[Si|eNt(\/)inion]

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

[Ryx]

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.

[Starfury]

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!

[Kamikaze]

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)

[Ryx]

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.

[Darkmage]

I've found I can create an entire mod using truespace , photoshop and or psp 7. Texturing in truespace is SIMPLE

[Unknown Target]

I use Milkshape 3D-it's only $20, and it's really easy-to-use.

[demon442]

I use rhino 3d(trial).  not the cheapest one out but hell, its the most easy for all of its uses.

[Killfrenzy]

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!

[LAW ENFORCER]

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

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

So there!:ha:

[Si|eNt(\/)inion]

ill check up on milkshape 3d. it sounds interestin and something that i may have been looking for. thankx people.

[Riven]

TS 5.1 has just been released at $99!

[Sandwich]

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. 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.

[Knight Templar]

*Takes note and scans for freeware*

[Knight Templar]

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

[Knight Templar]

Curious... where does one find truespace? (The old free versions that is)

[Knight Templar]

wow heres a first encounter for me... i don't have enough RAM to run maya...

[Knight Templar]

I guess i'll have to use rhino...


jus kiddin, it looks uber-cool




(wow tic tac toe, 5 ina row)

[Galemp]

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...

[Kamikaze]

try deepexploration, it'll convert cobs to readable formats

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