First ever render (Aladdin4d)

[jsixis]

cool, I have owned that program since it came out and never sat down to actually learn it

[smerf]

Hi folks.  After many years of wanting to learn rendering software, I am finally sitting down and doing it.  I bought Aladdin4d from Nova Design / DiscreetFX a few years ago.  Just for hoots I posted very first 3 second test render:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRkZXzrGkGs

Nothing too much to get excited about - just your standard space flyby like everyone learning rendering does.  YouTube's video algorithms really darken the picture more than should look.  Anyway, I'm just scratching the surface - Aladdin4d is capable of so much more - although the learning curve is a little steep.

The planet is just a lo-res quickie done in Deluxe Paint 5.  Anyway, like I said, not much to get excited about but it's pure Amiga - and there are few examples of Aladdin4d renders out there so I thought I'd post it.

Hi,

@ral-clan

"Not much to get excited about"

LIKE WOW WOW WOW!!!

Dude this was great, brought back the old days when I had my vid toast and was rendering with it. Just working on something like this and learning, maybe that is what we all miss on the Amiga.

Keep going and keep learning, you are doing fantastic.

It is great to see someone doing something with the Amiga and having fun with it.

Keep going and have fun.

smerf

[Ral-Clan]

Hi,

@ral-clan

"Not much to get excited about"

LIKE WOW WOW WOW!!!

Dude this was great, brought back the old days when I had my vid toast and was rendering with it. Just working on something like this and learning, maybe that is what we all miss on the Amiga.

Keep going and keep learning, you are doing fantastic.

It is great to see someone doing something with the Amiga and having fun with it.

Keep going and have fun.

smerf

Thanks very much.  I have to admit it's lots of fun.  I've always been an artistic person and wanted to learn to do rendering, but for some reason the software always seemed to complex to me.  I finally (after years) sat down determined to learn how to use rendering software.  I bought Aladdin...and it did take a few readings through the manual to learn it (it's very, very powerful, but the learning curve is a little high).  I also bought a Lightwave tutorial video off the internet and I can't believe how easy it is to use.  I just needed someone to explain the interface to me.  I wish I had seen this years ago.

Seriously, both these pieces of software, even though older, are still capable of some very nice results.  

Lots of fun.

[B00tDisk]

It's no mirrored balls on a checkerboard field or rotating teapot...but it's not bad

[orb85750]

Very exciting for "pure Amiga" -- a bit less so once I found out that it's Amiga emulation.  I suppose I'm a purist. :-)

[Ral-Clan]

Well, I was running the same setup on my Amiga 2000 up until August 2008.  When it broke I "cloned" my A2000's setup under UAE.  So yes it's running emulated on a PC now, but it's done in AmigaOS.

There's no reason though that someone couldn't do this on a real A2000 if he or she had one that was still working.

[Cammy]

After I get my A2000s repaired and can afford a copy of Aladdin 4D, I'll definitely like to give this a try myself! Real3D worked well on the 3MB A2000, so I'd like to see how Aladdin goes.

Are you working on any new animations at the moment?

[Ral-Clan]

Yes, but they are mostly more exercises to familiarize myself with Aladdin's basic functions....like gases, fountains, particles, moving cameras....etc.  Everything can be combined in so many ways it's a little overwhelming, but powerful.

But since you guys liked that little rocket animation I'll post here again when I come up with something worthwhile (and hopefully longer).

The only thing Aladdin doesn't seem to do is movable parts - like a figure with moving arms and legs, or a moving face.  You can do them with "deforms" and "translating" the axes of the parts of the object, but it's not like the "bones" system in other 3D software.  So Aladdin excels at some things, while Lightwave is probably good for others.  Fortunately, you can use them together to combine their strengths.

[Methuselas]

As for how long it took - this short animation took about half an hour on the PC/UAE setup described above.  Although I should say I had all the shading/smoothing and anti-aliasing algorithms set to the max, which really increased rendering time.

I wish all my animated renders took only half an hour. Even on a PC some of my renders can take days....... :insane: Brings me back to the good old Amiga days.


@Ral-clan,

How do you like the response and engine of Aladdin on UAE? Pyromania gave me a  copy of it and I lost my laptop on  Thanksgiving, so I haven't installed it on my new box yet. I hear the particle effects engine in Aladdin are quite spiffy. I wanna check them out.

[amigadave]

@haywirepc

If you buy Aladdin 4D 6.0 (when released) for Linux or AROS the Windows version of Aladdin 4D 6.0 (when released) is included for free.

I am looking forward to Aladdin 4D 6.0 for MorphOS2.4.  Is it being worked on? If not, I hope the Linux or AROS versions will lend itself toward being ported to MorphOS and AmigaOS4.x

[amigadave]

Hi folks.  After many years of wanting to learn rendering software, I am finally sitting down and doing it.  I bought Aladdin4d from Nova Design / DiscreetFX a few years ago.  Just for hoots I posted very first 3 second test render:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRkZXzrGkGs

Nothing too much to get excited about - just your standard space flyby like everyone learning rendering does.  YouTube's video algorithms really darken the picture more than should look.  Anyway, I'm just scratching the surface - Aladdin4d is capable of so much more - although the learning curve is a little steep.

The planet is just a lo-res quickie done in Deluxe Paint 5.  Anyway, like I said, not much to get excited about but it's pure Amiga - and there are few examples of Aladdin4d renders out there so I thought I'd post it.

Congrats on making the time to sit down and start learning something as daunting as any 3D program.  I finally have LightWave 5.2 running on my A1200/060 and will also install Aladdin 4D 5.0 for comparison and would like to learn 3D creation of objects and scenes, or animations.  I have worked in 2D drafting for years and done a very small amount of 3D drafting in a CAD program, but not tried switching to traditional 3D rendering programs yet.  Now I just need to do like you and make the time and have the patience to sit down and learn.  I also have some video tapes and books to help in the process.

Keep up the process and maybe you will be able to use your new learned talent for a future Amiga game or other project.

[Ral-Clan]

How do you like the response and engine of Aladdin on UAE? Pyromania gave me a  copy of it and I lost my laptop on  Thanksgiving, so I haven't installed it on my new box yet. I hear the particle effects engine in Aladdin are quite spiffy. I wanna check them out.

Aladdin runs VERY well under UAE.  It's extremely stable and has never given me any problems at all, whereas some of the older rendering apps like Lightwave, VistaPRO, Pixel3d, etc. don't like the RTG modes that really make UAE fly.  I have to play around with screen filter settings and revert to older native screenmodes to get those to work.  But with Aladdin I can use a high-res 16-bit UAE RTG screenmode like 1024x768 (or higher) and Aladdin doesn't complain at all and has never crashed.

Aladdin also really is quick when rendering under UAE as I mentioned before.  It's older and simpler than the newer software like Maya or Blender, so I suppose that's why it renders so quickly (that and the fact that it was pretty fast even compared to other Amiga rendering software - or so I have read).

The interface is a little less intuitive than something like Lightwave.  But once you can get past that you can see the power underneath.  It's almost like it was programmed by German engineers or something!  Highly functional, great quality, but slightly "analytical" and no-nonsense in its user interface.  You're definitely going to need the manual or the quirks of the interface can be very frustrating.  It's a pretty cheap piece of software (I think DiscreetFX puts it on sale for $69 or something like that quite often).

[4kToaster]

Yes, the story about Babylon5 and Amigas has been repeated many many times:
Wikipedia states:

Babylon 5 also distinguished itself at a time when models and miniature were still standard by becoming one of the first television shows to use computer technology in creating visual effects. This was achieved using Amiga-based Video Toasters at first, and later Pentium and Alpha-based systems.

My first real animation render was:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pqskizMHQg

I have Deluxe Paint and Lightwave on the Video Toaster but haven't really got that far with them.. I find Lightwave difficult to use even on IRIX.

Aladdin4D seems interesting.. I will have to check it out sometime.

I wrote my own ray tracer which I wrote an article about in Doctor Dobbs Journal (Nov, 1999)... I should try porting it to the Amiga some time..

-4K.

[klx300r]

very nice for your first render indeed :-) I'm anxiously awaiting my copy of Alladin v6 for OS4.1 to start messing around myself!

[Pyromania]

I am looking forward to Aladdin 4D 6.0 for MorphOS2.4.  Is it being worked on? If not, I hope the Linux or AROS versions will lend itself toward being ported to MorphOS and AmigaOS4.x

Yes,  Aladdin 4D 6.0 is also being worked on for MorphOS 2.x.

[0amigan0]

...
The only thing Aladdin doesn't seem to do is movable parts - like a figure with moving arms and legs, or a moving face.  You can do them with "deforms" and "translating" the axes of the parts of the object, but it's not like the "bones" system in other 3D software.
...

@ral-clan:

Of course Aladdin CAN do that; but it uses its "paths" system, which is "flexible", unlike the "bones" in other packages.

If u can find the "Aladdin's Lamp" magazine issues, there's a comprehensive explanation of it.