How to (software)

Submitted by melvosh on
Forum
Programmers

Heyas,
Seeing as not much action happens in here i thought id ask a question relating to the creation of software.
In particular something i want to make (but cant) so want some thoughts on how you guys would do it.

"The visualiser is a design tool created to aid in the concept design of real life Hot Rods. With a lot of time and effort that goes into designing concept sketches the visualiser will speed up the process and at the same time show the user his creation in true 3d all in real time"

The above is my short description of the software.
Does this explain what im wanting? (to a degree)

Basically i want something that visually looks like a 3d modeller (3d max, milkshape etc etc along those lines)
The user can import a basic car model and in turn modify the car with in the software. (wheels, motors etc etc)

My idea was to model each car model, car part , car modification seperatly. Then swap them in and out via the software. Would this be the right way to go?

I guess visual quality would have to be high too or perhaps a low, medium and high resolution option...

There are similar pieces of software out there that i have looked out but most of them are either slow or not visually pleasing. Plus they all use flash MX or similar software, which isnt a bad way to go i guess...

So guys any idea how i could get something like this going?

Cheers
Adam

Submitted by rezn0r on Tue, 15/05/07 - 3:29 AMPermalink

Wow, I think I have the same wish. I have a chopper that I've turned into a bit of a streetrod, and there are literally 1000's of parts you can incorporate... I've always been curious to see just what it'd look like with a snakeskin "Corbin Stinger" seat, shortshot Vance & Hines pipes etc... BEFORE I go and blow $800 per accessory without even seeing how it all fits together.

I've thought about a 3D program with all of the bits and pieces modelled so you can plop them on, but when I imagine it, I think it would end up being a rather junky program.

I quite like the flash based sites that show varous photo angles of the part (like this), for their simplicity, but it's then hard to get a good approximation of how it will look as a whole.

Two Thoughts:

You probably already have a good general idea of what elements you want to add to your Rod... you wouldn?t find yourself modeling the parts that you don?t intend to use on your own project. Have you considered that it may be a better alternative to bolster your skills in a proprietary modeling package, and only model the elements you?re considering? If all of your (usually scant) spare time disappears in your garage, maybe you could put together a good set of specs and references on the parts you?re considering, and work with a modeler here that?s keen to get a bit of extra practice.

If you?re considering this software as a business venture, it may be wiser to again do the modeling from scratch, and offer a service (like Virtual Mechanix except geared towards realworld mechanics). I?ve worked on (or near) enough ?3DSMAX except for X application? projects now to know how much time and money you have to throw at them to get something remotely useful.

My 2 cents.

Cheers,

Scott.

Submitted by melvosh on Tue, 15/05/07 - 11:08 AMPermalink

Scott,
Yep i have seen plenty of those flash style things, i agree they are nifty but...

Speaking of choppers there is a company that does do a chopper chop shop.
http://www.virtual-cycles.com
I actually spoke to them years ago when they were starting out about doing a car version with me, but i couldnt raise the capital to get me in at the time. Im sort of glad i didnt because the program they do is great but not quite what i had in mind.

I can model quite good so its not the modelling aspect im thinking about it was sort of one those "i wish" business ventures i have been pursuing for a number of years.

Yeh i could offer the service to real world car builders but my "idea" in long term was to allow the hobbyist and real builder to play with the software them selves.

But knowing how long it takes to model stuff i think this would be the limiting factor. I mean you couldnt really model every car and every part.
I wanted to limit it to Hot Rods as a start and so on.
I guess another factor would be how detailed do u go on the models...

Cheers
Adam

Posted by melvosh on
Forum
Programmers

Heyas,
Seeing as not much action happens in here i thought id ask a question relating to the creation of software.
In particular something i want to make (but cant) so want some thoughts on how you guys would do it.

"The visualiser is a design tool created to aid in the concept design of real life Hot Rods. With a lot of time and effort that goes into designing concept sketches the visualiser will speed up the process and at the same time show the user his creation in true 3d all in real time"

The above is my short description of the software.
Does this explain what im wanting? (to a degree)

Basically i want something that visually looks like a 3d modeller (3d max, milkshape etc etc along those lines)
The user can import a basic car model and in turn modify the car with in the software. (wheels, motors etc etc)

My idea was to model each car model, car part , car modification seperatly. Then swap them in and out via the software. Would this be the right way to go?

I guess visual quality would have to be high too or perhaps a low, medium and high resolution option...

There are similar pieces of software out there that i have looked out but most of them are either slow or not visually pleasing. Plus they all use flash MX or similar software, which isnt a bad way to go i guess...

So guys any idea how i could get something like this going?

Cheers
Adam

Submitted by rezn0r on Tue, 15/05/07 - 3:29 AMPermalink

Wow, I think I have the same wish. I have a chopper that I've turned into a bit of a streetrod, and there are literally 1000's of parts you can incorporate... I've always been curious to see just what it'd look like with a snakeskin "Corbin Stinger" seat, shortshot Vance & Hines pipes etc... BEFORE I go and blow $800 per accessory without even seeing how it all fits together.

I've thought about a 3D program with all of the bits and pieces modelled so you can plop them on, but when I imagine it, I think it would end up being a rather junky program.

I quite like the flash based sites that show varous photo angles of the part (like this), for their simplicity, but it's then hard to get a good approximation of how it will look as a whole.

Two Thoughts:

You probably already have a good general idea of what elements you want to add to your Rod... you wouldn?t find yourself modeling the parts that you don?t intend to use on your own project. Have you considered that it may be a better alternative to bolster your skills in a proprietary modeling package, and only model the elements you?re considering? If all of your (usually scant) spare time disappears in your garage, maybe you could put together a good set of specs and references on the parts you?re considering, and work with a modeler here that?s keen to get a bit of extra practice.

If you?re considering this software as a business venture, it may be wiser to again do the modeling from scratch, and offer a service (like Virtual Mechanix except geared towards realworld mechanics). I?ve worked on (or near) enough ?3DSMAX except for X application? projects now to know how much time and money you have to throw at them to get something remotely useful.

My 2 cents.

Cheers,

Scott.

Submitted by melvosh on Tue, 15/05/07 - 11:08 AMPermalink

Scott,
Yep i have seen plenty of those flash style things, i agree they are nifty but...

Speaking of choppers there is a company that does do a chopper chop shop.
http://www.virtual-cycles.com
I actually spoke to them years ago when they were starting out about doing a car version with me, but i couldnt raise the capital to get me in at the time. Im sort of glad i didnt because the program they do is great but not quite what i had in mind.

I can model quite good so its not the modelling aspect im thinking about it was sort of one those "i wish" business ventures i have been pursuing for a number of years.

Yeh i could offer the service to real world car builders but my "idea" in long term was to allow the hobbyist and real builder to play with the software them selves.

But knowing how long it takes to model stuff i think this would be the limiting factor. I mean you couldnt really model every car and every part.
I wanted to limit it to Hot Rods as a start and so on.
I guess another factor would be how detailed do u go on the models...

Cheers
Adam