Local Space Transportation System Redux

[Coolhand]

Yeah i knew they were the poser/daz high res meshes, after years of seeing those models used in various peoples work you can spot them a light year away... well not literally

Surprised they aren't making low poly meshes for this sort of application by now, relying on max's optimiser alone isn't the best solution to a clean looking low poly mesh.

 

[GregBurch]

Yeah i knew they were the poser/daz high res meshes, after years of seeing those models used in various peoples work you can spot them a light year away... well not literally

Surprised they aren't making low poly meshes for this sort of application by now, relying on max's optimiser alone isn't the best solution to a clean looking low poly mesh.

You're right about all that -- I can spot Poser/Daz stuff a light year away, too. I was trolling around on links leading away from that "conceptships.com" site, and came across a guy whose work was pretty good -- working in the SF cinematic SFX biz. He had brilliant, intricately-detailed ships (that weren't too terribly bad on the "magic phycis" thing, either). And sure enough, he had standard Poser/Daz folks strolling around inside his ships, even down to the preset poses.

Anyway, max-optimizing isn't the best solution, you're right, since it doesn't take into account the monkey-sense about what's important in a face and what isn't. About half the time, I end up spending a few hours re-finishing meshes it's optimized to fix something a human eye just can't tolerate in perceiving a human face.

Given how pervasive Poser is in the human-figure 3d modelling regime, you'd think someone would build some lower-poly Poser meshes that worked well in sim/game apps. The problem, I think, is that the Poser community is very much dominated by the "fairy-girl" still image aesthetic.

 

[Coolhand]

yeah i've seen them in some pretty cool things, most of the time i see them, they get painted up in star trek uniforms and posted on SFM. They're often a bit over-idealised - as you say the fairy girl thing, which is what makes them so easy to spot once you're familiar with them.

i'm sure you can purchase low poly meshes from turbosquid or 3d o2, i haven't looked for any myself but i'd be surprised if there aren't any on there, probably with max compatible rigs so you can pose or animate them, might be worth a look as an alternative.

 

[GregBurch]

i'm sure you can purchase low poly meshes from turbosquid or 3d o2, i haven't looked for any myself but i'd be surprised if there aren't any on there, probably with max compatible rigs so you can pose or animate them, might be worth a look as an alternative.

I'm afraid I'm addicted to the Poser interface. After having finally broken the spell when I started using Animator, I still feel like I'm coming home when I go into Poser or Bryce.

 

[Linguofreak]

As for the suit, as I say above, that's intended to be the outer layer, which isn't the mechanical counter-pressure layer. The inner layer's just too sexy for Orbiter.

Given how form-fitting skinsuits would be, you could almost just wear the skinsuit and then use streetclothes for decency. You would of course need air tankage, a helmet, and some form of temperature regulation, though I've heard that a skinsuit could be sweat cooled.

So yeah, if you're going to use skinsuits, why not just do EVA's in streetclothes (or something fairly like that)?

 

[GregBurch]

Given how form-fitting skinsuits would be, you could almost just wear the skinsuit and then use streetclothes for decency. You would of course need air tankage, a helmet, and some form of temperature regulation, though I've heard that a skinsuit could be sweat cooled.

So yeah, if you're going to use skinsuits, why not just do EVA's in streetclothes (or something fairly like that)?

I was afraid someone was going to think of that ...

 

[Andy44]

Streetclothes may work in an emergency or something, but they would tend to catch on things and don't have attachments for tools and stuff. Even with the skin-suit "underwear", though, you still need temperature control. Streetclothes won't do that very well, you need an outer later with tubes or heaters or other devices in it to provide cooling and heating depending on whether the user is in bright sunlight or eclipse. Especially for toes and fingers. Real astronauts have had problems with their fingertips getting numb from cold while trying to work outside.

 

[Linguofreak]

Streetclothes may work in an emergency or something, but they would tend to catch on things and don't have attachments for tools and stuff. Even with the skin-suit "underwear", though, you still need temperature control. Streetclothes won't do that very well, you need an outer later with tubes or heaters or other devices in it to provide cooling and heating depending on whether the user is in bright sunlight or eclipse. Especially for toes and fingers. Real astronauts have had problems with their fingertips getting numb from cold while trying to work outside.

My thoughts to a great degree, but apparently a fair number of skinsuit proposals seem to think that the user's own body will be able to regulate temperature sufficiently.

My doubts are why I said "streetclothes or something fairly like that."

 

[jedidia]

Man, you guys aren't getting into the whole Burchismo Aerospace thing. It'll be a separate spacecraft3.dll robot, with animated arms, that floats around inside the helmet and maneuvers with little, itty-bitty compressed air thrusters ....

And of course there will be fuzzy dice too I presume?

 

[GregBurch]

Hey guys. I'm checking in on "my" thread from Beijing where I'm working this week. My usual digs weren't available due to Olympic craziness, so I'm stuck somewhere with a crappy, slooow net connection. But I'm pleased to see the forum isn't blocked by "the Great Firewall" (but my own domain continues to be ... grrrrr).

 

[ar81]

I know what you mean when you mention "fairy girl" in poser community.
A medieval dress or a warrior dress or a tiny Heavy Metal fashioned scifi suit is not exactly appropriate for orbinaut stories or meshes.

As for being in China, Chu Zan (good morning), and regarding the chinese regime, i will tell you a secret:
(censored to make it pass the chinese firewall) :rofl:

 

[GregBurch]

As for being in China, Chu Zan (good morning), and regarding the chinese regime, i will tell you a secret:
(censored to make it pass the chinese firewall) :rofl:

Ni2 zau3. It's funny what gets through and what doesn't. Some websites with the most blistering criticism of China sail right through, while others, like my own domain (that has nothing particularly offensive to Chinese sensibilities) are blocked.

Fortunately, the net is wide, so it's actually not that hard to get around the much-vaaunted Great Firewall ...

 

[n0mad23]

...and incompetence grows exponentially with the size of the bureaucracy. China's obviously in splendid shape!

Years ago, as a paralegal this was one of my aha moments: if it's this bad in functioning corporate law firms, just imagine what it's like in civil service.

I try not to think about it much.

 

[RangerPL]

Your add-ons really eat processing power.
It's a good thing they're worth it!:speakcool:

 

[GregBurch]

Your add-ons really eat processing power.
It's a good thing they're worth it!:speakcool:

Well, I'm glad to hear it. I am trying to build a low-poly (or at least lower) version of each addon, and include it with each new release.

BTW, I'm back from China this morning after a grueling 24 hours of travel. With any luck, I'll be back working on the new lander at least a little later today, and hope to release it next weekend.

 

[Arrowstar]

Yay! I like new toys to play with. Thanks, Greg, you're the man!

 

[pattersoncr]

...I'll be back working on the new lander at least a little later today, and hope to release it next weekend.

This is the best news I've heard all weekend :thumbup:

 

[GregBurch]

Well, unfortunately, I was being waaay overoptimistic about how long it would take to complete the first lander addon. Real-world work has intervened to add at least another week and probably more to the schedule.

In the meantime, here's a visual report on progress on the passenger module:

 

[pattersoncr]

Well, unfortunately, I was being waaay overoptimistic about how long it would take to complete the first lander addon. Real-world work has intervened to add at least another week and probably more to the schedule.

So, what you're saying is, it won't be released until Tuesday.

 

[ar81]

Could it be possible to have a camera view inside the passenger module, so you can see the passengers and look through windows??