Author Topic: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]  (Read 62126 times)

Mister Hassenpheffer

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #60 on: February 19, 2016, 05:25:51 PM »
Yes, every costume piece requires (hours/days of) translation. Costume pieces with geometry work the best. 

For Jackets, skirts, cloaks, capes, sleeves... Things that don't have much geometry and represents fabric and clothing it would be so much better to make your own, think doll clothes.

I have to go full Edna mode because capes ate my lunch a long time ago.

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Arcana

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #61 on: February 19, 2016, 07:04:10 PM »
For Jackets, skirts, cloaks, capes, sleeves... Things that don't have much geometry and represents fabric and clothing it would be so much better to make your own, think doll clothes.

Depends on the kind of printer you have, but skirts are possible with filament printing I've found.  Capes kinda sorta.  Clothing in general, not really.  And if you're going to try to make poseable or articulated models, you might as well consider making cloth-based clothing because obviously printing anything won't be flexible like cloth, so won't move correctly when the rest of your model moves.

Mister Hassenpheffer

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #62 on: February 19, 2016, 08:16:05 PM »
There's so much that a nice 3k resin printer could do for us in that endeavor.

I'd love to be able to put a nice flexible outfit over a printout.

Until/if I get the gear I'll stick with what works and for right now, as is that is going to be solid abs plastic.

As far as non poseable figurines, then yes, skirts, jackets, all of that  I can get done until you get to capes.

Capes would still be a problem, I could thicken them up but they would look very "not capey"   hmmm....

Arcana

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #63 on: February 19, 2016, 09:47:13 PM »
Capes would still be a problem, I could thicken them up but they would look very "not capey"   hmmm....

At least when I tried to print one (I haven't been playing around with this for a while now) thickening wasn't the problem because filament printing kinda does that automatically. The problem was that the cape tended to come out looking like it was made out of cardboard for a theater display.  Also, the software I was using decided to put scaffolding around it, which took a lot of plastic to print and a lot of time to remove.

If I can find the model I printed with a cape (it is probably in a box somewhere from when I did some renovations) I'll try to post a picture of what happened there.

Mister Hassenpheffer

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #64 on: February 19, 2016, 11:19:15 PM »
I remember that. Iv'e had a similar experience.

Even tried the upside down method and everything came out looking like.... not a cape.

By all means please share and thank you.

Dreadnaught

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #65 on: April 22, 2016, 02:55:10 PM »
Has anyone gotten this to work with Paragonchat? I'm trying to configure my OGLE, but so far I haven't been able to get a capture (or even a pause that indicates a capture) when I hit my hot keys.


Felderburg

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #66 on: April 22, 2016, 05:05:18 PM »
I would suggest working with Titan Icon - not only are there more costume options (in NPC mode especially), but I suspect that the modifications Paragon Chat makes might complicate things than working with the client directly (but I have no actual idea since I'm not an expert).
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Dreadnaught

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #67 on: April 23, 2016, 02:59:51 PM »
Thanks, Felderburg, but still no joy. Checking my configs again to see if I missed something. Could also be graphics card or Windows 10. Anyone have thoughts on how well this works under new operating system? Or making sure I'm running in open GL? (Did CoX have alternate modes it could run under?)

Felderburg

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #68 on: April 23, 2016, 05:51:15 PM »
Yes, but I don't know if they will be helpful: http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Game_Client#Launching_the_Game
I used CIT before they even joined the Titan network! But then I left for a long ol' time, and came back. Now I edit the wiki.

I'm working on sorting the Lore AMAs so that questions are easily found and linked: http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Lore_AMA/Sorted Tell me what you think!

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Dreadnaught

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #69 on: April 24, 2016, 09:52:17 PM »
Okay, spent some time trouble shooting and found that the issue. FYI, this works in Paragon Chat as well as in Icon.
« Last Edit: April 25, 2016, 12:17:50 AM by Dreadnaught »

Mister Hassenpheffer

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #70 on: April 25, 2016, 01:33:30 PM »
We need to start a 3d printing thread and post our results :D

Dreadnaught

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #71 on: April 25, 2016, 02:31:04 PM »
Not a bad idea, MH.

I've been able to extract my first mesh, but the results weren't what I was expecting. I had posed the characters in Paragon Chat using emotes, but what I got (After sorting through all the extraneous meshes and triangles that fill the massive scenes) was just the base character sections stacked on top of each other. I could have grabbed that from Icon with less fuss, but  I was hoping to get some posed models that I could build a new, hi-res mesh on top of (adding all the detail from the materials back in.) Still doable--these would be simple to rig on a skeleton--but based on the screen shots I had seen here, I'm wondering what the trick is to get the character to export in position is?

Dreadnaught

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #72 on: April 25, 2016, 04:27:17 PM »
Just thought I would put up some notes for anyone new to this, since I'm weaving through the pitfalls myself.

The models come in with UV coordinates, but I don't have the maps with me at work to try and texture the parts. I'll give it a shot later and post results.

Be advised that not all .obj importers like the files OGLE spits out. As a 3D artist, I fortunately had a couple of programs here at work to experiment with. 3DS Max 2016 has a robust obj importer with lots of settings to play with, but I've yet to find the combo that produces more than an exploded mass of triangles from these files. Cinema 4d has no load options, but still produced meshes that I could navigate and pull geometry out of. My pipeline at the moment is to resave the parts I want in .fbx format so I can work on them in Max.

Also, as the screenshots in this thread hint at, you're getting a ton of geometry you don't want. Every LOD model for characters and props and many of the enhanced buildings and geography that they added to improve the look of CoH will be dumped into the file. Just finding my character was a challenge (All the PC character model parts in the scene were lumped together near the world origin, 0,0,0 in my export; I had to sort through other heroes to isolate mine.) If animation data isn't going to save, Icon would be the way to go for character meshes. If posed characters can be exported, finding the most barren environment possible would be smart. I'm not sure where that is, however. Maybe a small, indoor location?

Of, course, CoH used very low polygon assets, so even when you get the model, it's very crude without the maps. Assets from later in the game's life seem a bit fancier; my piston boots have a ton of detail compared to the rest of my avatar. I'll be interested to see how some of my characters who dressed in add on pack costumes compare.
« Last Edit: April 25, 2016, 05:35:24 PM by Dreadnaught »

Mister Hassenpheffer

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #73 on: April 25, 2016, 07:16:33 PM »
Iv'e always had to flip the polys in my modeler. Everything always generates inside out polys for some reason.

As the extra polys are concerned, auras, some projected textures, and a few other things generate them, I tend to leave them out of costume creation.

Iv'e also found that in many cases the geometry captured is most uncooperative in modeler (and others Iv'e tried) and those cases require a complete rebuilding with only the points as a reference.

Kludge. Learn to hate that word. Kludge ruins prints. Kludge slows the create process. Kludge talks about you behind your back.

Kludge is the gathering of points in a poly that makes it scrambled and imperfect.

If one wants a perfect 3d printout one must have a perfect (or near perfect) model.

Removing kludge and aligning points is what makes it so time consuming (and expensive) for just a simple 3D figurine printout.

Those things must be perfectly hollow in order to print correctly. I mean PERFECT. No gaps, no holes, nothing stacked or intersecting or you will be setting yourself up for misprints.

I wish we had the source files, from what I learned everything, textures and all (was) Maya based. For animation purposes that would be ideal.

When capturing through Ogle, I always set my character detail to max. The best place I found to capture in an environment (in client) was on top of a very tall building, that puts most of the unwanted polys out the range of the geometry capture.

Character export position= timing + trigger happy keyframe. At least that's been my frustrating experience.

I have no idea why your poses aren't translating.

saipaman

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #74 on: April 25, 2016, 07:21:05 PM »
Would capture be better in of the unfinished zones?  I'm thinking about the Destroyed Galaxy City map.  Once you get behind the buildings, there is nothing there.

Mister Hassenpheffer

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #75 on: April 25, 2016, 09:29:15 PM »
The capture function has a fairly large range, that would more than likely encompass the entire starting zone.

All the fire, lights, geometry... it would all be there.

As much as I'd like for it to be...this never was a "plays well with others" kind of thing.

Edit: "Destroyed Galaxy City map"  Refresh my memory, that was the starting zone, right? or something else?

I get busy and I miss things, often, it takes heavy artillery to get my attention.
« Last Edit: April 26, 2016, 12:30:38 AM by Mister Hassenpheffer »

Felderburg

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #76 on: April 26, 2016, 12:17:42 AM »
There should be a way to access that empty dev zone in Icon, or to even make a custom zone that's empty. My searching is poorly done, apparently, but I know that it's possible.
I used CIT before they even joined the Titan network! But then I left for a long ol' time, and came back. Now I edit the wiki.

I'm working on sorting the Lore AMAs so that questions are easily found and linked: http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Lore_AMA/Sorted Tell me what you think!

Pinnacle: The only server that faceplants before a fight! Member of the Pinnacle RP Congress (People's Elf of the CCCP); formerly @The Holy Flame

Mister Hassenpheffer

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #77 on: April 26, 2016, 12:34:50 AM »
Capture can be done in the costume editor, which eliminates all kinds of problematic geometry, and creates new ones depending on... everything.

It's how I was able to capture weapons -and certain poses.

The drawbacks are some of these actions can generate some type of aura. Any aura will come out like extra polys. Dust, wind effects, FREEEM...

saipaman

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #78 on: April 26, 2016, 03:49:56 AM »

Edit: "Destroyed Galaxy City map"  Refresh my memory, that was the starting zone, right? or something else?


Yes, it was the new cooperative starting zone.  PC has easy access to a test map which is mostly empty.  There are buildings floating over head.

Dreadnaught

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Re: Figure Print Process [Arcanaville]
« Reply #79 on: April 26, 2016, 04:54:02 PM »
Costume editor would definitely be the way to go, unless you want all the poses. I need to see if I can capture a katana there.

Navigating any zone capture will be crazy. You'll want a clear frame of reference to locate the pc. I was trying to put my guys under the statue of Atlas, but since I'm losing ALL TRANSLATION (Animation, position, even relative placement of costume parts) it was a waste of time for me.  The results were pretty freaky, though. Despite the lack of character position data, I was getting crazy rotations on multiple iterations of the geometry. It's like a scene from Inception.



That's Atlas Plaza with the Statue and City Hall near the center of the image. The newer buildings that got a face-lift during the graphics upgrade are also captured. The bulk of the level was apparently built inside the game engine, as I would expect for a game of this age, and is not included in the GLintercept grab. So putting you're character away from landmarks might help isolate the model, but it could also leave you with no frame of reference for finding your hero. FYI to new users, none of this geometry is exported with meaningful names, so you're searching visually.

I'm wondering if my version of GLintercept is causing issues. I wasn't able to run using V 0.5. It prevented the client from running. I grabbed the latest version I could find (1.6 something?) and it seemed to work, but since I'm getting weird translation, I'm wondering what version others are using?