Hard Light Productions Forums

Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The Modding Workshop => Topic started by: Si|eNt(\/)inion on September 17, 2002, 11:23:15 pm

Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Si|eNt(\/)inion on September 17, 2002, 11:23:15 pm
hey everyone...i know this will sound weird...but there is this thing in school that we are doing and we are supposed to do something we like as a project. the teacher told us to "stretch" our abilities, so here's what i want to do: MODELING for Freespace 2. I need some price ranges for programs that i need to do this; i mean i have heard of 3DStudioMax and 3DBlender and all this other stuff...

Like to convert the files i know i need like Truespace and a .POF converter or Segultuch, but i dont wanna kill my bank account buying some 3D program that i cant use, so can anyone give me some tips and some help? I would think some program where i would learn some stuff but not to the point where its like "overcomlicated and intricate." a program easy/medium to use...something for a newbie modeler...like ME...Thanks a lot :):)
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Ryx on September 18, 2002, 12:22:32 am
Well, I started out on Blender, so give that a shot. :) conversion stuff could be solved with deep explorer. PSP could take care of your painting needs. You'll need ts, as I understand it.
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Starfury on September 18, 2002, 12:26:56 am
But Caligari is good about keeping old versions of programs on sale.  I got TS 4.3 for $99... hey, it was a deal at the time!
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Kamikaze on September 18, 2002, 01:42:57 am
Blender - Free - Books are released on learning it
TS (4.0+?) - in the 4 or 5 hundreds - Documentation present (books/net)
TS 1 or 2 - Free - Documentation (somewhere...)
Lightwave - supposedly around 2k dollars - Lots o' books/web sites
Maya - depends on package (free, 4000, 9000 I think) - Books and internet
Milkshape - free/shareware - Quake model design software, documenation available
3DS(max) - 1000 - 2000 (around) - Documentation (plenty)
Bryce 5 - ? - landscaping software
Terraform - free/shareware (20) - landscaping software
Softimage XSI - a few thousand - Documentation available (but rarerer than LW/MAX)

I'll edit the list as soon as I get better statistics and such...

By the way, I've used Lightwave and Truespace and Blender... out of the three I considered Lightwave the most "fun" (powerful), but Blender was generally easier to understand... (IMO)

And lastly, to convert models from anything other than TS (formats) to pof you need to use DeepExploration (or 3dexploration)
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Ryx on September 18, 2002, 03:11:25 am
I heard Lightwave's at ~$1500, Maya Complete ~$2000, 3ds max at $3500-$4500. I won't comment on XSI, but as I understand it, it's the most expensive of the bunch. Don't know about student prices, though. If you have to buy, Lightwave's the way to go.
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Darkmage on September 18, 2002, 04:55:03 am
I've found I can create an entire mod using truespace , photoshop and or psp 7. Texturing in truespace is SIMPLE
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Unknown Target on September 18, 2002, 05:23:23 am
I use Milkshape 3D-it's only $20, and it's really easy-to-use.
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: demon442 on September 18, 2002, 11:52:19 pm
I use rhino 3d(trial).  not the cheapest one out but hell, its the most easy for all of its uses.
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Killfrenzy on September 19, 2002, 11:30:55 am
I personally find that trueSpace 5.1 (which is what I use) is lovely! Now that I've worked it out of course....hehe.....

However, I can't texture to save my life! At least, not fighters. I can do warships though!
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: LAW ENFORCER on September 19, 2002, 04:01:19 pm
It would be better if you said something else than "Quake model design software" because its not and it gives it a bad name... It was first created for Half-life and now
Quote

MilkShape 3D currently supports 37 different file formats from 27 different games/ engines/programs.


So there!:ha: :p
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Si|eNt(\/)inion on September 22, 2002, 05:51:55 pm
ill check up on milkshape 3d. it sounds interestin and something that i may have been looking for. thankx people. :):)
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Riven on September 23, 2002, 10:30:40 am
TS 5.1 has just been released at $99!
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Sandwich on September 23, 2002, 10:52:44 am
Quote
Originally posted by demon442
I use rhino 3d(trial).  not the cheapest one out but hell, its the most easy for all of its uses.


Yeah, for easy-to-get-into modelling, Rhino rocks. If you're starting with equal (ie. zero) knowledge of modelling programs, Rhino is the easiest to use, and it's not underpowered or anything. Simply simple, and powerfully powerful. :D The main disadvantage is that in order to texture, you need to port your creation into TS, as Rhino texturing amounts to simply choosing a texture for a polygon, and that's it. :doubt:
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Knight Templar on September 23, 2002, 06:21:25 pm
*Takes note and scans for freeware*
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Knight Templar on September 23, 2002, 06:26:02 pm
So far i have Pov-Ray for rendering (Need to learn how to use that. Tutorials anyone?) Blender (dunno how to open it) and Anim8r , a character modeling program
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Knight Templar on September 23, 2002, 07:13:04 pm
Curious... where does one find truespace? (The old free versions that is)
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Knight Templar on September 23, 2002, 07:24:54 pm
wow heres a first encounter for me... i don't have enough RAM to run maya...
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Knight Templar on September 23, 2002, 07:31:27 pm
I guess i'll have to use rhino... :sigh:


jus kiddin, it looks uber-cool :)




(wow tic tac toe, 5 ina row)
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Galemp on September 23, 2002, 11:20:57 pm
I have Rhino, 3DS Max, and Photoshop 4, and no friggin' idea how to use them. Plus none of them read COBs which is a problem.

Oh well... :sigh:
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Kamikaze on September 23, 2002, 11:51:14 pm
try deepexploration, it'll convert cobs to readable formats :nod:

Also try google searches for photoshop/anyotherfamousprogram because there are literally thousands of sites with walkthroughs, tips, tricks whatnots... (book stores are 1337)

/me complains about how GE has nice software and doesn't even use the programs :p
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Ryx on September 24, 2002, 01:36:30 am
Quote
Originally posted by Kamikaze
try deepexploration, it'll convert cobs to readable formats :nod:

Also try google searches for photoshop/anyotherfamousprogram because there are literally thousands of sites with walkthroughs, tips, tricks whatnots... (book stores are 1337)

/me complains about how GE has nice software and doesn't even use the programs :p

*fights urge to list apps I have*

Take a peek at Karmas tutorial (posted somewhere here in the modding forum). Good read. :)
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: Sandwich on September 24, 2002, 05:25:10 am
Quote
Originally posted by Knight Templar
(wow tic tac toe, 5 ina row)


*ahem*

---> (http://dynamic4.gamespy.com/~freespace/forums/images/edit.gif)
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: IceFire on September 24, 2002, 07:50:29 am
Maya Personal Learning Edition might be a good option for a school project.  Looks like thats what its for.
Title: The Price of Programs?
Post by: karajorma on September 24, 2002, 05:17:19 pm
Theres a link to a copy of TS2 in my FAQ's modding section. As far as I know it's legit.