jimbob Posted May 10, 2005 Share Posted May 10, 2005 Please forgive me if this has been debated to death already (I've been looking through the forums without much luck), but I am trying to find a package for interactive walkthroughs. I want to be able to create the walkthroughs for CD and also real-time for the web. I've been looking at Virtools, Macromedia, Quest3d, Wirefusion, Visuall, etc. All these packages seem to have very limited demos and very few real-time over-the-web examples. Some of the few I've seen seem to have that "plastic" CG look. The lighting on Visuall's demo looks very nice but their site seemed somewhat spotty and I'm a little hesitant to spent that kind of money if their demos don't work 100% of the time. I'm new to the architectural scene but I've been working with Maya and Lightwave for 4-5 years and would like to continue using them if possible. It seems most packages are written with 3DS Max in mind (which I don't have a license for). Does anyone have an opinion or could point me in the direction of some on-line examples? Anyone working with any of these on large-scale projects? Thanks in advance for any feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihabkal Posted May 10, 2005 Share Posted May 10, 2005 no matter what anyone says you are not going to like any softwar ethat you don't like already. Lightwave rocks. I have seen beauties done with it. see this guy http://www.pacificommultimedia.com/ his renderings are simply the best I have seen... ANd he does it all with Lightwave...If you already know how to use it you're half way there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbob Posted May 10, 2005 Author Share Posted May 10, 2005 Thanks for the quick response ihabkal. I checked out the site and his work is great! Do you know of any plugins for LW for interactive walkthroughs (other than Macromedia)? It would be great to create content with an app that I'm already familiar with. I know Maya had one several years ago (Maya Real Time Author), but it doesn't seem to be around anymore. One of the best I've seen so far - Visuall - is a plugin for 3DS Max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihabkal Posted May 10, 2005 Share Posted May 10, 2005 no sorry I don't know. I always wanted to use lightwave before especially when the max scanline renderer used to suck before Brazil and Vray... Lightwave has a great renderer full of features... can even do Hypervoxels skys and other things... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisHolland Posted May 11, 2005 Share Posted May 11, 2005 If i'm correct you're looking for a thirth party package that can author your 3D models into an interactive walkthrough.... I think, looking at your topic-opening, you have been everywhere and seen all there is on the market today. All these packages seem to have very limited demos and very few real-time over-the-web examples. Some of the few I've seen seem to have that "plastic" CG lookMy question is; What ARE you looking for? Are you looking for an even better tool than the above, do you want some input which one to buy for the best price? Or are you hoping for a secret super-pack for sale of which no one knows? I have a few VR samples (realtime and webready) on my website, fully interqactive and fast loading, tex-baked for realism and good navigation. To be honest, that is all there is today in the VR 'through the web' fields. It's a bandwidth thing, a plugin issue and more annoying conflicts that should be solved in the next few years. For now youre stuck with the tools in the market today. If you know what to do (good knowledge in render2texture and java-scripting) then Wirefusion is the best, innovative and under strong development right now heading to VR for the web. The free demo is fully working (30 day trial) and the standard version is only € 79.- up to the enterprise version of € 1475.- That is not very expensive for all features in the tool. Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliot Posted May 11, 2005 Share Posted May 11, 2005 Ihab, Your recomendation for the site using Lightwave is extrordinary. Better than the average thing I see made with 3D Max. Very convincing. Thanks Elliot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vizfx Posted May 11, 2005 Share Posted May 11, 2005 I’ve used Macromedia Director for many multimedia projects. One of them is a remake of the medieval fortress of Suceava. I’ve made the entire fortress with all the courtyards and rooms and I needed two ways of navigation walkthrough and from the maps. There are some limitations for this package (they are not presented on macromedia.com): - at this moment only DirectX 7 is supported – this means no shadows - for walkthroughs you must be prepared for lingo programming, otherwise you’ll go through every wall and object that is in your way (if you need I can tell you the code and explain it) - some types of animations are not supported - all the objects and the materials (even submaterials) MUST have a different name, otherwise you’ll have to verify every one of them and if you have a complex scene that is not a nice thing - bitmap cropping from 3D software not supported - only bitmap maps are supported, no bump mapping supported - alpha channels are supported 3D and 2D (you can have 2D layers over the 3D scene) - you’ll need some free additional plugins for easy setup If you are interested in more details contact me at viz_fx@yahoo.com Excuse my english. Mihai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom_a_sparks Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 Cult3D ( www.cult3d.com/) is another Cult3D Rendering Features Polygons Unlimited in each object Even though Cult3D has no limit on the amount of polygons, you should consider keeping the total amount low. Unnecessary polygons only slow down both download and presentation. Texture Up to 2048×2048 pixels. If the bitmap is larger, it is resized to 2048×2048 pixels. Texture Tiles Sizes from 23 (8) up to 210 (1024) pixels. Both the x and y sizes must be exact powers of 2. i.e., if a tiled bitmap is 143×78 pixels, it must be shrunk or stretched to fit. (See Texture Map Options.) Shading Methods Constant shading Flat shading Gouraud shading with highlight Phong shading Selected shading mode in exporter. Bump mapping requires Phong shading. Light Source Infinite Omni Light Export The exporter translates objects, materials and their properties from the modeling application to Cult3D to reproduce the same output result within the limits possible. Smoothing Smoothing groups are supported. Optimizer Optional polygon optimizer. Minimizes the number of polygons in an object by merging continuous triangles in the same plane. Under some circumstances the polygon optimizer may fail. To avoid this, you can manually uncheck the 'Optimize' option in the exporter. File Format Compressed and streamable file format. Advanced color reduction for true-color bitmaps Advanced bitmap compression for smaller file size. Metrics Uses the modeling software's unit settings for converting to Cult3D's metrics when exporting. Preview Viewer for instant preview of the exported object. Ambient Color Supports ambient color. Diffuse Color With or without bitmap. Mixes the diffuse color and bitmap if the bitmap amount is less than 100. Specular Color Supports specular color. Shininess Uses the amount setting for strength. Reflection Bitmap (Environment mapping). Uses the amount setting for strength. Bump Mapping Uses the amount setting for strength. 2-Sided Materials Will support 2-sided materials in a future version. Tiling Supports tiling (but not mirror tiling). Compound Materials Standard Multi/Sub-Object (3D Studio MAX) Compound Map Types Bitmap (still images) Special Considerations Two-Sided Materials Most modeling applications has an option in the rendering options dialog to force two-sided polygons. Make sure you do not have this option set. If you have, the rendered object may be different than the exported one. Currently, the Cult3D viewer does not use two-sided materials, even if it is specified in the Cult3D object file. This feature will be used in a future version of the player. Metal Shading The exporter does not support metal shading. (See the Hint for how to reproduce a similar look.) Bump and Texture Mapping There is one restriction when using bump and texture mapping together: the tile setting and image size must be exactly the same size and value. see www.cult3d.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nawash Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 HI, If you want technical details about Virtools Dev see http://www.virtools.com/solutions/products/virtools_dev_features.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loydering Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Jimbob, Almost all of the "affordable" real time software out there will look plastic to some extent. To get the realistic ligting effects of Lightwave, V-Ray, Brazil, etc., you need to "bake" the lighting into the materials (this is where you Lightwave experts chime in). You can then remap the objects witha standard material with the new baked map. Be sure that you turn off the shadow casting int he RT engine or it will double. ] The really good real time engines don't require so much prep work, but do require programing or a client willing to pay $30K+ Hope that's useful info... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattclinch Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 well.. hopefully it hasn't taken him 4 years of looking without success.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loydering Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Doh! I guess "better late than never" doesn't apply to forums... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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