Modelling program...?

[Pennington]

I should be using maya to model for hl2 right? Well where is it? Wouldn't it make sense to put it in the SDK? Is it a free download anywhere (obviously when you type maya into search engines it brings up endless information on the mayans, and i dunna wanna sort(a) thru all that.)

 

[archvilell]

Heh. Sorry to burst your bubble, pal, but Maya can cost a few thousand dollars ($5600 if I remember correctly). However, there is a Personal Learning Edition for free download at www.aliaswavefront.com. The only problem is I think Alias won't let you publish your works. I don't know their definiton of publish, but at least it's worth checking out.

 

[thereisaspoon]

use xsi exp for hl2
www.softimage.com

 

[Pennington]

So why not include a modelling program in their sdk? I mean, they include a mapping one.

Oh, and that price is ridiculous. Really. Gimme a f*cking break. And they wonder why ppl rip their software off of kazaa. PPL gouging like that deserve to get ripped.

 

[Pennington]

Well, i'll download that personal learning crap. I just wanna model some for fun. Right now what i'm trying to do is model and animate a double crossbow, one that could really work, to explain to someone what i'm talking about (not even for HL2, to be honest). By double i mean kinda like an over and under one, one that can fire twice before reloading. So definately not something i'm publishing

 

[desty]

1. The mapping program is made by valve, so it's obvious it goes into the SDK. Getting the authorisation from Alias(Maya) or Discreet(3dsmax) to have their software in the SDK would cost big money and it's just stupid, people would go buy the $50 game instead of the $3000 software.

2. The price is not ridiculous, these programs take years to develop by teams of 200+ researchers - you know how much that costs to finance? Maya is not just a modeler.

3. XSI EXP comes with the SDK, there is a link to download it for free - It's all you need.

cheers,

desty

 

[Cunbelin]

Heh. Sorry to burst your bubble, pal, but Maya can cost a few thousand dollars ($5600 if I remember correctly). However, there is a Personal Learning Edition for free download at www.aliaswavefront.com. The only problem is I think Alias won't let you publish your works. I don't know their definiton of publish, but at least it's worth checking out.

You do realize that effects houses make hundreds to thousands per frame of CG work. That and Maya actually starts a $2000 for the basic commercial, $300 for the basic Student version. XSI costs $500 for the basic commercial, $200 for the student version. 3DS is $3500 for the commercial, the student version looks to be about $600. All three have free versions, XSI has a free version that exports to HL2, 3DS's free version will probably have an exporter eventually. Maya I doubt will ever have an exporter for their free version. Learn on a free version buy the program you like the most when you are willing to commit to it. Be aware of the limitations of the licenses when you buy.

XSI EXP for HL2:
http://www.softimage.com/products/exp/HL2/

gMax:
http://www4.discreet.com/gmax/

Maya PLE:
http://www.alias.com/eng/products-services/maya/maya_ple/index.shtml

 

[thereisaspoon]

So why not include a modelling program in their sdk? I mean, they include a mapping one.

Oh, and that price is ridiculous. Really. Gimme a f*cking break. And they wonder why ppl rip their software off of kazaa. PPL gouging like that deserve to get ripped.

modeling programs are free...blender, wings are 2 examples. Milkshape is dirt cheep too, 20 dollars, but wings is much better. Why do u think the pro apps cost so much? rendering. U cant render in blender or wings (well i think u can in blender, but its really shitty render engine). Now take xsi, maya and max. All three now have mental ray integrated. Programming a render engine is insanity compared to a modeling program. Thats the main reason the pro apps cost so much, cuz of the rendering engine (And yes, the animation systemes are a bit crazy in some apps, mainly xsi and maya), not to mention the fact that if some1 where to buy a pro app, they will most likely make a lot of profit by using it. U dont see hollywood 3d houses using blender.

 

[Gray Fox]

I don't know I was at the blender official site and they have some pretty fine renders http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Images.151.0.html but i don't know if they used a free renderer or not.
Anyway I always thought the programs were so much more expensive simply because they have a pretty niche market, have low competition and people mainly use it for their work and not just a hobby so they need them and for something you need you will pay a lot more than just for something you just wan't for fun.

Anyway pennington why the **** do you want maya, max has better modeling tools, and if you are a noob then use blender, not only is it free ir has very good video tutorials on their site, all classed from beginner til pro, very clear and easy http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Tutorials.243.0.html .
Or if you insist on maya then maya mentor is a usefull learning program, you do need the bronze membership to get it, but the registration ofr it is free so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[random.hero]

I should be using maya to model for hl2 right?

who told you that ? it helps to do your research.

Oh, and that price is ridiculous. Really. Gimme a f*cking break. And they wonder why ppl rip their software off of kazaa.

they make their money from selling to multiple large companies who can afford it and want to use the software in a fullscale project for publishing and gain back the money invested in the modelling program. if you look, they often create a smaller scale program with fewer frills, such as GMax, and the learning editions of XSI and Maya etc.

So why not include a modelling program in their sdk? I mean, they include a mapping one.

thats what XSI for HL2 is. Hammer, as others have said, is Valve's own program specifically for mapping in HL2. if you've read anything about modelling for HL2, you'll know Valve uses XSI, which isnt theirs so they cant give it to everyone for free. try out Milkshape's 30 day trial and that'll put you off, but just dont come and complain about how much harder modelling is than you originally thought.

bye bye

PS. please post any work you do, id love to crit it :naughty:

 

[Cunbelin]

Any program that handles polygons is a fine program to learn modeling on. Personally I'd recommend learning on the industry standard programs, they are free and you aren't going to find "Extensive Knowledge of Blender" as a job requirement. Most of the stuff you make while learning will be fairly mediocre so the lack of decent rendering abilities isn't a huge deal. Each person has their own opinion on which program is the best.

if you have the time I'd suggest learning one program initially and learning the other two major ones after you have a good handle on that first one. Try to learn theory more than technique as theory applies to any program, techniques often are limited to one program.

Personal opinion for me is I like XSI the best, probably next would be 3DS though I found that one to be the hardest to learn, and finally Maya.

 

[Mikademius]

Hehe. I hope you're joking Welcome to Tellus of today. You don't need Maya Unltd. for this so the price will be about 2000+ euro. I payed about 500 euro for my non-commercial student license which I can upgrade to a commercial one for another 1000 euro. You have to be a student or have been a student the last year or something like that. A nice price if you ask me. Somethig tells me though that you will not pay this ammount for any app anyway reading the tone of your posts, but at least this is the reality. The kazaa remark is ridiculous, not the price from alias. This software is not developed for the regular man in the street. This is for big/small companies etc.. Also some freelancers own their own copy. I can understand why poor students, hobbyists crack it, but the pro's usually get good deals from the retailers.

To make it short: You could use XSI