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[Robotacon]

I'd like to discuss alternative ways to model 3D meshes. I've always felt that 3D modeling is really forced and tough to get into even when you're modeling low poly stuff. I spend way too long tweaking things and I struggle with shortcut keys and what not.

PAPER CRAFT / FOLDING METHOD
Does anyone know of a program where you create your UV-map first and then simply fold everything into actual 3d models?

AMIGURUMI / KNITTING METHOD
Knitting instructions shouldn't be impossible to transform into 3D models and they are usually quite easy to create and understand. It's not unlike folding paper.

INJECTION MOLDING / CNC METHOD
Modeling using height maps only similar to how molds are made. I'm fairly sure all molds made with CNC work form regular 3D models but it would be interesting to see if you could backwards engineer the process in any way and find new ways to make 3d models.

Long Time No See
/ Robo

[Chris Z]

PAPER CRAFT / FOLDING METHOD
Does anyone know of a program where you create your UV-map first and then simply fold everything into actual 3d models?

It'd be interesting to approach it this way even if such a tool didnt exist.  Seems like a lot of the really good low poly stuff looks like papercraft when you look at it's texture map and the geometry together.  Almost like every single polygon is intentional and precise.  Here's the Kenneth Fejer example several people refer to, and it's a style I really want to toy around with in the near future.

http://www.kennethfejer.com/lowpoly.html

[Zaphos]

It could be fun to make a program for the folding method.  I've seen an academic paper that tried it but I don't think they released the software and their approach was based on physically simulating the paper, which might be overkill ...

There's another paper that gives an interface based on stuffed toy design, but again I don't know if any software was released.

Existing unusual modeling software I know of includes:
http://www-ui.is.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~takeo/ (teddy and also chateau)
http://www.sculptris.com/
http://www.alecrivers.com/3dmodelingwithsilhouettes/
http://www.shapeshop3d.com/

[eesau]

I love topics like this!

I know this isn't as fancy as some of the methods listed above, but I too am working on an unconventional 3D modeller. Basically, it uses lua scripts to generate meshes and apply UV-coordinates to them using a few simple script commands. As an example the stairs in the screenshot above were generated with about 75 lines of lua code.

The idea is to use randomization in the scripts so that you could get several types of objects generated each time you run a single script. This way it'll be easy to generate a large amount of 3D assets for games easily, I hope!

I just finished an OBJ-exporter for this

[Jonathan Whiting]

PAPER CRAFT / FOLDING METHOD
Does anyone know of a program where you create your UV-map first and then simply fold everything into actual 3d models?

From experience this is hard.  Folded models (Origami and similar) are more reliant on the physical aspects the paper (pliancy, weight, stiffness etc.) than you might expect.

I'm not sure it is possible to do this well without either very clever physical simulation or a strictly limited 'move set'.  More than happy to be proved wrong though, it would be pretty cool.

[LemonScented]

I'm very much not a 3D artist. Not a 2D one either, at least not for the past 15 years or so. I've failed to make a textured cube in most of the popular 3D packages. The only thing I've ever managed to use to make 3D models and animations was a thing called Organica:

http://www.imagine3d.org/modules/wfdownloads/viewcat.php?cid=6

It was a few years back, but from what I remember it tries to abstract the polygons as much as possible. It's more like playing with modelling clay, sticking blobs together and morphing them. Was pretty straightforward, at least enough for me to be able to build and animate a character.

[Gryxitl]

Sculptris is the closest to clay that I've ever used.

Traditional 3D modeling is actually quite close to papercraft at least the way I do it.  I don't build my models from a box or a pre-existing primitive, what I do is essentially build something point by point.  I had issues with box modeling not giving me the results I wanted so I switched to this style and never looked back.  I've been wanting to do a video tutorial on this for a while but I have been too busy with my own work but within the next two weeks I should have enough free time to do a simple model.

Another way you might want to approach it is to build a high rez model in sculptris and then retopologize it in your 3D program of choice.

[dongle]

INJECTION MOLDING / CNC METHOD
Modeling using height maps only similar to how molds are made. I'm fairly sure all molds made with CNC work form regular 3D models but it would be interesting to see if you could backwards engineer the process in any way and find new ways to make 3d models.

Yeah, this is totally possible – in Maya, make a primitive, apply a displacement map, then convert the displacement map -> polygons. EASY. Tweak the output by starting with more polygons or sections/spans depending on whether you are starting with a NURBS or poly prim.

[LilMonsta]

I've played with ZBrush a bit, it's neat
http://www.pixologic.com/home.php

[shadowdim]

I really liked the way Hammer (Half Life map editor) worked.
You could draw polygons of any sort on three 2D planes, representing the 3 axes of 3D (X/Y, Y/Z, X/Z)

You could then see your map/item from the side, the top, and the other side. It also included a 3D view.

I'd really like to find a 3D editor that works like that, if anyone knows one.

[Kazerad]

I've played with ZBrush a bit, it's neat
http://www.pixologic.com/home.php

Sculptris is worth checking out too. In just a couple minutes after installing it I had made a depressed, ugly man. And then I made some kind of antelope thing.

When I was younger I did a lot of stuff in Animation: Master, and I think the spline system in there is still one of my favorite modelling methods I've worked with. It's kind of like weaving a model together, rather than sculpting it.

[JobLeonard]

I really liked the way Hammer (Half Life map editor) worked.
You could draw polygons of any sort on three 2D planes, representing the 3 axes of 3D (X/Y, Y/Z, X/Z)

You could then see your map/item from the side, the top, and the other side. It also included a 3D view.

I'd really like to find a 3D editor that works like that, if anyone knows one.

Let me share this bit of computer history with you:








... and in part 2, around 2m40s he shows off his 3D drawing engine.

Here's Alan Kay showing some more features of this program

When I showed this to a couple friends that have to work with CAD stuff on a regular basis it pissed them off, because there are features in this tech-demo that still aren't in their programs or were only recently added.

When asked, "How could you possibly have done the first interactive graphics program, the first non-procedural programming language, the first object oriented software system, all in one year?" Ivan replied: "Well, I didn't know it was hard."

All of this done by a PhD student just messing about one summer for his thesis. Sounds like an indie developer before there where indie developers

[ink.inc]

That's so COOL.

[frederiksen]

anyone ever tried Loq Ariou the 3d modeling tool made by Eskil Steenberg (the 'love' guy)? It looks interesting and i fiddled around with it a few minutes but i just never model and so i really have no point of reference.   

http://www.quelsolaar.com/loq_airou/index.html 

the sketchpad-video, i love how he sits before this tiny screen and the computer is all around them. Where a calculation probably still has an actual physical place you can point to.

[kyn]

http://rhondaforever.com/

The closest 3D will probably ever get to traditional drawing. Very limited of course, but still pretty cool.

[InfiniteStateMachine]

I really liked the way Hammer (Half Life map editor) worked.
You could draw polygons of any sort on three 2D planes, representing the 3 axes of 3D (X/Y, Y/Z, X/Z)

You could then see your map/item from the side, the top, and the other side. It also included a 3D view.

I'd really like to find a 3D editor that works like that, if anyone knows one.

3d studio max does all that. Just set grid snap to on and you have hammer, only WAY better than hammer.



All these options are interesting, I've tried many but at the end my productivity is highest when using a traditional full featured modeling program (max, maya, XSI etc), photoshop and possibly a sculptor (mudbox zbrush etc). A lot of these experimental methods tend to do one thing well then everything else is profoundly inferior.

Depending on the model you might supplement the process with a model painting program or some smaller 3rd party tools.

[Chromanoid]

http://www.archipelis.com/
http://planet-plopp.com/en.html
http://current.com/technology/90669370_sketch3d-etch-a-sketch-3d.htm

[Gryxitl]

Yeah honestly if you want to get decent at modeling you should learn the traditional method.  Just like with any art form all it takes is practice.  You don't need any natural talent just mess around and keep doing it.  Don't get discouraged that you can't produce stuff like the dominance war winners just keep at it.  Eventually you'll become a total badass yourself.

Like with any skill it takes time and progress.