Attached Link: http://www.jpatch.com/

sounds like a winner..;) thanks

You're very welcome! :o)

This app looks pretty dang cool. Hopefully it doesn't respond like the other Java programs I know. They're pretty cool too (such as arbaro for making trees), but in my experience Java would have one big thing against it for doing things in real time... Itsssss ssslllloooooowwww... (At least on my 'puters) But then again, it could just be that those programmers did things the hard way. I'll still have to check. :)

Have you figured out Arbaro Paul? I recently downloaded it and haven't got very far with it. I could do with some simple tuts but I can't find any. Mind you I haven't looked very hard lol! - Baz

I recently gave it a shot and was actually suprised that the working environment was actually fast, unlike most other Java based programs I've tried. So that's a good thing. :) However it seems to lag quite a bit much on typical windows tasks like pulling up directories. Also I'll have to go over some stuff, as I don't know how to connect points or other things which are much more intuitive in other programs. Lathe seemed fun... But I'll need to do some more figuring out before I can deem it useful. I wouldn't knock it... It might be the way to go if you're not really into poly/sub-d modeling. BazC: I do understand arbaro a bit, you just have to play with the different settings. (There are some others around who know it better, because I haven't been playing with trees in my renders a whole lot. Poke around on the Bryce forum a bit.) Basically you're setting the extents to which it randomizes various parts of the tree's geometry. And it can be a bit slow. Perhaps it trys to do more than my compy can handle. (Better coding might try to detect memory and set appropriate limits. But what do I know?) Also I think there are some settings that can be lowered to make resulting models less poly heavy.

Cheers Paul! I had another quick play yesterday and it's a little clearer than it was! It's figuring out what all the different parameters actually do that takes so much trial and error lol! I have heard it creates pretty weighty models, I hadn't noticed any poly reduction tools or resolution controls but I suppose they must be there somewhere! :o)

Hi Baz, thanks for the link! I'll have to d/l it and play with it a bit. I like Arbaro and have had some success with it. It does tend to make some poly-heavy models, but
they hold up real well next to the camera like a "hero tree" should. I've found that .dxf format is the way to go as far as export for this app. The object file format tends to make the app hang, especially with complex models.
You may have to manually add ".dxf" or ".obj" when you name your file.

Thanks Danamo! Arbaro looks like a good alternative until I can afford XFrog! :o)

J-Patch is not actually true NURBS. It actually works more or less exactly like Hash Splines.

Ah! Thanks for the info!

Attached Link: http://ayam.sourceforge.net/ayam.html

Ooooh! Another free modeler. I wonder if pakled is keeping his list up to date. Sourceforge rocks!

I agree; Sourceforge does rock!

Ayam looks interesting. It took me a little while to figure out that it's Maya reversed though - oh, I'm slow these days. :)

swishy

Attached Link: POVtree

Maya backwards, yes. I didn't notice that right away. Also it could be an acronym for And Yet Another Modeler. So it works on two levels. LOL!

Very cool links, thanks! I really like the look of POVtree, hope there's a POV to .obj converter for Mac somewhere! - Baz

There is also Arbaro which has a built-in OBJ exporter.

thanks nruddock, I have Arbaro, I just like the look of POVtree! :o)