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Hrodvitnir
Hrodvitnir
Join Date 02/2008
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Need some Blender help..

My first foray into 3D modeling..

February 28, 2008 12:24:48 AM from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Hey all,

So, I just finished creating a ship in Blender - just the basic model. From reading around the forums, it seems like one of the things I should do next is set up "emitters". Am I correct in assuming that these emitters should be placed at the engine and gun nozzles? Anyone have any idea just how to do that in Blender (I've started using it very recently)?

I haven't textured it (simply because I don't know how just yet), and it needs more detail but here's a few pics:


Any help in getting my first ship EVER in game would be greatly, unendingly appreciated!
modding
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Hrodvitnir
hydrocarbn
Join Date 09/2007
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Reply #1 February 28, 2008 12:50:03 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Space bar -> Add -> Armature, move and scale them, name the exhaust one Exhaust. Name the weapon one Weapon-0, place more for muzzles of the same gun or add another gun by calling it Weapon-1.
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Hrodvitnir
Nadanova
Join Date 02/2008
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Reply #2 February 28, 2008 3:21:49 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
I marvel at anyone able to use blender because I think it is the most annoying tool ever... Well done on the great model and good luck getting it ingame. plus... any 3ds max 9 tutorials would be kinda useful
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Hrodvitnir
Irashi
Join Date 02/2008
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Reply #3 February 28, 2008 11:11:32 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
What format will you need to export that ship into by the way? I use blender a lot and one thing that never goes smoothly is exporting into a usable format. It doesn't even have an internal scale system, so you could get your ship into the game and it'll be microscopic, or planet sized...

Hmmm... planet sized ships

By the way it's very good for your first ship, I've seen some first attempts in blender that would make your eyes bleed.
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Hrodvitnir
Hrodvitnir
Join Date 02/2008
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Reply #4 February 28, 2008 11:30:15 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Thanks a lot, Carbon! Time to start the next step.

Nadanova: Blender is one of the most user-unfriendly programs I've ever seen. I started with Wings3D, since I was trying to get a ship into Homeworld2 but I switched to Blender for SOASE because it seemed to have more flexibility in design. It's still confusing to use, however.

Irashi: I'm pretty sure Blender exports into .xsi, which you can then convert into .mesh using the tool in the mod pack.

Thanks for the compliments, guys. Hopefully, once I figure this first ship out, I'll be able to start making them faster (and nicer)!
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Hrodvitnir
Irashi
Join Date 02/2008
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Reply #5 February 28, 2008 11:43:50 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Yeah, Blender supposedly exports into a lot of formats, I haven't used .xsi but from the formats I have used it doesn't usually export without any problems.

when exporting to .obj for example (a standard 3d format), blender will neglect to include any texture maps. I once exported a model that I had spent time applying over 100 tiling texture maps to, then had to re-apply them all in 3ds max's clunky materials interface.

I hope it goes smoothly, but in the event that it doesn't it's probably because Blender sucks at exporting
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Hrodvitnir
Hrodvitnir
Join Date 02/2008
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Reply #6 February 29, 2008 6:23:53 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
I'm having trouble figuring out just how to use armatures/bones/emitters. Every tutorial I've found talks about using them for animating character movement and such. I did add the exhaust armatures on my ship (six of them, one for each engine nozzle), but I have no idea which way to point them and all.

I downloaded Softimage XSI, since I think that's what people are currently using for modeling in this game, but the interface is daunting at the start (if worlds better than Blender's).

Should I make an effort to work fully in XSI, or should I stick with Blender?

Anyone have any good tips on making all of this modeling an easier venture? Right now, it's looking like a big mountain to climb (and everyone makes it look so easy)!
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