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3 Dimensional Chat / Cheap/Free Modellers?...

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Rawlyn W
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Joined: 26th Oct 2003
Location: The Psychedelic Cosmos
Posted: 18th Nov 2003 00:14
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Before I start, please let me know if this is a boring question that's been asked a million times before... I've been looking through the forums and can find nothing however...

Anyways! I'm an old hand at DB, and recently got myself DBPro, and think I'm finally ready to make a proper game. However, I have practically no experience in making 3D objects other than by laboriously typing endless "make object" commands. So I was wondering, can anyone point me towards cheap or preferably free software for making both character models and BSP levels. I don't want to spend big bucks to start with, not until I'm certain that it'll be worth my time.

I've briefly used a demo of Milkshape and got on quite well with it, so something along those lines would be good for character modelling (I'll need animation capabilities of course). And as for BSP, the format is ideal for my needs, and as lovely as the Cartography Shop demo is, it's completely useless as a learning tool due to the fact that there is no way for me to test my experiments (due to the ludricrous lack of saving abilities).

Any help of any form would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Metamophic
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Posted: 18th Nov 2003 00:57
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defenitly go with milkshape3d for character modelling

www.freewebs.com/metamorphicsoft
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AlecM
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Location: Concord, MA
Posted: 18th Nov 2003 01:07 Edited at: 18th Nov 2003 03:16
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I would suggest gmax over milkshape. There is a .x exporter you can get.. its an add on from MSflight simulator. If you have a bit of cash an educational version of any high end package would likely suit you. The thing with gmax is that the interface is almost identical to max. That way if you ever get a job and need/want to know some 3ds max for it you do. Alot of people will suggest milkshape because its what they use. However many of them have only tried other free alternatives and milkshape is better than most.

If I were you I would steer clear of blender, Anim8or, 3d canvas, wings, ts/gamespace, Doga... All of these programs will likely slow you down. If you find that you really dont like gMax than milkshape wouldn't be a bad alternative.

I hope a bunch of people who use all those programs I listed wont flame me

[P4 2.8C @ 3.03 with an 866mhz FSB:: MSI Neo-2LS running PAT:: 1gb Mushkin PC-3500 DDR High Perf level 2@ 2,2,2 :: ATI Radeon9800ProAIW :: 120Gb SeagateBarracuda 7,200RPM SATA HD :: Antec Plus1080AMG]
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Rawlyn W
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Joined: 26th Oct 2003
Location: The Psychedelic Cosmos
Posted: 18th Nov 2003 01:15
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I have to agree that a while ago a friend downloaded a demo of 3DCanvas and when we started to fiddle with it our combined reaction was "eww"... Thanks for your info

Just found a thing called JT something and I'm downloading it now... anyone got any comments on it?

Also, any BSP info anyone?

Peace,
Rawlyn.

p.s. I was being a cupid stunt saying that I found nothing - I was looking in the wrong window lol Oh well... Info is info though, as Gadget Boy would say "knowledge is power", but he's a fool so I dont suppose I should pay too much attention.
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John H
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Location: Burlington, VT
Posted: 18th Nov 2003 03:43
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Gmax DOES have a 3000 dollar commercial lisence remember

Id go with Milkshape


Dont forget to Join the Forums!
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james1980
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Posted: 18th Nov 2003 03:49
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Anim8or is good but gmax a little better.
my favorite of the free is maya ple just like maya but no .x file.
milkshape - $25 polygons only
animation master -$300 spline only(very good for makeing FMV.)
dont try learning true/gamespace unless your very good
big no no to blender, wings 3d, 3d canvas, doga(low budget poser)

when you get good you can't go wrong with Maya complete $1999.00 or lightwave 3d $1599.00

2xP4 2.4 GHZ,2GB ocz ddr pc4000 ram, radeon 9800 128MB
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Metamophic
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Posted: 18th Nov 2003 05:04
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RPG: GMAX doen NOT have a license fee! http://d217859.bo21.bootlegweb.com/forum/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000953

www.freewebs.com/metamorphicsoft
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zircher
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Posted: 18th Nov 2003 05:37
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I think that truespace 4.3 or higher would give you the most bang for the buck. Spending over a thousand dollars on software you might like is too risky for my blood. I've tried GMAX but I was turned off by the user interface. Same with Blender...

Some of the lesser tools have been mentioned. Personally, I like them and treat them as stepping stones to more advanced applications. And, some of them are quite adequate for programmer art purposes.
--
TAZ
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adr
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Posted: 18th Nov 2003 11:13
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Why has no-one jumped to the defense of wings3d? I've been using it for a matter of hours, and it's fantastic. Admittedly, it's not quite as easy as gmax at first, but after a bit of concentration I found it much quicker...

I couldn't find the x exporter, and nor could I get md3 exporting to work (see a post in this forum by me... with 0 replies )

Can I ask you a Question?
What is it?
It's an interrogative form of sentence, used to test knowledge. But that's not important right now.
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arras
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Location: Slovakia
Posted: 18th Nov 2003 11:40
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Wings3D is best free modeler arround. Concerning pure modeling, much better than Milkshape.
But Milkshape can make animations and there is exporter to x format.
For unwraping I recomend LithUnwrap since Milkshape unwraper is not the best for complex models like human body.

My recomendation would be Wings3D for modeling, LithUnwrap for unwraping +some animation program -Milkshape or CharacterFX may be.

What makes Milkshape so good is that its balanced -you can model, unwrap and animate in one package, so if you buy it, you cant make mistake.
Wings3D and LithUnwrap are free, you just have to download them. There is also tutorial for Wings3D somewere and its worth downloading if you are not familiar with it.

here are some examples of low poly models I made in Wings3D:
http://darkbasic.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=19596&b=3

http://darkbasic.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=17906&b=3
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JeroenNL
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Posted: 18th Nov 2003 14:25 Edited at: 18th Nov 2003 14:28
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And of course, there's DeleD (free 3d modeller) which is very suitable for beginner modellers. It doesn't have that many functions yet but you can still create good enough models (houses, guns, indoor-levels) for use in a game. No animation yet though. Support for exporting to .x is being implemented as we speak. DeleD can be used as a stepping stone to the bigger apps out there.

Use DeleD to get skilled in 3d editing! Visit http://www.gamefortress.com/delgine for more info.
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krannock
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Joined: 19th May 2003
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 18th Nov 2003 18:00
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Rawlyn w.
ive been playing around with JT Edit and its quite user friendly in my opinion. It does texturing and animation etc.
It is a work in progress and JT is always helpfull with any questions you may have about it.
he is just working on unwrapping and texturing to make it better.

i would keep an eye on this if nothing else as i think it is quite good.

[href]http:/www.jtgame.com/jtedit[/href]

Smile it could be worse....I smiled...it got worse!
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JAT
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Posted: 18th Nov 2003 19:39
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Krannock,

Thanks for the recommend! My unwrapping/texture mapping enhancements are coming along nicely. Look for a new release with a first cut of it in a few days.

-John

John Thompson
http://www.jtgame.com/jtedit
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guru of boredom
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Location: middle of no where
Posted: 19th Nov 2003 05:44
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where do you download the exporter for gmax and is there a license fee?

we are not outnumbered! we are just in a target rich enviroment!
P4 2.4 ghz 120 GB 256 mb GeForce4
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