[kos.mandis]

Hi!
I'm kinda new to 3d, and I just did a model of my guy here at 998 polys! I'm hoping to animate and skin the bastard, probably for Quake3. Now the subjects I'm not that "familiar" with is the methods people use to create the skin template, and any other general things I should be aware of.

Anybody any advice? If I added a biped, how could I do the third sword-hand?


(Damn I had done a GREAT head at the begginning, pressed render and the next thing I know I'm in the desktop-wo save...)

Thanx!

[derPunkt]

Ok, kos. I can't really help you with animation, but I guess, you would have to animate it separately (if you want it for Quake 3). Just detach that object and name it, hm, u_sword. Then you can animate it as a separate thing (I hope the engine will pick it up, but I see no reason not to).
As for making a skinmesh......well, that gets kinda tricky.
What you need to do is separate the whole object into little pieces.
I know there is a tutorial somewhere......
oh, yeah. I think you can find it on www.Polycount.com
Its a complex thing, and it would be dumb if I would explain it now, when there is a kickass step-by-step tutorial.

Hope it helps,
dP

[ElectroTechno]

few URLs for ya. http://www.planetquake.com/polycount/resources/quake3/tutorials.shtml

and my personal favourite www.loonygames.com and cheak damn good Paul Steeds (the MAN behind q3 models) Thinking Outside the Box. Maybe you'll find good tips in Painting on Polygons section.

E/T

[kos.mandis]

Thanx for the urls... Btw anybody else has a problem displaying this page?? (all pages from machinima, in win2k ie5)
http://www.machinima.com/articles/modelling_intro_1

^^^^^Found out it's a problem with atguard, nevermind...

[This message has been edited by kos.mandis (edited May 14, 2000).]

[psi burn]

hey im an active quake3 skinner so i can help ya out

if you want to create a skin template aka a Skin Base(basically an image containing the wireframe boundaries in a logical manner), you can use a variety of md3 viewing programs to load the model, and then use an internal feature to save one.

i recommend NPherno's GL Viewer, im not sure of the homepage url, but if you visit Rorschacks site (probably linked somewhere in planetquake.com), he has a url to it. its a great program to use. if you dont understand how to load models into it, email me.

i hope this answered your question.

[amnesia]

For the third arm just make your hierachy of bones and link to the biped.

------------------
,.-="`AmnesiA`"=-.,

[Mr Weasel]

I've noticed your mesh has quad polys. Don't you think you should make it tris and optimize it ?

[kos.mandis]

Psi burn, Amnesia, Mr Weasel thanx!

Mr Weasel I'm in the prossess of optimising. What exactly do you mean btw? Is what you are saying for example: to close up and weld the vertices from the front of the leg so that they form a triangle from top? (short of)

[Mr Weasel]

No, of course. What i meant was to make that quad polygons to tiangular polygons or faces. U see, for every polygons that has more than three edges there's more than one triangular polys (faces), eg: if u have a quad poly, u'll have two faces.If u have a five edged poly then u have three faces in that polygon. Those faces are built by edges that connects from vertex to vertex, diagonally .
Therefore, if you have quad polys like that u'll have a hard time optimizing manually because there are faces that's hidden. In 3DS MAX, u can make faces visible.
What i'm trying to say is that rendering times in games (and also animation movies) depends on how many faces u have on your model. The more faces u have, the more heavy your computer renders and that will mean a drop of performance.
So because of that, my arty friend, optimizing in 3D action games such as Quake 3 is essential. Even if the Q3A engine has this capability called Level of Detail (LOD).
In your model there are parts that must be optimized. Those are: the axle part on the third arm, the thorn thing on his left hip and the emblem on his chest. You should make rounded parts have five or six sides. Not eight like yours.
Okay, that's about it. If you're still confused with it, go to Loonygames.com like Electro told u. Search for the 'Thinking Outside The Box' articles written by the Quake modeler himself, Paul Steed. The article i found most important in TOTB was the tips n tricks part. Happy rendering !

PS: sorry it took a long time to rep this. I don't hang out here oftenly.

[kos.mandis]

That budweiser lizard was right about weasels afterall!
Thanx buddy, I've dropped to 824 from 998 AND added an extra joint to the 3rd arm

And I still got a couple of things to optimise.. lol

[Mr Weasel]

Er....what you mean ? Me no get. Did Lizard think Weasels yum-yum ? Did Lizard think Weasels good fren. Me no get.

[Axl]

Jeez!!! Good model.
You haven't been modelling long and you've produced that. What package do you use?

[kos.mandis]

"Don't send a ferret to do a weasel's job" I meant it in a good way, stop worrying

Axl - 3d studio max

[This message has been edited by kos.mandis (edited May 20, 2000).]