3D Modeling Software, 10 weeks, is it posible??

hi all, im a south trafford college student and we've been asked to create a "real world" application for a realy realy important assignment (the difference between a distinction and a fail!).

The thing is, i could easily spit out some libary renting system or something boring like that and probably still get the distinction but i would really like to use this assignment to actually learn something and test myself. Ive been experimenting with openGL and i really like it, ive already started some framework and drawing tools for very basic 3d modeling software and i would really like to do this for my assignment but i dont know if its posible!

we have ten weeks to do a full system life cycle on this, fully detailed documentation, anaylsis design, implement, test and evaluate the whole thing, and in typical fashion the programming is not actually the major part of it, prob 1/10. so i say ive got a couple weeks max to do the programming and the rest for everthing else :-(!!!

i have a track record for spending to much time on ambitious added features, is this me doing it again? i would like a more experienced opinion on it, i believe i can do the programming, but im not sure on everything else that comes with, in the end of the day the more complex the program the more complex everthing else will be obvisually!

my pitch is that its a very basic prototype for a 3d modeling software, with simple features (the modeling equivelant of MS paint!!) and that its built to be extendable later on. i already have a basic framework on how it works, i have list boxes on the form, listing all the drawing primitaves, when a user is drawing, it finds out what primative is being drawn and asigns its integer value (thanks openGL :-)) to a variable in the objects class, and when it is being rendered it calls that value back for what primative should be drawn. it also has a setup for doing quadratics, and it has drawn spheres and cylinders for me (although bugs are certainly there). it saves and loads to my own basic file format, you can navigate and use zoom tools, its already taking shape (although im having trouble with mouse coordinate differences in openGL and the normal windows form for obv reasons! ).

ill admit i have limited openGl knowledge, im only up to chapter 8 (Texture Mapping) in my "Premier Press Game Development series open gl book" (long title i know loo) but its a really good book and ive started to use it more for reference as im starting to understand how to use openGL on my own. Im still admitadly a bit of a noob at openGL!

anyway if youve read al that id like to say thanks for bothering :-) lol and if you have any advice i would be truely grateful, thank you, chris.

>but i dont know if its posible!
It doesn't sound like it. You could spend ten weeks just working out the math for basic 3D modeling. ;)

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Originally Posted by Prelude

>but i dont know if its posible!
It doesn't sound like it. You could spend ten weeks just working out the math for basic 3D modeling. ;)

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Not really. If you just use the open source graphics & physics engine, you can skip that. BTW, I've programmed with OGRE before for my assignment and it only took me 2 months. Although looking back now my program was crap.

I say go for it! Jump in and start coding... See what you can get done in a week. At that point you should be able to tell if you are going to get bogged-down in the 3d / OpenGL details.

You may have to re-write that code later, since I just advised you to start writing the code before the specification / planning / design / analysis has been done! That's OK... It's always easier the 2nd time.... especially after some planning and design...

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The thing is, i could easily spit out some libary renting system or something boring like that... i have a track record for spending to much time on ambitious added features, is this me doing it again?

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Probably. But, it sounds like you are willing to put in a little extra effort.

What's the purpose of the assigment? Are you supposed to demonstrate what you've already learned, or are you supposed to learn something new?

Talk to your Instructor / Advisor. Can you keep the graphics coding simple enough to accomplish, and yet have an overall project that's complicated enough to demonstrate your knowledge for the other 90% of the assignment?

Making the program extendable, might be the key... Design and impliment the main-core program, and make a little extension library. Document and demonstrate how to write an extension library for this application.

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Originally Posted by ChrisPepper1989

hi all, im a south trafford college student and we've been asked to create a "real world" application for a realy realy important assignment (the difference between a distinction and a fail!).

The thing is, i could easily spit out some libary renting system or something boring like that and probably still get the distinction but i would really like to use this assignment to actually learn something and test myself. Ive been experimenting with openGL and i really like it, ive already started some framework and drawing tools for very basic 3d modeling software and i would really like to do this for my assignment but i dont know if its posible!

we have ten weeks to do a full system life cycle on this, fully detailed documentation, anaylsis design, implement, test and evaluate the whole thing, and in typical fashion the programming is not actually the major part of it, prob 1/10. so i say ive got a couple weeks max to do the programming and the rest for everthing else :-(!!!

i have a track record for spending to much time on ambitious added features, is this me doing it again? i would like a more experienced opinion on it, i believe i can do the programming, but im not sure on everything else that comes with, in the end of the day the more complex the program the more complex everthing else will be obvisually!

my pitch is that its a very basic prototype for a 3d modeling software, with simple features (the modeling equivelant of MS paint!!) and that its built to be extendable later on. i already have a basic framework on how it works, i have list boxes on the form, listing all the drawing primitaves, when a user is drawing, it finds out what primative is being drawn and asigns its integer value (thanks openGL :-)) to a variable in the objects class, and when it is being rendered it calls that value back for what primative should be drawn. it also has a setup for doing quadratics, and it has drawn spheres and cylinders for me (although bugs are certainly there). it saves and loads to my own basic file format, you can navigate and use zoom tools, its already taking shape (although im having trouble with mouse coordinate differences in openGL and the normal windows form for obv reasons! ).

ill admit i have limited openGl knowledge, im only up to chapter 8 (Texture Mapping) in my "Premier Press Game Development series open gl book" (long title i know loo) but its a really good book and ive started to use it more for reference as im starting to understand how to use openGL on my own. Im still admitadly a bit of a noob at openGL!

anyway if youve read al that id like to say thanks for bothering :-) lol and if you have any advice i would be truely grateful, thank you, chris.

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I'd recommend that you do whatever is necessary for you to achieve your goals. It is already clear from this posting that you have a minimalist command of English.

OpenGL
Admitedly
Truly
All
It's
Really (has two eLs!)
Equivalent

...but my favorite is:

obvisually

Do you mean obviously?

Perhaps you're really an English specialist and simply are used to text messaging, which would account for your lack of proper punctuation and capitalization?

In other words, what I'm trying to say is that if you can't afford the barest proper use of English in this post, how can you afford 11 weeks of OpenGL and hardcore coding effort?

Do you even know that we start sentences with capital letters?

As a point of order, you don't "build" something to be extensible (not extendable), you DESIGN it to be extensible.

my pitch is that its a very basic prototype for a 3d modeling software, with simple features (the modeling equivelant of MS paint!!) and that its built to be extendable later on.

I'd suggest that you get the basics of English down before attempting such a challenging effort in software.


:davis:

Ask your tutor about the relative complexity of what others have done in the past, and the marks they got for it.
Pick something which seems achieveable and gets the marks you want.

> we have ten weeks to do a full system life cycle on this, fully detailed documentation, anaylsis design, implement, test and evaluate the whole thing
1 - requirements
1 - analysis
2 - design
3 - implement
2 - test
That's 9 weeks, and 1 spare for the inevitable under-estimation of something or other.

10 weeks for a modeller? It can be done. You could probably do the bulk of the coding within a span of 4 weeks. It might be wise to use a utility library though, a 3D engine would work as was suggested before. Right now, I personally am using Irrlicht (using it to make a FPS), a nice general-purpose 3D engine, it's pretty lightweight and it's free so it might be worth looking into. There are many others out there, of course.

@:davis:

This is a programming board, not an English board. His spelling and grammer is decent. I don't think I saw too much (if any) l33t/hax0r-ish stuff. Maybe English is a second language for him?

If you're going to post, post constructively. It was a programming question, treat it as such. Don't run in here with seven posts and do nothing but bash people for their English when it isn't necessary.

Alot of mixed opinions, lol, thanks to everyone who had something constructive to say, just for the record davis, ill admit my spelling is pretty atrocious at times but i didnt think anyone would be petty enough to point out spelling mistakes on a forum!

Il admit i have already jumped in and coded some things, i have some basic drawing routines for all of the openGL primatives and i have just done a bit of tessellation to create a sphere out of triangle stips and quad strips. I have pretty much tried to prove to myself that i can code some of the milestones of the project and have got all of my basic milestones coded into functions that i can bring into my final project. The problem is of course designing it all and bringing it all together into one useable program, the test interface i have been using so far is appalling, the points of each obect can only be edited by selecting it through a list box rather then actually clicking on it, this would not be acceptable for a mainstream application.

thanks to Nodtveidt for the head up on the 3D engine, im not sure if i will use it, but its definately worth looking into in more depth! thanks!

the project actually doesnt need to be that complex, last year someone did a ringtone generator, and i think that was the most complex of the class!!! The projects goal is really for us to demonstrate that we have a grasp of the system life cycle that we can make a program in the standard way and document and evaluate like crazy. The exam board will never see or use a working version of the program, apart from through screen grabs. The majority of the marking will be done by my lecturer, hes good ex-industry and i know he wont accept a rubbish program. Unforntunatly hes never used openGL so he cant offer much help with this if i go ahead with it!

Thank you all for your posts, i really do appreciate it, i will think it over some more tonight and start tomorrow, i think i will try and stick to something similar to salems method although really i should actually give more time to the documentation then anything else,so i mite cut off a week in my implementation to do the extra documentation...evaluations....project diary writing time....user manuals...help files........oh god kill me now! lol

Thank you to everyone who provided "constructive" posts, for the record davis i know that my spelling can be pretty atrocious at times but i didnt think someone would be petty enough to point out spelling mistakes on a forum!!

Thanks to Nodtveidt for the heads up on the 3D engine, i dont think i will use it as it seems easier to edit the models if there drawn in openGL primatives but it certainly looks like something worth looking into in more depth!

I must admit i have already jumped in and coded some things, i wanted to see if i could actually do some of the really challenging parts of the project, rather then leaping into the unknown, and i have already got some interesting stuff coded, ive just finished putting some code for sphere tessellation with triangle_strips/Quad_Strips into a nice re-usable function. Its a question of whether i can design it all properly and bring it together into a useable application. In the test programs ive been using some atrocious interface designs, where each object and point can only be selected through list boxes and the mouse posistioning is still unacceptable for a main stream application!

Its really an assignment to assess our grasp of the system life cycle, the exam board will never actually use the program and will only see evidence of it through screen grabs. However the majority of the marking will be done by our lecturer who is good, ex-industry, and i know he won't accept a rubbish program! But he doenst know anything about openGl so he wont be able to help me much either! Last year someone got good marks with a Ringtone generator and thats the most complex program that ive heard of from that group.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read the post and give me somethings to think about, i think i will think more on it tonight and start tomorrow, i will be sticking to something similar to salems guide but i think i will have to cut a week off the implementation for the extra evaluation....program diary writting time....screen shots and evidence of working program....and more....god kill me now! lol ;-)

ok the forum told me it hadnt saved the first time and lost my post...turns out it didnt...and i wrote it all again for nothing....how annoying!!!!!!

It may be to late to post and swing your mind. But I believe you do not have the time period to complete such a program. The real issue is if something goes wrong. I am no professional but in my experiance you would be cuting yourself short in time.

no its not to late, your input is still valid and appreciated, as i said i already have something that mite be useful if i cleaned up the code and added more things, basically re-writing it but there is still way to much documentation and work to be done! im still undecided, i promised myself id decide by today, so ill talk it over with my lecturer and keep thinking about it.

of course if i dont choose the 3D modeler i have to think of something completely new and start planning and tinkering with that! i was thinking maybe a basic paint program or something, anyone else got any ideas?

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If you're going to post, post constructively. It was a programming question, treat it as such. Don't run in here with seven posts and do nothing but bash people for their English when it isn't necessary.

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All the posts I have read of davis are a little like this. One of the ones further down suggested
WTF. I know what that stands for, and it really is not necessary.

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of course if i dont choose the 3D modeler i have to think of something completely new and start planning and tinkering with that! i was thinking maybe a basic paint program or something, anyone else got any ideas?

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Hmmm. You could look at real active objects that consumers use. Maybe look into developing a running sim of a ATM machine. Or if it is windows apps you have to design, look at developing your own version of notepad. What ever you do, dont "borrow' code from Microsoft. :)

Or, like you said, looki nto making a paint application. Get a feel of how the user interface looks and works. think about how the program is broken down ie: classes, modules ect. I dont know much windows programming, but Im sure you do. Good luck in your indevors