently-lit sector is going to look completely naff. This is certainly fixable, but as always, requires someone with the time, skills, and damns to give.
hardcore_gamer wrote:3. I believe the highest framerate possible for model animations is about 25-30 fps (I don't remember the exact number so it would be nice if somebody clarified this) which isn't so bad. And animations looking stiff has nothing to do with framerate. Stiff animations are the result of bad animation. Does this look stiff?
Since model animation in GZDoom is linked to actor logic, your highest animation rate is 35 FPS. Anything in between is limited to what interpolation can do. (If you've ever used the SNG in a modern Quake port, you've probably seen the worst of what blind lerping can do.) This would be the nastiest of the issues to patch over, and even if successful, it's going to mean greater complexity to get new assets working.

Again, things that need to be solved before models in GZDoom can really be taken seriously. Unfortunately, it looks they'd need to be taken more seriously before anyone would care enough to fix these problems. Steven, we're stuck in a loop. :?
hardcore_gamer wrote:The cold hard truth is that the reason 3D models in Doom have sucked so far is because they are amateurishly made. The modeling is mediocre and the texturing is bland and lifeless. The animation is also robotic and crude.
Eesh. That's one thick blanket statement. Ever played Half-life? I.E. the goldssrc version? The model work is professionally made but frankly terrible, and 90% of that is the fault of the technology at the time. It's easy enough to knee-jerk blame creators for sub-par results, but the sad fact is that GZDoom is very, very, very, very, very far from perfect. :|
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Re: Any 3D artists here?

Post by hardcore_gamer »

NeuralStunner wrote:In the end, though, no exporter can solve MD3's core problem: Vertex animation is horrible for large-scale work. Say you have twelve humanoid models that use the same animation set. You have to propagate these animations across all 12 model files and re-export them (which only makes them files even larger as your animation bank grows). Skeletal animation is a must if non-static models are ever going to be taken seriously in Doom modding.
I admit I am no expert on the process but don't converters get around this? I was able to animate a cube (yes I know not the most complex object but still) by creating an obj animation in Modo, and then merely converted it to md3 frames afterward using a special script/plugin. Can't I just take advantage of Modo's skeleton/animation tools to create an obj animation and then convert to an Md3 animation afterward? As far as I understand this is possible as long as you don't actually alter the model or change the number of polygons on it.

EDIT: And half-life's models look fine. Or at least way better than Quake's. They are much better animated in any case.

EDIT 2: Here is a gif somebody made from a star wars mod they were making where they did something similar to what I did except he used C4D. Animations look okish to me:

https://i.imgur.com/NbKgi53.gif
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