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Post by BilliamBabble Inked Adventures on Mar 12, 2011 9:25:02 GMT -9
I thought I'd take a leaf out of Dagobahdave's book and give Sketchup a try. I could save a lot of printer ink if I was able to demonstrate large dungeons in an exciting 3D perspective (which also prevents direct copying of 2D layouts) ... but I'm finding it very clumsy. For those of us who don't have our brains wired up to a CAD-style way of thinking, or don't want to just make boxes with photos sellotaped to the side, it is very confusing. Maybe I should just use a "skew" tool in GIMP. Edit: the thumbnail graphic is being strange ... click on it anyhow. I may add more pictures here for fun as I climb the learning curve.
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Post by okumarts on Mar 12, 2011 9:28:51 GMT -9
Dave prints out B&W or blank versions of his builds and then uses photoshop to put the images on them.
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Post by BilliamBabble Inked Adventures on Mar 12, 2011 16:03:27 GMT -9
Intriguing. I think I just need some patience to actually sit through the tutorials.
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Post by Parduz on Mar 12, 2011 17:14:49 GMT -9
Funny. Actually i find SketchUp so far from any CAD or technical design software that i find it frustrating. I fight for months with the 3DMax version i had in my office to align textures to sides of a mesh... using scripts and any sort of things that i, as a programmer, can sort out....
now we don't have 3DMax anymore and just doing some simple UVW mapping in sketchup is a real pain.
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Post by Bhoritz on Mar 13, 2011 8:03:39 GMT -9
I find Sketchup very intuitive to use, but as I have no other knowledge of 3D programs, I have no habits to unlearn. The first thing I learned with it is "don't fight the program", it works with inference, you have to adjust to it. I am trying to use it make some 3D shapes, but I'll print them to draw the details and then I'll color in Photoshop. I am more used to use Sketchup in my illustrations, but shapes for 3D models are easier, because they have to be kept to a minimum (imho, if you can paint a detail, you don't need to model it. I use the flattery plugin to unfold the shapes.
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Post by Sirrob01 on Mar 14, 2011 22:58:46 GMT -9
Looks good to me, I put together a layout tool for chunky dungeons and Castleworks Ultimate from WWG. To make snapping easier layout a grid of 1 inch squares say 30x30 inchs then create your master elements and rest them around the side and copy and paste them when you want one. then grab a lower corner and it'll naturally "grab" to the grid... might have a picy: not sure if your interested but here's the base grid: sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=b117dbc6506371e3f7562f1bd2efd339I've messed around a fair bit in sketchup and it's a pretty nice tool not as hardcore as 3dsmax and blender but nice in it's own ways.
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Post by BilliamBabble Inked Adventures on Mar 16, 2011 11:06:59 GMT -9
Thanks guys, there's quite a bit here for me to chew over. I think I must me just too impatient to learn exactly how to use a piece of software, I always go in demanding a specific result rather than playing about, I was assuming my problem was with CAD concepts, but like Parduz says, it works differently, so I'm guessing it's about "not fighting the program" - which I definitely do, Bhoritz. After my break-up with Paint Shop Pro 8, GIMP just didn't understand my needs, but slowly we worked it through. Ooh - fold-up nets in Flattery - this could come in very useful! Excellent pic, Sirrob. It looks so much easier than scrolling through a whole menu of models. More like Lego! There's so many amazing pre-made dungeon models out there. Actually that base might really help me out, thanks for that. I think I need to be locked in a log cabin for a month with no distractions a broadband connection and pile of microwave meals, and then I'll crack it.
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