Many thanks again for the comprehensive answer Michael.

I now have all my plans in and looking the same as they would if I was doing this in truespace (but sharper and easier to see). I'm impressed with the quality of the transparency. Very nice!

The object browser / numeric properties system sounds like a great idea. There is something similar in truespace which I use a lot when polygon modeling. I find it really useful when trying to model real world objects.

My plan for this model in MoI is to model one of the ship's boats for the warship on my web page. Doing hulls using polygons is hard because of the smooth curves required. I SDS'd the one on my page which worked OK. A recent attempt at a submarine wasn't so good though and has prompted the attempt to learn nurbs. I like a lot of things about truespace but its nurbs isn't one of them. I'm already finding MoI easier.

Mark
http://www.homepages.ihug.com.au/~mabrown/index.html

Nice work Mark.

I purchased TrueSpace three years ago. I gave up on it after weeks of trying to get good results - their weird user interface drove me nuts.

After doing research and trying several free trials, I've settled on MoI and HyperShot as my modeler and render tool set ($400 for the pair). I'm having more fun with these two programs than a six-year-old with an etch-a-sketch! ( Do they still make those?)

A guy just posted a boat on the HyperShot forum - he used Rhino. I assume he used a photo of an existing boat for his backplate in order to get the boat's wake, and just placed his model over the original boat.

http://hypershot.hyperboards.com/index.php?action=view_topic&topic_id=355

Ed

Hi Ed,

Truespace seems to be a love hate thing. It is actually the interface which has kept me using it! The trick I think is to get all the icons you will actually use on screen in a layout that is comfortable. The truespace UI is highly customisable. The biggest problem for Caligari is that there is a lot of competition in the all-in-one 3D software market at the moment. I discovered that I could getter better render output using the free Kerkythea renderer, rather than the truespace built-in (lightworks). VRay is a cost option in truespace 7 and makes it rather expensive. At that price I would start to consider C4D etc.

What really interests me is the option to use more targeted tools. This is just a hobby for me and I can't afford the time to learn deep software. I'm also not good enough to spend big money. I'm impressed with the thought that has gone into the MoI UI. It works logically (to me anyway). Can't say that about 90% of the 3D software I've tried! I'm not a nurbs guy. Perhaps all nurbs software creates curves the way MoI does, but I have to say, the software seems to have a good idea about the shape of my boat! I created a profile curve and another curve in the top view of the boat's outline. When I looked at the top view curve in profile, it was falling away in a nice approximation of the fall in the drawing! A fluke? If not, I'm very impressed.

Hypershot looks interesting and that boat was very nice. I hadn't heard about Hypershot. Many thanks for the link.

Mark
http://www.homepages.ihug.com.au/~mabrown/index.html

The more I use this software, the more impressed I am with it. The ability to manipulate these curves with ease is something else. I also missed snapping a point in a rib of the boat and thought I would have to redo it (no big deal). Then I found the align tool and it fixed the problem, without having to wade through a 300 page manual.

I've asked my wife if I can buy this....

Mark
http://www.homepages.ihug.com.au/~mabrown/index.html