It's a 3-click process (unless you want to play around with all the available parameters).
1 Select the surface(s); 2 select the greebles doo-dah from the tools menu; 3 hit the "make greeble" button.

The above indicates what it can do using the default settings.

And with 2 more clicks (see next post)...

(PS - the lousy quality of the pics is 'cos I over-reduced them by mistake. the actual results look rather better than that)

And, before anyone asks, yes, AC3D can export in .obj format, so the results can be imported into Bryce.

Cheers,
Diolma

I must admit that that looks pretty cool! I could replicate your results using Wings using the grid primitive, but it would take quite considerably more than 3-5 clicks.

Attached Link: http://www.ac3d.org/downloads.html

As with all things, there's a good side and a bad side to this feature.
Good side here: It can be very quick.
Bad side here: The results are random.

Although, if you're just looking for something to add additional detail without wanting anything specific, especially if the result is going to be in the mid-to-far distance and "sci-fi" related, then random results should work fine:-))

BTW - you can get a free 14-day trial of AC3D from the above link. I'm not sure of the cost of the app (I think it's in the range $60-$70) 'cos I updated from AC3D 5 (which cost me about  £13-£14 (don't know what that is in dollars). The greebles sold it to me.

AC3D has a somewhat different work-flow compared to wings, so you may not like it. But it's not that difficult to learn, comes with a manual (HTML format), and although it has some severe limitations (eg, you can't select edges directly, only objects, faces and verts), it can still do box-modelling. EG, extrude, bevel, inset, edge extrude (although you have to select the verts of the edge for that).  It also has some nifty features that I've not yet found in any other 3D modellers (such as "select object, optimise verts". Instant weld of identical verts, throughout the whole object). It's just another string to the bow.
With greebles:-))

It's biggest drawback as far as I'm concerned is that it can't be used for Morph Targes for Poser. On export (or more likely, on import) of .obj files, the vertex order gets changed, so the result can't be used as a Morph Target unless you like to create randomly exploding spikes in Poser.

I hasten to add, I have nothing whatsoever to do with Invis or any of its products, I'm just a happy user...

Cheers,
Diolma

Thanks Diolma. I'll check it out.

Thanks Diolma - I got V5 for the Mac cause I needed a DirectX exporter (which is hard to find on the Mac) and I found it to be a great little app. Afraid I could never get around the Wings interface (different strokes I guess) but AC3D's made a lot of sense to me. The greebles makes the upgrade very attractive.

cool i love haveing greebles with my cornflakes but becarfull greebles are fatning and addictive i don't have this program but it looks like i'm wanting it now and it's only becouse of those pesky  greebles thats making me interested in it.

Diolma left out one important item (unless I missed it and in that case Im sorry) but you can make CUSTOM greebles along with the automatic ones...

@ellocolobo-Wow! Even cooler then! Definitely worth having. Another great tool for the toolbox. It would be a tremendous time-saver on a commercial sci-fi production.  I must confess though that I still really enjoy building greebles(and nurnies too) by hand, and I think I'm gradually getting better at them. You could even add your own hand-meshed additional details to this base starter file, like the one pictured.

Attached Link: http://www.blender.org

I use Blender as a toolkit for the few things Wings doesn't do. Usually I wind up exporting the discombobulated object into Wings, then texturing, and further tweaking, etc. It's not an elegant solution, but it's cheap (i.e., free..;)

Now if Wings only had a discombobulator...sigh..;)

ellocobo:

"Diolma left out one important item (unless I missed it and in that case Im sorry) but you can make CUSTOM greebles along with the automatic ones..."

Indeed I did miss it out. I hadn't even noticed that feature (will investigate fairly soon).

I was just so chuffed with the greebles feature that I rushed into "publication" before doing much more than a quick try-out.

I havn't even tried playing with the various parameters so far.

But as this is the BRYCE forum, not the (non-existant) AC3D forum, maybe it's better not to go into too much detail. Unless somebody wants to, of course. And/Or, pester Admin to set up an AC3D forum (I'd be in there like a shot!!)

Cheers,
Diolma

Quote - ... not the (non-existant) AC3D forum, maybe it's better not to go into too much detail. Unless somebody wants to, of course. And/Or, pester Admin to set up an AC3D forum (I'd be in there like a shot!!)

You could always use the 3D Modelling forum, as it's meant a a catch-all for those apps without their own specific forum.

Hey Pakled; cheap works for me exceedingly well. Besides, it would take a truckload of Henry Higgins's to make me elegant. Now, if I can just get my mind wrapped around its U.I. and menu/command structure.

"You could always use the 3D Modelling forum, as it's meant a a catch-all for those apps without their own specific forum."

Ooops - I'd missed that one! maybe I will alter my profile to include it, then go in and start pestering the life out of them for hint's 'n' tips on using AC3D.

And if anything relevant ever comes up, I can post a link here to it..:-))

But that's for tomorrow (if I remember).

Cheers,
Diolma

well..I'd show ya, but the max filesize can't get all the screen in...grrr..:|  I swear I'm going to have to make a tutorial one of these days..

Why o why isn't there a greebler in Wings? I tried Blender but it's a totally crazy program (for me); will take another look at AC3D.

Blender is an awesome program, with (IMHO) an awful interface! if you persevere it can do wonders.

Just out of interest the 3d modelling forum here is a good resource, talk about modelling ideas in any app....

hmm..got the impression that if you weren't using something like Max, Rhino, Maya, etc., you were taking up space..'course that was a coupla years ago..;)

Nope, there are some good blender supporters in there.

ok..sat down last night and did a tut on Discombobulate. Kinda vague, because I don't want to scare anyone (and I'm still learning about it..;), but it tells you how to arrive at the Discombobulate window, and some things you can do there. It's mainly a 'mess around and see what you can do' tutorial.

It was uploaded last night, so I don't know how long that will take, but it will be in the 3d Modeling tutorial section.

Thanks Pakled! I don't know how soon I'll get around to trying it, but it's really nice that you took the time. I'm still trying to learn my way around the various functions and modelers in Carrara, not to mention Hex2. Heck, I can't even claim to have mastered Wings yet, but it's the modeler i use the most.

Just in case anyone thinks I'm ignoring my own thread...
I'm not:...

But you're all doing a great job without me, so feel free to carry on :biggrin:
(One of these days I'll learn the name of an additional emoticon... - too lazy to open smilies, wait, cut'n'paste etc..)

Cheers,
Diolma