lol.. No..I actually don't *need* that.. more like.. *it would be nice if I did have it*.. you know?
I was just checking out some prices on Boxx systems ( as I hear they are geared towards digital artists).. So when I was looking throught the website, I came apon this configuration.. and the price nearly made me fall off my chair.
So what do you say? Can you spare a few dimes? 
Cheers,
NRG
I need the spare change to buy this!
Hey Von*ferret.. just a question regarding your rather.. *ehem* unique signature..
Whats with the Wacko412 statement? 
Just thought I'd ask.
Cheers
NRG
Here in Montreal Quebec, Canada, the weather can't make up it's freakin' mind! It's cold in the mornings, and hot in the afternoons..
It is especially hot today.. Something like +31 degrees celcius.
For the love of God, freeze over already so I don't have to lose sleep in my non air-conditioned apartment!!
As that Christmas song say.. *Let it snow, let snow, let it snow..*
'Cause heatwaves suck! 
Cheers,
NRG
Holy smokes! The modeling, suit design and textures looks unbelievable!
I loved the first two (I haven't yet played the lastest release yet though).
But man, this looks like it's going to rock! I can't wait! Knowing Konami and their design capabilities, this one is going to be interesting, I'm sure!
(Hmmm..I wonder if EB allows pre-orders of this thing yet?) 
Cheers
NRG
I use edit poly with a passion (ok. not really a passion, but you get the idea).. anyway... they both *think* very differently.. the technology is not the same.
The good thing about edit poly is that you can delete edges and verts without destroying your mesh using the backspace key.. not the delete key (and you can for the most part move vertices around and not mess up your uv mapping with preserve UVs enabled. Editable poly also has great features such as connect (when you can select two edges for example, and subdivide them evenly by the x amount you set in the connect spinner). Also, the bridge command is very sweet.
I do find the need to jump back and forth between edit poly and edit mesh however.. Edit poly does not allow turning visible edges (only invisible edges are turnable in poly).. so in a case like this, I just quickly jump to my edit mesh to turn the visible (solid lined) edge, then I just right back into poly.. Also, in poly, you cannot make invisible edges visible.. this task (without any script) also makes me go into edit mesh temporarily...But if I had to only use one of them.. I'd definately say editable poly..
Cheers,
NRG
Now THAT is inginuitive! I like it alot! Kudos... I agree with ginsengavenger... having some subtle animations would be nice. Especially when the user is idle.. 
Eamples include the rare car going by, man jumping off a building, etc..
Good work. Can't wait to see it completed.
Cheers,
NRG
Have you considered doing an image google search for junkyards and such? Another great search engine for images is Alta Vista.. sometimes, this search engine produces alot of great results that google missed..
You have the internet at your disposal.. it's quite a powerful tool when you start harnessing search engines to search for stuff. :wink:
This should get you on the right step for anything you are looking at getting reference for. I use google and alta vista every day at work to find and collect images that will come in handy as reference.
Cheers,
NRG
I agree with my friend Klein here..
In an industry like ours (game development), the focus is more on talent than on a piece of paper with the words 'diploma' written on it. Some companies might want programmers to show some form of diploma, but not everyone (the mighty Carmack himself is self taught)!
Klein is a perfect example. I have been working with this guy for many months now, and he is a very talented artist. Ubi hired him on his past experience and talent combined.
I know of some people who have simply finished high school and went straight into the game industry simply because they are talented.
That's not to say that getting a degree is a waste of time. But what I am saying is that in certain industries, a degree is not a a total necessity. The game industry is one of those. But thankfully, many other industries do require some form of diploma, degree, etc.. Just imagine:
You are drowsy on the hospital bed, and a doctor and a nusre are hovering over you.
As they prepare for surgery..
Nurse: So.. doctor.. You must be new here.. Haven't seen you here before.
Doctor: Yep. Just started yesterday!
Nurse: Which med school did you go to?
Doctor: Med school? *laughs* I didn't attend any med school.. I got hired simply by my passion to help people.. now if you would kindly hand me the hack saw and sledge hammer, we can get this thing underway....
*fade out* 
Cheers,
NRG
Niffty neat little trick! I like it!
Of course, you can also use the MultiRez modifier in place of optimize.. (they both seem to do basically the same thing).
What I like about MultiRez is that you can "lock down" selected verts so that they 'try' to retain shape while the rest go to hell in a hand basket
This is good for retaining the base of the rocks for example (if you required the base to somewhat maintain itself).
But neat little trick non the less! Good show!
Cheers,
NRG
JonM, I beg to differ...
In the link called Articles on the top menu, there is a link near the top of the page called Photorealistic Texturing for Dummies... (its a pdf file format instead of the traditional HTML one when you click on it).
In this pdf, the guy goes through the explainations with regards to elements of shaders such as diffuse, specular, etc... etc..
If you scroll down futher, he illustrates what UV mapping is (im sure this is all pretty common knowledge for most part). So I think that this article has everything to do with gaming and textures.
Perhaps you missed this specific file?
In either case, you are correct... it is a good read.
Cheers,
NRG
What?!? Unreal 4 Engine? Quick, someone hold my chin up while I slap my face!
Man, that is seriously messed up! The Unreal 3 Engine has barely scratched the surface and those guys are already working on the Unreal 4 Engine? Sweet Jesus! That's just insane!
:: Turns to John Carmack sleeping in his chair :: Carmack. CARMACK! Wake up you f$#@ing code slacker! You have alot of work ahead of you to regain your title as king coder. Tim Sweeney is mopping your ass, man!
The defense rests, your honour.
Cheers,
NRG
Thanks for the comments guys! :roll:
I am going to start getting back into the swing of things with regards to digital painting.. But this time around, I will be focusing on everything, ranging from proper character structure and proportions to accurate looking lighting and shadows, etc... I want to focus on more realism mixed in with neat design (think Boris Vallejo or Julie Bell to name a few...)
Great Zeus, st0lve! How did you know my avatar was from Jagged Alliance 2? You have a great eye for catching things like that! lol
Yeah, it is from Jagged Alliance 2. It is a character based off of me (yes, that character looks like me, and is me) I worked on Jagged Alliance 2 back at Sir-Tech in Ottawa Canada many years ago. All the employees got to be a character in the game. Mine was Sgt.Crott, a renegade general lol.. too funny. (I didn't make the portrait though.. I passed my driver's license over to my best friend who did all the portraits and he did it).
I found that it would probably be very fitting to use that avatar on this forum
In anycase, thanks again to all.. I'll post some w.i.p's in the not too distant future. It's sometimes shocking how much of a difference even just one year can make with regards to the evolution of one's skills.
Cheers,
NRG
Hello people!
Ok..so here I decided to post some older crap I did in photoshop (I say crap, because this is pretty much what it is.. being that it's a few years outdated and all). You can critique it if you want.. but I have already heard mouthfuls from others in the past lol Im aware of the many flaws like hair not casting shadows on the forehead for example...The goal when doing these things was more creative design exercises than anything else (which I think I may have failed, but that's life I suppose). I was proud of them at one point.. now it's more for nostalgic sake.
In the not too distant future, I will be getting back into digital painting..but this time around, the goal is to mix design with near photorealism. But anyway, thats to come..here is what already was...
[Blocked Image: http://www.members.aol.com/nrgalpha/myhomepage/public/cyber_chick.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.members.aol.com/nrgalpha/myhomepage/public/portrait_01.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.members.aol.com/nrgalpha/myhomepage/public/portrait_02.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.members.aol.com/nrgalpha/myhomepage/public/Op-fleshtone_01.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.members.aol.com/nrgalpha/myhomepage/public/prisoner_of_light.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.members.aol.com/nrgalpha/myhomepage/public/War_duchess.jpg]
There said the mayor... that's that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go wash out my eyes with Javex after looking at these things lol.
Cheers,
NRG
Ok.. in my last posting, someone mentioned something about wanting to paint textures by hand (was that you, st0lve?)
Here is a site of a talented artist who has some tutorials on good'ol digital painting (something I love doing but don't do enough of )
Without further ado.. hope this link will satisfy all you traditionalist out there who (like me) love to hammer stuff out in photoshop.
http://div.dyndns.org/EK/tutorial/
Here is her main site:
http://www.pocketmole.com/tut.html
And before anyone asks, a) its not my site, as I am not a *she*, and b) I don't know her 
Cheers,
NRG
No it isn't my site, Nexus.. I just ran across this when searching for something.
st0lve, I guess using photo textures versus hand painted boils down to personal preference. These days, alot of people are turning to photos as a base on which to build on (now I can see the benifits of digital SLR cameras, or simply digital cameras in general). It all boils down to what you are trying to achieve. If its more toward realistic, then photo manipulation is definately the way to go. Too time consuming to try and pump out realistic textures, especially when you are doing it for a living and time is of the essence. I like doing both personally (hand painted and photo based ones). Both styles have their merits I suppose 
Either way, just thought I'd pass the site along, just in case it interests whomever.
Cheers,
NRG
Hello all.
I ran across this site that some people might find useful. Alot of articles that talk about the many different aspects of texturing. I don't know if anyone posetd this URL already. If so, my apologies.. I'm not too familiar with what has been posted here in the past.
In any case, feel free to have a look. It might be worth glancing at.
http://leigh.cgcommunity.com/tutorials.htm
Cheers,
NRG
Hey capone... I am noticing that in your screenshot you have map channel 3.. is this the channel you use?
Personaly, I only stick with map channel 1.. eliminates alot of problems it seems..
As for my previous post, I have to apologize for the mix up..(this is what happens when a) you post something without the actual application up and running, and b) its late and you are tired and as a result, you are not thinking straight...) so once again, my bad. Sorry to all.
One thing I just tried was setting projection to enabled..(this is in the Projection Mapping section... You can leave the dropdown menu next to it set to No Projection Modifier.. in fact.. its probably best to make sure its set to no projection).. in anycase, when I enable projection, the bottom set of radio checkboxs becomes enabled (Mapping Co-ordinates section.. the use automatic unwrap and the use exisiting map channel becomes enabled for selction). Select the use exisiting map channel..
But as for the issue of using a map channel other than 1, this may cause confusion. Me personaly, I stick with only map channel 1.. I render all the different maps I need using map channel 1, bring each render into photoshop and adjust my psd (which is mapped on my mesh) from there.
Try this out and let me know if it works. But if you keep your mesh mapping channel on 1 and only use map channel 1, this should eliminate problems with regards to other map channels that may have pre-automatic mapping..
Sorry about my first post.
Cheers,
NRG
Hello all..
I'm new ot this forum. Pretty cool stuff going on. I am a 3d modeller in the gaming profession myself, and I am also a Max user (at work anyway.. at home .. I am slowly turning to the XSI side).. anyway, this thread caught my attention.
I don't know if it's too late to post with regards to this topic, but here goes anyway.. If you look at capone_adam's screenshot segment, you will notice that there is the faded Sub-Objects, and that it has that Use Automatic Unwrap as the selected 'radio' checkbox.. Even though he has Use exisiting channel as his main option enabled.
The boys at Discreet .. (oops..sorry.. Autodesk Multiledia & Entertainment) have pretty much screwed up the render-to-texture dialogue box (man, I really hate that interface with a passion). The trick here is that there is an option further down (I don't have Max 7 currently installed on this computer, but if you scroll down the render-to-texture panel, near the bottom, there is a complete section regarding Automatic Unwrap, which is totally seperate from the area that capone_adam has on display in his screencap. You have to make sure that this section isn't enabled.. otherwise, no matter what mapping channels you use, try as you might, you will run into the problem capone is having.
Again, sorry I can't post a screenshot of what im talking about.. but trust me on this one. Once you scroll further down in the render-to-texture interface and find this extra section on Automatic unwraps and you disable it, your mesh will render the way you unwrapped it. I got caught more than once with my pants down on this one folks. You can thank the idiots who work on Duke street here in Montreal for really making the interface for this render-to-texture thing a pretty crappy one.
Cheers,
NRG
