What programs will Half-Life 2 support for making prefabs and character models?

[Snickerz]

By prefabs I mean objects you model in said program and then import to the Half-Life 2 maps. Which modeling programs are known to be supported by Valve?

 

[Shinobi]

XSI is supported natively (they'll be including a free version with HL2/SDK), they said that they will include export tools for maya and 3dsmax too, so all the major modelling programs are covered

 

[PvtRyan]

XSI EXP is included with Half-Life 2, or will atleast be a free download. It's a fully functional version of XSI only with small features disabled or stuff like watermarks in renders. You can also download a free XSI EXP 3.0 now to get used to it.

PS: While I'm at it:
I've just started using XSI after using max for a long time. Some time ago, I let Softimage send me the free 2 cd package which included XSI 2.0 and a training viode cd. I never really used it, but now I wanted to start with it again, but I couldn't find the cd with XSI on it, so I downloaded XSI 2.0.
I still have the training video cd, with 700 MB of video's on it. But is XSI 3.0 really different from 2.0 (which the video's are meant for) or is all the stuff in the video's still accurate for 3.0?

Btw, I'm stunned by what the video's show me, it's REALLY awesome, I've had many times the feeling of 'I really could have used that stuff in max when I was working on that model'.
The rendering engine, the rendering region and much more are really incredible. I finally understand why Fenric dislikes max so much

 

[Jeremy]

I hate softimage. I'll stick with Max 6

 

[softmonkey]

PS: While I'm at it:
I've just started using XSI after using max for a long time. Some time ago, I let Softimage send me the free 2 cd package which included XSI 2.0 and a training viode cd. I never really used it, but now I wanted to start with it again, but I couldn't find the cd with XSI on it, so I downloaded XSI 2.0.
I still have the training video cd, with 700 MB of video's on it. But is XSI 3.0 really different from 2.0 (which the video's are meant for) or is all the stuff in the video's still accurate for 3.0?

I haven't looked at those for a while but they should cover the basics of working with XSI well.
Obviously there have been a lot of changes - but you are best checking the documentation here. You get all the docs with the EXP - just follow the link in the startup page.

 

[clarky003]

I think they used 3ds in the early stages of developement so I guess that would be one, Im not sure what they switched too.. its on the tip of my toungue. ,,dammit, cant remember

 

[Jhahn2k4]

Softimage XSI?

 

[The Dark Elf]

You posted the same thread twice, merged and fixed

 

[Mr. Coffee]

I think they used 3ds in the early stages of developement so I guess that would be one, Im not sure what they switched too.. its on the tip of my toungue. ,,dammit, cant remember

In a nutshell, Discreet kept breaking reverse compatibility thereby trapping Valve into using an obsolete version of 3D Studio Max (3.0 I believe). By this time Avid was offering a much better package with XSI, and since Valve was going to lose a lot of work anyway it made sense to switch.

As for plugins:

http://collective.valve-erc.com/ind...06159032409491000&question=106159102681084900

Basically, there should be plugins for XSI, Max, and Maya right out of the box. Any other apps will require either a plugin to be written for exporting .smd files, or you will need to convert you models to run in XSI, Max, or Maya.

 

[hokai]

Meh I just started using Maya. Pretty good.

 

[SidewinderX]

Yeah, like it has been sad, XSI, Max, and Maya....doesn't support lightwave, which is a bit odd, but whatever...

If Softimage makes a version of XSI that will run fine on 1024x768, then i'll use it.