Interactive 3D web authoring tool.

Toontoonz · Post by **Toontoonz** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 5:18 pm

Ramón - Isn´t Moho is a splines-based software?
Just like Hash Animation Master.

Rai López · Post by **Rai López** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 5:59 pm

...EY! Toontoonz!!! Pleased to read you!

And yes, Moho is like a Spline based program and definitely that is one of the things that I always have LOVED

.

...Animation Master is too a GREAT spline Based software but I ecountred some problems to work propertly with 2D forms and his deformations, a little complicated to explain for me, but really after of be doing lots of experiments with A:M, I've could understand better why Moho never will include that 3D point animation liberty that I was asking for in the past, a pity

, yes... cause that was one of my Moho Dreams

, but well, seems that now I can be a little more "realistic" in this aspect...

Finally I think that the perfect app to can work propertly with 2D forms in a total 3D space with total libety and "perfect results, should be based in NURBS instead of in splines, cause they are "similar", but based in a more complicated calculations and with specific funcionalities (with things like Proyected Forms and many others incredibly useful/essential for this pourposes), but well, for some reason I don't feel very good working with 3D Studio

, and NURBS seems to me like a badly resolved way of work in Maya

, so... WELL! I'm here again and uf... seems that always will be

.

EDIT: BTW, when I said this: "Hmmm... I avandoned it (just like his creators ) when I discovered that really I couldn't work with something like splines..." I wanted to say that the software is not based on splines but in poligons, and well... I HATE poligons!

...GEETINGS!

InfoCentral · Post by **InfoCentral** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 1:06 am

MarkBorok wrote:Damn, that sucks.

They didn't even mention anything on their site about it's being defunct. They just took down the order page and let the rest of the site remain as it was.

Put me down for support. I would also be interested in getting one of the licenses you are offering.

Well that explains it! I tried to get my hands on it as well when I saw in listed in the QuickTime 3rd party software resources list. The whole site worked except for the order page. Now I see that 2020 Technologies has taken most of the site down and state it is no longer available. I thought I would be a good program. The only problem I was having with it was that it required a player just like eZedia. This is the same reason I haven't purchased eZedia MX.

Duffdaddy · Post by **Duffdaddy** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 9:10 am

Totally sucks. Used to use Axel a lot to do educational games, then thought Anark was an option, and then they dropped Mac support.
Blows chunks.

If you're interested, here are a few files (incomplete) from 2004 - bits'n'pieces from games, or intros for games I did using Axel.
It really, really rocked.

http://www.neogine.com/clients/axel/

--EDIT--
the prjt files are Mac files, and the exe's are, well, you know.

bigkahuna · Post by **bigkahuna** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 5:17 pm

I'm using DX Studio and Unity. DX Studio is "Windows" only using DirectX and ActiveX, so you can import 2D videos and 3D characters & animations and playback locally from a HD or in a browser over the internet.

I just started using Unity also. Unity's development system is Mac OS X only, but it can distribute a player to both Windows or OS X. Unity also has a browser plugin for playback over the internet.

DX Studio has some features that Unity doesn't have (video playback), it's browser support is a bit more robust, and costs a bit less. Unity has better animation and physics, better work flow with 3D animation apps, is more stable (fewer bugs), better documentation, and a bigger community.

Both apps offer a free demo version you can try before deciding to buy.

I've also looked at Anark, which is more of a 3D presentation tool. I like it's UI, very similar to Director, but it's pricey and lacks alot of modern features. I understand their Mac plugin isn't going to be updated, but can't confirm that.

Director has 3D (Shockwave) but it's out of date and doing anything in 3D requires heavy programming (well, too heavy for me

).

There's also Blender. There's a Blender plugin for Internet Explorer (and Firefox I believe) that has been recently updated. The Blender Game Engine has had a lot of updates and is looking pretty interesting. The web plug in may not be commercially viable at present, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

Lastly, there's Blink3D, which is currently in a "public" alpha version. Blink has the most robust web plugin and looks very promissing. It's in an "alpha" stage at the moment, not sure I'd use it for anything "real" but it's also worth keeping an eye on.

Duffdaddy · Post by **Duffdaddy** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 11:05 pm

Thanks Bigkahuna - will have a look at Blink. Have tried Unity and liked it, but quite pricy, especially since it's intro pricing has finished now. Liked the look of DX Studio, but as it's PC only it's not for me, which is a pity.
Can't get my head around Blender or Director 3D. To hard for a non programmer like me.
Cheers man
--EDIT--
Rats, Blink is Windoz only too. Darn it.

bigkahuna · Post by **bigkahuna** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 11:22 pm

Duffdaddy wrote:Thanks Bigkahuna - will have a look at Blink. Have tried Unity and liked it, but quite pricy, especially since it's intro pricing has finished now. Liked the look of DX Studio, but as it's PC only it's not for me, which is a pity.
Can't get my head around Blender or Director 3D. To hard for a non programmer like me.
Cheers man
--EDIT--
Rats, Blink is Windoz only too. Darn it.

Sorry, didn't know that you're Mac only. There's an "indie" version of Unity that isn't that expensive and is upgradeable to the "Pro" version when you're ready.

I've done some interesting things with Blender and I've got to tell you compared to the other game engines out there it isn't that tough at all. It has a decent set of features (more being added all the time) and support is fantastic (through their forum at http://www.blenderartists.org/ ). A lot of things can be done without writing a single line of code (even more than with Unity), and if you need to write code there are hundreds of free samples available (even more than Unity).

If I were you I would give Blender a try. Don't let the GUI scare you off and don't be afraid to post on the BlenderArtists forum for help. There are a lot of Noobs there and lots of folks will help. But if you're looking for "Pro" level game development for a non-programmer, I don't think you can beat Unity.

Duffdaddy · Post by **Duffdaddy** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 11:28 pm

Good advice, will have another look at Blender, but compared to C4D it's interface is a horror story. Of course, anything that's unfamilair is always difficult at first - I found Zbrush odd to begin with, now I like it a lot.
Cheers.

bigkahuna · Post by **bigkahuna** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 11:39 pm

Duffdaddy wrote:Good advice, will have another look at Blender, but compared to C4D it's interface is a horror story. Of course, anything that's unfamilair is always difficult at first - I found Zbrush odd to begin with, now I like it a lot.
Cheers.

I'm always surprised that guys that can figure out Zbrush (which still baffles me) yet call Blender "hard". I guess it's as you say, just what you're used to. I didn't really get my head into Blender until the beginning of the year when I decided to create a simple 3D sim using the game engine. About a month later, I was faster at Blender than my previous main tools (Max and Carrara) and my sim was easily 3x better than I thought it would be.

I've since "graduated" to DX Studio and Unity, although Blender is still an option. It has a surprising number of features, but lacks a handful that are "critical" for my current work. Don't give up. Come up with a plan for a simple demo game and don't quit until it's done. I think at the end of the process you'll be surprised at how much you know.

Good luck!

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 12:17 am

bigkahuna wrote:I didn't really get my head into Blender

You got your head in a blender?

bigkahuna · Post by **bigkahuna** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 12:19 am

Rai López · Post by **Rai López** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:36 am

And talking about Bender... Only a little question (please) if you don't mind, do you know if I can create a NURB with surface and move the points in the all dimensions? I've been trying and if I want can deform the "mesh" (or points) in XYZ dimensions the surface disappears and I only can see the line/curve... Well, like NURBS in 3D Studio Max and all other 3D apps that I've tried can be deformed in the 3rd dimension too keeping the surface, I wonder if I not be doing something wrong... And yes, I ask this question in this forum cause I'm on very close terms with it

...Well, THANKS for any help!

bigkahuna · Post by **bigkahuna** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 6:51 am

I only work with Polygons so I'm not sure, but I don't think Blender does Nurbs, -but- the latest versions of Blender support "modifiers" and "lattice" which do essentially what you're asking to do. You can interactively warp and distort a mesh, change it's subdivision on the fly, and then save or change to your heart's content. Several new developments are in the works, including Zspheres, mesh paint, and topo paint feature (like ZBrush). Check out blenderartists.org for more info. Blender has a lot more power than I ever use, but I keep on trying!

Speaking of Nurbs, while I was on the new "Polyloop" forum (used to be the Eovia forum) I noticed that they're giving away Amapi 6 for free. Amapi is a Nurbs based modeling app. I think you have to join the forum (free) then you will have access to the downloads area.