Hard Light Productions Forums
Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The Modding Workshop => Topic started by: mmm99 on September 09, 2009, 03:25:13 am
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hi all i want to start making models for freespace 2 i dont know where to start and i need help
i dont have any modeling tools so that would be a good start
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i dont have any modeling tools so that would be a good start
Modeling - Blender, Wings3D or Truespace
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Alternaltely, google GMax. It has the majority of the functions of 3ds Max, but it's free. You can use the .md3 exporter as an intermediate for conversion to a more Freespace friendly format like cob through lithunwrap or Deep Exploration.
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Inivis AC3D.
http://www.inivis.com/
Very easy to use and learn to use. The licence is not ungodly like Max is, either.
Blender is tough to get a handle on (cool, free program, though). Truespace is free right now; I'm being a little ignorant, but I'd say it's not worth your time. SketchUp is not my cup of tea and seems rather limited... but that's up to the modeler. It's free too.
Combining AC3D with Blender makes PCS2 operations on models a snap. Extract a model with PCS2 as .dae, port it to Blender and work with it there, if you like. Or, port it to AC3D from there. :yes:
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Apologies for posting a link to another forum,
http://www.game-warden.com/viewcategory.php?moduleid=32
But over at game-warden there's a repository of 3D software (Free too)
There are plenty of tuts on the web, and here in our very fine modding forum. :yes:
Feel free to ask (as if you didn't know that already ;) )
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Apologizing why ???
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This is off-topic, I know, but I just have to ask... Does anyone else here use AC3D?
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Apologizing why ???
I generally see HLP and GW as the Arsenal and Chelsea of the FS2 community ;) :lol:
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One program to rule them all.
Blender.
Once you get used to the interface, it's really good and rather straightforward. A big bonus: if you work via DAE, it almost never breaks during conversion to POF. And best of all, it's free.
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Of everything that's been posted so far, Blender is the most powerful and versatile, with the largest community and the most helpful tutorials and documentation.
If, however, you're new to 3D modeling and want to get started, you should seriously consider buying a book. Try Blender3D Noob to Pro, or another book that specializes in low-poly game modeling.
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Blender's interface is ... different.
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Learning curve vs. functionality goes like this with these programs... at least, as I see it:
Well, first a list of comparable programs and their availability/cost:
Two are free: Blender and SketchUp. But SketchUp is rather limited unless you want the professional version, which might cost quite a bit. More on that in a second.
AC3D is inherently not free. The demo is free to try. The licence, however, is not very expensive AT ALL. I think current versions will cost a bit less than $80 USD. This is not at all too much to spend on a CAD program. Most of the plug-ins are free (all the ones I use are) and the program continually gets new features. The licence lasts for a while in terms of upgrades, so if a new version comes out, it won't cost you to upgrade. And if the licence is old, upgrading it is pretty cheap in comparison.
SketchUp Pro is like... $400 USD I believe? A student licence is around $50 if I'm not mistaken, but it only lasts for so long.
Immediate user reaction to the program:
SketchUp gets the title for easiest to start with. Draw a shape and grab the extrude tool. Cool, I made a box! Going farther than that, SketchUp starts to get tricky. It's certainly workable, as I've seen some very impressive SketchUp (free version) models. But to do those things, you actually need to be able to get a hang of the program.
AC3D is great. The interface is intuitive and the functions make sense. And you have a great many of them. When there's a problem, reading through the manual (which comes with the application) usually will help you out. In short, it's easy to use while it doesn't have the immediate modeling limitations SketchUp does. If you need to render something, Download a free rendering program called POV-Ray. AC3D is designed to use it, too.
Blender is free and uses free elements to run it. The latest versions need Python 2.6... just go to python.org and load 'er up! Next, get Blender. From there, you'll probably be frustrated until you get help. Most of the functions are hotkey based and the UI is not descriptive at all. If you get past those limitations... I've seen some remarkable work done with the program. Hooray for open source! The program has a built-in rendering engine, a programming interface, etc., etc. I'll need to really sit down and learn the application someday, but until then I'll be happy using it to import .dae files from PCS2 and convert them to .ac files.
If you're cheap... AC3D is not too bad. If you're cheap as in I-just-spent-$500-on-textbooks-and can't-afford-squat, go with SketchUp or Blender. I'd choose Blender over SketchUp despite its frustrating UI.
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just use max. takes awhile to learn but its well worth it.
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If all fails you can always To... *Spoon get smacked on the back of the head and dragged off*
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I'v been tinkering with blander for the last week and in modeling terms find it nice to use once I read a couple of the tutorials on the website, certainly for creating a basic model (I'm not paying for a program in a field i have no intention of getting professionally involved in)
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thanks for the help ill post more questions as i come across something i need help on.
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new questions
wat format are the models for freespace 2? how do i convert them back and forth?
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FS models are .pof files, not sure about how the other programs do the convertion but for blender you just export the model to .dae file with the script and then you use the PCS to convert into .pof .
you can check this (http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php?title=Blender_to_POF_Conversions) wiki entry for convertions from blender to pof.
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FS ships were originally constructed with Truespace, or .cob format, models. As Truespace is the emissary of Satan, you should use a different application. If you use Blender for one thing, it might be importing the model you want from the program of your choice (so long as you can export the source file to a format Blender will import) to Blender. Then, convert to .dae 1.4 format and use PCS2 to "load 'er up."