Loktyre

Agreed. My computer cost a lot less when built by a friend.

LHammonds, Would you be able to put the obj file up for download? And.... textures? :whistling: I'd love to render it with occlusion at 5,000 by 2,813.

Most models, and modelers I work with especially when working on organic modeling in Maya, Max, and Zbrush all end up with way more polygons than is necessary for animation, and rendering. However most organic models can be used to make displacement maps, and for games normal maps. Mechanical models can use displacement maps as well, but I find robots, ships, and structures are easier to work with when you simply build them shape after shape, extrusion after extrusion. That's one of the only benefits I gain to making models with 100 thousand plus triangles. So there is an applicable use for them with or without using them for displacement map and normal map creation. Most of the models that exceed a reasonable amount of triangles are discarded or archived for later use as exporting them to OBJ, FBX or MA or MB would generate a file of ridiculous size. Unfortunately not everyone has the option of opening such large files because Maya or Max would either freeze or crash entirely. Blender would handle them well. I don't know if blender supports displacement map creation internally like Maya or Max does. However each model that exceeds 100,000 and even 1 million triangles isn't hard to work with in Maya or Max. It's still easy to move them around and manipulate them with a still decent frame rate. Viewport 2.0 is a new feature. This allows you to take advantage of your hardware as you would in games. It also allows you to manipulate and transform objects and an entire scene with objects that exceed 100,000 triangles, along with HD textures, and lighting. Unfortunately, Viewport 2.0 isn't supported on many hardware configurations, and thus wont allow everyone to use it. Performance is a huge issue for me, and was the reason I upgraded to a machine that's designed specifically to work with programs like Maya, Max, Flare, and Autocad, and After Effects. Maya can for example take use, and advantage of your computer hardware. It can also run on very low spec computers as can Max. So far the only use I've found for models with what you might consider an insane amount of polygons is for displacement maps. Taking displacement maps and applying them to lower resolution models is typical as displacement maps can simulate the same amount of detail almost exactly to the last triangle in MentalRay as would be on a model that exceed 2,000,000 polygons. I've also found models that are within 30 to 70k triangles are easy enough to rig, and animate without Maya lagging. Simulation and dynamics, especially with Ndynamics is also another example of how a massive amount of polygons can be used. Fluids, and dynamics in Maya can take use of both polygonal objects, and surfaces. As for 64 bit vs 32 bit. I've used 32 bit since Maya 6. After upgrading to 8.5 a few years ago I eventually went with 64 bit to support larger RAM. Maya can take a lot of you, and when you're using more than 4 to 6 cores for every single frame, you're going to use more ram. So having a 64 bit Windows operating system has it's definite benefits over 32 bit system. It's the same as in Vue 6 and 7. You can allocate the amount of memory the rendering software can use, and how many cores you wish to dedicate to rendering.

If you're looking to create more imagery than using these tools for modding I would still recommend against using Poser's built in render. Poser, like Vue has serious issues when it comes to rendering anything using quality in renders. Things like texture baking, motion blur, super sampling, and depth of field are things that I'd rather leave to Blender, or Maya. Usually since Blender, and Maya can render things much faster using Mentalray and Blenders built in render. Unless you have the time, and machine hardware to let Vue, or Poser handle complex scenes. It's also a good idea to have moderate knowledge with at least Blender so that you can have a more easy work flow between Poser, and other applications, and games. Since Blender also has a community of source scripts for plug-ins you're more likely to find something that will assist you in directly exchanging data using Blender as the only medium between two other applications. It's a pain in the rear end finding up to date, and good plug-ins for an up to date version of Maya let me tell you. :P Using Vue has taught me a few things. One being that anything that can be done in Vue, can be ported over directly into Maya or 3DSMax, and from there into other applications that do not support cross program work-flow between Vue, and say... Wings 3D... Though it's not really feasible anyways, as the number of objects converted during export to OBJ would either crash the application or the computer as the size of the file would well exceed reasonable standards. Typically I have no issues sending .MA or .MB files off and having someone else open them. However Vue has plug-ins that allow for a direct work-flow to be established between applications like Maya and 3DSMax so that when you update an object in Maya, it updates in Vue and vice versa. You'll find your best choice isn't to stick with one program whether you're modding, or working with animation, and rendering. You're best ally however will be one of several programs that allow you to build from the ground up. Blender, Maya, XSI, 3DSMax, Rhino, Wings... Applications like Poser, Vue, Bryce, Daz... These are more like subsidiaries to the list of programs before them.

Poser is certainly among the best choices for posing, and rendering out decent scenes. You may look at Renderosity for more information, help, and a gallery that is mostly composed of Poser renders. I use Poser for creating human faces, and export the .collada data into Maya. Poser supports, and exports to Collada. This format will hold onto texture, and material data as well as rig data. Poser also exports to OBJ, and since OBJ is universal you can open it into other programs that support obj, and also support .nif import and export. As for landscaping... Bryce, Vue, and Terragen. These are the three I would recommend, Vue coming highly recommended. Vue supports cross work pipelines between 3DS Max, Maya, XSI, and Poser. Using game content in, and using poser content in Oblivion, F03, NV is possible as far as I know. As stated, the only thing stopping you are license restrictions on content from within the Poser Library. You can import OBJ, and texture data into Poser and can apply it to characters made inside of Poser. Be warned... Poser's rendering isn't exactly it's best feature. I'd recommend finding a way to import all data into Poser, and exporting it all to Collada or FBX back into a third party application such as Blender, Maya, 3DS Max, XSI. Then rendering from there.

You can't just export Nif Files to OBJ? You can use NifSkope to load data files from the games content, export to OBJ, and re-import to Blender. I would assume Blender saves texture path's so you can re-assign them to their corresponding files. My experience comes from a completely different program all together though. My suggestion is merely a probable work-flow for you. A fresh OS? A new install on a computer that previously ran an outdated OS such as XP or Vista, or a re-install of W732b? It's possible you're missing a software update for Windows 7 for the program to function properly. Or possibly as LHammonds presents, a new updated driver for your video card, as a fresh install might have wiped any previous drivers back to factory settings. I had a similar issue with another application and it turned out to be a lack of both necessary framework updates, and video driver updates.

I wanted to work on something that would involve using several model sets in the game. The use of buildings, cars, and people. There is no name for this yet, but I wanted to show an early WIP. I planned for this to be a greeting card that could perhaps have been sent back to relatives of NCR troops, or traders back west. Just a little art. Anyways, I'm prepping everything right now. Getting all the models imported and applying textures to them. Once I'm done I will start to rig and position everybody for their final shots. http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv105/MrEugie/Part1.jpg The car includes a bump map. http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv105/MrEugie/Part2.jpg http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv105/MrEugie/part4.jpg http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv105/MrEugie/part3.jpg I should be getting quite a bit done today. Could have a completed version by the next day, or, even tonight. Edit: Continue on with character setup and made a default rig for every character involved in the final shot. This following image is of the rig only and the trader wearing the rig. Since it's still a wip I decided not to do much with the right hand. http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv105/MrEugie/Test44.jpg http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv105/MrEugie/Rig.jpg Though I do love watching the occasional Break-Dancing by a trader in the Mojave. http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv105/MrEugie/Breakdancing.jpg http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv105/MrEugie/Rigbreak.jpg Coming along well. Still not done. http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv105/MrEugie/Illusion.jpg http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv105/MrEugie/plat334.jpg

Since playing Fallout 3 and being able to interact with Ghouls, zombie like creatures, and having recently played Dead Money for New Vegas I found that similarity in DM that was traditional for a lot of horror zombie movies old and new. I thought it was a simple idea and something that might make New Vegas a little more fun with just one more something to embark on before quitting, or beating the game. I thought "Trapped!" would be a good name to the title of this post, and I think it may be more fitting for a quest modification name. I've never actually been trapped in New Vegas unable to escape against Ghoul or otherwise. It's either always running to the door as fast as you can evading attacks and manipulating obstacles. I though that actually being trapped, like you are in Dead money would be a more interesting way to make Hardcore mode a little more experiencing. Trapped in a hotel casino, a mall casino, anywhere that seems to fit the older and newer themes which includes large open interiors. Upon entering you are knocked unconscious by either a ghoul or other zombie type creature (I think a ghoul would be more fitting for the story like and lore of New Vegas). You awaken in a hotel for the purpose of explaining this idea. You don't know why, but your stuff has been taken, and you've been left with nothing more than two stimpacks, three radaway, and a few food items. But these items won't stay fast. The point would be to be locked in this hotel and the need to survive over a certain period of time and quest lines to complete the quest mod properly. A very limited number of supplies like food, water, guns, and ammunition lay around for you to grab and use to survive on. The amount of feral ghouls in this hotel is atrocious. These feral ghouls range up from the riches to the poorest of the hotels inhabitants. Too many to count on that day, that used the hotel as a shelter when the bombs fell. Too many that have perished and become feral and disgusting over prolonged use. The hotel, you see, it's boarded up and no one can get in, and no one can escape. They say it's hell, blood and guts everywhere, bodies eaten by the others lay on the ground decaying ghoul and feral ghoul alike. Unlike the point however, there are riches that men talk about hearing that lays at the very heart of that hotel. Not even the ferals have anything on them. We've all been picked clean. Battle you're way through hordes of the seemingly undead ghouls and fight for survival and discover the treasure and riches that await at the heart of the Hotel Casino. The doors are locked and there's no way out but one and you must find it. Supposed to be non-companion friendly. Friends with guns get sent back to their posts :( However temporary companions may come in more handy, the ones that follow you for a short distance and do everything with you? Why not? It's an old theme tactic in zombie horror flicks, you're not just the only human who's trapped! Using one another as and for support, all working together to find a way out. When I say the amount of ghouls is bad I mean that in a very, very bad to all heck bad. I've had trouble around lvl 30 with ghouls if they get to close. Imagine having to survive 10 at first, but eventually you are forced to take on 25, a large open church in the Hotel Casino that was once used for the hotels guests to join is now being used to house 50 ghouls guarding a secret entrance that is hard to unlock. Not 50 all at once, but 15 ghouls showing up at first then all of a sudden 35. If you should succeed in killing all 50, more will be coming soon. It's like.... they've been... summoned to you. Evade, or kill attackers while unlocking the complicated secret to opening the doorway to your freedom. For if you don't, you'll be stuck here for eternity. I believe a quest mod like this that follows a very strict and straight theme, as in you do get locked, and you can't escape that will literally lock that players saves in that building unit until he cheats to get out or finishes the quest would be a more thrilling way to add creepiness and survival challenge to the game. Plus, I've been looking for a cool way to use C4.

I remember going to the shooting range out here in SoCal. A man walked in and pulled his 9mm out of his back pants and placed it on the counter and requested a range. The man behind the counter instantly grabbed his gun away from him before he could even move his hand away after placing the gun down. He stated the following: "Don't you ever f***ing do that again, ever! That is illegal here! Your gun MUST be in it's case and you must let me know you're bringing it in before you do!" We have very strict gun laws around the counties in the IE. Inland Empire. There are some very ignorant gun owners out here, and most of them think that we're laid back but we're not. This isn't the wild west anymore. In the past 2 months the crime rate has increased not only in percentage but in how high up the streets it's gotten. 2 weeks ago an older lady was butchered two streets over, and just last week a 19 year old kid was shot execution style 2 blocks down. When I was 18 I was eligible to apply for a gun owners permit and was able to purchase a semi automatic rifle. I purchased that, and a cold steel survival knife.

My youngest brother is turning into a violent young man. He does not play the same kind of video games I do, and have been playing since the old Doom 95. Violence is a constant part of daily life and is something many of us are regularly subjected to. Many things can have a psychological impact on people. Kid's are no exception to traumatic experiences and desensitization. But it's important to find differences between those two. If I were to link you one video off of the numerous shock sites that post both very real, and very fake material I would wager that a large majority of posters, and lurkers would interpret that into a somewhat traumatic experience. After spending hours, days, weeks, even months of browsing the same shock material you will probably become desensitized to it. Much like how watching a nut shot, or a skater wipe-out gets very old after time and what used to make you cringe only makes you yawn. Some people can't continue to watch it, and will dwell on what they have seen. In daily life and on the internet there are numerous opportunities to experience things. Some we wish we will never see, some we wish we had never seen, and some we would like to see. When you blow a mans head off, and cut his body into little pieces with a machete in a game... and then witness it in real life which do you think will have a more traumatic effect first? The brain in most cases can make a distinction between the real and the fake. A 3D virtual world which actually looks 3D and has repetitive action will most times not inflict as much pain on a person as watching a real person being shot, decapitated, beaten with a bat, etc... There is also the issue of young kids who begin to suffer from personality disorders. APD has been characterized to help define disorders that can manifest in psychopathic or sociopathic tendencies. But that is an entirely new issue all it's own with an even larger debate behind it. Are Psychopaths made or are they born? Children as young as 14 killing animals or people may not have done so because of games. Those games however are an easy target for manipulation by both kids and parents. People who can not make a distinction between two different worlds may have psychological conditions that are undiagnosed or misunderstood. It's a shame that so many people who are against games because of violence don't understand that a pre-existing condition can be a major cause of violence. That's where I believe my younger brother is starting to show violent behavior. I have played violent games since I was 5. One of my favorite was doom 3, getting to cut someone in half from the waste was very fun. I am incapable of harming others intentionally though. It's who I am because I don't suffer from any condition in which violence is natural to me. I do watch videos and look at images off shock sites regularly. Much of the material you see is very real and very disturbing. At this point I can browse it and be completely unaffected by it. Since my little bro is only 8 right now there is still time to see what he develops into. If he ends up killing an animal or a person there may be nothing I or our parents can do to help him if he were to ever be diagnosed with tendencies that mirror that of a Psychopath/Sociopath. Since he has not been subjected to much violence I would say whatever he's been up to isn't coming to him from Harry Potter and SpongeBob games. I would say it's coming naturally. This doesn't mean that everyone who is violent is a Psychopath... In certain cases it may be though and it's not a word or label you can just slap onto people. Anti Social Personality Disorder is debatable. How it's formed, and what it may lead people to do. But it's something that needs to be addressed when it comes to issues like this. Not everyone is the same, and not everyone you meet, no matter how nice they may seem may just be the next door neighbor who kills and will blame it all on something else. It's a sad reality that not only are children not always innocent but that they can also be determined, and driven by many of the same things that drive adults.

Damn fine looking models ya have there. Actually been anticipating someone to work on Eli's machete.

When I encounter this issue I usually just freeze or normalize the normals. Importing models directly from the game with textures, or even when in the process of adding textures to a model I've made. I'm not speaking from 3DS Max experience though. You might try decreasing the sub-division level as well.

:) I knew that. And Australia is a province in Canada... :P Since it's not a weekend adventure and really I know nothing of Russia I thought I would put forth my ignorance and ask away. :P I look forward to seeing what mods come out near the end of the year. I'll be spending the last month of the year there and although no one cares... It is an issue for me. Anyways, thank you everyone for your answers.