3D modeling & file manipulation on Android

[Deep_Blue]

Well now this could be interesting....

Screenie of a .3ds track model in buf3d on android

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.OBJ file exported from Sketchup in Sketch3d app on android. Sketch3d also exports .obj and buf3d imports/exports/converts several standard formats...

Track .obj in Sketch3D

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A BMW .obj that comes with Sketch3D:

Bmw obj file

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I find myself eschewing the PC for the android tablet these days just because it's highly portable and lately more fun to mess with. So far Google has only made a model viewer/downloader app for droids except it still sucks (won't access models stored on local device) plus it costs ten bucks for the disappointment,so fuck that.... but from what I can see pressure is on them to make a droid version of actual Sketchup. Seems a lotta people are doing stuff exclusively on their phones/tablets these days and there's a demand for it.
I figure it's just another medium to make stuff on. Thought it was kinda cool. So farr I haven't been able to actually build anything from scratch in this proggy but only because I haven't had the time yet. I gotta see if I can either scratch-build or import something from 3dland into Carma. Wish I knew more about the droid version of C1.....It would be nice to be able to mod it. I remember some folks talking awhile back about modding droid carma....did anything ever come of that?

[Deep_Blue]

Noice. Buf3d zooms in pretty tight like Sketchup does.
Anyway, this prog is the viewer/converter. Here's the free version's export formats. They works with everything else that will accept them (import and export.)
I imagine the paid (pretty cheap, actually) version offers more options-and nixes the ads, natch.

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[Deep_Blue]

Spacedraw is an even better prog. More stuff is tweakable. And apparently it does all kinds of texture mapping and effects. Soon as I figure 'em out, anyways... EDIT:Whoa...this prog looks better than I thought it was. Here's the lowdown:

http://www.scalisoft.com
Feature list and comprehensive user manual. Imma play awhile with this one. So far I've managed to get assets OUT of Pc Carma this way.. Now to try to make new ones and get 'em IN.

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As I experiment further, I'll post results here-unless nobody cares and then I'll just delete the thread.. ;)

[coffeycup]

No keep posting, this is interesting. I don't have an Android but it's fun to see what you're doing.

[Mad_Maxine]

phones and tablets, what are these devices you speek of?

seriusly when I leave home I leave tecnology behind, Unless im travling in an RV in wich case ill have a laptop.

So does this mean youll be modding the mobile versions of carma or what? is that even a thing thats possible? infact, has there ever been any mods for any mobile device games?

[Deep_Blue]

Well, I dunno if I can yet, Maxy. Last I heard somebody had figured out how to get stuff out of the mobile version of C1 using a proggy or two that I think Tosh has up at his site, but if I remember right, nobody had really bothered to figure out a way to put stuff back IN to it. ( or there was some limitation as yet to be figured out) I will keep hammering away at it because the same syndrome that prompted me to figure out how to make C1 cars way back then is bugging me to modnthe mobile version. (Bored with the original cars.) I gotta try an' learn something about the mobile version's structure...I guess.

Edit* Spacedraw is a really full-featured 3d modeling/texturing program from what I'm seeing. Something almost on the order of 3DS Max. In fact, it actually uses some standards that max uses.
User manual is very detailed and comprehensive. It'll prolly take me awhile to get thru the learning curve.

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I do believe I'll be paying the $11 bucks to get the key for the full version. (The free version only saves up to 1000 polys and doesn't keep a command history for undoing/redoing stuff.) Methinks this is a good one. My myopic old eyeballs have a lil trouble reading the menus on account of the font is so small, but I manage...

[Deep_Blue]

I also just installed this neat little prog I wanna mess with:

Autodesk Formit

http://youtu.be/wP3v8DmM264

Looks very 'Sketchup-ish'

EDIT* Actually it IS very Sketchup-ish. Scarily similar in operation only with fingers instead of a pointer.

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Actually this works *just like* Sketchup. The droid version of FormIt is sposed to export/save .obj format that the other android-based modeling/converter progs (Sketcher3d, Spacedraw, buf3d) use.
But it saves 'em to the 360 cloud or whatever I don't quite understand fully yet. So far I've managed to save an .obj, but hell if I know where it went. This is what happens when I jump in and start driving without looking where I'm going... It imports images just like Sketchup and the menus are very similar. The developer says the model import function is still broken but they're working on it. I'm gonna head over to their blog and light a fire under 'em..

So the proggys I've tried so far are all around $3-$6. That's buf3D+, Spacedraw, Sketcher3D Pro, and Autodesk Formit (free). All available on the Googley Play Store. So, I had an entire weekend of crappy weather to just fuck off around the house and play with modeling stuffs on my lil 7" droid tablet. I really think this might work out nicely once I figure out all the tricks and get a smooth workflow going between the progs. It would be so much easier to be able to carry the whole process from idea to model to texture to conversion to ingame all in the compact space of a paperback book. This way when I'm sitting on a long charter layover, I can fire up the tablet and build stuff....
Anyways, I'll keep posting my findings here. It'd be nice if I could learn some more about how the android C1 is put together..

[coffeycup]

Man, that does look a lot like SketchUp. Even if you don't mod the mobile version, you can make stuff for the PC one.

[Deep_Blue]

Ya, at least. Once I got the hang of stuff like double-tapping to select a face or surface, I kinda already knew how to use it from using sketchup. (Draw line>draw another one from that one and so on forming a rectangle>tap face>extrude upwards>tap to unselect, tap face to select>slide open texture menu>tap texture(automatically applies to surface and from what I've read is adjustable much like the textures can be turned/scaled in Sketchup), either in the texture library or in the sketch.

Very similar operation to Sketchup.
Mebbe once Trimble gets word that Autodesk is redoing their proggy, they'll get crackin' on a droid version of SketchUp. (Like I said, from what I'm reading, people really want it.)

[Deep_Blue]

Hmm... I notice that when I load up a track model (exported as an .obj from SketchUp) in a modeling app suck as Spacedraw or Sketcher 3d that supports importing wavefront .obj files, that most (if not all as in the case of the maxmap) the faces are reversed so that they're only visible from the underside of the map. What can I do to prevent that? I forgot what that's called.

[coffeycup]

I don't know never worked with OBJ. Always used .3DS.

[Deep_Blue]

Hmm.. I guess I'll hafta look that up. (It's the same thing that happens if I don't remember to reverse the blue faces in Sketchup. They're not visible in the right direction in the finished product.)

From what I can see so far, Wavefront obj seems to be the standard file format every android prog is using. Maybe it's just easier? I dunno. Luckily the file format converter works with .3ds

FormIt at this time also saves as .obj/.rvt (proprietary Revit format) and only ln a cloud drive for some reason. Pain in the ass. I hope they get with the program and make it support .3ds and other common formats. Capability to generate/import files to/from the device would be nice, too. But I guess ya hafta be in their 'club' to use their prog. *sigh*

Oh well. I did manage to actually send 'em some feedback to that effect- and got an answer that is possibly encouraging. Gonna wait and see what happens. I'm starting to get used to gesture modeling.

[Deep_Blue]

'K
Having messed around with every app I could find in the Google store and a couple from 'unknown sources', I've found that the only true modeling apps are Spacedraw by Scalisoft and Autodesk's Formit (a lot like SketchUp).

I have some time off for the holidays, so I'll get to play more in-depth with these.

Spacedraw:

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Tried pulling up some terrain in Formit:

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Spacedraw:

[youtube][/youtube]

Why can I never get the youtube thumbnail to display?

[Mastro 666]

[youtube]U2_Y3_CXy0s[/youtube]

Code: U2_Y3_CXy0s

[Toshiba-3]

Mustn't be easy to do detailed modeling with your fingers! Wouldn't it be easier if you used a bluetooth mouse or something? (alright it would ruin the portability aspect of the tablet...)

[Deep_Blue]

In Spacedraw, each panel allows certain gestures. The big panel where the grid is is where ya do the actual drawing. The small narrow panels on either side zoom in/out and the medium sized panels under the grid are (left=rotate view) and (right=pan view). All menus and onscreen operations are setup for fingers. Even the tablet/phone's sensors are used for moving/viewing stuff. It's actually easier than I thought to use fingers.
Failing that, the bluetooth Nyko Playpad I have has a mouse setting on it which makes a pointer arrow show up onscreen and definitely fine tunes some things.

This is a damn fine turnkey modeling/ texturing app and apparently the only real one besides FormIt for android. The other ones I have tried are mostly toys for making primitives and are still under development, but they are handy for opening and converting file formats.

FormIt is another one with potential, and it also is still under development. It's the closest thing to SketchUp I've seen. It only outputs their proprietary format, but also outputs a Waveform .obj file.
The only drawback is that Autodesk makes ya use their 360 cloud service to store the files. They don't currently store/retrieve from the local device *yet.*

Mastro- so I just should've pasted the vid's code instead of the entire address?
Ah! So THAT'S how it works. Thanks, man..
[youtube]WEUA14SYoEQ[/youtube]

[Deep_Blue]

Ok, so here is my very first attempt at making a simple terrain model in Scalisoft Spacedraw on my 'droid tablet. Coincidentally it is also my very first YouTube video, so naturally it sucks, but you,ll get to see what the hell I was doing.
This was recorded using a free screen recorder which surprisingly worked very well and saved the vid in mp4 format which is all my version of android and device can play without sideloading flash player in Firefox.

Anyway, this is turning out to be a really good, full featured modeling program. The only thing I wish was better is if it would export other formats besides .obj
Even so, the .obj can be converted and worked with in other droid or PC programs that will export .3DS format.

So yeah. First demo: (the red dots are where my fingers are on the screen)

[youtube]F4EGccIFpe4[/youtube]

First try at texturing in Spacedraw. It's obvious I have no idea what I'm doing yet and I'm pretty sure there is a way to do it faster, but this is what I discovered this time around:

[youtube]Bafa6wx5lMQ[/youtube]

Note all the adjustment options for textures on the right. Position, rotate, scale, etc.