2024 Coffee Shop and Gardens

[Noshoba]

I have all of his stuff. I just wish he had released the one model , he made for his Vietnam renders. The USS Constellation , CV-64. Part of the reason, I had been modeling that futuristic variant you see over in my DA gallery. Would have loved to have finished but thanks to my modeling program going have to be online to use....

[Agent0013]

I checked out your DA Gallery and was impressed with how your modeling was going.

The Macross Saga images were awesome also.

My Pop served aboard the USS Independence #62. When I went aboard a later supercarrier, the F-14s had been developed and put into service. At that time, it was the best warplane in the world. All of the ones I saw had double cockpits, with the pilot behind the weapon operator. The plane could be flown by a single occupant as well, and in a case like that, he could operate the weapons also. I actually got to see one on the flightdeck, touch it, and climb up to see the cockpit interiors. That to me was exciting to say the least. I particularly liked its variable wings; widespread for slower than sound flight, and high maneuverability, and swept back for supersonic flight able to reach almost mach 3, if memory serves. And what a beautiful fighter jet it was!

Pop was in the US Navy for 21 years, 7 months. When he retired, he was a First Class Bosun's Mate and a Chief Petty Officer. He had more than a few medals. You might ask why he did not go higher in rank. Well he loved where he was in his Naval career, doing the jobs he was charged with. When high ranking officials or political figures came aboard his current ship, he was the one that Piped them Aboard. He was one of the only military men that could salute with the left hand, but only when he was piping some dignitary aboard.

As for the F-14 Tomcat being the one the VGF-14 Wildcat was fashioned after, now you know why it is my favorite Varitech Mecha!

Incidentally, I visited VP today to see if I was correct about Chris's models still being available. The VGF-14 Wildcat is there, and it is on sale; normal price $25.00 but sale price is $17.50. There is the Double Cockpit Pod for sale also for $5.00; a version of the single pod, but lengthened and redesigned for two occupants, fully compatible with the VGF-14 Wildcat. There are other products made to work with it also, which I am planning to get as soon as I can. So now I know I can still get the model I want so much!

[Agent0013]

I have all of his stuff. I just wish he had released the one model , he made for his Vietnam renders. The USS Constellation , CV-64. Part of the reason, I had been modeling that futuristic variant you see over in my DA gallery. Would have loved to have finished but thanks to my modeling program going have to be online to use....

Which modeling program are you using? I use Wings 3D, Blender, and believe it or not, Bryce 7.1 Pro (Yes, Bryce has some modeling capabilities; it even includes boolean operations). Wings 3D is my main modeling program, and I sometime use it to make UV maps for the models I make in it.

For texture making, I have several applications I use: each is used according to what model I am making textures for. None of the Modeling programs I use require one to be online to used them.

To me Wings 3D is the easiest to learn and use, but because of the way it operates, the models cannot be over around 75,000 Polygons. I have pushed it beyond that limit, but only through tricking its system to accept certain commands that are able to bypass the limits. That said, if I make my models in parts, I can do each part separately, and then assemble them in other programs, such as DAZ Studio and Blender.

I recently modeled something I still have in development that required the polygon count to be high indeed. Fortunately, I was able to model it in parts, which when assembled and then rigged, will be able to move like I want them to. This is going to be my most ambitious product to date, and I think when users see it, they will like it and possibly want it. I will be optimizing it for several figures, from the Millennium 3 figures, all the way up through the Genesis 2 Males and Females. I might even optimize it for Genesis 3 Males and Females. Each version will be for sale when I get my Fantasies Realm Market store up and running. As I am a perfectionist, I cannot say when the first version will be ready. I keep running into different rigging problems, as I try to make the bones work correctly. I push on though, because those problems are a good way to learn what not to do, and learn when to do certain steps. I know the basics of rigging now and even how to make the rigging remain in the model through a step called Memorize. It took me a bit to find that step, but I have found it now. I just need to get to a point where I can use it.

[sanbie]

Good morning everyone...wow a lot of catching up I had to do...

[Noshoba]

Morning Sanbie.


Agent I used SketchUp Pro. It was easy to wrap my head around since it really worked well for someone with a traditional draftsman training like I had. I pretty much drew all of those lol.

[thelufias]

Morning/Afternoon/Evening Sanbie....I'm covering all bases today LOLOL....and yes...very chatty in here today....which is a good thing...

[Agent0013]

Morning Sanbie.


Agent I used SketchUp Pro. It was easy to wrap my head around since it really worked well for someone with a traditional draftsman training like I had. I pretty much drew all of those lol.

As a traditional sketch artist, and a cabinet and furniture designer and builder, you might think I would be at home with SketchUp, but I am not good at drawing with a mouse, and I've never had a pad to do virtual drawing on. So for my modeling I stick to what works for me; mainly Wings 3D, and a bit of Bryce and Blender.

Funny thing is, I started modeling in 3d in a program you might think has no 3D modeling capability. But when I went to college I had to learn to use a computer. I bought a Toshiba Laptop because it was the best thing to carry to the college for computer class. I had to buy Microsoft Office 2007 Student edition. PowerPoint quickly became my favorite Office program, and Word was a close second. Those are still my two favorite office programs.

In PowerPoint I was able to dig deep into its secrets, and I found it's 3D capability, and its animation capability. So I modeled a cool looking spaceship, using what admittedly is the limited modeling tools in PowerPoint, and then I animated it to look like it was traveling through Hyperspace. The animation was about 3 minutes long at 24 frames per second. I showed that to my computer professor, and he was amazed.

"You did this in PowerPoint?" he asked.

"Yes." was my answer.

"I didn't know PowerPoint could be used like this!" he told me. "How did you find it?"
I said "I just like PowerPoint so much, I had to dig into it to see what it could do!"

He gave me extra credit for showing him that.

Of course by now I have moved on to better programs, choosing to use the programs I can get for free. But I still use PowerPoint, because there are things it can do that work well with my other artistic endeavors.

[Fafnir]

Mornin to you all coffee cocoa and tea are ready  the girls made biscuits and bacon for you all  and for  later on there will be bacon wrapped scallops with all the trimmings, hushpuppies and tater wedges

[parkdalegardener]

Mornin Fafnir and all the ships at sea.

[Noshoba]

Morning you two. 


Agent I actually started with the old AutoCAD doing parking lot layouts lol. Since I do have all the parts of that carrier saved in obj files. I have been trying to learn Silo and Blender. Thing is all the guns and CIWS  mounts all could be rotated and elevated. And had the blast barriers for aircraft launch set up as visibility options. So yeah I spent a lot of time on it.