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1
Chrono Cross Modification / Re: Adding Cross models and images to encyclopedia
« on: September 06, 2009, 10:31:58 pm »
I tried it briefly.
The advantage of utunnels's version is that your texture polygons always have UV coordinates that are exactly between pixels. The disadvantage is that you are not able to use the last row and column of a 256 x 256 texture, even though there is data there. Not sure which is better, although I'm tending to agree with the utunnels version.
I've summarized where I recall things being in the two attached images. They depict the same exact Serge model viewed in the normal Blender editing window and with the render previewer. As you can see, neither image is perfect.
The normal view shows a thin line down Serge's back and some unexpected orange splotching on the backs of the shoulders. This seems to be due to some blurring of adjacent pixels, and ensuring that the UV coordinates fall exactly between pixels does not help here. This goes away in the render preview. (Although I've not shown it here, the render preview also allows for proper handling of transparent portions of models, e.g. Glenn's bangs.)
However, the render preview shows a problem at the bottom front of Serge's shirt. This is due to the existence of two faces occupying nearly the same space. One of these faces points toward the viewer, while the other points in towards Serge. Only one of these faces should be viewable at a time (based on the location of the observer), but for some reason the renderer is trying to draw them both.
It would be better for ZeaLitY if we could fix the render view, as this would allow for much larger images to be taken. This means fixing the double faces issue. Ideas anyone?
The advantage of utunnels's version is that your texture polygons always have UV coordinates that are exactly between pixels. The disadvantage is that you are not able to use the last row and column of a 256 x 256 texture, even though there is data there. Not sure which is better, although I'm tending to agree with the utunnels version.
I've summarized where I recall things being in the two attached images. They depict the same exact Serge model viewed in the normal Blender editing window and with the render previewer. As you can see, neither image is perfect.
The normal view shows a thin line down Serge's back and some unexpected orange splotching on the backs of the shoulders. This seems to be due to some blurring of adjacent pixels, and ensuring that the UV coordinates fall exactly between pixels does not help here. This goes away in the render preview. (Although I've not shown it here, the render preview also allows for proper handling of transparent portions of models, e.g. Glenn's bangs.)
However, the render preview shows a problem at the bottom front of Serge's shirt. This is due to the existence of two faces occupying nearly the same space. One of these faces points toward the viewer, while the other points in towards Serge. Only one of these faces should be viewable at a time (based on the location of the observer), but for some reason the renderer is trying to draw them both.
It would be better for ZeaLitY if we could fix the render view, as this would allow for much larger images to be taken. This means fixing the double faces issue. Ideas anyone?
2
General Discussion / Re: MIDI or similar composers?
« on: April 20, 2009, 11:25:40 pm »
I was able to get a working and usable Rosegarden setup via Planet CCRMA, which is for Fedora/CentOS. Even easier would be Ubuntu Studio, but when I tried it I had some issues with the real-time kernel.
My preliminary experience with Rosegarden is that the theory of combining the features of scorewriters, sequencers, and digital audio workstations is sound, but Rosegarden's implementation of this is somewhat lacking. I would be interested to hear others' feedback.
Scorewriting is a feature I would like to have in my music composition pipeline, as I would like to compose works to be performed as well as sampled. To that end I've been leaning towards Lilypond, and have been keeping an eye on MuseScore and the relatively-young Canorus.
My preliminary experience with Rosegarden is that the theory of combining the features of scorewriters, sequencers, and digital audio workstations is sound, but Rosegarden's implementation of this is somewhat lacking. I would be interested to hear others' feedback.
Scorewriting is a feature I would like to have in my music composition pipeline, as I would like to compose works to be performed as well as sampled. To that end I've been leaning towards Lilypond, and have been keeping an eye on MuseScore and the relatively-young Canorus.
3
General Discussion / Re: MIDI or similar composers?
« on: April 10, 2009, 09:20:46 am »
I recently tried out LMMS, the Linux MultiMedia Studio - despite its name, it's also available for Windows - and was rather impressed. It's catching up in functionality to proprietary software like FL Studio, and it's free. In software like this you place notes on a grid that is analogous to a piano roll on old-time pianos. No MIDI keyboard required here either; you can do it all with a mouse and, as Ramsus said, patience.
There are a number of freely-available soundfonts that will give you MIDI-like (or better) quality patches. Google is your friend here; you will probably want collections that correspond to the General MIDI (GM) standard. In particular you will probably want to download GM soundfonts of a few different sizes so that your RAM isn't overwhelmed.
There are a number of freely-available soundfonts that will give you MIDI-like (or better) quality patches. Google is your friend here; you will probably want collections that correspond to the General MIDI (GM) standard. In particular you will probably want to download GM soundfonts of a few different sizes so that your RAM isn't overwhelmed.
4
Chrono Cross Modification / Re: CHRONO CROSS MODEL PROJECT THREAD
« on: March 17, 2009, 10:17:19 am »
Use my model import script (version 0.4.0) in Blender. If that's troublesome then I can upload the .blend files, but not until at least this evening.
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Chrono Cross Modification / Re: CHRONO CROSS MODEL PROJECT THREAD
« on: March 17, 2009, 09:05:25 am »
Here you go.
6
General Discussion / Re: Ladies And Gentlemen, We Have A Wiki
« on: March 15, 2009, 01:46:50 am »
@Ziggyzoozoo:
Your wiki is a Chrono fan project, and as such, it suffers from the problems that all Chrono fan projects have. Even the "good" projects - those with an attainable goal and a passionate and capable leader - will struggle to attract the talent and resources needed to achieve critical mass, let alone finish successfully. There's only so many good people around, and the more projects there are, the harder it is for everyone to attract such people.
One reason the Compendium has been so successful is the effort of its leaders. I've lurked for a number of years now - that makes me feel old
- and ZeaLitY has consistently demonstrated an otherworldly passion for all things Chrono. He is committed to making the Compendium the resource for all things Chrono. Similarly, the immense success we've had with Trigger and Cross hacking is due to a team of committed people, who I will avoid naming in fear that I might forget one.
In general, fan project leaders can and should expect to shoulder the vast majority of the burden, especially in the early going, but continuing throughout the project. I think Chrono Wiki would be no exception.
As for Chrono Wiki itself, I find myself wanting to talk you out of it. Is open community access really so valuable in such a small community? My impression is that the information is the most important thing, and the amount of effort required to duplicate the Compendium's encyclopedia would be quite large.
You might find this thread and this thread valuable reading. From the latter:
And from the former:
Now I don't mean to discourage you. The Chrono community needs all the passionate fan creators it can get! But my opinion is that your efforts would be better placed elsewhere. I also don't intend to single you and/or your project out. Understand that here we see so many fan project proposals that are neat ideas but untenable for one or more - occasionally many more - reasons, and so quickly and counterproductively fall apart. I have unfortunately been involved with multiple of these, hence my inherent skepticism.
Your wiki is a Chrono fan project, and as such, it suffers from the problems that all Chrono fan projects have. Even the "good" projects - those with an attainable goal and a passionate and capable leader - will struggle to attract the talent and resources needed to achieve critical mass, let alone finish successfully. There's only so many good people around, and the more projects there are, the harder it is for everyone to attract such people.
One reason the Compendium has been so successful is the effort of its leaders. I've lurked for a number of years now - that makes me feel old
- and ZeaLitY has consistently demonstrated an otherworldly passion for all things Chrono. He is committed to making the Compendium the resource for all things Chrono. Similarly, the immense success we've had with Trigger and Cross hacking is due to a team of committed people, who I will avoid naming in fear that I might forget one.In general, fan project leaders can and should expect to shoulder the vast majority of the burden, especially in the early going, but continuing throughout the project. I think Chrono Wiki would be no exception.
As for Chrono Wiki itself, I find myself wanting to talk you out of it. Is open community access really so valuable in such a small community? My impression is that the information is the most important thing, and the amount of effort required to duplicate the Compendium's encyclopedia would be quite large.
You might find this thread and this thread valuable reading. From the latter:
Unfortunately, the community size never reached the critical mass needed to sustain a real wiki without fear of vandalism or other problems, so we closed it after the first few years to avoid problems, but that left us with some garbage and poorly edited (or never edited) contributed text.
However, if you want to rewrite part of something, feel free to post a link (as you just did) and your version of the text. Someone should notice and make the change.
And from the former:
The problem is splitting viewership among two sites and also splitting authority. The only feasible "split" regarding anything is the shearing of fan works off from the Compendium to the ChronoFan label, which would be a site more geared towards showcasing fan creation (as opposed to the Compendium's system of manually adding stuff to the encyclopedia or creating features). It's still hard to gauge what kind of difference that would make on popularity.
But to make an encyclopedia is like keeping two sets of records for an organization. The Chrono encyclopedia was open for quite some time, and hardly anyone contributed outside KWhazit and Leebot, who did Accessories (Chrono Trigger) and Weapons (Chrono Cross). Only when I finished it myself did we close it off forever because it was obvious that my touch was the only way to get it done.
So whatever other Wiki that exists out there will always, always be inferior to this one. Even if it were an independent project different from the Compendium, if it ever did something better than we do, I would immediately update our own pages to make us better than them in term. That's the "demon workaholic overseer" mentality that Ramsus spoke of and the Compendium motto, "supero omnia". This is all IF anyone contributed to the Wiki, and judging from our own track record and the fact that getting anyone to do anything for a collaborative project in the Chrono community is like pushing a boulder up a hill, any new site or Wiki would probably just sit there in emptiness.
If you want amazing ways to promote the Chrono series and the Compendium, start thinking. There is only so much we can do. Crimson Echoes or a fan sequel will get a lot of attention, just as Wikipedia will. But there isn't much else.
Now I don't mean to discourage you. The Chrono community needs all the passionate fan creators it can get! But my opinion is that your efforts would be better placed elsewhere. I also don't intend to single you and/or your project out. Understand that here we see so many fan project proposals that are neat ideas but untenable for one or more - occasionally many more - reasons, and so quickly and counterproductively fall apart. I have unfortunately been involved with multiple of these, hence my inherent skepticism.
7
Chrono Cross Modification / Chrono Cross Model Importer for Blender
« on: January 29, 2009, 12:56:49 am »
The Chrono Cross Model Importer is a Blender import plugin that allows users to import Chrono Cross models for viewing and manipulation in Blender, a free, open source, cross-platform 3D modeling application. The plugin is a Python script.
The most recent version of the script is v0.4.0, released 29 Jan 2009. With this version the rest state of all model files (battle and overworld) are viewable with textures. Due to Blender's difficulties with transparency, some of the models will appear somewhat different.
See the attachments at the end of this post to download. The script is provided in the ZIP compressed format. Instructions for installation and use can be found within the script file. Feedback and questions are encouraged.
This post will be updated as future versions of the script are released.
Changelog
v0.4.0: 2009.01.29
v0.3.1: 2008.05.27
v0.3.0: 2008.05.14
[attachment deleted by admin]
The most recent version of the script is v0.4.0, released 29 Jan 2009. With this version the rest state of all model files (battle and overworld) are viewable with textures. Due to Blender's difficulties with transparency, some of the models will appear somewhat different.
See the attachments at the end of this post to download. The script is provided in the ZIP compressed format. Instructions for installation and use can be found within the script file. Feedback and questions are encouraged.
This post will be updated as future versions of the script are released.
Changelog
v0.4.0: 2009.01.29
- Ground-up rewrite to take advantage of Python's object-oriented capabilities.
- Modified to be able to handle models with multiple textures.
- Modified to be able to handle textures of varying size.
- Improved console output to facilitate debugging.
v0.3.1: 2008.05.27
- Steps to improve Blender viewing of models: turn off mipmapping and interpolation, enable transparency in rendering.
v0.3.0: 2008.05.14
- Fixed remaining bugs in vertex unpacking; all models' vertices and faces are now viewable with 99% accuracy.
- Deferred attempt to derive armature from joint data.
[attachment deleted by admin]
8
Chrono Cross Modification / Re: Grobyc's 3D Model Wanted
« on: January 22, 2009, 05:23:33 pm »
As requested, here's Grobyc. Zip contains a .blend file for viewing in Blender.
[attachment deleted by admin]
[attachment deleted by admin]
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Chrono Cross Modification / Re: CHRONO CROSS MODEL PROJECT THREAD
« on: January 18, 2009, 12:27:44 am »10
Chrono Cross Modification / Re: CHRONO CROSS MODEL PROJECT THREAD
« on: January 17, 2009, 02:12:58 pm »
Happens to be the very file I was using to test my batch script.
My current collection (root folder ~):
~/alternate: 5 overworld models (from OAM: 3 cats from S.S. Zelbess, Dragoon Viper Manor disguise, Korcha's boat)
~/enemies: 146 battle models (from MISC 3211-3707)
~/other: 5 overworld models (mermaid, young Serge, Miguel, Wazuki, Toma)
~/playable: 52 overworld models (from OMCM) + 52 battle models (from MISC 3054-3210)
My naming scheme is as given in the example, for Serge:
~/playable/Serge/SergeBattleModel
~/playable/Serge/SergeBattleTexture.png
~/playable/Serge/SergeOverworldModel
~/playable/Serge/SergeOverworldTexture.png
Another example, the Time Devourer:
~/enemies/TimeDevourer/TimeDevourerBattleModel
~/enemies/TimeDevourer/TimeDevourerBattleTexture0.png
~/enemies/TimeDevourer/TimeDevourerBattleTexture1.png
The textures for the double-textured models are numbered in the order they should be chosen by the plugin, starting from 0. Also, in all texture files I have set pure black (rgb 0, 0, 0) to fully transparent.
There are a lot more models to be found. We have to go through the NPCs from the room folders (as noted here). I'm thinking there are some models only on Disc 2 (the Lunar Dragon, for example).
Now for some good news: my import script is performing extremely well in the robustness testing. Should be able to release very soon.
[attachment deleted by admin]
My current collection (root folder ~):
~/alternate: 5 overworld models (from OAM: 3 cats from S.S. Zelbess, Dragoon Viper Manor disguise, Korcha's boat)
~/enemies: 146 battle models (from MISC 3211-3707)
~/other: 5 overworld models (mermaid, young Serge, Miguel, Wazuki, Toma)
~/playable: 52 overworld models (from OMCM) + 52 battle models (from MISC 3054-3210)
My naming scheme is as given in the example, for Serge:
~/playable/Serge/SergeBattleModel
~/playable/Serge/SergeBattleTexture.png
~/playable/Serge/SergeOverworldModel
~/playable/Serge/SergeOverworldTexture.png
Another example, the Time Devourer:
~/enemies/TimeDevourer/TimeDevourerBattleModel
~/enemies/TimeDevourer/TimeDevourerBattleTexture0.png
~/enemies/TimeDevourer/TimeDevourerBattleTexture1.png
The textures for the double-textured models are numbered in the order they should be chosen by the plugin, starting from 0. Also, in all texture files I have set pure black (rgb 0, 0, 0) to fully transparent.
There are a lot more models to be found. We have to go through the NPCs from the room folders (as noted here). I'm thinking there are some models only on Disc 2 (the Lunar Dragon, for example).
Now for some good news: my import script is performing extremely well in the robustness testing. Should be able to release very soon.
[attachment deleted by admin]
11
Chrono Cross Modification / 3D File Formats for Cross Models
« on: January 17, 2009, 12:17:47 pm »
I am working on a script to convert the Cross model files to more usable formats. These files will become a part of the Compendium's encyclopedia.
One such format will definitely be the .blend files that Blender uses. The choice of Blender was made because of its FOSS status, meaning that anyone can legally download a copy and use it to view the model files. (Of course, it certainly helps that I like Blender.) However, I know that a number of people prefer other 3D modeling software. I am hoping my batch script can take advantage of other Blender scripts to convert to other formats, but I don't know which formats people use. That's where this poll/thread come in.
I will base my choice(s) on the feedback I get in the next few days. I am by no means an expert in 3D file formats, so feel free to post about any that I missed.
One such format will definitely be the .blend files that Blender uses. The choice of Blender was made because of its FOSS status, meaning that anyone can legally download a copy and use it to view the model files. (Of course, it certainly helps that I like Blender.) However, I know that a number of people prefer other 3D modeling software. I am hoping my batch script can take advantage of other Blender scripts to convert to other formats, but I don't know which formats people use. That's where this poll/thread come in.
I will base my choice(s) on the feedback I get in the next few days. I am by no means an expert in 3D file formats, so feel free to post about any that I missed.
12
Chrono Cross Modification / Re: CHRONO CROSS MODEL PROJECT THREAD
« on: January 15, 2009, 11:59:54 pm »
Thanks FaustWolf! I can add the field models for all the playable characters to that as well.
As a token of my appreciation I give you a taste of the personal heaven I am in looking through these things. The static images hardly do them justice.
More tomorrow. (What a perfect time for a long weekend!)
[attachment deleted by admin]
As a token of my appreciation I give you a taste of the personal heaven I am in looking through these things. The static images hardly do them justice.
More tomorrow. (What a perfect time for a long weekend!)
[attachment deleted by admin]
13
Chrono Cross Modification / Re: CHRONO CROSS MODEL PROJECT THREAD
« on: January 15, 2009, 10:17:15 pm »
I would also like to point out that the next release of my script will be called the Chrono Cross Battle Model Importer, because it also works for the overworld models!
Continuing my thought from my last post, I've got all the raw files, but precious few textures converted to PNG. It looks like the overworld textures are viewable in PSicture, but not the battle textures, of course. Has someone converted these already? If not, how do I do it?
The ultimate goal is to write a script that converts all of the models in batch and saves them as .blend files (and maybe other formats if possible) for the encyclopedia.
[attachment deleted by admin]
Continuing my thought from my last post, I've got all the raw files, but precious few textures converted to PNG. It looks like the overworld textures are viewable in PSicture, but not the battle textures, of course. Has someone converted these already? If not, how do I do it?
The ultimate goal is to write a script that converts all of the models in batch and saves them as .blend files (and maybe other formats if possible) for the encyclopedia.
[attachment deleted by admin]
14
Chrono Cross Modification / Re: CHRONO CROSS MODEL PROJECT THREAD
« on: January 15, 2009, 08:29:21 pm »We really need this stickied, mainly for the attached file of course *smiles*
If you think that's cool, wait until you see what the latest version can do (see attached). I hope to release it soon, but first I need to test the script's robustness.
To that end, I'm looking for a large collection of battle model files and their associated textures. Does anyone have such a collection yet? If not I will look into ripping them myself.
[attachment deleted by admin]
15
General Discussion / Re: Ladies And Gentlemen, We Have A Wiki
« on: December 20, 2008, 10:53:34 pm »
The amount of text copied verbatim from the Compendium encyclopedia appears to be significant. Good examples are the Organizations, Peoples, and Species articles. A lot of these pages can be traced back to a user named Dede-11. I don't see much in the way of attribution, either.
To be fair, they do also have some original (or at least different) articles.
To be fair, they do also have some original (or at least different) articles.