Elite 3d models?

LJITimate

L
one of my hobbies is messing around with a 3d software (CGI type thing) called blender but would quite like to mess around with a model of an elite ship. if its even allowed does anyone know where i can get an official model? if its not allowed thats fine id just like to know
 

PhanttoM

PhanttoM
Always nice to see another hobbyist 3D artist/modeler/etc. :)

I've looked into getting hold of the ingame models several times, but frankly Frontier is terrible at communicating whether or not it is allowed — if you dig for it you will find contradictions.
"It's against EULA"
"It's in a grey area"
"Newsletters promote YouTube videos and other stuff that use extracted models"

I gave up quite some time ago — Your best bet is going with the fanmade models for 3D printing.
 
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Father Cool

Father Cool
As long as its for personal use its fine. Its in the public domain. The issue comes if you want to sell them.

Several people have extracted the models and 3D printed them without any come back from FD. In fact some have been in their newsletters!
 

LJITimate

L
Thanks for the response. It is just for personal use and if i ever share a pic ill be sure to say its from elite but does anyone know how to get a model? Preferably textured and almost definitely from elite 'DANGEROUS' thx again
 

Devari

D
Father Cool said:
As long as its for personal use its fine. Its in the public domain. The issue comes if you want to sell them.

Several people have extracted the models and 3D printed them without any come back from FD. In fact some have been in their newsletters!
Click to expand...

Exactly, it would be rather problematic for FD to be promoting activities that go against their EULA or TOS so there's no question that using 3D meshes for personal use is permitted as they've made a point of promoting and encouraging these activities. That makes it basically impossible for them to turn around and suddenly tell someone it isn't permitted, as long as the individual is using it strictly for personal use and there is no money being made. There's also a rather complex issue relating to copyrights where if you don't actively enforce them that limits the company's ability to go after someone later since they're considered to have "accepted" that use without any objections. That's why some companies are absolutely draconian about going after any potential "copyright" violations as they sometimes have to do this consistently or effectively concede potential legal claims.

There's also the view that using a program such as RenderDoc to obtain 3D meshes is essentially just a "3D screenshot" in terms of how you're obtaining and using the information. Strictly speaking RenderDoc isn't "decompiling" anything, it's just displaying everything that's being rendered through the GPU as the game runs and you can only capture a single "frame" at a time. The fact that the program also has legitimate debugging uses and doesn't actually modify or extract the game files themselves (it only displays the rendered meshes and textures as they are sent to the GPU) is also an important distinction here.
 
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GG7

G
If Frontier really wanted to cash in on a sure thing, they would hire someone like Airfix to put out a line of ED Ship models, all in the same scale.

I seriously doubt many who play this game would be able to say no to at least one ship model kit purchase. :)
 

Stealthie

Stealthie
Setting aside the legalities (and offering no opinion on them) if you google "Elite how to extract models" you'll find links to a few Youtube video's that explain the process in great detail and link to freeware software for extracting the models from directX games etc.

All of which should only be done with FDev's consent, of course.
 

Remus

Remus
Sometimes I like to have fun with a little software called Source Film Maker, or SFM for short.

As the name implies, it uses the Source engine from valve to allow anyone to make high quality animation videos.
And the Workshop for it is nothing short of HUMONGOUS.
Models have been adapted and ported from Half life up to the Witcher, and yes even my little pony.

You have to see it to believe it, Pinkie pie playing cards with Geralt of Rivia, or Miku Hatsune playing with a light saber.
The only limit, is the port of the model.

Right now my number one hope would be to eventually see ED ship models popping in the workshop, and boy I would be having a field day, scratch that a field YEAR if it happens !

Just imagine it, a federal corvette whose crew would be Geralt of Rivia, Twilight Sparkle and the demo from TF2.

AND it would be great advertisement for the game and FD ! :)
 
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Hantif

Hantif
I have a 3D printer sitting idle at the moment if you need something printed for the cost of materials. It's one of the larger models with a 12 X 16 X 10 inch print bed.
 

Gorgonaut

Gorgonaut
Someone made a photogrammetry model of a Thargoid crash site. I wonder if the same would work with ships?
In either case, a lot of post work is required. I just finished painting a Viper mk3, but I need to tweak my printer before the model is perfect..
 
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