Messing around in 3D Studio R4: Rendering a couple of the sample files
195I couldn't find video footage of any of the DOS-era versions of 3D Studio on YouTube anywhere, so I figure I'd upload a few "time capsule" type clips. Nothing too interesting, but it's kind of neat to see how rigid the interface was of this early-90s suite compared to the more fluid and natural 3D software that's on the market we have available today.
The pre-MAX 3D Studios were rather weak tools for modeling; you could create basic shapes, and you could Loft 2D shapes. But it did not include modeling capabilities we take for granted today such as subdivision modeling or sculpting. And yet somehow there were talented artists back then who had the patience to put up with the very limited modeling feature set (the Lofting editor was about as complex as it got, which is primitive by today's standards) and create shapes that went very well beyond the primitive ones!
In this video I render the two example files included on the product's CD that have always been my favorites: CHAPEL.3DS was a scene from the Trilobyte game The 7th Guest, which was rendered almost entirely in 3D Studio (if it was also modeled entirely in 3D Studio, then that's truly amazing). PCACITY.3DS is the scene of the Chrysler building surrounded by some other buildings, used on the box art for 3D Studio Release 3; but I am unsure who exactly created that scene.
The chances are unlikely, but if anyone might happen upon this video who was a professional 3D artist back in the early 90s and had to model in this program, I'm curious to hear how you made extremely intricate shapes (intricate by this program's standards) out of the rather limited feature set in 3D Studio's modeling tool repertoire. Or, as I might be guessing, was 3D Studio always looked at as, literally, a "studio" more than a "workbench", and you used other software to do the modeling?
In the near or distant future -- whenever I find the time -- I will also be uploading footage of the 2D Shape Editor and Lofter, the Keyframer, the Materials Editor, and other curiosities.
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| 2010-01-30 | Obscure Game Time: HR2 by Artdink (1994), Part 1/3 |
| 2009-07-17 | Messing around in 3D Studio R4: 2D Shaper, Lofter, and 90's-style Raytracing |
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| 2009-06-21 | Messing around in 3D Studio R4: Rendering a couple of the sample files |
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