Modeling Programs?

[James108]

Which program is good for modeling stuff? if at all possible free ones would be nice

 

[Stormy]

HL2 XSI, Gmax

 

[Gear]

Lightwave is also pretty good i've heard from many of my friends that are modellers. But i think 3d studio max is the most popular one.

 

[Some0ne]

lighwave is good and 3ds max is the most popular. and for that reason its probabley the best for modelling for games because there are many plugins for it.
but i can tell you XSI is the up and coming modelling program.

 

[The Dark Elf]

XSI if you want an all in one solution, Maya aswell. Steep learning curves if you've never modeled before since they are Pro apps. Lightwave second, simple to learn years to master, but you need countless plugins to get it up to speed with the top end apps. Houdini forget it, brilliant app, incredibly powerful but not for beginners and its not really catered for with exporting to various formats unless you can write your own parts for it (applies to all pro software these days though)

Max... err meh whatever lol, though it used to be the only one really geard towards game work, its just a bitch at times, also unfortunately most of the Max community is swamped by warezkiddies that spoil it for the decent max users. Maya has gradually begun to muscle in now and has a far more powerful scripting and plugin architecture which is whats important. XSI is almost as powerful scripting wise, and pretty much you can do absolutely everything within XSI without needing external plugins or software. Lightwave has a good scripting language, plugins to do anything.

Personally I'd recommend Lightwave and/or XSI, or Max and/or Maya. As LW users find XSI easier to get to grips with, and Max users the same with Maya. If you get used to LW you'll be slower to pick up on Maya which more closely resembles Max, and the same can be said for Max/Maya to XSI or LW users (as has been shown on here and elsewhere with ex Max users complaining XSI is too difficult) So its best to stick with whats familiar. End of the day its how good you are, not really the program. A talented guy can do wonders in Cinema4D while someone with no talent wouldn't be able to make anything decent even in the best software available.

 

[thereisaspoon]

xsi mod tool is the only free one that can export to hl2, if u plan to buy, xsi or maya is a wise choice. xsi essentials is 500 but its almost has all the feature you need for game modeling (mainly hl2) as max which costs a lot more. try em all out and stick to the one thats most appealing

 

[Computer5k]

Blender ftw tbh.
www.blender3d.org

Doesn't have smoothing groups, and can't export to smd, but someone is working on an exporter, and before that you could export to a common format and get some nice person with the real software to export it for you I think mod tool can import a lot of stuff and export SMD

 

[dassbaba]

XSI mod tool version, any other free tool isn't worth learning since it's useless later on

learn XSI, it's a really good program that's "making gains" in the 3D industry

 

[Mikademius]

How many threads are there regarding this subject now?

 

[thereisaspoon]

some1 should make a sticky

 

[Death_Octimus]

Max Max Max !!!

:E

 

[The Dark Elf]

some1 should make a sticky

They'll probably still get posted..

eg: the "will hl2 work on my machine?" sticky, below it 12 "will hl2 work on my specs?" threads

 

[weihbe]

3dsmax

 

[The Dark Elf]

3dsmax

can you say why you'd pick that? Might be a little more helpful to those who haven't used them before. eg: good reasons, not something lame like "cause its teh best!!!111oneoneone"

 

[Darg]

Blender, www.blender3d.org
I've used Max and XSI and neither compared in ease of modelling to blender.

 

[wolvesrdogs]

What is a good modeler thing for some who has never used one before and doesnt wanna pay.
I wanna make a gun model.
Any free ones?
:cheers:

 

[Sieg]

Try everyone of them and see which one suits you best.

 

[wolvesrdogs]

I dont think that will work

 

[thereisaspoon]

xsi mod tool, its free it exports to hl2 its full featured.

 

[CommandoSR]

but bogged down with stupid, annoying limits...

 

[thereisaspoon]

use blender and wings if u cant put up with a tiny limit

 

[wolvesrdogs]

whats all this stuff telling me i need an export thing, in XSI mod tool?
Do i need to sign up pay or what?

 

[Ames]

whats all this stuff telling me i need an export thing, in XSI mod tool?
Do i need to sign up pay or what?

It's free. All you need to do is register at www.softimage.com, request a model exportation key, download the Valve model add-on, go through a bunch of other steps explained on the site and PRESTO!, done.