From: Doug Bowman [bowman@cs.vt.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 1999 10:17 AM
To: 3dui List
Subject: RE: 3d modeling packages

Just to clarify Anders' earlier post, AC3D is available at
this URL:

http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/users/andy/ac3d.html

--
Doug A. Bowman, Ph.D.          (540) 231-7537
Assistant Professor             bowman@vt.edu
Computer Science        www.cs.vt.edu/~bowman/
Virginia Tech

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Anders Backman [mailto:andersb@oxe.cs.umu.se]
> Sent: Monday, October 11, 1999 2:33 PM
> To: bowman@vt.edu; 3dui List
> Subject: SV: 3d modeling packages
>
>
> Here at Umeå University we use:
>
> Multigen II and Multigen Pro which I think is one of the most
> competent real-time modelling tool out there. It outports .flt
> (OpenFlight) files wich contains a lot of real-time features.
>
> I myself think it is a pain using it, it is so huge. Some of our
> modellers really loves it, even though they had been using
> 3Dstudio, Maya, Alias, LightWave and some other modellers for
> years before it.
>
> It has a really great texturing module. But it takes a while to get into.
>
> For the most basic modelling, such as the one at our VR course, I
> choosed to use AC3D, a really really small, easy to use and
> almost free (couple of bucks).
>
> It imports 3ds, dxf, lws, lwo (lightwave), tri (alias/triangles), VRML1,
>
> and exports: pov (povray), renderman, VRML1/2, DIVE, Massive??,
> DVS??, inventor, dxf.
>
> It is not a full modelling tool, but for the most part it is
> enough. I think it is great to use on a VR course where the most
> time should not go into learning 3DstudioMax or Maya!!
>
> Download and try it, youll probably like it. It takes two red
> seconds to learn and master!
>
> I think that it was mainly developed for a research project where
> they needed a modelling tool with the basic features without
> having to pay a lot of money.
>
>
> It is still being developed.
>
> Go to: http://www.comp.lancs.uk/computing/users/andy/ac3d.html
>
> -----Ursprungligt meddelande-----
> Från: Doug Bowman <bowman@cs.vt.edu>
> Till: 3dui List <3d-ui@hitl.washington.edu>
> Datum: den 11 oktober 1999 17:14
> Ämne: 3d modeling packages
>
>
> >This is not a very "research-y" question, but I think it's an
> >important one for those of us building VE applications and
> >experiments. I'm interested in finding out which 3d modeling
> >packages people use to create objects for their virtual worlds.
> >(I know you don't code it all in openGL ;-) ).
> >
> >I've used Wavefront (actually the 'model' module of the Wavefront
> >Advanced Visualizer), Alias, and just a taste of 3D Studio Max
> >and the free Blender. Wavefront is old and has a horrible interface,
> >but is fairly reliable (plus the VE software I use already has
> >a file parser for OBJ files). Alias is nice, but way too expensive
> >and really geared more towards animation than just modeling.
> >3DS Max I couldn't figure out at all, but I understand architects
> >and other design types love it. It doesn't output OBJ files, to
> >my knowledge. Blender (my apologies if anyone loves it) has an
> >incomprehensible interface, but it *is* free.
> >
> >So, what else do people use? What are the pros and cons? What platforms
> >does it run on, and what file formats does it support?
> >
> >Best,
> >--Doug
> >
> >--
> >Doug A. Bowman, Ph.D.          (540) 231-7537
> >Assistant Professor             bowman@vt.edu
> >Computer Science        www.cs.vt.edu/~bowman/
> >Virginia Tech
> >
>
>