jno

Hello,

I am in the process of creating an interactive simulation style online learning application. I'm trying to figure out the best way to build a 3D or photo-realistic community (grouping of houses, buildings, offices, etc.). Basically the user will travel from house to house in what feels like they are actually walking down a suburban residential street for example.

It is not necessary for me to actually use the 3D model other than to take some high res renders of various scenes.

I'm trying to figure out what software is best for me to learn to accomplish this - 3DS? Autodesk Viz? Lightwave? Is there some sort of starting point that might give me a base model to start from? Ideally I'd like a stock 3D architecture model site just like a stock photo site where I could pick and choose what I want, but I've yet to find anything like that that would offer a variety of models.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated - I'm new to this, so the simpler the better!

Thanks,


Julia

crazy homeless guy

maybe try archicad or somthing along those lines. i think the have out of the box construction details, such as doors windows, ect... that you could just drop in. 3ds and lightwave you will be modeling everything custom from the ground up, and if you are not that concerned with how the space looks in general, then i am guessing that is not what you want to do.

....from your post, i am also guessing that a standard off the shelf interior decorating software might even suite your needs. something like that could be picked up at your local software store for under $100. although there might be a legal issue with using the images it produces, i have never read the agreement on such software.

__________________
travis schmiesing

mbr

Marlin Studios (see main page for link) sells a set of generic houses, although they look pretty bad. Look at www.cgdatabank.com for some free houses (again, not the greatest models).

I am not 100% sure what you are after. If you are just starting to learn 3D, it'll be a huge undertaking! If you don't care about quality, then maybe one of those decorating programs would work as chg points out. Look at PC Mag, they reviewed some of those not long ago.

Ray

Or you could try using a game editor like the Unreal editor, then you could walk down your street and enter the houses all from within the game.

jno

Thanks for all the input! Yes, I am beginning to realize the magnitude of what I'd like to do (versus what I already know how to do). Quality is going to be a big issue - if we can't do it well then it's not worth it. If I were to devote the next 6 months to learning a particular 3D tool, which would be the best to learn? (or the best to start to learn?)

I will be doing all the interaction, scripting, etc. from within Macromedia Director which handles both 3D files (exported to w3d from many 3d editoris) and rendered graphics. To limit the demands on the user's system we will probably go with rendered graphics of the 3D files as opposed to actually bringing the models into Director (too processor intensive on the user's machine). That side of it is already established - I just need the graphics!

The 3D packages all seem to be pretty intense. I wish I had an AutoCAD background but I'm not that fortunate. Given your experience, what would you recommend as a good starting point? If I'm going to try to get started I want to make sure I'm headed in the right direction. I also want to make sure that I'm not limiting myself in the long run. If it takes me 2-3 years to pick this up it's still worth it

Any input/tips you can provide are really appreciated! With all the different tools out there my biggest worry is trying to learn the wrong one.

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Julia

bjornkn

It sounds like you may have along way to go, but it does sound interesting

For modelling your scenes, buildings etc I would strongly recommend that you take a look at Sketchup. It's a unique program which allows you to draw3D models very fast and precise, at the level ofdetails you want. I use it every day, and it's the only program that I just like better every time I use it
http://sketchup.com
Take a look at the videos and your jaw will drop..
You could download a fully working version which will work for 8 CPU hours.

It will not let you render nice photo realistic scenes though, so if you want nicely lit and textured images/models you'd need to use another renderer, preferably one which lets you bake your (GI?) lit textures into the scene.

Janzer v1.0

hey ....ADT is the way to go to model your buildings....you can link directly to viz render or viz 2005 and MAX 7.0. Architectural Desktop allows you to create 3d walls, slabs, roofs, stairs, curtain wall units, etc. as well as drop in doors and windows. You can also model your own with relative ease.....well I've used this software for like 4 yrs so it may not be an easy learnig curve for you. Cheers.

4DM

Hey, Janzer, I think you better edit out that bit about burning copies of software for people...illegal copying of software is not something that would be encouraged here!!

Cheers,
D.

jno

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the info. I've actually looked at SketchUp before and it seemed to be a good option. Forgive the newbie question, but what renderer would you then use in order to make a more photorealistic image?

Thanks for all the tips,


Julia

bjornkn

Julia,
that's an even bigger question
If you take a look at the User forum at http://www.sketchup.com/forum/list.php?f=4 you'll find that there are several endless threads discussing that topic. Right now there are two newcomers, Maxwell render and Artlantis R (with GI) being discussed heavily. They are both still in the alpha/beta stage though.
I have had good results using both trueSpace, Lightwave (with FPrime renderer) and Cinema4D with SketchUp models, but at the moment most of my projects are deployed either as SketchUp models, or rendered in SketchUp itself, for non-photo-realistic presentations, which many architects seems to prefer.
SketchUp exports in 3ds and obj, both uv mapped with textures, as well as dxf/dwg and vrml (no textures?), so it shouldn't be a problem to import them into any 3D program.