What is a VA?
Don't worry - I still have to do a double take every time I see campaigns released "With VA" as in Voice Acting.
Anyway, here's a basic overview of the free programs I have had any sort of experience with:
Blender:Pros:
By far the most powerful and flexible free 3d modeller. Very thoroughly documented online and you can model, UV, texture, bake textures, repair, hierarchy and do cutscene animations with it along with pretty much anything else. (I've been using it to make animated weapon effects etc.) One HUGE advantage though is that with Waters modified COB export script you can also export a fully stable PCS2 compatible COB file ready for conversion to POF.
Cons:
Scary looking interface, (although doing tutorials sorts that out quite quickly)
SketchupPros:
Very easy to use to do at least basic models, and the pro version has a relatively stable 3ds export that preserves textures. Excellent for rapid development from concept to model. You can apply textures (both tiled and UV mapped).
Cons:
The more complex the shape of the model you're developing, the harder it gets to work with. You will likely need to invest considerable effort in finding more advanced workarounds and other ways to make SU do what you want it to. This is especially true of curved surfaces. It can soon become harder to model a complex shape in SU than it would be in other programs due to the hybrid CAD-modelling toolset. Texture tiling isn't bad, but basic UV mapping is considerably more difficult to do well. The free version has extreme problems with exporting stable model files, and you will need Truespace to take it the rest of the way.
Can't be used for beauty renders, effect making or animations.
G-MaxPros:
A toolset that was spawned from the professional 3d Studio Max line of programs. You can model, UV map and texture in it, and you CAN export your models.
Cons:
You can ONLY export your models through lithunwrap AFAIK, which means you then need to use Truespace still. Rendering and animating have been disabled in it. I have heard a lot of people complain about the interface too, but I'm not familier enough with it myself to comment on that.
Truespace 3.2Pros: Exports COB as its native format and does hierarchy stuff quite well. It can animate. Sorta.
Cons: As most of you know by now, I could write an essay on these and still not have covered everything I've seen first hand.
For the purposes of this comparison though, I'll leave it at: Horrible interface and horrible entire approach to modelling and texturing. Hugely buggy program with giant holes in the toolset. Overall; AVOID IF AT ALL POSSIBLE!!!!!
