Free Software that Makes Life Easier

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  • I wanna share a shot made with 3delight in D/S

    Just image what Carrara could do with it! Have you seen how fast some are rendering in Carrara with Octane? My petty experiments with LuxRenderer were also very impressive speed-wise especially as you could render on more than one machine at a time...

  • StezzaStezza Posts: 8,069

    this time I wanna share a shot made with 3delight in D/S, just because the 3d scene made by HF has been rendered in less than 10 minutes, whereas a similar scene in carrara took more than an hour. In such cases D/S and 3delight make life a way too easier

    with a couple of tweaks you could probably get it down to around 3-4 minutes in Carrara.. Have done so with similar scenes. wink

  • CbirdCbird Posts: 493
    Mystarra said:

    havent tried these yet

     

    Screenplay Formatting

    FREE SOFTWARE: Celtx - http://www.celtx.com
    Writer Duet - http://www.scripped.com
    Trelby - http://www.trelby.org

    I've used Celtx and like it a lot. Does a lot of the things Final Draft does and works better on my iPad. Sorry, can't compare to the other two.

  • magaremotomagaremoto Posts: 1,227
    FENgari said:

    I wanna share a shot made with 3delight in D/S

    Just image what Carrara could do with it! Have you seen how fast some are rendering in Carrara with Octane? My petty experiments with LuxRenderer were also very impressive speed-wise especially as you could render on more than one machine at a time...

    3delight in carrara would be great, and renderman more and more. Octane and lux bridges need upgrade AFAIK

  • magaremotomagaremoto Posts: 1,227
    edited January 2020

    this time I wanna share a shot made with 3delight in D/S, just because the 3d scene made by HF has been rendered in less than 10 minutes, whereas a similar scene in carrara took more than an hour. In such cases D/S and 3delight make life a way too easier

    with a couple of tweaks you could probably get it down to around 3-4 minutes in Carrara.. Have done so with similar scenes. wink

    sure, but to get a similar definition and realism you can render at 4K or more in carrara extending the render times drastically

    Post edited by magaremoto on
  • ed3Ded3D Posts: 2,196
    edited January 2020
    Mystarra said:

    remembers when bryce did dxf files.

    _ actually,  Still does    _ _import & export _

    Post edited by ed3D on
  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675
    Cbird said:
    Mystarra said:

    havent tried these yet

     

    Screenplay Formatting

    FREE SOFTWARE: Celtx - http://www.celtx.com
    Writer Duet - http://www.scripped.com
    Trelby - http://www.trelby.org

    I've used Celtx and like it a lot. Does a lot of the things Final Draft does and works better on my iPad. Sorry, can't compare to the other two.

    can celtx read outloud?

  • CbirdCbird Posts: 493
    Mystarra said:
    Cbird said:
    Mystarra said:

    havent tried these yet

     

    Screenplay Formatting

    FREE SOFTWARE: Celtx - http://www.celtx.com
    Writer Duet - http://www.scripped.com
    Trelby - http://www.trelby.org

    I've used Celtx and like it a lot. Does a lot of the things Final Draft does and works better on my iPad. Sorry, can't compare to the other two.

    can celtx read outloud?

    Not on my iPad. It doesn't have all the features of the desktop version (and paid). My iPad is old, so don't know if newer might be different. Has a nice parchment paper option, lol

  • not software but if you want scanned statues and artifacts from around the world

    https://www.myminifactory.com/scantheworld/

    This is a pretty nice resource, thanks.  But how do I convert stl files to obj (or other format that can be used in Carrara)?

    I have a freebie bit of software available for download on my website that will do this. It's terribly simple, is a Win32 program, and can be downloaded here:

    http://www.chestnutpens.co.uk/misc/stltoobj.html

    There are one or two other programs that may be of use - a height map to OBJ program and OBJ to STL if you want to 3d print a model. The full list of what is available is here:

    http://www.chestnutpens.co.uk/misc/downloads.html

    Chances are that you won't need the CNC mill coding utilities, or the CNC lathe ones, but who knows when you might need to make a sextant or even a dingy? The image to cross stitch chart program is the one I am most proud of, and have stitched up a fabulous 117 colour picture of my wife using it. At one craft fair where I was showing it as an example, one gentleman refused to believe it was stitched, as the picture was too real and the stitches were too small to be anything other than printed.

    Regards,

    Richard

  • UnifiedBrainUnifiedBrain Posts: 3,588

    I have a freebie bit of software available for download on my website that will do this. It's terribly simple, is a Win32 program, and can be downloaded here:

    http://www.chestnutpens.co.uk/misc/stltoobj.html

    That is very nice of you, Richard.  However, I couldn't get it to work.  I selected my stl file and clicked convert, but the program justs sits there and nothing happens.  I waited for an hour, then gave up.

  • FirePro9FirePro9 Posts: 456

    "There are one or two other programs that may be of use - a height map to OBJ program and OBJ to STL if you want to 3d print a model. The full list of what is available is here:

    http://www.chestnutpens.co.uk/misc/downloads.html"

     

    Thanks Richard, I like the Height Map to OBJ File generator program!  I find I can load up to about a 1000 x 1000 pixel grey scale height map image before I get the "out of memory" message.

  • richardandtracyrichardandtracy Posts: 5,688
    edited January 2020

    I have a freebie bit of software available for download on my website that will do this. It's terribly simple, is a Win32 program, and can be downloaded here:

    http://www.chestnutpens.co.uk/misc/stltoobj.html

    That is very nice of you, Richard.  However, I couldn't get it to work.  I selected my stl file and clicked convert, but the program justs sits there and nothing happens.  I waited for an hour, then gave up.

    I think that possibly you're running on the 'Slow but totally accurate' setting. As it goes through with that setting it checks each & every vertex to see if there are any others with the same position. The 'Fast but may have cracks' setting only checks the last 1000 vertices to see if they have the same position. I have had a huge model (13 million stl triangles) that didn't finish in 23 hours on the slow setting take 23 mins on the fast setting. I was importing it into DS, and it was a bit too big a model for easy imaging & making material groups was impossible due to the number of facets, but did work in DS as a single colour model. It was the end point of a 2 year spacecraft transport container design job (shown below) and I wanted to render it with a life size person next to it. Not as sucessful as I had hoped, but it showed the idea.

    CM Container 01 R02.png
    1860 x 923 - 1M
    Post edited by richardandtracy on
  • richardandtracyrichardandtracy Posts: 5,688
    edited January 2020
    FirePro9 said:

    "There are one or two other programs that may be of use - a height map to OBJ program and OBJ to STL if you want to 3d print a model. The full list of what is available is here:

    http://www.chestnutpens.co.uk/misc/downloads.html"

     

    Thanks Richard, I like the Height Map to OBJ File generator program!  I find I can load up to about a 1000 x 1000 pixel grey scale height map image before I get the "out of memory" message.

    The thing that takes up the memory is the size of the output model in terms of facets rather than the input image. The number of facets can be changed by editing the 'Number of Facets in OBJ File' - it doesn't have to be the same as the number of pixels in the image. Can't remember if it can be more.., but fewer is definitely better than more. The dynamic arrays I used have a total array maximum size of 1Gb in RAM. 1000 x 1000 facets have 1 million facets and 1,002,000 vertices, which may well be getting there. I suppose I could have saved RAM by never actually creating the model, and directly writing the obj file without storing anything, but I have to confess I didn't think of it at the time. Maybe for the next version...

    Regards,

    Richard.

    Post edited by richardandtracy on
  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675
    Cbird said:
    Mystarra said:
    Cbird said:
    Mystarra said:

    havent tried these yet

     

    Screenplay Formatting

    FREE SOFTWARE: Celtx - http://www.celtx.com
    Writer Duet - http://www.scripped.com
    Trelby - http://www.trelby.org

    I've used Celtx and like it a lot. Does a lot of the things Final Draft does and works better on my iPad. Sorry, can't compare to the other two.

    can celtx read outloud?

    Not on my iPad. It doesn't have all the features of the desktop version (and paid). My iPad is old, so don't know if newer might be different. Has a nice parchment paper option, lol

    my dayjob pc wont let celtx  install. indecision

  • FirePro9FirePro9 Posts: 456
    FirePro9 said:

     

    The thing that takes up the memory is the size of the output model in terms of facets rather than the input image. The number of facets can be changed by editing the 'Number of Facets in OBJ File' - it doesn't have to be the same as the number of pixels in the image. Can't remember if it can be more.., but fewer is definitely better than more. The dynamic arrays I used have a total array maximum size of 1Gb in RAM. 1000 x 1000 facets have 1 million facets and 1,002,000 vertices, which may well be getting there. I suppose I could have saved RAM by never actually creating the model, and directly writing the obj file without storing anything, but I have to confess I didn't think of it at the time. Maybe for the next version...

    Regards,

    Richard.

    Richard, thanks for the tips.  The 1000x1000 facets works well, creating a 133MB OBJ file that imports a nice terrain in DS with, as you said, 1,002,000 vertices.  This should be enough detail for most uses.

    HeightMapToOBJ.JPG
    3743 x 1833 - 1M
  • mindsongmindsong Posts: 1,701

    not software but if you want scanned statues and artifacts from around the world

    https://www.myminifactory.com/scantheworld/

    This is a pretty nice resource, thanks.  But how do I convert stl files to obj (or other format that can be used in Carrara)?

    I have a freebie bit of software available for download on my website that will do this. It's terribly simple, is a Win32 program, and can be downloaded here:

    http://www.chestnutpens.co.uk/misc/stltoobj.html

    There are one or two other programs that may be of use - a height map to OBJ program and OBJ to STL if you want to 3d print a model. The full list of what is available is here:

    http://www.chestnutpens.co.uk/misc/downloads.html

    Chances are that you won't need the CNC mill coding utilities, or the CNC lathe ones, but who knows when you might need to make a sextant or even a dingy? The image to cross stitch chart program is the one I am most proud of, and have stitched up a fabulous 117 colour picture of my wife using it. At one craft fair where I was showing it as an example, one gentleman refused to believe it was stitched, as the picture was too real and the stitches were too small to be anything other than printed.

    Regards,

    Richard

    Thanks for these treats. While kind of specialized, they are the kind of tool that will be priceless if needed on a project.

    (my friend believes that cats are actually aliens :)

    cheers,

    --ms

  • Glad the programs are useful to others. Every now & again I need a tool I can't seem to find easily, and it's occasionally easier to write exactly what I want rather than try to force something not designed that way to do what I want. If it's useful to others, even better!

    As for cats.. Aliens? Don't think so myself. Selfish, totally self centered, and utterly adorable, yes. Aliens? No. There are enough weird and wonderful things on the planet not to need external oddities to explain cats.

  • mindsongmindsong Posts: 1,701
    edited January 2020

    Glad the programs are useful to others. Every now & again I need a tool I can't seem to find easily, and it's occasionally easier to write exactly what I want rather than try to force something not designed that way to do what I want. If it's useful to others, even better!

    As for cats.. Aliens? Don't think so myself. Selfish, totally self centered, and utterly adorable, yes. Aliens? No. There are enough weird and wonderful things on the planet not to need external oddities to explain cats.

    (these cat comments will make more sense to those who visit the mentioned website...)

    lol - but remember that cats have been worshipped as gods by some of the brightest early humans/cultures that precede us. I can be convinced either way - especially when I consider our in-house fuzzballs on a daily basis. For this reason, I tend to be nicer to them than is probably warranted... In case the mothership arrives shortly...

    But... your point is well taken, especially when one considers the platypus ... or humans of the opposite gender :) (viva la differance!)

    thanks again for your digital treats!

    --ms

    Post edited by mindsong on
  • VyusurVyusur Posts: 2,235
    edited January 2020

    Many thanks to Wendy for such a nice resource! I downloaded a whole bunch of new shiny toys. For now I made a retopology of Nefertiti head in Zbrush. Here is the result.

    Doc3.png
    2000 x 2000 - 2M
    Post edited by Vyusur on
  • SileneUKSileneUK Posts: 1,975
    edited January 2020
    FirePro9 said:
    FirePro9 said:

     

    The thing that takes up the memory is the size of the output model in terms of facets rather than the input image. The number of facets can be changed by editing the 'Number of Facets in OBJ File' - it doesn't have to be the same as the number of pixels in the image. Can't remember if it can be more.., but fewer is definitely better than more. The dynamic arrays I used have a total array maximum size of 1Gb in RAM. 1000 x 1000 facets have 1 million facets and 1,002,000 vertices, which may well be getting there. I suppose I could have saved RAM by never actually creating the model, and directly writing the obj file without storing anything, but I have to confess I didn't think of it at the time. Maybe for the next version...

    Regards,

    Richard.

    Richard, thanks for the tips.  The 1000x1000 facets works well, creating a 133MB OBJ file that imports a nice terrain in DS with, as you said, 1,002,000 vertices.  This should be enough detail for most uses.

     yes Great... when I get my machine back and reloaded, I will be trying this as I make a lot of terrains from heightmaps I create. It can be useful to skip loading it into Carrara's terrain tool first as I end up needed it as a vertex object anyways.

    Nice pens, too... but way out of my price range. surprise

    Maybe you will build that yacht some day!

    Cheers! smiley Silene

    Post edited by SileneUK on
  • Vyusur said:

    Many thanks to Wendy for such a nice resource! I downloaded a whole bunch of new shiny toys. For now I made a retopology of Nefertiti head in Zbrush. Here is the result.

    Vyusur, I'm surprised that nobody commented on this.  It looks great!

    I agree with you on the resource, and thanks to Wendy's suggestion to use Meshlab, I can now download these files as OBJ's. 

    However, my 3D ignorance is now showing.  How does one apply a texture map to an OBJ?  When I do so, I just get an undifferentiated color, and no map details.

  • VyusurVyusur Posts: 2,235
    Vyusur said:

    Many thanks to Wendy for such a nice resource! I downloaded a whole bunch of new shiny toys. For now I made a retopology of Nefertiti head in Zbrush. Here is the result.

    Vyusur, I'm surprised that nobody commented on this.  It looks great!

    I agree with you on the resource, and thanks to Wendy's suggestion to use Meshlab, I can now download these files as OBJ's. 

    However, my 3D ignorance is now showing.  How does one apply a texture map to an OBJ?  When I do so, I just get an undifferentiated color, and no map details.

    Hi! Thank you for commenting. You have to make UV unwrap of your model before applying any texture. It's so called tailor's template for 3d model. As for me, I loaded scanned model in Blender, exported it as obj. Then I loaded my obj in Zbrush and remeshed it. After that I imported it in 3d coat, UV unwrapped and painted it there. After all I applyed my textures to the model and rendered it in Carrara. That's it.

     

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,583
    Vyusur said:
    Vyusur said:

    Many thanks to Wendy for such a nice resource! I downloaded a whole bunch of new shiny toys. For now I made a retopology of Nefertiti head in Zbrush. Here is the result.

    Vyusur, I'm surprised that nobody commented on this.  It looks great!

    I agree with you on the resource, and thanks to Wendy's suggestion to use Meshlab, I can now download these files as OBJ's. 

    However, my 3D ignorance is now showing.  How does one apply a texture map to an OBJ?  When I do so, I just get an undifferentiated color, and no map details.

    Hi! Thank you for commenting. You have to make UV unwrap of your model before applying any texture. It's so called tailor's template for 3d model. As for me, I loaded scanned model in Blender, exported it as obj. Then I loaded my obj in Zbrush and remeshed it. After that I imported it in 3d coat, UV unwrapped and painted it there. After all I applyed my textures to the model and rendered it in Carrara.

    That's it.

    !!! You make it sound so easy !!!

    Beautiful work on the retopo! Not being a modeler myself, I've never tried retopologizing anything. Nice job with Nefertiti! Did you paint that by hand in 3d Coat? Fascinating tool. I enjoy watching tutorials from their YouTube channel even though I don't have the software. 

  • Thanks Vyusur.  That was very clear, yet more complicated and pricey than I had hoped.

    Is there another (less expensive) way to do this?

     

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 38,227
    edited February 2020

    Thanks Vyusur.  That was very clear, yet more complicated and pricey than I had hoped.

    Is there another (less expensive) way to do this?

     

    flat map it side on in Carrara

    you can poly reduce it in Sculptris first

    Post edited by WendyLuvsCatz on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,583

    Thanks Vyusur.  That was very clear, yet more complicated and pricey than I had hoped.

    Is there another (less expensive) way to do this?

     

    as well as what Wendy said, Blender is free and has the tools. Do keep in mind, however, that both Vyusur and Wendy are quite practiced in dealing with tools like this. It reall takes a lot of dedication and practice. Tutorials can help get started, but it takes a lot of mistakes to learn from as well.

  • Yeah, I figured that just asking this question would take me out of my comfort zone.

    I did download Sculptris.  And I read its history.  While it doesn't unwrap UV's, it looks interesting.

    Then again, I need to spend more time learning the vertex modeler in Carrara.

  • 3drendero3drendero Posts: 2,024
    Blender 2.82 is out now. Includes improved fluid sim. https://www.blendernation.com/2020/02/14/the-five-key-features-in-blender-2-82/
  • SileneUKSileneUK Posts: 1,975

    Not free but I have had this product for years and it does an adequate job.  smiley Silene

    https://www.unwrap3d.com/u3d/index.aspx    Standard Version is now $49, and there's a pro version.  I also just saw that there's a upgrade which I will need to do when I get my machine back.

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