Friday, August 24, 2007

Model Fight: Maison de Roulement 005

I finally got around to messing with the rolling house for a few minutes today, but most of the stuff was housekeeping and minor updates.



I've come to the conclusion that this project is over in its current incarnation. Why? Multiple reasons (for multiple stories (oh, delicious puns)):

1. Scale: I started out eyeballing the scale of all the objects and not using anywhere close to accurate measurements. If I ever try to do something with another prop or model I would be asking for some work getting everything scaled correctly. I'd like to start over using actual scale.

2. Organization: Currently my model is made up of groups of components of components of groups...you get the picture. This isn't exactly SketchUp's fault, as the grouping/componentization can be very useful, but as I started grouping halfway into the project, I didn't plan very well, and SketchUp isn't letting me back out of my decisions gracefully.

3. Rendering: I happen to like the SketchUp output, but there are times when I want more, or at least different, styles. What I have to do is export from SketchUp and import into some rendering package, assign/modify any textures I need and render. If I were working in another package, I could save a few steps. Granted, for my model at this stage, it isn't unbearable.


I'm planning on starting from scratch in either Modo or 3D Studio MAX, both of which we have at work. I'm torn about which package to use, so I might experiment with both and post the results.

4 comments:

Michael said...

As I mentioned before, I like this wheel design much better. More robust, sturdy, and heavy duty.

Is Sketch-up easy enough that even I could draw somthing in it? Or, do you still need 3D software experience/background to make it work?

~Michael

Trey said...

I think SketchUp is one of the easiest and fastest applications in which to model something. You are ultimately limited by its featureset, since it is more of a conceptual/architectural application, but I've seen some pretty amazing things done with it.

There is a free version that does everything you would need to try it out.

It is one of my favorite applications, and I'll always keep it in my 3d stable.

Michael said...

Kewl, I'll have to check it out. One more thing to add to my "Things I Want To Do But Never Have Time To Do" list. :)

Trey said...

I have that list too!