United3dArtists Archive

Finis · Post by **Finis** » 20 Jan 2012, 02:40

Here's my wip for the U3DA challenge (MMC and SMC became a single challenge). Blades Magazine. See the main challenge page here vi ... =66&t=3219" and make your own entry.

Bussy so this might not be complex. I'll do a stone age caveman magazine. Other than that I'm not sure what the final image will be right now.

The photo is an arrowhead I found in the foothills. It is about 1.5 inches long. This one started as a cube pointed edited into a base shape. Then I subtracted the balls and ovals from it to make knap marks (middle picture). Chipping an arrow or spear or tool is called knapping. Then I used a complicated process of bend, copy, mirror, union, and subtract more balls and ovals from the edge, and polygon reduction tool. Polygon reduction usually makes some odd goemetry but in this case I wanted the rough details it makes.

If I make another stone point I'll do it more efficiently with the simple shape prepared and then just subtract many balls and ovals.

MikomDude · Post by **MikomDude** » 20 Jan 2012, 03:07

Looking good!

Steinie · Post by **Steinie** » 20 Jan 2012, 11:45

Great idea Finis!
Thanks for entering.

jeffroig · Post by **jeffroig** » 20 Jan 2012, 21:26

Great job on the arrow head.
Interesting to see the process you went through.

Finis · Post by **Finis** » 22 Jan 2012, 00:47

Trying to make a Clovis point.

Frustrated. I need to do Booleans. Plastiform won't let me make the tool small enough and activates the click-n-crash feature anyway. Booleans are good at click-n-crash too. Other than meticulously sculpting each chip in point edit I've got no ideas how to make the knaps without Booleans.

I succeeded in subtracting ellipsoids from the base shape for the fullers. I used the wriggledy plug-in from Cool Powers 2 on the ellipsoids and balls so the point would get details along with knaps.

Then no amount of effort or techniques, not even W!zard's Rule of Bool, would allow enough Booleans to be done. Then I tried to make a tool by subtracting a bunch of shapes from a cube. I would then use the tool for one Boolean from the point. I hoped that using the simple cube would allow the booleans. No luck.

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 22 Jan 2012, 01:55

Hmmmm.... I found the Booleans with "Keep History" almost bug free on the WS of TS wit ha resonably high tolerance. Have you tried that side?

spacekdet · Post by **spacekdet** » 22 Jan 2012, 02:22

'Delete edges' box un-checked?

Try subdividing the hell out of your blade- you need more complexity, not less... gives it more to 'bite' off.

Alternately, how about a displacement map?

Finis · Post by **Finis** » 22 Jan 2012, 04:21

Draise, I don't like workspace. Maybe I'll try it's Booleans on this object though. I'll certainly not turn on the bridge lest WS should contaminate everything. But if I can move the object between sides by saving and opening a file (.cob etc.) then that could be good.

I might try TS5. It works better that TS7 but I doubt the Booleans are different.

Spacekdet, I tried delete edges and not and I divided the point to 26K verts. Combinations of quad and tri divide too. Not sure if I tried it divided and delete edges off so I'll try that before TS5 or WS. Displacement map? You mean a bump map? This needs the geometry on the edges to look right. Does WS have geometry altering (not render time) displacement maps?

I tried changing the on fly offset and ... what is that called ... the tolerance setting. At ridiculous settings it would add some edges but not finish the Boolean.

Although the fullers worked with the wriggledy drills I used smooth objects in the other attempts. The completed object can be wriggled.

spacekdet · Post by **spacekdet** » 22 Jan 2012, 04:33

Finis wrote: Does WS have geometry altering (not render time) displacement maps?

Yes. Creates actual geometry. Like booleans, it needs a dense mesh to begin with.

Lots of other methods to try so don't get discouraged.
Plain old SDS modeling is one. -Not one I'm any good at, but I can see how it could work.
It would take a lot of pushing faces around, but it's doable.

Finis · Post by **Finis** » 22 Jan 2012, 05:09

Apparently WS is useless since there is no way to open a file in any format other than its own and modelside can't write that. That's insane to make WS incapable of reading a it predecessor's .cob files. I suppose with a Frankenstein monster of patches and plug-ins it could. I have no intention of using any patches or plug-ins for an extremely basic feature that should been part of it all along just to make one object for a hobby. If WS can't even load a .cob file without users fixing it then it shouldn't have been released. Turning on the bridge is madness under any circumstances.

I'll try TS5 if I can get the objects into it. So far saving the scene in TS5 format doesn't work. TS5 pretends to open it but there are no objects. Maybe saving the objects as TS5 .cob's.

The arrow head worked best when I subtracted balls one at a time which is usually the worst way.

When I divide the box it disappears and the balls remain on Boolean instead of the balls being cut out.

Point editing maybe. SDS no. SDS smooths everything and that would take the sharp edges off of the chips. I could have point edit sculpted it in the time spent trying to get Booleans to work. Well, maybe not. The curved edges of the chips would be hard to do that way.

Hmm, maybe I'll just point edit the basic shape and wriggledy and bump map it for some details. It won't look as realistic as the arrowhead but the challenge is to make a magazine cover (hint to other contestants!).

Finis · Post by **Finis** » 22 Jan 2012, 05:25

Got the objects into TS5. Doesn't work there either.

Finis · Post by **Finis** » 22 Jan 2012, 20:51

TS5 worked better if I made the objects in it. Crashes and trouble too but Booleans could be done. There I made balls and subtracted them from the top of a cube. Then I subtracted that from another cube to get a Boolean tool with convex bumps. Subtracting copies of that from the base point made concave knap marks and shaped the edges of the blade. The fuller it is not the way I want it for a Clovis point but this is just supposed to look primitive so it does not have to be as finely made as a real one.

Image is from TS7.6 model side with 1 layer of SDS on the rendered one. Spacekdet, I was wrong about SDS removing the sharp edges. Enough remain to make it look right.

I was going to make a Folsom point but no time now. I'll use this arrowhead and this spear to make the magazine cover.

Steinie wrote:Great idea Finis!

Thanks Steinie.

jeffroig wrote:Great job on the arrow head.

Thanks Jeff.

MikomDude wrote:Looking good!

Thanks Mikom.

Finis · Post by **Finis** » 23 Jan 2012, 03:51

Here it is. Blades Magazine circa 11500 BC.

The rock is a geosphere with deforms applied and some SDS. I invented an interesting method to apply the paintings. They aren't material rectangles. They aren't over sized textures like on the flask in Small Minds but each painting is from a texture I made from photos in Paint Shop. There is only one rock with one texture layer. The paintings aren't part of the rock texture. Guesses?

Translation: Blades Magazine volume 23 vernal equinox special edition. Featured article, Torg tells which is best for hunting bison. Arrows or spears?

Dragneye · Post by **Dragneye** » 23 Jan 2012, 05:26

Very nice job Finis!

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 23 Jan 2012, 17:01

LOL! VERY AWESOME!

Finis · Post by **Finis** » 25 Jan 2012, 18:12

Thanks Dragneye and Draise.

Here is an update to meet the theme requirement of salesmanship. Now the arrowhead is upright and near the bison/auroch/buffalo. Changed camera angle to show items on top of the rock, the magazine title, better.

Translation: Blades Magazine volume 23 vernal equinox special edition. Featured article, Torg recommends arrows for hunting bison.

froo · Post by **froo** » 25 Jan 2012, 18:40

Very nice job Finis! Love it!

United3dArtists Archive

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