Digging through some of the old archives that I found in my backups, I stumbled upon a few of my files that I used in the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Back in 1995, I was using 3D Studio Release 4 (3DSr4), known today as 3DS Max. Some of the files had FLC and FLI extensions (Flic Format). I knew that these were movie formats, and I decided to see if I could find something that plays FLC/FLI files. One of the programs listed that could play the format was shockingly, QuickTime. I opened the file with QuickTime and it played both formats just fine. I wonder if these are similar to the FLV format that is popular with flash videos on the internet.
I am uncertain as to what the differences are between each format. I think it had to do with quality. The FLI format was probably something I ran through to see results quickly, and FLC took longer to make. The school actually had a network setup where four computers would work on making animations for students that were working on their final projects. Back then, it took a long time to render scenes with the small computing power at the time. I think my cell phone runs faster then those things.
I found a Fli2Gif converter that was able to convert some of the files. It complained with other files with “Wrong number of bits in flic. Only 256-color (8-bit) flics are handled. I suppose that this has to do with some of the features that were offered to render pictures quicker by using less colors. I notice that the file sizes of videos that I was able to convert to GIF are actually about 33% smaller then the FLC/FLI images themselves. Here are some test projects that I had made as well as my first animation assignment of a sink. The teacher commented that the light source was pretty good. I guess most of the students didn’t get the concept of light back then.
lewie6.FLI (didn’t convert)
lem.FLI Initials L.E.M. cut out of each side of a cube. Learned about union and subtraction.
sink_001.FLC Rotating sink project with light source.
dsoftwar.FLC – words “Dragon Software” made into a revolving ring. Learned about lofting shapes.
So what happened with my 3D skills? I had made a lot of projects at home while I was not in school or working. Eventually I couldn’t make it own my own with a minimum wage job and ended up going back to my parents house with my tail tucked between my legs. My computer in the back of my moms truck exposed to the elements and without any soft materials to avoid vibrations.
I ended up with a corrupt hard disk losing lots of work – including the 3DSr4 software. The disks that I had at the time to install the program had problem with installing a file. Not only did I lose my ability to make it in the world, but I had lost just about everything I was. I eventually made it back on my own again and found other programs that I could afford with my own money and without a student discount. 3D artwork and animation is more of a hobby now. I can make a few simple things, but I don’t spend months going into detail and perfecting it. I primarily use Second Life as my 3D editor these days.
I only have a small handful of scenes, lofts, objects, textures that I was able to save to floppy disks before the big move.
