**Whimsical posted a link to this piece of modelling candy......

http://www.cbmodelpro.com

It can do things I've never seen before - ie: bend cylinders and it's VERY fast and very simple. I can see it replacing the heretical Wings3d.......LOL
It's free for 15 days, then you have to register, but that's free too!

I'll check with the other Cardinals to see where we stand on this one.**

I hope they approve it... it does look promising.

Yeah, it's like Amorphium.

Cool that its free.

I did the download and fiddled with it a bit...... looks promising. Lou.

Cool!! Looks like you can texture models inside the proggie and even export normal maps(which a Carrara plug-in can use) from your high-poly model. I do hope that His Eminence and the other Cardinals decide that it's heretical (after all, it's free, like Wings) otherwise I won't enjoy using it as much. ;-)

Place yer bets;
Will the official 1.0 version cost $$?

(Probably, but it would be cool if they kept the free beta available to lure potential buyers)

It seems to be associated with the parent company that Solidworks is associated with.... which makes me think it would eventually cost $$$.

I did delete an object I made, but I had to do it piece by piece.

It's an interesting program.... can do some nice jellyfish... but making a non-organic object seems a bit hard.

Yup, like in ZBrush. It's possible but its a fight to do so.

I went for the already made objects........  

It's a lot of fun...I have had it for a while..This is the reg rules...

THIS IS A 15-DAY FULLY-FUNCTIONAL BETA VERSION.
AFTER THIS PERIOD, YOU MUST REGISTER TO CONTINUE USING THE SOFTWARE ABSOLUTELY FREE OF CHARGE

WHAT ABOUT EXPORTING .obj?!!
IS THERE A PROBLEM WITH EXPORTING???
I Just snagged and bagged this puppy - can I USE this thing for BRYCE / DAZ STUDIO stuff now in it's BETA form - or is it just a kinky coffee time toy that CAN'T REALLY EXPORT USEABLE MESHES?!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

It exported my jellyfish just fine.

ok - cool - panic attack over - 10'4 good buddy....

I couldn't export - whats the trick?

OK - OK - NOW I'M GETTING WORRIED.....

tom271 seen that and pressed it - no joy

So I used a 9mats material by xceiverx

look in your my documents folder for a  my cb models folder.Thats where it exported to on my pc.

Pity you can't decide what to call the file you're saving - or exporting, I do hope it won't keep saving it as "file1" all the time.

I think you can import, but it's tricky. I only tried it once. Imported an ivy from the Ivy Generator... it came into the program, was listed, but the ivy exceded the poly count. It was the only .obj I had available at the time. What you do is copy the obj file to the directory where the other .obj's are at. A restart of the program might be needed, but it wasn't for me. The thing found the ivy by the time I alt-tabbed back to it.

Thanks DM...  I thought of that method too but never tried it....   I guess the planted obj file has to be reasonable in size...

I do hope it won't keep saving it as "file1" all the time.

No it saves it in a numeric sequence... file 1, file 2, file /n....  

Hmmm, I got an idea to try with a "sheet" primitive. Might be just the thing to make a row of curling, crashing breakers on a seashore. I'll post a WIP later.

I tried a few times making a curled parchment... someone had asked about that some weeks before. I get close with it, but not close enough. It does well for wavey flags ;-)

I've got two things to try... an organic chair and curtains.   Hrm... memories of 1920 gangster movies "it's curtains for you!" come to mine......

Can do some nice pillows... Maybe it's time to do a harem scene with lots of pillows. Either that or a marshmellows (sp?) for a candy theme.  Or melting ice cubes....

The program has a bit of solidworks feel to it. The animated effect when moving the camera around in particular.

Ooo  maybe tentacles!  

Another way to import, between the two blue arrows in the toolbox menu, there's either a blue folder or another icon that looks like a pyramid, cube, sphere... click that and it'll open a Windows Explorer window where you can select items to import. Must be 100 kb or less. The PDF file explains better on page 4.

If you import an object with sharp edges, the program will round it. So a pyramid will import looking like a marshmellow (sp?) pyramid.

marshimelloes.....  with hot cocoa...

All I know is - I'm gonna hold on to this bad boy cause it's gonna go big bucks once the kinks are out - and ya never know when it's gonna come in handy.

Fran, when are you going to cover that in Ivy?

OK if you can import tell me how. I could nto fidn an import  function. If I can paint normal maps might prove interesting.

There's a short (12 pages)well-written PDF manual available on the site. It explains the import procedure there. Sounds like it converts everything to tri's, even when the imported primitive is quads to begin with. Of course, I don't think that will matter a bit if you are exporting a normal map out of the program to use in another.

Quote - Fran, when are you going to cover that in Ivy?

Uncle,
Ah, never thought of that, Lol! - I'll have to install the Ivy prog on the laptop, and CB Modeller too, I was just playing with it at the weekend on the PC at home.

**danamo,
** I couldn't find any manual on the site, - I'll have to look again.

I spoke with Thomas Luft - the guy that designed the IVY GENERATOR - and he commented that he's considering revising the license to clarify it in order to say that the SOFTWARE ITSELF is not for integration into commercial products, but IMAGES produced USING the program will be the artists property - and thus - be useable royalty free for commercial purposes.

Fran , you can find the online documentation ( or copy the PDF) on the bottom of the FAQ's page, where it says- "Q:  Can I browse the documentation online?
A:  Yes, CB Model Pro Documentation". 

The program does have some interesting uses. It goes great to model a shape perfect for something like steam from a coffee cup. It works well making something that looks like coffee residue.. like after you start drinking some cappuccino and a bit of that foam is on the inside side of the cup.. that kind of stuff. I'm just having a tiny bit of trouble modeling my foam texture to that sort of shape. Need more time to play with it.

" I*t goes great to model a shape perfect for something like steam from a coffee cup. It works well making something that looks like coffee residue.. "

could you show some samples of that steam....  even if it is a little crude....

I've tried to make nice vapors using just Bryce objects and there was always something not right (probably my skill level at the time). What I do like about this CB Model Pro program is it's like the TE with better control. Easier to pull/poke and rotate them all around.

Anyway, this is all just experimentation. Crude experiments, but something is indeed here. Just gotta flesh it out.

Oh, anyway, forgot to mention... what I was experimenting with here coffee cup thing was to make some slight steam.. not a whole lot, just a whisper of it. With that in mind, you can see there's a bit of something over the foam. But, crude experiment.. same mat as the foam.. so kinda blended with the foam. More experiments later though.

I can see just barely something in trems of steam....   But in over all I see what you can do...    very nice use of CB material...  They should be updating CB Model... It might be worth while writing and letting them know you like their program..

Mean time can you please pick up that mess you made.....

That steam might show up better (in the cup) if the cup was a darker material... maybe.

Looks pretty good on the ground, although it doesn't look as if it's actually resting on the ground, but that's probably because it's frothy...

I can't remember, did you say you were planning on making this coffee cup etc a freebie? or is it for a commercial project?

:-)   I haven't thought about freebie or commercial model with the cup. I would like to actually produce a physical cup and have started the research on pricing and location. I could order 100 of the ceramics for under $200 if I do it overseas, but shipping will be a killer. No clue yet on the metal part... my contact is currently looking into that. I have no clue about putting a logo for a store on it.

Is it possible to reverse engineer a model? Take an .obj and pass it back into Rhino or some other CAD program and approximate dimensions? I think it is, so will have to consider this. Then again it's really not difficult to just do one to look like this one.

I'm also looking into local patent laws if I do have this thing made overseas.

Opinions on making this a freebie is welcomed because I would want to do that. Either that or sell it to the Poser folks. If it does become a freebie, it'll be only to those in this Bryce forum.

I'll need some time to think about it.

Okay, I have thought of this a bit and will release the cup as a freebie to the Bryce forum. I will need later today to slap together a readme file and stuff like that. What would be the most convenient format? .Obj?