beveled windows

Hey all,
Maybe i should post the model so you can see what I’m experiencing. I can highlight it, so i didnt think it was inverted. But maybe i will try to invert to see if that is the case.

I’ve just read through the window tutorial by Les (thanks Les -very good, I don’t think I would of thought of this). Which set me off trying it with other basic objects – not just square faces. Thought you might find the following of some interest. All models in 3dc, rendered in povray – no after fx (except text !)

Thanks all for the comments.

Markku_Myllymaki – yes,time…….. <!– s:) –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!– s:) –>

Mel – Grasshopper ? Is this a reference to my bald head ?
alphachannel translucency ?andquot;Invert Normalsandquot; ? Just when I thought I knew everything about everythin someone comes along and puts me in my place…. normally my 5 year old daughter !

Les – tried your idea about the cube and smoothing and got some very,VERY strang fx – will try again soon, I think I thingypitted it up.

Richard – thanks for the avi’s – downloading now.

Alan,

nice effects! Must try myself when/if I have time…

Markku

Nothing behind, although I don’t think you can use point light yet.

Alan,

You have learned well, Grasshopper.

Another example of something similar is my latest Gallery submission, which has a clear canopy and a fully detailed cockpit using alphachannel translucency. It also shows how creative use of the andquot;Invert Normalsandquot; command can be exploited to give objects an interior.

Beveling windows isn’t necessary at all with alpha channel translucency, and keeps the overall point/face count down dramatically. But there are times when you’ll want to do it exactly as you’ve shown us in your post. The trick is knowing when to use which method <!– s:) –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!– s:) –>

Good stuff.

-Mel Ebbles

Alan,
That’s really good work! I can’t help with the PovRay particle affect as I have only looked at it very briefly. Although, Richard wrote an excellent tutorial for animating the particle effect in 3DC. It should either be in the help files or on the tutorials page.

Something else to try; Take your original cube, turn it into a rectangle type cube(smaller in width, longer in depth), taper it so that the top is smaller than the rest of the cube, put windows on all sides and the top. Set Extrude and Bevel amounts so that they produce a shallow recessed window. Now smooth twice and notice on each smoothing operation how the smoothing reshapes the windows into something quite different. You will see that you can add to the andquot;glassandquot; area by using some of the surrounding faces until you get a more contoured, streamlined window that could be used in the c o c k pit of an aircraft. I think you will like the effect this has on windows….

Les

Alan,

I can’t really tell you much about the POVRay particles. I haven’t done much with them lately. I do know that the people who created POVRay have actually put a lot of effort into making them andquot;fasterandquot;. Really!

One thing that I remember is that you used to need to have something andquot;behindandquot; the particles or they wouldn’t be visible. Is that still true?

Les,

I don’t think I have any tutorials on particles anymore. This subject is a bit confusing since there are andquot;atmosphere particlesandquot; and andquot;particlesandquot; which are different things. Alan is using andquot;atmosphere particlesandquot;. A tutorial on both of these would be a good thing since almost nobody uses them, and you can do some cool stuff with them. Animations using the Particle operation (*** note I had to right-click on them and save them locally to get them-don’t know why):

[img:1pty1pzm]http&#58;//www&#46;amabilis&#46;com/downloads/BasicParticleAnimation&#46;AVI[/img:1pty1pzm]
<!– m –><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amabilis.com/downloads/BasicParticleAnimation.AVI">http://www.amabilis.com/downloads/Basic … mation.AVI</a><!– m –>
(534k)

[img:1pty1pzm]http&#58;//www&#46;amabilis&#46;com/downloads/BasicParticleAnimation2&#46;AVI[/img:1pty1pzm]
<!– m –><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amabilis.com/downloads/BasicParticleAnimation2.AVI">http://www.amabilis.com/downloads/Basic … ation2.AVI</a><!– m –>
(354k)

[img:1pty1pzm]http&#58;//www&#46;amabilis&#46;com/downloads/BasicParticleAnimation3&#46;AVI[/img:1pty1pzm]
<!– m –><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amabilis.com/downloads/BasicParticleAnimation3.AVI">http://www.amabilis.com/downloads/Basic … ation3.AVI</a><!– m –>
(1.7 M)

I came across these too: (Biovision-not particle related)

[img:1pty1pzm]http&#58;//www&#46;amabilis&#46;com/downloads/BioVisionWalk&#46;AVI[/img:1pty1pzm]
<!– m –><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amabilis.com/downloads/BioVisionWalk.AVI">http://www.amabilis.com/downloads/BioVisionWalk.AVI</a>&lt;!– m –>
(497k)

[img:1pty1pzm]http&#58;//www&#46;amabilis&#46;com/downloads/BioVisionWalkAl&#46;AVI[/img:1pty1pzm]
<!– m –><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amabilis.com/downloads/BioVisionWalkAl.AVI">http://www.amabilis.com/downloads/BioVisionWalkAl.AVI</a>&lt;!– m –>
(142k)

Richard

Back Again!!
I was wondering if i could ask another question… how did you make the windows transparent? I was hoping to make it look like a glow of some color was coming from inside this Thingy. I am hoping to have the same glow from the front andquot; cockpitandquot;. I was thinking that maybe if the windows were transparent, i could possibly place a light inside the craft, emitting outwards, and color the light to the glow i want. I tend to make things alot more difficult than i need to so i would appreciate any hints……Thanks all!!!!!!!

Hey All,
I have a question about beveled windows. I have a model i am using to experiment with, seeing if i can work out problems that arise when trying to create an effect or a structure. I clicked on a Face, ( it is a rectangle in a scaled sphere ) and divided it into three new faces. Then beveled each new face, to create small windows on the side of this space thingy.( Technical lingo)I did this to three rectangles in a row to create five windows in a line. My question:..
andnbsp; andnbsp; After i was done, the first thing i noticed was that a face below the ones i divided seemed to have lost its coloration, ( its a silver color right now, but turned to a dark grey color) This happened on both sides of the model where i created windows. I tried to retouch these faces with the face painting tool, but they didnt seem to take. So..i droped a light in to see if maybe somehow i might have re-directed the face by accident or as a result of the division and bevelling. Well, when i move the light around near the andquot;darkenedandquot; face, i notice that it IS painted, and will illuminate but at a different angle than the ones next to it ( the ones it is attached to) So… 1. why did this happen..
andnbsp; andnbsp; andnbsp; 2. what did i do wrong..
andnbsp; andnbsp; andnbsp; 3. can i fix this….
andnbsp; andnbsp; andnbsp; andnbsp; andnbsp; andnbsp; andnbsp; andnbsp; andnbsp; andnbsp; andnbsp; andnbsp; andnbsp; andnbsp; andnbsp; andnbsp; andnbsp;Thanks to all for any help…

blaydrnnnr – you set me off thinking – is this the [i:1z4somcp]type[/i:1z4somcp] of fx you want ? I will email it to you……

to make transparent.
If rendering in povray then use one of the glass textures on your windows.If for use in 3dc alter the translucent value in the material palette to a higher setting.

Thanks for the info!!
I havent exported anything from 3DC to pov yet, so i havent tried to work with a model in POV yet. I am going to just to see what trouble i can get into…LOL And that was sort of the effect i was looking for, I was actually trying to make it look like there was a colored illumination coming from inside this thingy, through the windows. I liked the andquot; glow andquot; effect from one of the canapy tutorials, but havent been able to duplicate it. I really want to work with atmosphere, and lighting,…. these attributes can really make the difference between an average render, and an exceptional one. I have an aircraft model that i have placed lights inside of in certain places, colored the lights, to get a andquot;glowingandquot; engine exhaust, a different andquot;glowandquot; in the intakes, and again another from inside the cockpit.I wasnt sure if other technics are used. thanks again!!!!!!

blaydrnnnr,
On your sphere window problem. If the face will not highlight, or if you can’t select it from the outside, then go inside the sphere, select the face and invert it. Sometimes faces can get inverted during certain operations, such as dividing.
Hope this helps.

Les

P.S.
I’m back with an all new machine guys. Still installing all the different drivers, and applications, but it’s getting there.