Many people have discovered the joys of Google's SketchUp. I've been teaching myself how to use it, and I'm constantly surprised at the how easy it is to use. Particularly in comparison to Blender and Wings3D, the 3D apps I've also been working with. More on the choice of app later.
It really is a piece of cake to whip up some 3D geometry in SketchUp. For its intended purpose - a tool for 3d artists to quickly sketch out ideas without having to deal with drudgerous process of traditional modelling - it is a phenomenal success. It ought to win an award for its human-interface design. The golden cherry on top is that there's a FREE version, which has almost all the features of the pro version. Alas, that pro version lists for $495. Youch!
Not surprisingly, one of the most important features has been left off. That feature, of course, is the ability to export a 3d model that's useable in other 3d app's. Equally unsurprising is that the internet provides workarounds. I'd like to share my own workaround. It has its flaws, but it works.
All it entails is downloading the Pro version of Sketchup. The Pro version has a trial feature which is unusual. Instead of limiting the number of days it will work (typically 30), or disabling the ability to save work in progress, or watermarking or whatever, Google limits the trial user to 8 hours of use. You can spread those 8 hours out indefinitely (I'm over 15 months so far), which is nice. Now here's the trick. Google allows you to have the FREE version and the Pro version co-existing on your system.
So to convert your SketchUp models to Wavefront (.obj) or 3DSMax (.3ds), simply create the model in the free version, the open it in the Pro version and export it from there to the format you want. It's taken me about a minute or less to open and export the relatively simple models I've created so far. At that rate, I should be able to create perhaps as many as 480 models! And if I was really trying to conserve time, I suspect I could pack my SketchUp file with lots and lots of models, export them all as a batch, and use Blender or Wings3D to split them apart.
I've had mixed success with textures. I successfully exported a model that was created entirely within the Pro version directly to Unity, complete with textures. However, I tried today with a model created with the free version and I 0nly got the geometry. This maybe because I am using version 6 of the Pro Version and version 7 of the Free one. I'll keep noodling at this problem, and hopefully I'll find a solution.
In the meantime, I'm incredibly stoked. The ability to go from quick and easy modeling in SketchUp to interactive rendering in Unity (which I am now more confident than ever will prove to be a useful machinima engine) is a big step forward for me.
So why Blender and Wings3D? Simple: they're free! Admittedly, Maya offers a personal learning edition, but I still didn't want to deal with it because I don't want to have to deal with the watermarking - I want to be able to create real, usable output. Moreover, I have no ambitions to pursue 3d modeling as a career, so the fact that its' an industry-standard app means nothing to me. Now, if there were a PLE for 3DsMax, I might reconsider, but gMax doesn't really cut it (being PC-only doesn't help its case much, either.) Also, since I'm a complete newbie with 3d apps, I am not put off by the alleged 'idiosyncratic' user interface of blender. In fact, I quite like it - much more than Wings3D, for example.
As an extra bonus, Blender includes a game engine. I doubt that I'll ever make use of it, since I've got Unity (which opens Blender files natively), but hey, you never know!
Meanwhile, as I googled around a bit while writing this, I've learned that AutoDesk, publisher of BOTH 3DsMax AND Maya, has acquired SoftImage! So that puts AutoDesk in control of all of the industry-standard 3d apps. Frankly, that makes me want to use an open-source app just to be contrarian! Also, I couldn't find any mention of a 'personal learning edition', which used to be available for XSI.
So blender and wings3d it is, for me at least.
UPDATE: So it seems that Softimage does provide a free version. Its called the "Mod Tool". You can find it here. Hmmm. Might have to reconsider! Of course, when I tried to actually download it, I got a 404 error. And I couldn't determine if it was a pc only or cross platform program. Anyone out there know the answer?
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Just don't call me Twiki!
After my recent stint helping AMAS to organize the 2008 Machinima Film Festival, I got thinking about other things I might be able to do to help out. It occurred to me that the Academy could use a good wiki.
I promptly googled free wiki hosting services, and set about creating one. I hadn't gotten very far before my age-addled grey matter reminded me that a machinima wiki already exists. It couldn't tell me where though, annoyingly, but eventually I found it again at mprem.com. There's some really good stuff there. However, a lot of it is out of date, and there are some pretty big gaps in the content. So I gleefully set about adding and updating where I could.
Classic procrastination. Finding something else to do when I should be teaching myself MovieStorm (hats off to ShortFuze for putting out a Mac version! Hint, hint, Reallusion), Blender, Wings3d, SketchUp7, StudioArtist, Anime Studio, VirtualStage, and in particular, Unity. Oh well. At least it's useful procrastination.
In my previous post, I invited the machinima community to volunteer with the AMAS. Well, here's another way to help, that ironically doesn't involve the Academy. Why not contribute to the wiki? Just don't call me Twiki!
I promptly googled free wiki hosting services, and set about creating one. I hadn't gotten very far before my age-addled grey matter reminded me that a machinima wiki already exists. It couldn't tell me where though, annoyingly, but eventually I found it again at mprem.com. There's some really good stuff there. However, a lot of it is out of date, and there are some pretty big gaps in the content. So I gleefully set about adding and updating where I could.
Classic procrastination. Finding something else to do when I should be teaching myself MovieStorm (hats off to ShortFuze for putting out a Mac version! Hint, hint, Reallusion), Blender, Wings3d, SketchUp7, StudioArtist, Anime Studio, VirtualStage, and in particular, Unity. Oh well. At least it's useful procrastination.
In my previous post, I invited the machinima community to volunteer with the AMAS. Well, here's another way to help, that ironically doesn't involve the Academy. Why not contribute to the wiki? Just don't call me Twiki!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
So long and thanks for all the films!
And so, another Machinima Film Festival is in the can.
Does it make sense to use that old metaphor anymore, 'in the can'? Admittedly, it is from the movie business, but it has an anachronistic whiff about it. What might be more appropriate in the digital age? Backed-up? Archived? TAR'ed? Off-loaded? Printed? Saved?
It's interesting that I struggle to find a metaphor from the computer world that works as well. I think that has something to do with the fundamental mutability of digital media. It's never really done. The whole point of digital media is that it can always be reloaded, re-edited, remixed, re-used. Gone is the raw physicality of celluloid, and with it its inherent limits and obstacles. Gone is the visceral satisfaction of the unambiguous moment when, for better or worse, you know that a project is done, completed... in the can.
In any case, the Festival is over. Though I was crushed that I was kept away at the last minute, it was by all reports a success. Great movies were shown, awards presented, issues both lofty and quotidian were discussed.
The Machinima community owes a tremendous debt to Friedrich Kirschner, whose indefatigable commitment to the Festival made it all possible. Without his enthusiam, ingenuity, and willingness to forgo sleep for days and weeks, I can assure you there would have been no Mackies, no panels, no Festival. My hat's off to you, Friedrich!
Friedrich made sure that the Festival's overarching goal was always to nurture and encourage machinima filmmakers. To give the community an opportunity to slap themselves on the back and feel good about what we've accomplished in a year or two of toil.
It was disturbing, then, to stumble across libellous commentary on the internet that the committee is biased, that we are paid lackeys of major game companies, that we arrogantly, arbitrarily and wantonly disqualify films from the competition. Even though I know full well that this sort of thing is endemic to the internet itself, and that every community deals with issues like this, it was troubling that these wild allegations found receptive readers, and few critics.
Let me encourage anyone who'd like to see things done differently at the festival to put their money where their mouth is and volunteer. We were woefully short-handed this time as last time. Everyone involved gave up nights and weekends, forsook the company of family and friends, all without pay, for months on end. No offer of help would have been refused.
And it's not too late to volunteer now. The AMAS can do a lot to support and promote the machinima community. It needs resources to do so - time and money - which it is chronically lacking. The folks at AMAS all have day jobs, so the time available for Academy activities is limited. Why not lend a hand?
In the end, we all had a great time. Sneaking up on a robot turned out to be one of life's hidden pleasures.
So 'til the next fest, keep machinimating.
Does it make sense to use that old metaphor anymore, 'in the can'? Admittedly, it is from the movie business, but it has an anachronistic whiff about it. What might be more appropriate in the digital age? Backed-up? Archived? TAR'ed? Off-loaded? Printed? Saved?
It's interesting that I struggle to find a metaphor from the computer world that works as well. I think that has something to do with the fundamental mutability of digital media. It's never really done. The whole point of digital media is that it can always be reloaded, re-edited, remixed, re-used. Gone is the raw physicality of celluloid, and with it its inherent limits and obstacles. Gone is the visceral satisfaction of the unambiguous moment when, for better or worse, you know that a project is done, completed... in the can.
In any case, the Festival is over. Though I was crushed that I was kept away at the last minute, it was by all reports a success. Great movies were shown, awards presented, issues both lofty and quotidian were discussed.
The Machinima community owes a tremendous debt to Friedrich Kirschner, whose indefatigable commitment to the Festival made it all possible. Without his enthusiam, ingenuity, and willingness to forgo sleep for days and weeks, I can assure you there would have been no Mackies, no panels, no Festival. My hat's off to you, Friedrich!
Friedrich made sure that the Festival's overarching goal was always to nurture and encourage machinima filmmakers. To give the community an opportunity to slap themselves on the back and feel good about what we've accomplished in a year or two of toil.
It was disturbing, then, to stumble across libellous commentary on the internet that the committee is biased, that we are paid lackeys of major game companies, that we arrogantly, arbitrarily and wantonly disqualify films from the competition. Even though I know full well that this sort of thing is endemic to the internet itself, and that every community deals with issues like this, it was troubling that these wild allegations found receptive readers, and few critics.
Let me encourage anyone who'd like to see things done differently at the festival to put their money where their mouth is and volunteer. We were woefully short-handed this time as last time. Everyone involved gave up nights and weekends, forsook the company of family and friends, all without pay, for months on end. No offer of help would have been refused.
And it's not too late to volunteer now. The AMAS can do a lot to support and promote the machinima community. It needs resources to do so - time and money - which it is chronically lacking. The folks at AMAS all have day jobs, so the time available for Academy activities is limited. Why not lend a hand?
In the end, we all had a great time. Sneaking up on a robot turned out to be one of life's hidden pleasures.
So 'til the next fest, keep machinimating.
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