[varsaigen]

I have searched, and searched, going to tutorial after tutorial, and following all their directions to the best I could (sometimes, features in the tutorial were not present, or they failed to explain how to reach that point), but I seem unable to create a model and get it all the way to Pof.

My latest attempt was a simple sniper turret, clearly based upon the Alastor and Watchdog turret. (base model) In truespace, the textures disappeared, leaving it gray and boring. The textures did not appear in pof editors in any other methods or programs used to convert it. And, topping it off, the rotating turrets fail to remain seperate from the main body, and are thus merged into a single, rigid mesh. Days have been spent in frustration trying to seek out a solution to the problem.

I would love to figure out the entire modeling process, in the hopes of being able to create my own blow-by-blow tutorial, showing the process from beginning to end. But making ships, weapons, and entire armadas is the primary goal.

Unfortunately, current tutorials assume everyone knows beginner and intermediate level modeling (either blender, or the mess that is truespace) and assume they have the patience to search for the hidden tools without being told where or what it looks like.

It may sound like i'm ranting/whining/complaining, but it is quite the issue I've noticed with other potential modelers. Things are simply left out, leaving many of us to flounder around hopelessly searching or giving up. Which brings me to my question.

Does anyone among the successful modelers have any suggestions on what I, and many others, should do?

Tutorials I have searched several times:
Rampages Post Modding Guide (no longer avaliable)
Andrew's Freespace 2 Ship Creation Guide (The mess that is truespace. Assumes users are intermediate in the program)
Freespace Oracle (brief description)
Bobboau's PCS Tutorial (definitions, mostly)

Broken, assumptuous, or otherwise missing tutorials are everywhere, often referenced or linked, but they do not seem to show users how to achieve every step. And yet, there seems to be no clear answer, despite the amount of studying working models and running around from tutorial to tutorial. It seems to be a lot like customer service, and the frustration it causes.

So what do you guys suggest?

[JGZinv]

The tutorial in my signature. I specifically made it to solve the introductory learning issues.
Also this thread: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=70249.0
Turrets and things are covered by other tutorials there.

My tut is granted some out of date, and a couple things are wrong, such as the number of faces
you can have in a shield mesh (since increased)... but it is the most comprehensive thing for Max users.
I haven't had the time to update it and probably won't for at least a couple months far as I can see at this point.
Search around, ask questions, hang around in the IRC channel if you need something it doesn't explain.

[Jadehawk]

If the Modeling community did one for Blender, I just may end up taking a shot at it creating missiles to start off. I am aware that other use Maya (My personal Preference), 3D Max and TrueSpace. Both TruseSpace and Blender are free, so I would believe they should make tutorials based on them.
Having done Technical Order (T.O.) manuals for The U.S. Navy, U.S. Air force and a host of other nations in real life, they possibly could make one tutorial with inserts for each particular program where necessary.
Having said that, it would take several modelers quite sometime before this would be available. But once it';s done, it can be made into a WiKi type thing where updates and alternative techniques can be added by the user community.

Opinions?

Jadehawk

[varsaigen]

Thanks, JGZinv and Jadehawk.

@JGZinv: I will now go through your large tutorial eagerly reading and working on my model now. I look forward to the result. ^^

@Jadehawk: I agree that there should be one for Blender. (I recall seeing one, but it's very vague) If I can figure out the clear-cut process for creating working models, all the way to tables editing, then perhaps I can mess around and try to adapt it to Blender.

A clear-cut, easy-to-follow tutorial would be a great adition to the community, granting us the potential of many new modelers in the future.

[varsaigen]

Hmmm... I followed the tutorials (which were superb), but I can't seem to get it from Max into pcs2. One of the tutorials said to get it into DAE, and that PCS2 would import it, but none of the program versions seem to have that capability. And if I attempt truespace (cob), then it loses the texture.

Once I get it into PCS2, I should have no more problems.

[Droid803]

Hmmm... I followed the tutorials (which were superb), but I can't seem to get it from Max into pcs2. One of the tutorials said to get it into DAE, and that PCS2 would import it, but none of the program versions seem to have that capability.

Look at spicuous's sig

[headdie]

If the Modeling community did one for Blender, I just may end up taking a shot at it creating missiles to start off. I am aware that other use Maya (My personal Preference), 3D Max and TrueSpace. Both TruseSpace and Blender are free, so I would believe they should make tutorials based on them.
Having done Technical Order (T.O.) manuals for The U.S. Navy, U.S. Air force and a host of other nations in real life, they possibly could make one tutorial with inserts for each particular program where necessary.
Having said that, it would take several modelers quite sometime before this would be available. But once it';s done, it can be made into a WiKi type thing where updates and alternative techniques can be added by the user community.

Opinions?

Jadehawk

http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Blender_to_POF_Conversions

If you have any problems with the tutorial let me know, blender is my program of choice

[varsaigen]

Ok, I'm attempting the POF/Blender method. Hoping it works.

And thanks for the suggestion to look in Spicious' sig. I managed to get that to work. (But "Instance_geometry" could not be found for various parts of the model. So I'm hoping the Blender conversion will fix that issue. :/)

[Kusanagi]

Ok, I'm attempting the POF/Blender method. Hoping it works.

And thanks for the suggestion to look in Spicious' sig. I managed to get that to work. (But "Instance_geometry" could not be found for various parts of the model. So I'm hoping the Blender conversion will fix that issue. :/)

This is usually the result of the subobjects not having their own axis set correctly when importing or rotating them. Try detaching them from detail0, running a "reset xform" on them, and then reattaching them where they go. That should do the trick.

Also, check out http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=63643.0. This thread by scooby-doo covers turrets, since JG's doesn't get into subobjects.

[varsaigen]

Ok, I'm attempting the POF/Blender method. Hoping it works.

And thanks for the suggestion to look in Spicious' sig. I managed to get that to work. (But "Instance_geometry" could not be found for various parts of the model. So I'm hoping the Blender conversion will fix that issue. :/)

This is usually the result of the subobjects not having their own axis set correctly when importing or rotating them. Try detaching them from detail0, running a "reset xform" on them, and then reattaching them where they go. That should do the trick.

Also, check out http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=63643.0. This thread by scooby-doo covers turrets, since JG's doesn't get into subobjects.

Ah, That coudl be it then. Thanks. [Ironically, the tutorial you linked was the one I used. They seemed adamant to not merging the turret to the mesh, but I'll have to poke around that aspect. ]

All of you have been such great help.

[Kusanagi]

You merge it as a separate subobject if you're importing turrets or other subobjects. You just have to make sure that the main mesh is at 0,0,0 and your subobject's axis are at its OWN 0,0,0. It can be a bit tricky sometimes, which is why I try to do all my rigging in PCS2.