Love how retopo and polygon creation tools gets polished.
Polygon outset is brilliant.
Is it possible when drawing new polygon, for it to be in the nearest or the same plane as the polygon it is drawn from?I find that points end up in space, far from the geometry even if not in perspective view.
Also is it possible to make drawing simpler and be able to finish the polygon by clicking the (shared) edge, instead of clicking those last two points of that edge?
Perhaps when you LMB click on the edge (instead of point) it already has these two points in consideration while drawing out poly, so only one LMB click in the space would make a poly triangle, then maybe MMB to end the current drawing, RMB to cancel as it is now.
Anyways, I really like the poly creation/ retopo improvements, as it's still preferred way of some modelers over the box modeling.
That's exactly why I said I'm probably not the best person to ask. I'm running out of keys down the left side of the keyboard and I don't often change the actual Pivot of the objects or mesh. So I put them on M & O.
I do however use the temporary 'Manual' pivots constantly as I work which is why they're on \ & z.
maybe for keys we should just have more profiles that mimic very closely to silo, max and maya.
also a place to share key setups, marking menus, and streamline tools would be cool too.
This is a great idea passerby, especially the bit about sharing key setups and the streamline tools that people create. I've been using Memag Neman's setup for a few days now and it's great. Also really like the default material he created.
Istonia - It's been bothering me for a while now but I haven't mentioned because I know you're busy with creating a solid toolset & improving performance but..
..would it be easy to implement the ability to set keys for the streamline tools within the Customize Modeling StreamLine Engine Tools window? It makes sense to be able to quickly create tools and try them out for best keyboard combination.
This is a great idea passerby, especially the bit about sharing key setups and the streamline tools that people create. I've been using Memag Neman's setup for a few days now and it's great. Also really like the default material he created.
Istonia - It's been bothering me for a while now but I haven't mentioned because I know you're busy with creating a solid toolset & improving performance but..
..would it be easy to implement the ability to set keys for the streamline tools within the Customize Modeling StreamLine Engine Tools window? It makes sense to be able to quickly create tools and try them out for best keyboard combination.
cheers
to go with this idea maybe also the option to create new radial menu's and put any function you want on them.
and as far as share setups all we need is a spot to share them, since keys, streamline and radial menus can all be exported separately as xml data.
also i got a feature request
would be nice if there was some kinda layer system for organizing meshes.
when working on most things i like to do a mid poly version than copy it to do my high poly, than copy it again and optimize for my low poly.
and i find a layer system very usefull for this.
also other feature request.
i think selections should be removed from the undo stack and giving it's own undo, if i do a operation that requires a complex set of selections the selections eat up most of my undo stack.
Thanks Ghib for using the shortcuts.
Here's a current one, I mainly try to put as many similar tools in one shortcut,
and eliminate as much keys as I can. You are free to modify of course.
Guys, I am following a Blender tutorial (again) in VW
In the tut a plane is drawn, a duplicate is made, it is then scaled down to a small square and placed in a corner of the original plane.
I am OK till then.
Next in the tut a Mirror Modifier is implemented and the small square is duplicated in the other corner ( and whatever you do to the first square is repeated on the other square.
The 2 squares are then mirrored again, so now you have a square in each corner of plane 1.
Next the inside edges are extruded towards each other till they meet and a tool called "Clipping" is implemented which allows the 2 edges to connect and join.
In Hexagon the same process is called "Average Weld"
In VW I came across a couple of problems especially in the "Weld" function.
In VW you can only weld Verts.
I bought it a plane - Duplicated it and moved it to the side - Selected both objects - clicked on Verts - then selected weld, but, when I try to weld the verts, the color of the second object disappears, when I weld the second vert to join that edge to create one object and finish the process the color does not come back, and there appears to be a ghost of the second plane underneath.
2 Questions (1 leading to a request)
1/ Is there a Mirror option or something similar in VW ? I have looked but cannot see to find it and am still struggling working out the symmetry and not sure if this is what I am after.
2/ Is it possible to weld edges. if not, could it be a request ?
Again sorry for the inane and possibly basic questions, but I am really trying to get to learn this programme.
Sorry last question, (I always play around and look for all options and help fopr around 1/2 hour before I ask here in the forum) and I know this is the dumbest question around.
In the tut I am following he changes the color of the duplicated plane to a darker color for a visual aid, my question is:
How do I change the color of individual objects ?
I tried what I thought it was and stuffed it up and had to reinstall VW to try and get back to the default settings.
Thanks again
I love the retopo tool now I have starting using it..
@philem weld edges is the "S" hotkey while an edge is selected I believe. You can change colors in the Scene Explorer. Just scroll down while you have an object selected.
Which brings up a point. Is there a way to view all of the materials in the scene at once (other than selecting all of the objects in the scene)? I only see materials per object.
I found a small bug;
Chamfer edge doesn't work across the center edge of a mirrored object. I don't mean actually chamfering the center line, I mean an edge going across it. If you were making a belt for example.
philem - I have a question for you and don't mean any offense by it. Are you relatively new to 3d Modeling or just new to VoidWorld having jumped from Hexagon?
The reason I ask is that when I was learning to model in 3dsMax R4 I seemed to have the same kind of problems and questions that you have. I used to try and follow tutorials -TO THE LETTER- and it was really slow going. I'm not saying that tutorials are a bad thing but sometimes it isn't the best way to get to know a new program.
Might I suggest that you just open up Voidworld and begin messing around with the tools with no real plan, just move the shapes around, extruding, cutting, welding. Open up the Smart Tips permanently. Edit > Options > Smart Tip Options > Visible All Time.
Discover the effect that each Streamline tool has. Have a delve into the Customize Streamline Tools options and try making your own. With each new release that Istonia gives us I try to open Voidworld and give the new features or bug fixes a run.
If you stumble on something like I did recently with toggling snapping, just ask and someone surely will answer if they can. VW is in a constant state of flux so we have to remain flexible with it.
Regards.
p.s. RE: symmetry - it works slightly differently to other apps I believe. Symmetry is not bound to the world grid but works Locally to each model or mesh. Try this:
Select your mesh
View > Show Symmetry Plane
Edit > Options > Shortcut Symmetry Options
Choose your symmetry plane (I highly recommend binding these to hotkeys)
Press 'Ctrl q' or 'Ctrl w' depending on which side you want to mirror over.
*NOTE* you can move geometry independently of the symmetry line (obviously) so, with show symmetry plane on, move the object so the symmetry plane is where you want it to be e.g. at 0,0,0 on the origin then select all verts and move it in place before you commit symmetry.
philem - I have a question for you and don't mean any offense by it. Are you relatively new to 3d Modeling or just new to VoidWorld having jumped from Hexagon?
The reason I ask is that when I was learning to model in 3dsMax R4 I seemed to have the same kind of problems and questions that you have. I used to try and follow tutorials -TO THE LETTER- and it was really slow going. I'm not saying that tutorials are a bad thing but sometimes it isn't the best way to get to know a new program.
Might I suggest that you just open up Voidworld and begin messing around with the tools with no real plan, just move the shapes around, extruding, cutting, welding. Open up the Smart Tips permanently. Edit > Options > Smart Tip Options > Visible All Time.
Discover the effect that each Streamline tool has. Have a delve into the Customize Streamline Tools options and try making your own. With each new release that Istonia gives us I try to open Voidworld and give the new features or bug fixes a run.
If you stumble on something like I did recently with toggling snapping, just ask and someone surely will answer if they can. VW is in a constant state of flux so we have to remain flexible with it.
Regards.
p.s. RE: symmetry - it works slightly differently to other apps I believe. Symmetry is not bound to the world grid but works Locally to each model or mesh. Try this:
Select your mesh
View > Show Symmetry Plane
Edit > Options > Shortcut Symmetry Options
Choose your symmetry plane (I highly recommend binding these to hotkeys)
Press 'Ctrl q' or 'Ctrl w' depending on which side you want to mirror over.
*NOTE* you can move geometry independently of the symmetry line (obviously) so, with show symmetry plane on, move the object so the symmetry plane is where you want it to be e.g. at 0,0,0 on the origin then select all verts and move it in place before you commit symmetry.
Hi ghib,
Absolutely no offense taken, I was actually wondering how long it would be before someone came up with this question and statement.
I am new to Voidworld, I liked the look of it and liked the thought of being in on the ground floor of its development.
While I agree with your suggestion of just opening VW and playing with it does lead to a few hiccups
1/ If I just play with it and something goes wrong how do I fix it if I am not sure what I did in the first place (as I mentioned in regards to coloring an object) I look at the help file and do play around for quite a while before I come here.
Have a delve into the Customize Streamline Tools options and try making your own
I have a little concern with this in the fact, that I did peek in there once and wanted to make a couple of hotkeys for what I may need, but when I clicked on a particular key to assign as a hot key I noticed that there sometimes are 3 or 4 other options also assigned to this key and basically it scared me off, because if I made a mistake I don't know how to set it all back to default to start again.
I thought that in following a tutorial from another programme would help me learn this one by using its tools.
But I will do as you suggest and play with it and see what happens.
I did read a a statement on the Sketchup site that I thought sums up learning programmes very relevant.
An average user never reads the manual, that's why they are average.
just don't worry about messing up keys, just export out your default key config, and if you break it import it back in, or hell just keep a copy of VW around to replace the whole install with.
also the problem your having is that mirroring and symmetry work fundamentally different.
find the best way to use symmetry is to make your whole object in the shape you want, not half of it than put a edge loop down middle, select a edge in that loop and use the edge command calc symmetry topologically.
im thinking of doing a screen cap of me working on a quick high poly environment prop and adding some voice overs so people can see what kinda work-flow some people use in VW.
Philem it's good that you have ventured into the customize settings but don't be scared by the hotkeys being shared by 3 or 4 other commands. It just means that a key in your combination may be used elsewhere, e.g. you press Ctrl and something else uses Ctrl + Shift + keystroke.
I actually think that it's a flaw in the hotkey system of Voidworld at the moment that two different commands can share the same hotkey combination. If Ctrl + Shift + C is used for cut then it shouldn't be possible to be used for anything else.
________________________________________________________
When picking up a new piece of software your 1st contact with it is the UI. So I hover over the buttons and find out what they do. Then it's the menus. A great piece of software should be immediately intuitive & logical for a new user. That's why I consider zbrush to be a good piece of software but not 'Great'. Even though there are some brilliant ideas in there, somewhere.
Once you've familiarised yourself with the UI and menus it's onto experimentation. Because Voidworld is constantly changing I have this in mind on opening it. I think of it as being a certainty that I'll break it at some point so I'm not scared to try things. Read up on the manual when I come across problems, but unfortunately the Voidworld manual isn't always fully up to date on some topics but I don't expect it to be as it's in development.
RE: tutorials. Text tutorials are the worst (with video tutorials being the next best thing to having someone sit over your shoulder)
With text tutorials you're too concerned with following exactly each step in isolation to the next that you fail to see the bigger picture and it clouds the ability to easily remember the particular menu or button you hit for a desired result. In my experience trial & error gives you a much better understanding of the do's and why's of a piece of software.
If it's not immediately obvious to a user where the Material editor is then it probably needs to be highlighted to Istonia and made a little more intuitive. (to me it should be a separate panel that can be floated and docked, and that contains the entire scene's materials)
Sorry for the ramble but I can understand your frustration of learning a new piece of software as I've been there many many times.
hi/ new here but really curious as to this new modeller.
its good - however at first it was blurry but then i changed some of my ati settings and it went clear. strange.
i use wings3d a lot and find the ability to move single or multiple elements (vertixes, edges, polygons) along their normal (or collective normal) invaluable. i have not found a quick way to do this in voidworld (i have set to object selection but then true x,y,z moves is lost). also is there a way to move along normal when tweaking - SOLVED by pushing SHIFT awesome1
also how do i map increase/decrease selection to the middle mouse button scroll key?
great program with a lot to get my head around. amazing support.
edit - oh and one last thing. how can i select an edge then go to poly mode and have the polys surrounding the edge selected? this way of navigating through elements really is a timesaver.
the binding the same key a few times is actually a feature ghib not all tools work in all selection types so you could have say 4 tools bound to the b key that work in object, face, edge and vertex modes.
the binding the same key a few times is actually a feature ghib not all tools work in all selection types so you could have say 4 tools bound to the b key that work in object, face, edge and vertex modes.
Oh yeah I see that's useful. I'm pretty sure it caused conflicts even on the same subobject levels in the past for me but that might've been resolved now.
Actually,just made me think that maybe commands should be split into two categories; those that are sub-object sensitive (e.g. Create Polygon) and those that are not(global e.g. Rotation Snap Selection)
The two will conflict if bound to the same key, and a warning should popup asking you if you want to re-bind.
I just found this thread and this really cool modeling tool. I only have a couple of suggestions.
First, I really would like to be able to alter the keyboard shortcuts - I've been using Softimage XSI years now, so I would like to remap the keys to match the common tools I use in Softimage.
Second, I would like to have a text view for the tools rather than icons only. Lightwave, XSI and Modo users would most likely appreciate this. I hate the Max/Maya way of having icons for everything. I much prefer to see the word "extrude" on a button rather than trying to decipher an icon.
But overall this is really looking like a very interesting modeling tool.
@paulrus- you can customize the keyboard and see the tools in context menu,visual tools toolbar and top menus. I didn't see any icons as far as modeling operators are in question, just text.
@twisted- you have bunch of selection methods in "edge- edge selections " menu. "polygons by selected edges " could be what you're looking for.
Istonia, there is still a issue with saving radial menu and streamline tools, when restarting VW. Sometimes it remembers the changes ( I save them never the less), but upon restart it switches to radial menu default , at least the "Modeling Main" one.
Also "shoulder extrusion" is not recalled upon restart. It's switched off by default.
In Softimage, Lightwave, Modo (maybe) there aren't icons for anything. I'm very much anti-icons for 3D software. So, I'm talking about all the icons across the top of the screen. As a new user coming from Softimage I'm immediately turned off by all the icons - I'd much rather have no icons at all anywhere.
As far as keyboard shortcuts, can they be saved and shared? If so, maybe I'll go through and re-map everything to match Softimage and post it somewhere.
Here's an image from a much older version of Softimage - as you can see, nearly everything is text:
You can turn off the top menu. I did.As you can access all that from context menu or top menus with the same ease.
You can use tools from "visual tools" bar , which is more like 3dsmax design tab.
Yes you can save your preferences,keyboard shortcuts, stream line tools and radial menu preferences.You can save the files to desired path, or you can find them in user folders under Digital Fossils directory. All the settings and shortcuts are in User settings folder.
I watch at XSI interface at least for hour a day.
I understand.
The Text vs Icon debate is at least as old as SubD-Modeling. Each Group of User is convinced that their approach is more suitable and faster to understand. I believe it's pointless to discuss further, one should simply offer an option for both Groups. I by the way like an empty Screen best and prefer not having to press Buttons at all.
The Text vs Icon debate is at least as old as SubD-Modeling. Each Group of User is convinced that their approach is more suitable and faster to understand. I believe it's pointless to discuss further, one should simply offer an option for both Groups. I by the way like an empty Screen best and prefer not having to press Buttons at all.
+1 Hopefully when the Streamline Engine Tools mature we won't need much in the way of a UI. F5 is my favourite hotkey right now.
ya text vs icons is kinda objective some different people prefew one over the other, than there are a lot of people who got almost all the UI hidden and just use keys and radial menus.
i olny got a few things on my tool-bar at the top, and the only panel i keep viable is the manipulation panel so i can quick do numerical transformations.
everything else i do with keys and stream-line tools, and i run the odd command from the radial menus, which i made some extra binds for so i don't need to navigate in more than 1 layer.
just don't worry about messing up keys, just export out your default key config, and if you break it import it back in, or hell just keep a copy of VW around to replace the whole install with.
also the problem your having is that mirroring and symmetry work fundamentally different.
find the best way to use symmetry is to make your whole object in the shape you want, not half of it than put a edge loop down middle, select a edge in that loop and use the edge command calc symmetry topologically.
im thinking of doing a screen cap of me working on a quick high poly environment prop and adding some voice overs so people can see what kinda work-flow some people use in VW.
Hi ghib,
Thanks for the words of encouragement, and suggestions, To tell you the truth I was about to delete VW and go back to Hexagon / Blender, but you have given me direction, and I will soldier on
I never thought to make another copy of the VW folder so I have that to fall back on if I break the first version modifying the hotkeys etc:
update: also the problem your having is that mirroring and symmetry work fundamentally different.
I stumbled across exactly what I was after (info for any other newbies)
I still struggle with the symmetry but I found that using "Instance" does exactly what I want, (mirror)
I clicked on the object, then selected "Instance" I then get an option to Flip either X Y Z I found out that the flip basically means to mirror and you also get a chance to Flip 2 axis as well, so now I managed to create 4 objects and with the correct flipping I can mirror all the commands.
Summary of changes:
* Edit > Customize Tools > Set Hotkey.
* Retopo tool is improved base on memag's suggestions. Also, stripping key A can be pressed and released at any time to make it more flexible for stripping function to come into play and drop away. memag, please check if my understanding is correct. Also can you check the saving issues? I have made some changes to avoid the problem.
* Shoulder Style Edge Extrusion option is remembered on shutdown.
* "Set Manipulator", "Object/Mesh Pivot", "Object Pivot", "Rotation Snap Selection" streamline tools are reworked. ghib, the sub tools of these tools are impossible to expose due to their exclusive requirements.
Thanks!
3dtoons: Edge chamfering does work on edges across the symmetry line. It also works along symmetry line if not is chop off style. If it does not work, can you tell me the steps to reproduce the problem?
passerby: Can you explain more about the layer system? How other apps handle it? I know nothing about this.
philem: Sorry for the lack of tuts. I hardly have time to do this.
Fantastic work on retopo tool, Istonia! Striping and poly creation is much better and easier now.
Shoulder edge setting is saved and works after the restart.
Here's another suggestion for retopo.
In the clip I use mouse cursor to define the edge from which next point will be drawn, and by clicking MMB I "end" the current poly, creating an edge.
Summary of changes:
* Edit > Customize Tools > Set Hotkey.
* Retopo tool is improved base on memag's suggestions. Also, stripping key A can be pressed and released at any time to make it more flexible for stripping function to come into play and drop away. memag, please check if my understanding is correct. Also can you check the saving issues? I have made some changes to avoid the problem.
* Shoulder Style Edge Extrusion option is remembered on shutdown.
* "Set Manipulator", "Object/Mesh Pivot", "Object Pivot", "Rotation Snap Selection" streamline tools are reworked. ghib, the sub tools of these tools are impossible to expose due to their exclusive requirements.
Thanks
3dtoons: Edge chamfering does work on edges across the symmetry line. It also works along symmetry line if not is chop off style. If it does not work, can you tell me the steps to reproduce the problem?
passerby: Can you explain more about the layer system? How other apps handle it? I know nothing about this.
philem: Sorry for the lack of tuts. I hardly have time to do this.
Hey IStonia,
Thanks for the update, also, no worries about the tuts, if they come along they do if not not to worry.
I am following ghib's suggestion of looking at the UI and tackling the commands one at a time and learn the programme that way, so far pretty good, especially as I sussed out the mirroring problem I was having.
Istonia, is it possible to save custom materials in library, other than "make default"?
Also, I can't seem to change material name easily, by typing and hitting enter.
As well, it changes the selected material back to the default one after "assign to object" (as well as toggle subD), can selection stay on last applied/ edited material and not revert to default one?
Fantastic work on retopo tool, Istonia! Striping and poly creation is much better and easier now.
Shoulder edge setting is saved and works after the restart.
Here's another suggestion for retopo.
In the clip I use mouse cursor to define the edge from which next point will be drawn, and by clicking MMB I "end" the current poly, creating an edge.
Thanks!
memag.
I know this is a bit off topic, but, how to you do these gif's ?
I'm on the tutorial right now, I just made the final changes to the script for the teleprompter software, and as soon as flashpoint goes off, I'm recording, and emailing you the first draft.. Sorry it has taken so long..
I have tried every combination I can think of,
I bring in a box 1 x 3 x 3
Duplicate it
Extrude the middle poly out a little of both boxes and have the extruded poly's face close to each other.
but,
every time, and every combination of welding I use, as soon as I hit "weld" on the first pair of Vertices one of the boxes looses all its color and becomes a wire frame object, even using CTRL Z to undo does not bring it back to solid, I cannot even assign a new color to it..
Is this a bug ?
or am I missing something?
Dang It!!! I did a perfect first run, and CamStudio 2.6c Highly Beta Proved why I Shouldn't be using it for serious work... It did awesome at recording the audio, and then got a stupid error msg about how it was unable to move or rename the file for the AVI video portion, so a ton of time down the drain.. But, I have it down now, so I will make another run at it in the morning using the old stand by good version of CamStudio, I just wish I could figure out how to get the divx video codec working in it.. I have installed both ffshow and divx free, maybe now I need to reinstall camstudio so it finds the codecs on install or something.. I've tried everything, may have to just use the avi->flash recording instead..
IStonia, I will make another run in the morning, wife and kids out of house, so I can knock it out first thing when I get up, wish me luck, because if camstudio messes up like that again, after that much work, I'm going to kill well maybe not kill, but definitely trash the authors...
I have tried every combination I can think of,
I bring in a box 1 x 3 x 3
Duplicate it
Extrude the middle poly out a little of both boxes and have the extruded poly's face close to each other.
but,
every time, and every combination of welding I use, as soon as I hit "weld" on the first pair of Vertices one of the boxes looses all its color and becomes a wire frame object, even using CTRL Z to undo does not bring it back to solid, I cannot even assign a new color to it..
Is this a bug ?
or am I missing something?
Try it after removing the opposing faces ,or select the faces and use the 'Bridge' tool.
memag: I don't know what is the material liberary you mentioned. Explain?
Do you mean once you edit the material name then hit the Enter key but the typed in name does not take effect?
storm3: Just let you know my patience is unlimited.
philem: Seems like a bug. Can you produce a video? I am not able to produce the problem you come across.
Yes Istonia, the scene explorer materials.
I can't rename it by hitting Enter,it selection box always switches back to first/default material after "toggle subdivision" and "apply to object", and I would like to save few materials (and share them) if possible.
memag: The material selection changing problem can be fixed.
I don't understand why you can't change material name in that way. Try typing in new name then move the cursor into viewport and see if it works. Did you map Enter key onto something by modifying the xml file?
Can you create a box, stay in object mode, turn on move manipulator, type an amount in the absolute x field in Manipulation panel, hit the Enter key. Let me know if the box move or not.
Also try after typing in new material name, click some where else within the Scene Explorer panel but not material icons.
The tutorial part 1 is done, and I sent you the links to the youtube vids in your email..
Here they are for everyone on here to check out.. This is the one showing how to setup reference image planes for the character modeling project, my next tutorial coming up is for the head modeling on the character since this is the most hard part to do, I like to do it first..
cheers everyone and enjoy.. BTW: sorry for the noisy recording, I had the mic volume down too low and had to edit audio and amp it in audacity and remux, I will not make that mistake on the other ones..
Thank you! I really appreciate that, I will do even better on the next parts, now that I have it all setup and am familiar with all the settings etc.. on the various apps now.. It's been a good learning experience.. I just hope that they will help people get the hang of the app, and show people just how good it really is..
Thanks for everything IStonia, and keep up the good work!
memag: I don't know what is the material liberary you mentioned. Explain?
Do you mean once you edit the material name then hit the Enter key but the typed in name does not take effect?
storm3: Just let you know my patience is unlimited.
philem: Seems like a bug. Can you produce a video? I am not able to produce the problem you come across.
I made a small vid, I hope this works
I did a Windows update on my desktop = the problem is still there
I then installed VW on my laptop running Vista and the problem is still there
Replies
Polygon outset is brilliant.
Is it possible when drawing new polygon, for it to be in the nearest or the same plane as the polygon it is drawn from?I find that points end up in space, far from the geometry even if not in perspective view.
Also is it possible to make drawing simpler and be able to finish the polygon by clicking the (shared) edge, instead of clicking those last two points of that edge?
Perhaps when you LMB click on the edge (instead of point) it already has these two points in consideration while drawing out poly, so only one LMB click in the space would make a poly triangle, then maybe MMB to end the current drawing, RMB to cancel as it is now.
Anyways, I really like the poly creation/ retopo improvements, as it's still preferred way of some modelers over the box modeling.
Thanks Istonia!
That's exactly why I said I'm probably not the best person to ask. I'm running out of keys down the left side of the keyboard and I don't often change the actual Pivot of the objects or mesh. So I put them on M & O.
I do however use the temporary 'Manual' pivots constantly as I work which is why they're on \ & z.
also a place to share key setups, marking menus, and streamline tools would be cool too.
This is a great idea passerby, especially the bit about sharing key setups and the streamline tools that people create. I've been using Memag Neman's setup for a few days now and it's great. Also really like the default material he created.
Istonia - It's been bothering me for a while now but I haven't mentioned because I know you're busy with creating a solid toolset & improving performance but..
..would it be easy to implement the ability to set keys for the streamline tools within the Customize Modeling StreamLine Engine Tools window? It makes sense to be able to quickly create tools and try them out for best keyboard combination.
cheers
to go with this idea maybe also the option to create new radial menu's and put any function you want on them.
and as far as share setups all we need is a spot to share them, since keys, streamline and radial menus can all be exported separately as xml data.
also i got a feature request
would be nice if there was some kinda layer system for organizing meshes.
when working on most things i like to do a mid poly version than copy it to do my high poly, than copy it again and optimize for my low poly.
and i find a layer system very usefull for this.
also other feature request.
i think selections should be removed from the undo stack and giving it's own undo, if i do a operation that requires a complex set of selections the selections eat up most of my undo stack.
Thanks Ghib for using the shortcuts.
Here's a current one, I mainly try to put as many similar tools in one shortcut,
and eliminate as much keys as I can. You are free to modify of course.
my user settings
In the tut a plane is drawn, a duplicate is made, it is then scaled down to a small square and placed in a corner of the original plane.
I am OK till then.
Next in the tut a Mirror Modifier is implemented and the small square is duplicated in the other corner ( and whatever you do to the first square is repeated on the other square.
The 2 squares are then mirrored again, so now you have a square in each corner of plane 1.
Next the inside edges are extruded towards each other till they meet and a tool called "Clipping" is implemented which allows the 2 edges to connect and join.
In Hexagon the same process is called "Average Weld"
In VW I came across a couple of problems especially in the "Weld" function.
In VW you can only weld Verts.
I bought it a plane - Duplicated it and moved it to the side - Selected both objects - clicked on Verts - then selected weld, but, when I try to weld the verts, the color of the second object disappears, when I weld the second vert to join that edge to create one object and finish the process the color does not come back, and there appears to be a ghost of the second plane underneath.
2 Questions (1 leading to a request)
1/ Is there a Mirror option or something similar in VW ? I have looked but cannot see to find it and am still struggling working out the symmetry and not sure if this is what I am after.
2/ Is it possible to weld edges. if not, could it be a request ?
Again sorry for the inane and possibly basic questions, but I am really trying to get to learn this programme.
Sorry last question, (I always play around and look for all options and help fopr around 1/2 hour before I ask here in the forum) and I know this is the dumbest question around.
In the tut I am following he changes the color of the duplicated plane to a darker color for a visual aid, my question is:
How do I change the color of individual objects ?
I tried what I thought it was and stuffed it up and had to reinstall VW to try and get back to the default settings.
Thanks again
I love the retopo tool now I have starting using it..
Which brings up a point. Is there a way to view all of the materials in the scene at once (other than selecting all of the objects in the scene)? I only see materials per object.
I found a small bug;
Chamfer edge doesn't work across the center edge of a mirrored object. I don't mean actually chamfering the center line, I mean an edge going across it. If you were making a belt for example.
Cheers,
-ShaneO
The reason I ask is that when I was learning to model in 3dsMax R4 I seemed to have the same kind of problems and questions that you have. I used to try and follow tutorials -TO THE LETTER- and it was really slow going. I'm not saying that tutorials are a bad thing but sometimes it isn't the best way to get to know a new program.
Might I suggest that you just open up Voidworld and begin messing around with the tools with no real plan, just move the shapes around, extruding, cutting, welding. Open up the Smart Tips permanently. Edit > Options > Smart Tip Options > Visible All Time.
Discover the effect that each Streamline tool has. Have a delve into the Customize Streamline Tools options and try making your own. With each new release that Istonia gives us I try to open Voidworld and give the new features or bug fixes a run.
If you stumble on something like I did recently with toggling snapping, just ask and someone surely will answer if they can. VW is in a constant state of flux so we have to remain flexible with it.
Regards.
p.s. RE: symmetry - it works slightly differently to other apps I believe. Symmetry is not bound to the world grid but works Locally to each model or mesh. Try this:
hope this helps.
p.p.s. Just realised that we'd touched on the symmetry topic before
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1379207&postcount=1054
Hi ghib,
Absolutely no offense taken, I was actually wondering how long it would be before someone came up with this question and statement.
I am new to Voidworld, I liked the look of it and liked the thought of being in on the ground floor of its development.
While I agree with your suggestion of just opening VW and playing with it does lead to a few hiccups
1/ If I just play with it and something goes wrong how do I fix it if I am not sure what I did in the first place (as I mentioned in regards to coloring an object) I look at the help file and do play around for quite a while before I come here.
Have a delve into the Customize Streamline Tools options and try making your own
I have a little concern with this in the fact, that I did peek in there once and wanted to make a couple of hotkeys for what I may need, but when I clicked on a particular key to assign as a hot key I noticed that there sometimes are 3 or 4 other options also assigned to this key and basically it scared me off, because if I made a mistake I don't know how to set it all back to default to start again.
I thought that in following a tutorial from another programme would help me learn this one by using its tools.
But I will do as you suggest and play with it and see what happens.
I did read a a statement on the Sketchup site that I thought sums up learning programmes very relevant.
An average user never reads the manual, that's why they are average.
also the problem your having is that mirroring and symmetry work fundamentally different.
find the best way to use symmetry is to make your whole object in the shape you want, not half of it than put a edge loop down middle, select a edge in that loop and use the edge command calc symmetry topologically.
im thinking of doing a screen cap of me working on a quick high poly environment prop and adding some voice overs so people can see what kinda work-flow some people use in VW.
I actually think that it's a flaw in the hotkey system of Voidworld at the moment that two different commands can share the same hotkey combination. If Ctrl + Shift + C is used for cut then it shouldn't be possible to be used for anything else.
________________________________________________________
When picking up a new piece of software your 1st contact with it is the UI. So I hover over the buttons and find out what they do. Then it's the menus. A great piece of software should be immediately intuitive & logical for a new user. That's why I consider zbrush to be a good piece of software but not 'Great'. Even though there are some brilliant ideas in there, somewhere.
Once you've familiarised yourself with the UI and menus it's onto experimentation. Because Voidworld is constantly changing I have this in mind on opening it. I think of it as being a certainty that I'll break it at some point so I'm not scared to try things. Read up on the manual when I come across problems, but unfortunately the Voidworld manual isn't always fully up to date on some topics but I don't expect it to be as it's in development.
RE: tutorials. Text tutorials are the worst (with video tutorials being the next best thing to having someone sit over your shoulder)
With text tutorials you're too concerned with following exactly each step in isolation to the next that you fail to see the bigger picture and it clouds the ability to easily remember the particular menu or button you hit for a desired result. In my experience trial & error gives you a much better understanding of the do's and why's of a piece of software.
If it's not immediately obvious to a user where the Material editor is then it probably needs to be highlighted to Istonia and made a little more intuitive. (to me it should be a separate panel that can be floated and docked, and that contains the entire scene's materials)
Sorry for the ramble but I can understand your frustration of learning a new piece of software as I've been there many many times.
its good - however at first it was blurry but then i changed some of my ati settings and it went clear. strange.
i use wings3d a lot and find the ability to move single or multiple elements (vertixes, edges, polygons) along their normal (or collective normal) invaluable. i have not found a quick way to do this in voidworld (i have set to object selection but then true x,y,z moves is lost). also is there a way to move along normal when tweaking - SOLVED by pushing SHIFT awesome1
also how do i map increase/decrease selection to the middle mouse button scroll key?
great program with a lot to get my head around. amazing support.
edit - oh and one last thing. how can i select an edge then go to poly mode and have the polys surrounding the edge selected? this way of navigating through elements really is a timesaver.
thanks gain!
also increase decrease selection is already by default bound to control+shift+alt+wmb.
but if you want to rebind it is called grow/shrink selection and can be found in the subobject tools section of hte hotkey editor.
Oh yeah I see that's useful. I'm pretty sure it caused conflicts even on the same subobject levels in the past for me but that might've been resolved now.
Actually,just made me think that maybe commands should be split into two categories; those that are sub-object sensitive (e.g. Create Polygon) and those that are not(global e.g. Rotation Snap Selection)
The two will conflict if bound to the same key, and a warning should popup asking you if you want to re-bind.
Thanks on the outset feature and fixing the inset as well!!!
I'll try to customize VW to my preference. Then do some actual modeling, been just playing around for now. I'll have some more feedback by then.
Later
I just found this thread and this really cool modeling tool. I only have a couple of suggestions.
First, I really would like to be able to alter the keyboard shortcuts - I've been using Softimage XSI years now, so I would like to remap the keys to match the common tools I use in Softimage.
Second, I would like to have a text view for the tools rather than icons only. Lightwave, XSI and Modo users would most likely appreciate this. I hate the Max/Maya way of having icons for everything. I much prefer to see the word "extrude" on a button rather than trying to decipher an icon.
But overall this is really looking like a very interesting modeling tool.
Great job!
Paul
@paulrus- you can customize the keyboard and see the tools in context menu,visual tools toolbar and top menus. I didn't see any icons as far as modeling operators are in question, just text.
@twisted- you have bunch of selection methods in "edge- edge selections " menu. "polygons by selected edges " could be what you're looking for.
Istonia, there is still a issue with saving radial menu and streamline tools, when restarting VW. Sometimes it remembers the changes ( I save them never the less), but upon restart it switches to radial menu default , at least the "Modeling Main" one.
Also "shoulder extrusion" is not recalled upon restart. It's switched off by default.
In Softimage, Lightwave, Modo (maybe) there aren't icons for anything. I'm very much anti-icons for 3D software. So, I'm talking about all the icons across the top of the screen. As a new user coming from Softimage I'm immediately turned off by all the icons - I'd much rather have no icons at all anywhere.
As far as keyboard shortcuts, can they be saved and shared? If so, maybe I'll go through and re-map everything to match Softimage and post it somewhere.
Here's an image from a much older version of Softimage - as you can see, nearly everything is text:
You can use tools from "visual tools" bar , which is more like 3dsmax design tab.
Yes you can save your preferences,keyboard shortcuts, stream line tools and radial menu preferences.You can save the files to desired path, or you can find them in user folders under Digital Fossils directory. All the settings and shortcuts are in User settings folder.
I watch at XSI interface at least for hour a day.
I understand.
hope it helps
+1 Hopefully when the Streamline Engine Tools mature we won't need much in the way of a UI. F5 is my favourite hotkey right now.
i olny got a few things on my tool-bar at the top, and the only panel i keep viable is the manipulation panel so i can quick do numerical transformations.
everything else i do with keys and stream-line tools, and i run the odd command from the radial menus, which i made some extra binds for so i don't need to navigate in more than 1 layer.
Hi ghib,
Thanks for the words of encouragement, and suggestions, To tell you the truth I was about to delete VW and go back to Hexagon / Blender, but you have given me direction, and I will soldier on
I never thought to make another copy of the VW folder so I have that to fall back on if I break the first version modifying the hotkeys etc:
update:
also the problem your having is that mirroring and symmetry work fundamentally different.
I stumbled across exactly what I was after (info for any other newbies)
I still struggle with the symmetry but I found that using "Instance" does exactly what I want, (mirror)
I clicked on the object, then selected "Instance" I then get an option to Flip either X Y Z I found out that the flip basically means to mirror and you also get a chance to Flip 2 axis as well, so now I managed to create 4 objects and with the correct flipping I can mirror all the commands.
http://www.digitalfossils.com/Download/VoidWorld-aug-20-11.rar
Summary of changes:
* Edit > Customize Tools > Set Hotkey.
* Retopo tool is improved base on memag's suggestions. Also, stripping key A can be pressed and released at any time to make it more flexible for stripping function to come into play and drop away. memag, please check if my understanding is correct. Also can you check the saving issues? I have made some changes to avoid the problem.
* Shoulder Style Edge Extrusion option is remembered on shutdown.
* "Set Manipulator", "Object/Mesh Pivot", "Object Pivot", "Rotation Snap Selection" streamline tools are reworked. ghib, the sub tools of these tools are impossible to expose due to their exclusive requirements.
Thanks!
3dtoons: Edge chamfering does work on edges across the symmetry line. It also works along symmetry line if not is chop off style. If it does not work, can you tell me the steps to reproduce the problem?
passerby: Can you explain more about the layer system? How other apps handle it? I know nothing about this.
philem: Sorry for the lack of tuts. I hardly have time to do this.
Shoulder edge setting is saved and works after the restart.
Here's another suggestion for retopo.
In the clip I use mouse cursor to define the edge from which next point will be drawn, and by clicking MMB I "end" the current poly, creating an edge.
Thanks!
Hey IStonia,
Thanks for the update, also, no worries about the tuts, if they come along they do if not not to worry.
I am following ghib's suggestion of looking at the UI and tackling the commands one at a time and learn the programme that way, so far pretty good, especially as I sussed out the mirroring problem I was having.
Also, I can't seem to change material name easily, by typing and hitting enter.
As well, it changes the selected material back to the default one after "assign to object" (as well as toggle subD), can selection stay on last applied/ edited material and not revert to default one?
thanks.
memag.
I know this is a bit off topic, but, how to you do these gif's ?
CamStudio and Virtual Dub (for Gif export) will do as well.
Jing as well...
I'm on the tutorial right now, I just made the final changes to the script for the teleprompter software, and as soon as flashpoint goes off, I'm recording, and emailing you the first draft.. Sorry it has taken so long..
Ciao' 4 Now,
StOrM3
Thanks,
Looking at them now .
I have tried every combination I can think of,
I bring in a box 1 x 3 x 3
Duplicate it
Extrude the middle poly out a little of both boxes and have the extruded poly's face close to each other.
but,
every time, and every combination of welding I use, as soon as I hit "weld" on the first pair of Vertices one of the boxes looses all its color and becomes a wire frame object, even using CTRL Z to undo does not bring it back to solid, I cannot even assign a new color to it..
Is this a bug ?
or am I missing something?
IStonia, I will make another run in the morning, wife and kids out of house, so I can knock it out first thing when I get up, wish me luck, because if camstudio messes up like that again, after that much work, I'm going to kill well maybe not kill, but definitely trash the authors...
arggghhh...
StOrM3
Try it after removing the opposing faces ,or select the faces and use the 'Bridge' tool.
Do you mean once you edit the material name then hit the Enter key but the typed in name does not take effect?
storm3: Just let you know my patience is unlimited.
philem: Seems like a bug. Can you produce a video? I am not able to produce the problem you come across.
I can't rename it by hitting Enter,it selection box always switches back to first/default material after "toggle subdivision" and "apply to object", and I would like to save few materials (and share them) if possible.
Thank you!
I don't understand why you can't change material name in that way. Try typing in new name then move the cursor into viewport and see if it works. Did you map Enter key onto something by modifying the xml file?
Still I tried with enter but no go.
I didn't map it to anything.
Also try after typing in new material name, click some where else within the Scene Explorer panel but not material icons.
It works in scene explorer (objects,groups renaming) but not in material name field.
The tutorial part 1 is done, and I sent you the links to the youtube vids in your email..
Here they are for everyone on here to check out.. This is the one showing how to setup reference image planes for the character modeling project, my next tutorial coming up is for the head modeling on the character since this is the most hard part to do, I like to do it first..
cheers everyone and enjoy.. BTW: sorry for the noisy recording, I had the mic volume down too low and had to edit audio and amp it in audacity and remux, I will not make that mistake on the other ones..
Here are the Links:
[ame]
[ame]
I Hope you find them useful... give me a few days on the next one..
Ciao' Mano'
StOrM3
Thank you! I really appreciate that, I will do even better on the next parts, now that I have it all setup and am familiar with all the settings etc.. on the various apps now.. It's been a good learning experience.. I just hope that they will help people get the hang of the app, and show people just how good it really is..
Thanks for everything IStonia, and keep up the good work!
Ciao'
StOrM3
I made a small vid, I hope this works
I did a Windows update on my desktop = the problem is still there
I then installed VW on my laptop running Vista and the problem is still there
http://s307.photobucket.com/albums/nn310/pipp44/?action=view¤t=WeldError.mp4