messiah Studio 5 (CG Software) for $10

[tgr]

That sounds like just as much work, and probably higher cost... :P

[Salamok]

The big thing is Messiah can handle real-time animation, instead of just keyframe.  This means you can use mocap and more easily have reactive objects (mouths that react to sound, etc.), which is where everyone is headed to right now, even at home.  Since most 'pro level' real-time suites are like $1000's of dollars, it's nice that it's only $10.

Any pointers/links on setting up a DIY poor mans mocap solution at home?

Run a search on good software/video-based solutions (webcams), some even markerless ala Kinect (yes, someone has already hacked multiple kinects for mocap).  There are a few cheap inertial systems you can get, but they're only good for short animations since they drift a lot over time.

I'd be more specific but I havent done any hands-on with any of this stuff yet aside from begging for SDKs that never come, and I havent bookmarked the info.  It's easy enough to find though, there's a lot of movement in cheap mocap right now it seems. 

found a solution that uses the ps3 eye camera (with a soon to be released kinect version).  Also found some info on the messiah forums that seemed to indicate that their autorig feature does this w/o the need for any additional software.

[Ghambit]

That sounds like just as much work, and probably higher cost... :P

Uhhh no.  Calculate what the hourly rate would be to model a nice digital 3d strat. game mini and then speculate again.
3d scanners are pretty cheap, or you can make a good enough one with a cheap laser and a few parts from home.  Most people dont have the skill (or time) to model something digitally with the amount of precision a sculptor has with real miniatures.  So take said minis, scan em, rig em (autorig in Messiah's case), and you're done.

Only thing you'd have to play with is the texturing part, and since it's pretty much 'pre-textured' you can get away with using specialized paint programs that'll paint right on the model just as you would painting a real mini.

I actually had a rough design for all my Warmachine minis using this technique.  I was essentially gonna 'digitize' the entire game and play online.  Copyright infringement ftw!

[Kail]

I'm not sure if I'll ever use it, but I'm involved in making a strategy game with a friend of mine, and I might end up making models for it. Giving them $40 for the pro version just in case seems like a pretty fair tradeoff to me, i.e. we all win. Supported.

Unless I'm missing something, messiah isn't really something you'd use for this kind of work, is it?  You can't make models in it (as far as I know) or do any texturing.  You can rig and animate in messiah (I think?) but I don't know how complex the animation in a strategy game is going to get, or if it would be easier to export and bundle everything for messiah than to do it natively in whatever your modelling package is.

EDIT:

These days you can get your hands on some powerful shit for little to no money, which is why Messiah is basically free too now.   My fav. 3d stuff is still zbrush/sculptris, xsi (which has real-time animation also), and mojoworld.  Chunk all that into udk or unity and you're set.

Can you give an example?  I wouldn't mind grabbing a copy of something cheap for personal projects or something, and Blender makes me bite kittens.

[tgr]

Kail: It's probably me that's missing something, I just assumed it was capable of doing both. In any case, I can live with it possibly not being used at all at $40. Honestly I've no idea how complex the models are going to get either, but at $40 it's just too good an opportunity to pass by. Worst case I've given them money they wouldn't have gotten anyways, and I have the possibility in case I do decide to animate the ships, so it's still win-win.

Hell, if nothing else I'll probably end up animating a dickbutt just for the hell of it.

ghambit: I'll admit I've no idea how detailed we'd bother to make the models, nor how long it would take. Suffice it to say I'll take your word for it. As for the cost, it's a project we're doing in our spare time, with no set pressure to make something quickly (or even hires; we're not going for high quality graphics). Design inspiration is probably going to be a bigger issue, so miniatures is still a good suggestion, so thanks for that idea.

[Merusk]

Anyone actually gotten their keys from this yet?

[tgr]

Nope. Still waiting.

[Salamok]

Just got mine (on the 20th), says the licensing server went up on the 19th.

[Chimpy]

Looks like, according to their forums, there are some hiccups with their new liicensing system (apparently requires a USB stick to be setup as a hardware dongle).

[Salamok]

Looks like, according to their forums, there are some hiccups with their new liicensing system (apparently requires a USB stick to be setup as a hardware dongle).

That is 1 of the options, the instructions say you can also install it as a fixed license:

For each license you purchased, you can generate a license file, locked to a separate device.

1. Moveable - USB flash stick drive (MAC, LINUX, WINDOWS). Moveable by moving the USB flash to another machine
2. Fixed - System hard drive (WINDOWS Only). Fixed to that machine.

Then again they proceed to only describe Install of the USB license:

Installation

1. Install messiahStudio.
2. Make sure your USB flash drive is plugged in.
3. Run messiahStudio - You'll either get an error, or it will bring up a small Client License window.
4. Choose your USB flash from the file list.(You should recognize it from it's name)
5. Press the button to generate the ID.
6. Highlight the ID and copy and paste it into the Client ID field in the Licenses section below.
7. Click the Generate License button.
8. Copy License text, and paste into a text file that you will name: messiah_license.txt (this file must be a plain text file).

I have not tried either install yet as I am deciding between the fixed and dongle installs.  Any one ever see a USB flash drive that looks like the logitech nano reciever?  I realize they make them pretty small but I want something that doesn't stick out at all.

[Merusk]

My buddy at work had a flash drive that was only the 'tip' of most other drives.  I think he said he'd picked it up at Best Buy.

Ed:  Found it.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/PNY+-+Swivel+4GB+USB+Flash+Drive+-+Plum/9527381.p?id=1218119228265&skuId=9527381&st=mini%20flash%20drive&cp=1&lp=25

[MisterNoisy]

This one is pretty small.

Same for this one.

[Salamok]

Ordered that Lexar USB stick, exactly what I was looking for.

[tgr]

Just got my license email as well. Whee.