2nd May 2011, 08:08 PM | #1 |
Junior Member
Junior member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 4
|
Thinking of buying, but...
I am old to computers but new to 3D modelling, started because I want to add some 3DS objects to NoLimits Rollercoaster. Definitely hooked now. I have been carefully comparing AC3D, Cheetah, Blender, Sketchup and Autodesk. At the moment I prefer AC3D though it does seem to crash a lot especially when saving. Also the interface seems an uneasy mixture of Windows and Mac with very small text of file names/folders and no file icons available so I cannot see what textures and objects I have.
Is the purchased version any different or more stable than the demo, or is it just a question of time expiry? I am running an iMac OS 10.6.7. Cheetah seems very stable with a helpful and attractive interface but no obvious way of using existing textures or saving them with a 3DS object. Sketchup is easy to use though the lite version won't save in 3DS. Blender is free but an absolute pig of an interface that had me in tears at three in the morning and Autodesk has far too many features and is too expensive for my modest needs. |
3rd May 2011, 10:08 AM | #2 |
Administrator
Professional user
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 4,565
|
Re: Thinking of buying, but...
It is possible to switch to Apple system dialogs in the advanced settings. The default look that you see is set because some users reported problems. The Apple dialogs may be fine if you have a more modern system.
We have many thousands of users who run AC3D every day so it really shouldn't be crashing for you. Please contact us (http://www.inivis.com/contact.html) with more details on the crashes, if you can duplicate them, please include the operations you did and save any files that caused problems. |
4th May 2011, 03:42 AM | #3 |
Junior Member
Junior member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 4
|
Re: Thinking of buying, but...
Found two items in the settings menu: Sergio UI and Use System Dialogs with an asterisk. No explanation what the asterisk referred to. Sergio gave lots of very small icons of dubious effectiveness over the windows. Might be better twice the size. Use System Dialogs turned out to be the Mac appearance I needed.
Respectful suggestions. Put this info in the manual. Have 'Use System Dialogs' menu item moved to Appearance, renamed 'Mac OS' and checked by default. 'Preferences' and 'Settings' bring up the same menu. Confusing. Lose 'Settings', which is ambiguous. Crashes seem to have stopped now I have made the changes. These mainly happened when saving or exporting or flipping through the folders so perhaps there is a link. When exporting to 3DS an occasional alert message tells me that the texture name is too long, It would be helpful to beginners if it also gave info on acceptable length. By wearisome trial and error I find that it seems to be happy with 6 characters for a texture filename. Wonderful. A much more useable programme now. I shall buy it. Many thanks. |
4th May 2011, 01:08 PM | #4 | |
Senior Member
Professional user
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: France
Posts: 737
|
Re: Thinking of buying, but...
Quote:
__________________
OL. |
|
5th May 2011, 03:40 AM | #5 |
Junior Member
Junior member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 4
|
Re: Thinking of buying, but...
Ah what luxury! Seriously, thanks for that, most helpful.
What I find confusing re the texture filenames is that I made some objects with Object Creator, a small, elderly Windows based 3d modelling programme for NoLimits Rollercoaster. The texture filenames were very long in some cases and accepted without problem and opened correctly when the object was rendered in NoLimits. However when exporting 3DS with AC3D the requirement is for 8character max and if this is exceeded the NoLimits programme will not find the file and not render the object. Strange, but nothing to get worked up about. More important things in life, but mildly irritating. |
5th May 2011, 06:12 AM | #6 |
Administrator
Professional user
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 4,565
|
Re: Thinking of buying, but...
The restriction is in the 3DS file format see Shortcomings at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.3ds
There are better file formats these days but 3DS will not die |
Tags |
comparison, crash, interface |
|
|