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NDO 2- is it worth it?

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  • mLichy
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    Ive been messing with Ndo more, and its pretty awesome.

    Although, I've had it crash 2 times now in about 15-20min, working only on 2-3 layers, the others zipped, where it is in the middle of an action and stops. So from there I dont think its recoverable?
  • Joshua Stubbles
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    Joshua Stubbles polycounter lvl 19
    Just undo a few steps in the history until it looks normal. Then re-open NDo :)
  • mLichy
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    Ok, good to know
  • tekmatic
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    tekmatic polycounter lvl 11
    @mLichy, You mentioned that you paid $45 for NDO2, Which license did you buy and am not seeing that price on the site. Let me know when you get a chance.

    Cheers
  • chrismaddox3d
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    chrismaddox3d polycounter lvl 17
    It has been on sale for last few weeks 30% to 35% off sale any license.
    Picked me up a copy and loving it.
    Looking now and looks like the New Years and Xmas sales codes are not on the site.
    I am sure they will have another sale once a another major holiday is around.
  • Parnell
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    Parnell polycounter lvl 18
    I gotta say it's a little weak when their Twitter feed along the top of their site says 35% off just use the NDO2FORALL code. Then I plug it in and no dice. Just last night the code worked so I go into work and try to get my office to buy copies telling them it's 30% off and now it says it won't? Eh?
    B
  • Skillmister
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    Skillmister polycounter lvl 11
    Sucks that i hurried to pull the cash together after christmas to get it for 25% off then 2 days later its 35% off :(
  • Bruno Afonseca
    Parnell wrote: »
    I gotta say it's a little weak when their Twitter feed along the top of their site says 35% off just use the NDO2FORALL code. Then I plug it in and no dice. Just last night the code worked so I go into work and try to get my office to buy copies telling them it's 30% off and now it says it won't? Eh?
    B

    Same here, checked it yesterday and it worked fine, decided to buy it and it's gone. Oh well, will do it some other time. Looks pretty good though
  • SnowInChina
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    SnowInChina interpolator
    Parnell wrote: »
    I gotta say it's a little weak when their Twitter feed along the top of their site says 35% off just use the NDO2FORALL code. Then I plug it in and no dice. Just last night the code worked so I go into work and try to get my office to buy copies telling them it's 30% off and now it says it won't? Eh?
    B

    yep. i thought i could get it in time too, too bad i dont have paypal or credit card =(
    and these european taxes are eating me up !
  • mLichy
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    Yeah, it was New Years Deal or something, so I grabbed it quick. It said it ended on the 1st or w/e it was.
  • SnowInChina
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    SnowInChina interpolator
    just received a message from teddy !
    since i wrote him a message, asking for alternative payment methods, while the new years deal was still active i will still receive my 35% off !

    happy customer count : +1
  • mLichy
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    When I convert a Normal to Cavity and Specular, should Ndo also create a Diffuse/Displacement first, then do the other two??

    Is eating up quite a bit of time/processing to do those first, then do the ones I want last. If that's how it works, then ok. Just making sure!
  • mLichy
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    Also, it would be nice if there was an option to toggle TopMost for the 3D Preview. So I can move other windows over it like Chat, and minimize/move chat instead of closing/moving the 3D Object :).


    Edit: Nevermind, found it :)
  • Joshua Stubbles
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    Joshua Stubbles polycounter lvl 19
    You can turn off "always on top" in the NDo prefs, if that helps.
  • mLichy
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    Yeah, saw that right after I posted ;)
  • Irreal
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    Irreal polycounter lvl 10
    Can you still instantiate layers like in ndo 1? I see the option to duplicate a layer but i can't find anything to do with instancing a layer.
  • Snacuum
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    Snacuum polycounter lvl 9
    Damn that looks awesome, I love how the preview is just slapped on top, no need to take yourself out of the editor to go check that it works in a previewer.
  • DrunkShaman
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    DrunkShaman polycounter lvl 14
    I worked at a studio that used something similar to this on character armor

    Similar?

    Crazy bump? Or Custom. You know I almost bought nDo 2 until I read the reviews, there were many pieces made for environment instead of character.

    It would be good for something like, a leather belt, or leather jacket. Unless there is a solid use to make the normals for skin or something (tho it might be, but not demonstrated as yet) I'll leave it for later.

    I already have too many softwares related to 3d. :(
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    I'm very tempted to pick it up, but there doesn't seem to be an awful lot of documentation / tutorial material for it out there?
  • Joshua Stubbles
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    Joshua Stubbles polycounter lvl 19
    ambershee wrote: »
    there doesn't seem to be an awful lot of documentation / tutorial material for it out there?

    Ummm reaaaaally? The official rundown thread has a ton of good information: http://quixel.se/forum/index.php?topic=5.0

    Three vids:

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H-BPO_ifPg&"]nDo2 tutorials: Map Generation - YouTube[/ame]
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cql81lsrV2w&"]nDo2 tutorials: Photo-normals - YouTube[/ame]
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXPJ-SjkPko&"]nDo2 tutorials: Custom Presets (+UDK) - YouTube[/ame]

    I'll also be doing an NDo tutorial for an online site in another week or so.

    If this isn't enough information to at least get you started, there's no hope for ya. The best learning experience is practice.
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    The official rundown is more or less just screenshots of the interface, I wouldn't call it documentation (let alone a 'ton' of useful information), but it is useful nevertheless.

    I don't do video tutorials; I find them difficult to follow and you cannot use them for quick reference, which for me renders them largely useless.
  • Uly
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    Uly polycounter lvl 15
    ambershee wrote: »
    I don't do video tutorials; I find them difficult to follow and you cannot use them for quick reference, which for me renders them largely useless.
    ... wow.
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    Yes, I know I'm against the curve there in a forum full of artists who usually seem to want everything presented in some sort of video format - but you can't go back to a 30 minute video and hit 'Ctrl+F' to find that small bit you were looking for. That's an absolute killer - like I said before, you just can't use it for quick reference, and if you do need to find something specific (what's the name of that tickbox again?) you have to sit and flick through the video until you find what you were looking for. That's painful. Something like text and images? I can just search for appropriate terms.

    The other issue with video tutorials is that they often only focus on getting a specific task-at-hand dealt with and don't actually go into detail regarding your options for various ends. When they do do this, it's a pain in the arse to skip through it when you don't want to cover it; so you just cannot win.
  • mLichy
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    I don't do video tutorials; I find them difficult to follow and you cannot use them for quick reference, which for me renders them largely useless.

    Yeah,...? If you watch it once, you can note down times to look for in the video for certain info, or... just write it down. That's what I did when I went through alot of Maxscript videos, just rewatched parts and mainly took notes.

    I think Videos can explain alot more than screenshots can.
  • mLichy
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    Yes, I know I'm against the curve there in a forum full of artists who usually seem to want everything presented in some sort of video format

    .....

    The other issue with video tutorials is that they often only focus on getting a specific task-at-hand dealt with and don't actually go into detail regarding your options for various ends.


    You just basically said you don't want to have it all explained to you, but you do.
  • Bertmac
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    Bertmac polycounter lvl 17
    For real, I don't understand that people are shouting that Ndo is just/mainly for hard surface/environment use. I mean how did use to make your bump maps back in the day.
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    mLichy wrote: »
    If you watch it once, you can note down times to look for in the video for certain info, or... just write it down. That's what I did when I went through alot of Maxscript videos, just rewatched parts and mainly took notes.

    When coming back to a tool after six or more weeks of not using it, it's unlikely that those original notes are still kicking about. It also implies I have the ability to prophetically divine what I'll need to quickly look up in the future - which is somewhat unlikely.
    mLichy wrote: »
    You just basically said you don't want to have it all explained to you, but you do.

    No, I didn't. I implied there are times when you need one or the other; an explanation of the capabilities of a tool, or an explanation of how to achieve something specific given a certain tool. A video will only ever provide one of the above, and it is usually the latter. In cases of the former, videos become extremely long and unwieldy.
    mLichy wrote: »
    I think Videos can explain alot more than screenshots can.

    I don't disagree, they can - but I can't rely on them to give me what I find I most commonly need; something I can quickly look at to answer simple questions. I'm just trying to get people to understand why I do not like relying on video tutorials. It's not like my reasons are unfathomable to the human mind, they do make sense if you actually try to see where I'm coming from.
  • Ace-Angel
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    Ace-Angel polycounter lvl 12
    Seriously dude, give it a break. The reasons you're citing are minor and laughable at best.

    Text tutorials very rarely have a leg up on video tutorials, let alone easy to use with Ctrl+F, I can't tell you how many times I looked up a word only to have it break because it couldn't find the word correctly (Warp vs Wrap), instead forcing me to write a part of the sentence to get what I need.

    Or how about typing in an abbreviation/lingo word only to cycle through 10 different paragraphs which don't have the word in the first place? Yeah, that was just dandy.

    I agree nDo's so called 'tutorials' are rubbish, and if you didn't use ndo1, then ndo2 will be a tad bit nightmarish to get on grips with, but for everything that is Holy, don't put every video tutorials on the same level of nDo's tutorials, let alone complain about them as whole.

    nDo videos = rubbish, most others = not rubbish, see where I'm coming from?

    How about instead you get a little free player known as VLC, and take snapshots of the respective parts of the video you wish to keep in stock? Or even better, make VIDEO BOOKMARKS! Yes, you can do that with VLC, you ca literally bookmarks parts of the video you wish to access, something which in text format, ONLY PDF files have which work properly on different formats and PC's unlike say Documents which can break from PC to PC, amazing what FREE TECH can do to ease your life.
  • Justin Meisse
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    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 18
    I remember when all you got was a readme.txt that told you how to install the program. It was linked before but everything you need to know is here
  • adam
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    adam polycounter lvl 19
    ambershee wrote: »
    The official rundown is more or less just screenshots of the interface, I wouldn't call it documentation (let alone a 'ton' of useful information), but it is useful nevertheless.

    I don't do video tutorials; I find them difficult to follow and you cannot use them for quick reference, which for me renders them largely useless.

    So you're a needy artist who has to have tutorials specifically created for your method of learning? And when someone goes out of their way to help you by listing 3 perfectly good tutorials you not only find it useless, but do not thank him for trying to help?

    I just broke both eyebrows from rolling my eyes so hard.
  • joebount
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    joebount polycounter lvl 12
    Quick question : Is it computer based activation or Photoshop based activation ?
  • Joshua Stubbles
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    Joshua Stubbles polycounter lvl 19
    joebount wrote: »
    Quick question : Is it computer based activation or Photoshop based activation ?

    Computer based. You can only have the license active on one PC at a time. If you swap PC's you have to re-auth the license on the website. No biggie.
  • joebount
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    joebount polycounter lvl 12
    Thanks ! Will probably give it a go soon :)
  • GIS3000
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    GIS3000 polycounter lvl 13
    Hi there guys. Anyone noticed that their website isn't loading up?
  • ZacD
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    ZacD ngon master
    It is working for me.
  • [HP]
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    [HP] polycounter lvl 13
    Btw, two more unoficial tutorials were made:

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxxBjNyL_6M&feature=player_embedded"]UDK Learning University - nDo2 Tutorial - YouTube[/ame]

    http://www.hourences.com/texture-creation-using-ndo2/
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