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Old 22nd June 2006, 07:14 AM   #1
Hawk
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Talking The new AC3D 6 best feature

I am curious, for me the best new feature of the new AC3D 6 release is the 'Extrude Along Path'. I love this tool.

I'm not one to fuss over how things are arranged, the most important thing is moving along a good pace, meaning accomplishing tasks without performing a lot of time consuming or motion wasting steps, which AC3D does very well. The new AC3D 6 is, without a doubt as clean and smooth as it can be.

I would like to know which new feature(s) others feel is the most important to them, or the most useful.

One new thing, though it is not part of the program, is the added support by the new AC3D instuctional videos, only wish there were a few more (Like one for gears, threads, springs and the like), Anything that saves me time is worthwhile. Too much fussing trying to find out how to do something, or where the tool is to do it is the downfall of many other 3D programs, meaning far to many are too complex, and as a result clumsy.
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Old 22nd June 2006, 10:35 AM   #2
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Default Re: The new AC3D 6 best feature

I have to say, when it comes to designing starship bridge consoles, the extrude along a path feature is certainly the most useful feature included in the program.

However, I still don't think anything compares with the Boolean operation feature from previous versions. The new features are great, but I don't find them quite as useful as boolean.
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Old 22nd June 2006, 12:47 PM   #3
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Default Re: The new AC3D 6 best feature

I'm most happy with the new subdivisions plus general performance improvements in AC3D.

The new subdivision routines in AC3D are on par with most of the high-dollar apps. The improvements there mean I can model my app in AC3D, and, without committing subdivisions, export the model to another app for animation/rendering and the subdivisions come out practically the same. If there are differences, they are negligible or unnoticeable. Version 5 was good on closed geometry, but open geometry (where edges were "unclosed") did not behave the same way as most other apps do.

The performance improvements over version 5 are outstanding as well. I have one particular high-polycount model that was painstakingly slow in AC3D 5, but version 6 with performance improvements handles it *very* smoothly without the need to hide portions of the geometry or view in wireframe-only. Since I've had version 6 I've made other high-poly models, and have only realized just how high-poly they are when they are exported to other modeler-only apps where they are not handled nearly as well (read: slow).
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Old 22nd June 2006, 12:53 PM   #4
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Default Re: The new AC3D 6 best feature

Yes, performance has improved the smoothness of the motion, but that's often a moot point on computers with bad processors!
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Old 22nd June 2006, 03:14 PM   #5
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Question Re: The new AC3D 6 best feature

Quote:
Originally Posted by captainj2410
I have to say, when it comes to designing starship bridge consoles, the extrude along a path feature is certainly the most useful feature included in the program.

However, I still don't think anything compares with the Boolean operation feature from previous versions. The new features are great, but I don't find them quite as useful as boolean.
I don't quite understand, AC3D 6 does have a Boolean function?
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Old 22nd June 2006, 03:20 PM   #6
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Default Re: The new AC3D 6 best feature

Yeah just take a look in tools
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Old 22nd June 2006, 04:07 PM   #7
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Default Re: The new AC3D 6 best feature

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Originally Posted by captainj2410
Yes, performance has improved the smoothness of the motion, but that's often a moot point on computers with bad processors!
I would think performance improvements in AC3D would be an ever greater benefit for slow processors. Cant see how it would be a moot point?
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Old 23rd June 2006, 10:48 AM   #8
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Default Re: The new AC3D 6 best feature

Well, once a model gets to a certain point, there is nothing software can do to compensate for the inadequacies in hardware. I'm not saying it isn't better, just that my computer still can't handle it.
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Old 9th July 2006, 01:40 AM   #9
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Default Re: The new AC3D 6 best feature

Is save 3d window as a PNG spin animation new? That's awesome! I never saw that before!
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