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Geek Culture / What is the easiest modeling tool out there?

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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 05:30
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i want a 3d modeling tool thats easy to learn and use.
Do thouse exist?

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 05:38 Edited at: 10th Sep 2006 05:41
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Well personally, I haven't used a modeling package that was hard. I just never made anything good because in order to make good models, you have to be a good artist.

I've used milkshape($20) and anim8r(free). Both were very easy to learn. I currently use milkshape.

common people are walking in line.

Mitsu Fly Ride.
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Xenocythe
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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 05:41
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Milkshape is amazing.


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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 05:45
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i am a good artist

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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Xenocythe
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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 05:46
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I'm confused why you said that.


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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 05:51
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open_froz said you need to be a good artist to make good models
(the Second post)

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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Xenocythe
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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 05:57
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Oh. Disregard my question.


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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 06:00
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certanly looks easy just need to learn it.

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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Xenocythe
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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 06:03
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True, very true.


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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 06:06 Edited at: 10th Sep 2006 06:06
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never mind

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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Oddmind
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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 06:16
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you are are you?

Shall we see some of your work?

Around here we like to talk with actions rather than words, as funny and ironic as that may seem given our current method of communitcation.

formerly KrazyJimmy

Prayers for rain...
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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 06:31 Edited at: 10th Sep 2006 06:32
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Just to clear things up: I didn't call you a bad artist. Sorry if it sounded like that.

common people are walking in line.

Mitsu Fly Ride.
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Oddmind
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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 06:38
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I've never heard a good artist proclaim that he/she was indeed a "good artist"

even if you are I would reccomend re phrasing things like that to gian more respect from the community.

formerly KrazyJimmy

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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 06:45 Edited at: 10th Sep 2006 06:48
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Oddmind, I don't think I offended anyone. I got the feeling there was a mis-communication after he said:
Quote: "i am a good artist"

Almost like I called him a bad artist! I don't even know him, why would I tell him he's bad at art/modeling.

I have heard people say that they are good at art.

I called myself a bad artist! Is that alright?

common people are walking in line.

Mitsu Fly Ride.
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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 06:46
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i dont want to sound like a pu$$y but i dont have a digital camera to take pictures or a scanner to show my drawrings.

do screenshots from a dark basic game i made count as art?

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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Steam Assassin
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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 06:47
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I am a VERY good artist.


I used to have one of those signs, but then realized how annoying it was...
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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 06:49 Edited at: 10th Sep 2006 07:10
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Quote: "Oddmind, I don't think I offended anyone. I was just making sure after he said:
Quote: "i am a good artist""


i am not that easily offended
dont worry

DAMN! MILKSHAPE IS AWSOME!

i love this thing

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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Saikoro
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Posted: 10th Sep 2006 08:29
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Quote: "you are are you?

Shall we see some of your work?

Around here we like to talk with actions rather than words, as funny and ironic as that may seem given our current method of communitcation."

Wow, what power train have you been riding, Oddmind?


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Hobgoblin Lord
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Posted: 11th Sep 2006 00:53 Edited at: 11th Sep 2006 00:55
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Depending on what you want it for I have 2 suggestions. If you are looking to make models for a game you are working on I like the combination of Anim8or and LithUnwrap. If you are looking to learn modelling with an application that will help you perhaps get a job in the modelling field try the Maya PLE. has all the features but you get a watermark on renders that state it is not for commercial use still good for a portfolio though.

Just my 2 cents

PS I agree Oddmind anyone I have ever met that was a good artist always said their work was crap. I say the same thing but that is because its true

http://www.cafepress.com/blackarrowgames
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 11th Sep 2006 01:23
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If I wanted great ease for modelling I would buy these 3

Cinema 4D 9.6 Studio (£2200) - Great rendering and effects and animation
Zbrush 2 (Approx £300?) - Great Modelling set
Endorphin (£8000) - Great 'Mo cap simulation rigging' perfect for realistic character animation...only £8000, well consider really mo capping then yes.

What I would get with my knowledge would improve my work greatly as well...but no, can't afford the buggers.

But on a serious note, with real advice.

Easy (By general standards) and affordable tools to me would be
Free - around £100
Milkshape
Wings 3D (No Animation/Rendering) - Free
Anim8or - Free
GameSpace (Its not as easy, but easy enough)
Silo 2 (No animation/Rendering, very high rated)

Up to £500
Zbrush 2 - The favourite of Speed Modelling, as it includes texturing and works like more like a paint tool (The other speed modellers are Wings 3D, Silo, Hexagon, Mudbox and Modo) (Purely modelling, I think it has some form of rendering)

Hexagon 2 - I use this, its very capable, the cheaper alternative to Zbrush, but bugger in places

TrueSpace 6.2 - Like Gamespace, much more features

Softimage|XSI - Cheapest version - Serious about modelling for games and having CGI effects and can't afford Max, this is a good alternately, has a good set of features. Sort of easy. About £300. I think making normal maps is one of its features (Same for Zbrush)

Cinema 4D 9.5 Base version - Barebones Cinema 4D, easy, fast and has the standard Cinema 4D tools with out all the addons, many plugins avialible, like Baker, which is a lightmapper/Normal Mapper - About £500.

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Bahamut
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Posted: 11th Sep 2006 01:45
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If you've never used anything else before and don't intend to switch to something more expensive later, Blender is very easy to pick up and it's free. It is also incredibly versatile (and now with exporting to DBP!), and does everything most commercial products do.

However, it's also very different from anything else out there. It's this difference that gives it its bad reputation for being difficult. Therefore, if you've already started learning something else Blender probably isn't right for you. After, say, milkshape it will be very hard to adjust.

IceBound Melodic rock/metal band with loads of lead guitar, clean female vocals, and more guitars! What more could you want?
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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 11th Sep 2006 03:16
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i have blender, its quite hard to pick up.

milkshape is awsome though.

i just began the the first tutorials and already i am making some pretty good models.
the problem is, there is no way to get a hard copy of it. (is there?)

i have no debet or credit card.

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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Bahamut
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Posted: 11th Sep 2006 03:24
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Quote: "i have blender, its quite hard to pick up.

milkshape is awsome though."


I suppose it's all relative. I could never stand milkshapes interface, whereas I love blender.

No, you can't get a hard copy of milkshape I don't think. You need to register it after 30 days.

IceBound Melodic rock/metal band with loads of lead guitar, clean female vocals, and more guitars! What more could you want?
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Jeku
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Posted: 11th Sep 2006 04:07
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Also Hash's Animation:Master is a great pro tool that is relatively cheap (a few hundred $$$). My father uses it every day, and swears b it. It's been used in movies and commercials.


http://www.codercafe.com - My blog
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Oddmind
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Posted: 11th Sep 2006 04:40
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Quote: "Oddmind, I don't think I offended anyone. I got the feeling there was a mis-communication after he said:
Quote: "i am a good artist"
Almost like I called him a bad artist! I don't even know him, why would I tell him he's bad at art/modeling.

I have heard people say that they are good at art.

I called myself a bad artist! Is that alright?"


Hey man lay off the shrooms, I never even said anything to you... what are you even talking about? haha...

I think the tiemuput into learning blender payes off in the end. I use it.

formerly KrazyJimmy

Prayers for rain...
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 11th Sep 2006 13:08
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Quote: "Also Hash's Animation:Master is a great pro tool that is relatively cheap (a few hundred $$$). My father uses it every day, and swears b it. It's been used in movies and commercials."


How could I miss that from my list, its quality, Tak: The Power of Juju (dunno if it was used in the game, but was in the commercials) is a good example of what it can do, its actually quite cheap now, if you can afford it, check out the demo (if they have one) or pay Jeku's Dad a visit.


But Milkshape is a good tool, looks like thats your choice, I do recommend it, its IK animation tool to me is amazingly simple, make bone structure, select vertices, apply to bone and repeat for other sections, no messing around with anything else. Plus the range of exporters is one of its main strengths.

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Van B
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Posted: 11th Sep 2006 13:49
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The package I found easiest to learn has to be Rhino3D, it's a fairly complex and powerfull modeller, but if your used to technical drawing or even just 2D CAD packages it's really easy to pick up.

I wouldn't say modelling had that much to do with drawing skill, IMO it's more about how you visualise shapes in your mind, and how you deconstruct then reconstruct them in your modelling app. It's more of a talent than something that can be learned, but being able to formulate 3D shapes in your head based on side views, stuff like that is what technical modelling is all about - making guns, vehicles, buildings and other structures. Rhino is great for making complex mechanical objects, the NURBS system can be used to produce stuff very quickly once you know how it works. It's polygon tools are very sparse, but with experience and a good eye for how low poly models need to be put together you can get any type of model out of Rhino.

Organic modelling is more artistic, like you'd benefit from character sketches and a good vision of how the character should look - most would agree that modellers tend not to be proficient in organic *and* technical modelling equally - some people can make amazing character models but can't put together a basic FPS building internal.

''Stick that in your text and scroll it!.''
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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 12th Sep 2006 00:20
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there is also a nice feture that helps you with modeling if you are not a good artist. put bacground pictures of something you want to model, 2d pics of all dimentions, and trace everything, but i havent used that yet. i am currently working on a car model.

the vertexes are tricky its like impossible to make a cube using vertexes and faces. if you select a vertex, you automatically select everything thats behind it.

and if there are a lot of shapes bunched up its hard to select the right one that you need.

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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EddieY
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Posted: 13th Sep 2006 04:30
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Blender is free, has tons of features in addition to just 3d modeling (fluid simulation, lots of other neat stuff) and there is a wealth of documentation and tutorials out there on its use.

Milkshape has a narrower feature set than Blender, but because of that is also easier to use, and at $20 is quite a bargain.

If you wanted to spend some serious money and get a higher-end package, then which to get would depend on what you want to do with it. The CGTalk forums (http://www.cgtalk.com) have huge amounts of information, and are a great place to sift through for info on 3D graphics/art/modeling and other related topics. If nothing else, you'll see some amazing work done by industry professionals that will inspire you....

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