Hello everyone!

CoD · Post by **CoD** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 9:57 am

Hi, this is my first post so... I'll start saying I'm a vegastrike-addicted user

and I would be very happy if I could contribute in some way.

I'm Italian so I apologize for my poor english.
I'm an Open Source developer (mainly PHP) and I'm a Free Software Foundation Fellow... but I think this doesn't matter

I bet you're thinking "ok ok it's a new user... but WHY he's writing in the Artwork & Content Vetting forum? Isn't he able to choose the right place to write?"

But there's a reason if I'm writing here... because I tried to make some modification to the cargo pod texture and so I thought to introduce myself to you with this little present.

I added some rust and cracks to the texture of the cargo pod.
You can see the result here:
http://www.cod.altervista.org/_altervis ... shot01.png
http://www.cod.altervista.org/_altervis ... shot02.png

I know I know: rust is quite rare in space, but for cargo pods I think it's different: these pods are often stocked in large, damp warehouses, moved with machines that (I suppose) could scratch the paint and expose the metal to the rust.
And what about condensation? I'm pretty sure that on oceanic planets warehouses there's a lot of condensation... and maybe it's the same in some old ship with not heat-insulented holds.

But you decide... I'm just giving this to you

You can download the source file (XCF) from here:
http://www.cod.altervista.org/_altervis ... rgopod.tgz
(2.3 Mb)

If I should change something or if you have suggestion on how I could help vegastrike... let me know

EDIT: corrected the path: now you should be able to see the images by clicking the links.
I've also added the png in the tgz archive

Zeog · Post by **Zeog** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 11:38 am

Those picture links are not working. They forward to http://images.altervista.org/images/void.gif
Similar thing with the tgz-file.

Post by **zaydana** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 1:25 pm

open a new window, then paste the address. nice work, btw.

CoD · Post by **CoD** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 2:21 pm

Sorry: I forgot the anti-leech system.

This evening I'll move the files to a not protected directory... now I haven't time

Halleck · Post by **Halleck** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 2:21 pm

I've taken the liberty of transloading the screenshots to ImageShack so that lazy users can click right through.

I think this texture would make a good addition to CVS as a variant. Perhaps several more can be produced (with color variations, etc.) to spice things up. I'm not sure if the current code supports variations of the texture for cargo- although it does support texture variants for ships belonging to different factions, so doing the same for cargo shouldn't be too difficult.

By the way, your English is very good. Welcome to the Vega Strike community.

CoD · Post by **CoD** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 2:27 pm

Thanks Hallek!

Post by **dandandaman** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 12:09 am

Nice!

Dan

Post by **chuck_starchaser** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 4:28 am

Well done. I was trying to download the source but the link seems broken.
If you're planning to contribute more textures, I can give you an ftp account on my server.

CoD · Post by **CoD** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 8:09 am

Thanks chuck_starchaser but... in real life I'm also a reseller of web space and domains

For those files I used an old free account I have on a free hoster.... but it seems they have changed their policy about leech, hotlinking ,etc...

I'll move all files to another space... maybe I could sell a little account to myself

By the way: if you copy & paste the address in your address bar then you'll be able to download everything... it's just an anti-hotlinking system I think.

chuck_starchaser wrote:If you're planning to contribute more textures

Yes.... uhm.... can I.. rust something else?

Post by **chuck_starchaser** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:07 pm

You seem to have a good working knowledge of Gimp's layer functions (I never knew what "burn" was for), and of the physics of rust.
One project that might interest you is my Garbage project.
http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/forum ... php?t=5945
I stopped working on it but if you'd like to help me out with the texturing I'll finish the modelling for it.
It would probably take me just a couple of full time days.

CoD · Post by **CoD** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 9:44 am

Well.... why not?

I've read the topic and I think it's very interesting.

Just say me what you need and I'll try to make it

rockstar · Post by **rockstar** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 12:59 am

hey, chuck... are you talking about the "burn tool" or a certain layer function i actually can't remember? ^^

the burn tool is for darkening cerrtain areas. you can choose highlights, midtones and shadows to be darkened by that tool. together with the "dodge" and "sponge-tool" you have some nice opportunities to manually create things like cloth or a face with image manipulation.

here's an example:

Post by **chuck_starchaser** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 1:22 am

Wow! Those are 3 tools I never used; they sound interesting. One of these days I'm gonna have to sit down and study Gimp's docs. I was talking about the "burn" layer function. I can't remember now which were which but I tried reading the online help about layer functions, but some of the descriptions of what the functions do were insufficient, some were well explained. One was quite interesting --can't remember which it was-- in that it was like multiplication but the two multiplicands are inverted before multiplying, then the result inverted again, which results in something similar to multiplication, except that the result is equal or lighter than the multiplicands, --as opposed to normal multiplication, in which the result is always equal or darker than the multiplicands. But then two of the other layer functions were described as a combination of that one and multiplication, but without further clarification.
I like to understand exactly what things do; but there must be good reading material somewhere; I just didn't take the time to find it.
Thanks for the tips.

EDIT:
Ah, I remember... "Screen".

rockstar · Post by **rockstar** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 1:47 am

for more detailed information you should try photoshop related information. basically both programs use the same functions (ps is just more extended to some degree of ridiculous loading times on my machine :\).

maybe this link might explain very simplified what exactly "burn" mode does to a layer - click me

Post by **chuck_starchaser** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 2:20 am

Thanks, it helped pike my curiosity over the edge, and I found a pdf document that explains all these functions mathematically, starting on page 20...
http://www.ce.chalmers.se/~uffe/xjobb/B ... rithms.pdf

chrisdn · Post by **chrisdn** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 4:09 am

Well done my italian mate. Out of interst...which software are you using for texturing? Its all a bit new to me and really no nothing about the best software etc to texture my models. I've put one below which needs texturing because without it, everything looks like something from toy story.

If you could give me tips or point me towards some software it'd be much appreciated

It's a light fighter coming out of a launch tube.

CoD · Post by **CoD** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 10:01 am

I'm using The Gimp: free as freedom and good as photoshop

http://www.gimp.org/

For some advanced tecniques take a look at: http://gug.sunsite.dk/
Here you can find also the rust tutorial I've applied (and rearranged a bit

) to the cargopod. It's the "Scott Effect" http://gug.sunsite.dk/tutorials/ronq1/

I'm not sure but I think that The Gimp has many more blending modes than photoshop (normal, screen, burn.. etc) and even if some of them are identical the 2 program call them with different names.

If you have problems or doubts let me know... maybe I can help you

chrisdn · Post by **chrisdn** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 8:07 pm

Cheers matey but what I was looking for was somkething that can create the full texture map or UV unwrapping or whatever its called. I really don't where to start and I have quite a few models I want textured.

CoD · Post by **CoD** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 7:15 am

ah... uh... I'm totally new to texturing so I can't help you

GAlex · Post by **GAlex** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 6:16 pm

if you use wings check Vs Wiki for http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/wiki/ ... in_Wings3d: it contains a wings texturing how-to (yes, wings can unwrap your mesh to an UV-map).

if you use blender - someone hate it, I personally love it since I'm keyboard-addicted - it has a very advanced UV unwrapping system; you should be able to donwload a small how-to from http://www.blender3d.org.

good reading.

chrisdn · Post by **chrisdn** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:18 pm

GAlex...Actually, I've been using AC3D on a trial(which I think is marvellous) but I also have Blender and Wings on my system. I really can't get to grips with Blender because of it's interface and Wings to me seems a bit too simplistic but I haven't really used it.
I'll have a look at both tutorials and see what's going to be easiest for me to unwrap in...I'm a lazy sod and'll anything for an easy life!
Don't you know of any standalone software dedicated to unwrapping?

GAlex · Post by **GAlex** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:02 pm

if you are lazy... then learn blender.

once you have a good knowledge of this marvellous piece of software (I spend a single afternoon to reach a basic skill reading some of the tutorials on blender3d web pages) you can fly on your keyboard modelling at lightspeed and with little efforts.

to effectively master blender, you must erase all your pre-concept of what it is intuitive and learn new. think of it: someone thinks it's intuitive for shutting down the system to click first on the "start" button

sure you must have in mind something to do or else... nothing will auto-modell itself; you must have a concept.

and... to unwrap complex curved surfaces, use the seams (ctrl-e): these are the line of cut to use with the unwrapping tool.

good modelling.

Post by **chuck_starchaser** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:20 pm

I agree 100%; Blender is a marvelous piece of software. I can't compare it to other 3D apps cause I haven't used any others, except Wings long time ago; but as apps go, in general, it has a good interface, with hotkeys for most things, so one can grab the keyboard and sit back and get stuff done, rarely bothering with menus.
With UV unwrapping I got stuck, though. Only know of one tutorial, and it's a bit too basic. Do you have any links for UV unwrapping wisdom?

GAlex · Post by **GAlex** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:52 pm

I've read this:
http://biorust.com/index.php?page=tutor ... l&tutid=85

it's of course simplicistic and all in a web page, but have all you want.

the important part is that relative to seams: when you select the edges that describe a portion of the surface, you mark them as seam (ctrl-e) and when you LSCM unwrap your mesh that portion will have it's own reference in the image. seams also describe where the unwrapper will cut your mesh.

I can't be clearer, just try and see.

er... it seems I can't submit any attachment and I can't include any image in my posts in THIS forum. do you know how to unlock this???

Post by **chuck_starchaser** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 8:17 pm

Sent you a PM about uploading.
That was the tutorial I followed. Got the seams worked out allright. My problem was with the interface in the UV window. I wanted to grab the unwrapped pieces and scale them, move them around; but I could only see one piece at a time; --the one I selected in the 3D window. Couldn't figure out how to see the other pieces while manipulating the one I selected, and how could I place a piece next to another without seeing the others? Plus, general confusion about the UV window menu and what all those items mean. I've looked a couple of times for a general Blender reference but came up empty. Maybe I'm missing the right link.

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