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Old 21st March 2008, 03:12 AM   #1
mooseberry
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Question Some more questions from a noob. UPDATED MORE QUESTIONS!

1. I'm working on a pistol I'd love to use in-game, so I'd like the poly count to be as low ass possible. If I've allready made the model what ways are there to reduce the poly count besides optimize vertices and surfaces? (I think weld/merge/snap something like that might help a little.)

2. Ok, I know this is dumb, but I'm using POV-Ray to render, only I don't know any code. So I wan't to use povwin, but I'm not really sure how to get it into a .obj?

3. What is the best way to "round out" boxes? Just careful vertices dragging? specifcally? Subdivision does not work.

UPDATE:
-------------------

TWO new questions

1. What is the best way to make a low poly wheel. Not a car tire mind you, but an old wagon style wheel. For some reason I just can't get it too look good.

2. For my covered wagon, I need to obviously uhh, make a cover. I started by taking a cylinder, resizing it appropriately, than selecting the bottom vertices and dragging it up into the top to make a half cylinder. So now Ive got a half cylinder, but how do i make it "thinner"?

More questions may (will come.)
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Last edited by mooseberry; 8th May 2008 at 10:16 PM. Reason: UPDATE
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Old 21st March 2008, 07:28 PM   #2
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Default Re: Some more questions from a noob.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mooseberry View Post
1. I'm working on a pistol I'd love to use in-game, so I'd like the poly count to be as low ass possible. If I've allready made the model what ways are there to reduce the poly count besides optimize vertices and surfaces? (I think weld/merge/snap something like that might help a little.)
I use Surface > Combine a lot. Just pick two surfaces that are nearly flat, combine them, and delete the extra verts. Keep going until you have the poly count you need.

There's also an automatic reducer (Object > Reduce) athough like most reducers its really only useful for bringing a very high poly model down to a mid poly model. Taking a mid poly model to low poly is a job that's best done by hand.

Quote:
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2. Ok, I know this is dumb, but I'm using POV-Ray to render, only I don't know any code. So I wan't to use povwin, but I'm not really sure how to get it into a .obj?
You should be able to bypass POV and export the OBJ straight from AC3D. AFAIK, there is no OBJ exporter for POVRay?

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3. What is the best way to "round out" boxes? Just careful vertices dragging? specifcally? Subdivision does not work.
I know subdivision is tricky to learn, but it really is the best way to do it. If it's not working for you, you probably need to add some extra cuts first. The distance from your cuts to the edge determines how much the subdivision holds the original shape. Also make sure you stick to only quads and triangles, preferrably quads. It will work better.

I've attached a picture to show you what I mean. I made these by starting with a cube, and then using Insert Vertex \ Slice Surface to add extra cuts. (You could also use the Divide Loop plug-in.) By changing the position of the cuts, I can make the cube more or less round.
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Old 22nd March 2008, 02:49 AM   #3
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Default Re: Some more questions from a noob.

Ok, thanks, I'm still having a bit of trouble getting the vertices how you did tho...
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Old 22nd March 2008, 07:29 PM   #4
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Default Re: Some more questions from a noob.

Here, I made a quick video of how to cut in new edges using Insert Vertex and Slice Surface:
http://www.independentdeveloper.com/files/cubeslice.wmv

The process goes *much* faster if you use the hotkeys (crtl+shift+I and crtl+shift+L), but did everything from the menus in the video so you can see what I'm doing.
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Old 22nd March 2008, 07:51 PM   #5
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Smile Re: Some more questions from a noob.

Thank you very much! You don't know how helpful you have been!

Here have a Cookie or two!
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Old 22nd March 2008, 10:03 PM   #6
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Default Re: Some more questions from a noob.

Ok, a new question. I'm this is probably a dumb one, and has allready been answered somewhere, but I'm in a hurry.:roll: So..

Can I/ how would I "split" and object into two or more separate objects?
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Old 22nd March 2008, 10:59 PM   #7
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Default Re: Some more questions from a noob.

Lol, thanks for the cookies.

To split an object, select the surfaces you want to split off, then choose Surface > Cut Away Object.
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Old 23rd March 2008, 03:35 AM   #8
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Default Re: Some more questions from a noob.

Thank you very much!!
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Old 23rd March 2008, 02:10 PM   #9
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Default Re: Some more questions from a noob.

Quote:
Originally Posted by lisa View Post
Here, I made a quick video of how to cut in new edges using Insert Vertex and Slice Surface:
http://www.independentdeveloper.com/files/cubeslice.wmv

The process goes *much* faster if you use the hotkeys (crtl+shift+I and crtl+shift+L), but did everything from the menus in the video so you can see what I'm doing.
i think my brain just opened up a bit or something, hehe very nice, its these things that propel me!
thank you for this lisa
and that site rocks! is that you?
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Old 24th March 2008, 02:15 PM   #10
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Default Re: Some more questions from a noob.

Yup, that's me. I figured with the amount of internet tutorials I read, I better start writing some occassionally to try and even out the balance.
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