[EN] Rhino news - "Rhino Hair" alpha release! - Polyloop

jbshorty · 12th June 2009, 22:07

No joke! There is an alpha version of a hair generator for Rhino. This is not meant as a "serious" plugin but just created for fun by Damien Alomar (plugin developer of VRay for Rhino). He had been showing test images of his hair generator and with a little prodding from myself and others, he decided to tune it up for public release

. It actually creates a set of hair curves, and then grows mesh tubes along them. So it's not a dynamic hair system. But right now is the only solution for generating fibers in Rhino and will be a big improvement instead of importing static meshes. Looks like he plans to add some "styling" abilites like direction, clumping, taper, UV mapping, etc... The plugin can be downloaded from Damien's blog...

http://liquidtectonics.blogspot.com/...lic-alpha.html

Here is a fun test image from another user (p.schmidt)

shorty

carrozza · 12th June 2009, 23:12

Eheheh, funky creatures they feed up over at McNeel...

JB, any insight on the release date for Rhino 5 ?

jbshorty · 12th June 2009, 23:17

McNeel doesn't give estimated release dates for any software. But I expect it will be no earlier than the end of 2010, and more likely will be sometime in 2011...

carrozza · 13th June 2009, 01:15

So far away? I would never imagine that!

For that time even Blender could grow some NURBS features...

jbshorty · 13th June 2009, 01:45

Rhino 4 was in beta for at least 2.5 years that I can remember. And Rhino 5 is only WIP, not even a beta yet. But R4 had many core changes, R5 will not. So that's why i think only about 18 months... Anyway, you can be sure that R5 will be rock solid when it ships. It's a different paradigm from the "push it out and fix it later" approach of other companies...

shoeach · 13th June 2009, 01:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbshorty

But I expect it will be no earlier than the end of 2010, and more likely will be sometime in 2011...

!!

They gave me enough time to acquire latest rhino and also grace period until I can save money for upgrade to ver.5.

Syuichi

jbshorty · 13th June 2009, 02:58

Anyway you will have Rhino 5 for the 18 months already...

shoeach · 13th June 2009, 05:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbshorty

Anyway you will have Rhino 5 for the 18 months already...

Certainly.

Syuichi

bwtr · 13th June 2009, 06:21

carrozzo

You will, with a search, see the new level of Nurbs that will be in Blender2.5--and it's not far away!

Brian

jbshorty · 13th June 2009, 08:03

I see no indication that Blender would be of much use for real-world product design... Aren't you worried that MoI will be jealous if you spend time in Blender/Nurbana?

bwtr · 13th June 2009, 08:30

He He!

YES!
I am getting fedup with Carrara in Daz hands fouling up the good workings in earlier versions.
I think MoI is heading back into the direction of the complexity, not user friendly, ways of Rhino/Lightwave etc! (I hope I am proven wrong if we ever get an update?--just FAR too many you must only work this way "rules"?)

I am looking forward to Blender2.5 combined with 3D Coat.
Geewhiz------3D Coat and my copy of XSI maybe?

AND I hope I live through this winter!

Brian

jbshorty · 13th June 2009, 08:49

well, that's just the reality of a growing program. Either you add more tools to handle specific cases (like Rhino). OR you have consolidated tools which become bogged down with too many options buried within themselves (like I expect MoI will become). Actually i predicted this while MoI V1 was still in beta. Many people told me i was crazy but i still believe I am right. Consolidating functions doesn't always translate to greater user efficiency. In many cases, the opposite is true... You've been quiet lately. You feeling alright? I thought maybe you rode off on the big kangaroo to the 4th dimension...

bwtr · 13th June 2009, 09:25

"I thought maybe you rode off on the big kangaroo to the 4th dimension"

JB---it's a day by day exercise--a simple cold and I will go that way! (Struggle to finish breakfast by 11am!)

Have been spending more time on other forums trying! (as some may emphasize in a different context!) helping newbees.

I am boored with MoIs lack of progress, excited by the absolute opposite with 3D Coat.

Do I need MoI if I master3DC?---amazed at some of the Nerbs looking work being produced.

Blender it!---(may that be the new 3D swear word?)

Brian

carrozza · 13th June 2009, 13:40

Eheheh, guys you make me smile everyday!
I guess we computer-geeks never grow up, we just fake it for the sake of people around (hope no one get offended).

I'm very happy to see a good old dog like BWTR gliding around the same forums, we cross almost once a week.
The same thing is true for Frenchy Pilou... is there someone involved in CG who don't know Frenchy?

Back on topic, I agree with JB about application development: is very very hard to balance great features and ease of use.

In my opinion one of the best apps in this regard is still DAZ Hexagon, which manage to be a very capable subdivision modeler with great features, but still easy to catch up fast.

SketchUp is super-easy, but lacks some important features to take the modeling to the next level.

Blender is my current app of choice, and as lately I begun hitting some limits (mainly on modeling tools) I'm eagerly waiting the new 2.5 release.

Some Blender coolness... http://vimeo.com/5137477

jbshorty · 13th June 2009, 16:31

Blender is definitely looking good! I am also planning to learn it when 2.5 is released, to fill in the missing pieces of Modo... About Hex, yeah it's pretty straight forward in it's approach. One can build most anything with only 4 or 5 hotkeys to the most essential commands. But it also hits a brick wall when you need to make big changes to the topology, or you need to repeat a similar edit on many different local axes.

I suppose "Blender" could be a useful verb. for a Sunday morning hangover, one can say "Please don't talk so loud, I'm totally blendered"

-ash- · 14th June 2009, 10:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by carrozza

Back on topic, I agree with JB about application development: is very very hard to balance great features and ease of use.

Sorry, but I don't really agree with this. This is not so hard, just need people with the right skills (interaction design, interface design, HCI) and a willingness to use them.

What is hard is to balance great usable features with cost and time. When the choice is to quickly bolt on the new feature that marketing, users and product management are screaming for or to re-code large portions of the app to make it easier to use which way do you think companies are going to go?

After this has been going on for some time the code gets unmanageable, new features take longer and longer, users get annoyed at slow updates, etc. So they start again (e.g. LW Core, Cubase)

PS: also waiting for Blender 2.5

carrozza · 14th June 2009, 13:16

Mmmh, I'm not convinced yet.

I really don't see any application with a great set of feature, that manage to be also easy to use.

Look at modo, and also Rhino, for example: they are very powerful apps, they have 99% of the total features ever imagined in a graphic application, but man, it does have a cost on complexity!

In modo I feel like I'm in front of an airplane: even the dumbest tool has some 10-20 parameters and options to adjust.
That's what I call powerful but not easy.

-ash- · 14th June 2009, 17:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by carrozza

Mmmh, I'm not convinced yet.

I really don't see any application with a great set of feature, that manage to be also easy to use.

Look at modo, and also Rhino, for example: they are very powerful apps, they have 99% of the total features ever imagined in a graphic application, but man, it does have a cost on complexity!

In modo I feel like I'm in front of an airplane: even the dumbest tool has some 10-20 parameters and options to adjust.
That's what I call powerful but not easy.

Yep that's what I'm saying - it's not hard, per se, but it's time consuming and can be costly. So it's generally not done.

One that I do like is Lightroom. Don't think I ever looked at the manual - just used it. Then again they worked with a whole bunch of photographers throughout the development, and it shows.

As far as modo is concerned - I just like using it, there is something about it that makes me want to use it. It's not perfect as far as usablility is concerned though it's a lot better than the current Blender

12th June 2009, 22:07	#1 (permalink)
jbshorty subhuman infection Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: in a dirty sock Posts: 1,602	Rhino news - "Rhino Hair" alpha release! No joke! There is an alpha version of a hair generator for Rhino. This is not meant as a "serious" plugin but just created for fun by Damien Alomar (plugin developer of VRay for Rhino). He had been showing test images of his hair generator and with a little prodding from myself and others, he decided to tune it up for public release . It actually creates a set of hair curves, and then grows mesh tubes along them. So it's not a dynamic hair system. But right now is the only solution for generating fibers in Rhino and will be a big improvement instead of importing static meshes. Looks like he plans to add some "styling" abilites like direction, clumping, taper, UV mapping, etc... The plugin can be downloaded from Damien's blog... http://liquidtectonics.blogspot.com/...lic-alpha.html Here is a fun test image from another user (p.schmidt) shorty Attached Thumbnails

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12th June 2009, 23:12	#2 (permalink)
carrozza Extrusion Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Italy Posts: 151	Eheheh, funky creatures they feed up over at McNeel... JB, any insight on the release date for Rhino 5 ?

12th June 2009, 23:17	#3 (permalink)
jbshorty subhuman infection Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: in a dirty sock Posts: 1,602	McNeel doesn't give estimated release dates for any software. But I expect it will be no earlier than the end of 2010, and more likely will be sometime in 2011...

13th June 2009, 01:15	#4 (permalink)
carrozza Extrusion Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Italy Posts: 151	So far away? I would never imagine that! For that time even Blender could grow some NURBS features...

13th June 2009, 01:45	#5 (permalink)
jbshorty subhuman infection Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: in a dirty sock Posts: 1,602	Rhino 4 was in beta for at least 2.5 years that I can remember. And Rhino 5 is only WIP, not even a beta yet. But R4 had many core changes, R5 will not. So that's why i think only about 18 months... Anyway, you can be sure that R5 will be rock solid when it ships. It's a different paradigm from the "push it out and fix it later" approach of other companies...

13th June 2009, 02:58	#7 (permalink)
jbshorty subhuman infection Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: in a dirty sock Posts: 1,602	Anyway you will have Rhino 5 for the 18 months already...

13th June 2009, 06:21	#9 (permalink)
bwtr Brian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: South Australia Posts: 2,200	carrozzo You will, with a search, see the new level of Nurbs that will be in Blender2.5--and it's not far away! Brian

13th June 2009, 08:03	#10 (permalink)
jbshorty subhuman infection Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: in a dirty sock Posts: 1,602	I see no indication that Blender would be of much use for real-world product design... Aren't you worried that MoI will be jealous if you spend time in Blender/Nurbana?

13th June 2009, 08:30	#11 (permalink)
bwtr Brian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: South Australia Posts: 2,200	He He! YES! I am getting fedup with Carrara in Daz hands fouling up the good workings in earlier versions. I think MoI is heading back into the direction of the complexity, not user friendly, ways of Rhino/Lightwave etc! (I hope I am proven wrong if we ever get an update?--just FAR too many you must only work this way "rules"?) I am looking forward to Blender2.5 combined with 3D Coat. Geewhiz------3D Coat and my copy of XSI maybe? AND I hope I live through this winter! Brian

13th June 2009, 08:49	#12 (permalink)
jbshorty subhuman infection Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: in a dirty sock Posts: 1,602	well, that's just the reality of a growing program. Either you add more tools to handle specific cases (like Rhino). OR you have consolidated tools which become bogged down with too many options buried within themselves (like I expect MoI will become). Actually i predicted this while MoI V1 was still in beta. Many people told me i was crazy but i still believe I am right. Consolidating functions doesn't always translate to greater user efficiency. In many cases, the opposite is true... You've been quiet lately. You feeling alright? I thought maybe you rode off on the big kangaroo to the 4th dimension...

13th June 2009, 09:25	#13 (permalink)
bwtr Brian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: South Australia Posts: 2,200	"I thought maybe you rode off on the big kangaroo to the 4th dimension" JB---it's a day by day exercise--a simple cold and I will go that way! (Struggle to finish breakfast by 11am!) Have been spending more time on other forums trying! (as some may emphasize in a different context!) helping newbees. I am boored with MoIs lack of progress, excited by the absolute opposite with 3D Coat. Do I need MoI if I master3DC?---amazed at some of the Nerbs looking work being produced. Blender it!---(may that be the new 3D swear word?) Brian

13th June 2009, 13:40	#14 (permalink)
carrozza Extrusion Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Italy Posts: 151	Eheheh, guys you make me smile everyday! I guess we computer-geeks never grow up, we just fake it for the sake of people around (hope no one get offended). I'm very happy to see a good old dog like BWTR gliding around the same forums, we cross almost once a week. The same thing is true for Frenchy Pilou... is there someone involved in CG who don't know Frenchy? Back on topic, I agree with JB about application development: is very very hard to balance great features and ease of use. In my opinion one of the best apps in this regard is still DAZ Hexagon, which manage to be a very capable subdivision modeler with great features, but still easy to catch up fast. SketchUp is super-easy, but lacks some important features to take the modeling to the next level. Blender is my current app of choice, and as lately I begun hitting some limits (mainly on modeling tools) I'm eagerly waiting the new 2.5 release. Some Blender coolness... http://vimeo.com/5137477

13th June 2009, 16:31	#15 (permalink)
jbshorty subhuman infection Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: in a dirty sock Posts: 1,602	Blender is definitely looking good! I am also planning to learn it when 2.5 is released, to fill in the missing pieces of Modo... About Hex, yeah it's pretty straight forward in it's approach. One can build most anything with only 4 or 5 hotkeys to the most essential commands. But it also hits a brick wall when you need to make big changes to the topology, or you need to repeat a similar edit on many different local axes. I suppose "Blender" could be a useful verb. for a Sunday morning hangover, one can say "Please don't talk so loud, I'm totally blendered"

14th June 2009, 13:16	#17 (permalink)
carrozza Extrusion Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Italy Posts: 151	Mmmh, I'm not convinced yet. I really don't see any application with a great set of feature, that manage to be also easy to use. Look at modo, and also Rhino, for example: they are very powerful apps, they have 99% of the total features ever imagined in a graphic application, but man, it does have a cost on complexity! In modo I feel like I'm in front of an airplane: even the dumbest tool has some 10-20 parameters and options to adjust. That's what I call powerful but not easy.