Open battle
 

If anyone is interested, I would battle someone (preferably new user to maya).
:)
Challenges can be basically anything, although I would go for a non-organic/dynamic challenge. I do not know that much about the last one, except how to make rigid bodies for something like dominoes, etc.

So, anyone up for it?
:cool:

I'm wondering if anyone would actually finish a battle :p

of course though, i don't like to leave challenges unfinished...

i'll take you up on your challenge if no one does it before me by the time i figure out what i'm meant to make in XSI

but i know it'll be something to do with medical equipment...

so, if i can import stuff into the free version of XSI (mod tool they call it, for making models for the Source SDK and XNA) then i'll take you up on a Maya challenge

it'll be something to do with medical equipment, so i don't imagine there would be any organic modelling or dynamics...

Those slackers... ;)

anyway... If you guys are looking for a hard surface modeling challenge for each other, and have allot of time on your hands, you could try a tank... nothing harder ;) Plus I have Tons of reference, and blueprints you can have.

Anyway, have fun!

Tank sounds great to me. :)
Would be very good modeling practices...
You allright with that, Chirone?

haha, a lot of time...

lemme remind myself what i have to get done!

-dissertation experiments...
-programming the program for the experiements...
-40-60 page report for the dissertation...
-make models in XSI, and possibly teach people how to use photoshop...
-oh and learn XSI...
-research real time heuristics (i guess) to make a game... and that -will probably be programed in python... or in worst case senario C++
-oh that reminds me... will have to learn python in that case...
-write up more reports for the XSI assignment...
-write up more reports for the game...
-oh crap, it's still not clear on what that other paper will involve... but doing stuff for a business might take time...
-eventually study for the exams...
-oh yeah, that's right, i still gotta do that trophy for the summer challenge...
-probably watch more video tutorials...
-finish playing crisis core...

hmmm... i think i got a very busy 10 weeks left...

ok, i can take you on in a tank challenge, since i probably need stuff if/when i make my portfolio...

but i'll need more than a week...

i imagine the catapillar wheels will be a pain... even more if we rigged it... but i suppose we'll just do a still...? considering i can't be bothered figuring out how you tube works :p


ok, yeah, i'm cool for a tank battle
if mayaniac gives us the refs then that would be good... cut down the searching time...

OH OH, that's right, one more thing to do by friday... get a lecture prepared

fun fun...

Well, I'm glad you've not got too much to get done :confused:

Anyway, a Tank it is!

You will have to pick the Tank you guy's want to model, and I will supply the Blueprints (If possible) Or if you want me to pick for you?

Anyway, I think you should stick to Just a still frame, given your to-do list ;)

As for the treads.. there a piece of cake! Duplicate them around a curve ;)

oh yeah, that reminds me...

i also got some case based reasoning assignment that i haven't got yet but know i'll have to do

also will have more research and presentations to do in AI

and at some point i'll have to learn MEL

(yeah ok, the skills in my sig are what i theoretically have by now... but i probably only have about half of them :p)
i wish i was 16 like the rest of you :p

ok, i know naught about tanks, so if Amoeba knows something then i'll let him choose.
otherwise, pull us up a random tank, Mayaniac :)

Well, I'm not 16 either... I'm 17!... JK I just turned 19 ;)

Wow, you do like you programming languages.

I hope I can build repository of language skills that big some day.

So far I have... Maya, 3DsMax, ZBrush, Blender, Silo3D, Moi3D, Bodypaint3D, Photoshop, Illustrator, Camtasia, Dreamweaver, Flash, C#, XNA, Actionscript.... I'm just learning programming, but I hope to add Python, and Java script to the list soon.
Plus I know the other basic Microsoft office progs.

Anyway... If I were to pick the Tank it would most likely be either, Challenger 1 or 2, or a Panzer IV, or VI.

But we'll wait to see what amoeba thinks.

back in those days when i was 19 all i had was... umm... would have been Java, SQL (long forgotten), photoshop, flash, actionscript, html, css (also forgotten but nothing dreamweaver can't remind me of... i think), and.... that's probably it...oh and Swift3D, third party software for flash

hmm... then again, i also have forgotten all i know of actionscript other than play(); and stop(); and gotoAndPlay(x); and gotoAndStop(x), at least i think i spelt those last two right...

that's an impressive sounding lot of 3D software you know!

as for the tank, panzer sounds fun because i think i've heard of it before

Panzer is the german word for tank...maybe thats why you heard of it before.

Anyway, I don't have a clue what Tank to model, so mayaniac, can you supply us with the blueprints/refs of one of your tanks please?

:bow:

Oh, and about the tank tracks rigging, theres a .mel file that makes the tank treads + automaticly rigs it. If anyones interested, I can post the file.
;)

:shakehead trying to get the jump on me already eh?

haha, well, throw us the script, it sounds interesting and like something i should know too....

Here it is...

Well.. A Poly is a Poly, and once you've know how to manipulate it, you can do it in any program, so learning new 3D software to me, is just learning where all the buttons are ;) So nothing to great there.

As for the programing... I'm just learning. So my programing skills sound about as advanced, as your knowledge of Action script... I know the Syntax, and I can build a basic Interface, or throw together a quick form that does next to nothing.
But other than that... I'm it's all new to me.

I've been playing with XNA lately... I can build a basic Collision game with PRIMITIVE AI.... AI :hug: But again.. I'm just learning.

When you say SQL you mean SQL server.. right? Because I didn't think that was dead or forgotten ?

Same with Cascading Style sheets (CSS)?

So Panzer it is! Panzer is also the name of a family of tanks created around WWII.

I will look around see what there is.

when i say SQL i mean all the statements and stuff that you can use to access stuff from an SQL database

things like SELECT(x) where x is a string
i dont remember how i did that in my java program... but i do remember using MS Access when i wasn't near a SQL database

and yeah, CSS = cascading style sheets
i don't remember the syntax, but since it's really basic i can just remind myself anytime by looking at other .css files

i think i also have XNA on the TODO list... well... it was meant to be learnt at the same time when i was meant to refine C++, learn Maya and XSI in november last year... unfortunately only Maya and a bit of C++ got done in the four months i had free...


thanks for the mel file amoeba

oh, you wanna learn real AI languages then learn CLIPS, SOAR, OPS5, Prolog, STRIPS, ummm.... that other one i can't remember the name of atm...

does the AI in XNA cover A* (would be used for path finding, since A* is currently the best search algorithm) or learning?

haha, i could swamp you with lots and lots of AI stuff...

the real AI has a lot of pure maths and stats in it :p, playing with 3D tools is much more fun

Haha, when I said AI i meant REAL simple... Like collision detection, and chase algorithms.

But yeah I really enjoy 3D allot more than programming.

I just have Insatiable apatite for knowledge :D

Anyway, I've narrowed down the tanks to 3.

I'll let you 2 choose.

Tank 1:

King Tiger

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o...6-Captured.jpg

Tank 2:

Valentine Cruiser

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o...lentineiii.jpg

Tank 3:

Panzerkampfwagen II

http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o...D/PanzerII.jpg


I have nice Blueprints for each, so don't worry.

:beer:

i'm liking the Panzerkampfwagen
although the king tiger looks like it's got some really funky camo paint
ok, the google image that i saw had lots of camo paint on it...
right, well the king tiger looks like it has the biggist gun, but it also looks like it has the least guns...


we'll see what amoeba says. Not sure how confident he is in texture mapping

umm...me + texture mapping = disaster...
basically, I do not even know how to map UV's yet...
:(

And for the model, I would go with the panzerkampfwagen too...

well i suppose we could do it with just the flat materials... of course that would mean i would then become too lazy to texture map it after the battle...

which is a bad thing...

i'm sure you can learn texture mapping, we'll give us enough time for you to learn and me to remember...

the tutorials that come with Maya and the ones on the free tutorials should bring you up to speed, besides, texture mapping seems to be where all the coolness is

and being polygons which i imagine may be low polys shouldn't be tooooo boring to lay out uvs...

or you could just go download roadkill UV or the script arran said he uses from highend

Well I guess it's on!

Here are the blueprints. There not huge, but they are clear.

BIG NOTE: The blueprints here are for the...
Panzerkampfwagen II Ausf L

The Panzer in the image I posted was the...
Panzerkampfwagen II Ausf F

There is a slight difference! The main barrel on the Ausf L is in the center of the turret, where as the Ausf F's is offset to the side. Nothing too major. There are (or I can't find) any Blueprints of the Ausf F. So you should have no problem relocating the barrel, or you may decide you prefer it in the middle ;)

Here are some links to images of the Panzer:

Site 1

site 2:
http://www.militaryimages.net/photop...f_c_7_of_8.jpg

If you decide to go with a different Tank... let me know!

Have fun!

alright!

now we gotta decide on a time limit...

I'll let you decide because you are very busy...
And thanks for the blueprints Mayaniac!

wow, the tank looks pretty detailed and i'm slightly confuzzled by the back of it, but that'll probably resolve once i put these to image planes

lets say 7 weeks from now?

that's probably more time than we need but it never hurts to over estimate the time you'll need to do something

Hey guys! No probs with the blueprints!

If you get confused about a certain area of the tank... Look at some photos of the tank. That should help clear things up.

As for the time limit. I think 6 or 7 weeks sounds good, just because Chirone has allot on his plate, and because
amoeba has little experience in UV/Texture mapping, and quite simply because... modeling a tank can be an arduous task... Trust me I know ;) I was involved in a challenge (and yes I did complete it) where I had to model a Tank (Mark-V-Tank) in 3 days.

Anyway, good luck, and let me know if you need more images.

Ok, I did you guys a favor! I have broken down the images into image planes, and set up, and lined them up in Maya.

All you have to do, is download the .Zip file. Open the .ma file called 'Base_Scene'. In there you will find 4 blank image planes. Select each one, one at a time, hit ctrl A to open the attribute editor, and in the 'image plane' tab.. Browse to and load the images from wherever you decide to put them.

Hope it helps.

Ok, so it turns out i'm going to have to upload the images in groups, as the file sizes are to big for Simply maya... it was only 350KB...

So here the first half of the Blueprints.

Sorry for all the posts...

Thank you!
:D

sweet dude, you rock :beer:

the maximum file size for an attachment is 262144 bytes (262kb) so yeah... your original file was just over :p

No probs!

So I guess all thats left is to set the start/end date.

well i assumed the start date was yesterday 4th august...and we finish on the 23rd sept

Ok, made the thread.
Click here
:)