3D Studio Max for free (features cut for game development)

[daemonicky]

Wiki : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmax

http://www.turbosquid.com/gmax

You have to register to obtain unlocking phrase. It is free.

[GiffE]

Wiki : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmax

http://www.turbosquid.com/gmax

You have to register to obtain unlocking phrase. It is free.

Not exactly a secret or anything new (its been around since I can remember)
The problem with GMax is it has awful import/exporters and its a version of max 6 (or somewhere around that) which is missing alot of features.

[daemonicky]

The problem with GMax is it has awful import/exporters and its a version of max 6 (or somewhere around that) which is missing alot of features.

Missing some important features?

How awful? I think you can always use some thir party convertor.

[ceriux]

i get max for free anyways.

[leileilol]

First off, Gmax is quite out of date - it's from 2002 and lacks a LOT of stuff. It's mostly survived because of the Westwood W3D engine community's use of it.

Second, it's not free - you give away personal info. Personal info is value when it comes to marketing.

Third, 3D Studio Max isn't the only tool ever. Just because the pros use it at most studios doesn't mean it's the #1 tool for a 3d everything. It especially doesn't apply to Quake. "u can use a converter" does not make a comfortable pipeline.

Fourth, 3D Studio Max isn't free. You get a trial. If you use a student edition, be prepared for overrestrictive usage rights put on your work.

[ceriux]

nope max is not free, there are plenty of modeling programs out there. some cheap some free. leilei uses blender i think. it wasnt very comfortable for me but others seem to really like it. if your not a pirate and you want a good program for free. be sure to check out blender.

[goldenboy]

Blender, QME, and Noesis and QWalk for conversion (via MD3).

http://spawnhost.files.wordpress.com/20 ... chtest.png

http://spawnhost.files.wordpress.com/20 ... import.png

[leileilol]

I just Blender directly to MDL. So underrated.

[goldenboy]

I just Blender directly to MDL. So underrated.

you're l33t. Link?

[leileilol]

Exporters I use

ajmdl_export.py is what you want. andrewj did it from the md3 exporter (which is 6903% better than that joke that is "MD2 exporter") so he's a genius.

Also the md3 export scripts here are even better.

[goldenboy]

Thanks.

That mdl exporter messes up the skin on models that I imported via Noesis/md3 and that have the front/back projection preserved.

It works fine for models I unwrapped myself, it seems.

Sometimes I want to keep the old skin though.

[Ghost_Fang]

the exporter wont touch the skins if they are 256 color bmp and are less than 480 px in length. if not it vertically mirrors the UV map

[GiffE]

I've found it quite difficult to adjust to blender since the only modeling tool I ever learned to use somewhat effectively was max. The blender workflow just seemed so entirely different in both controls and the processes involved in modelling. (Yea I know its the most common complaint and the only true answer is suck it up)
That said, I do truly want to learn blender as I know its a wonderful piece of software! I just haven't found "THE tutorial" that I can follow and get me over that initial learning curve.

As far as GMax goes, I seem to recall it missing some edge manipulation tools (Like "ring" and "loop" to select similar edges) it also didn't have target weld for vertexes. Both features I loved and used quite frequently in max.

[goldenboy]

There were a few tutorials that really helped me pick up Blender.

How to model a fedora hat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuFHE_yG33k

Making an airplane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yOvWkehqRw

UV unwrapping and marking seams...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv2TR9hIItU

Sort of good rigging tutorial, also has some basics like selecting etc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU8Qcm5_Oc0

How to navigate in 3d viewport:

http://www.blender.org/education-help/t ... -3d-space/

Selecting stuff:

http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:T ... /Selection

Shape key animation (vertex animation á la Quake) tutorial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d78X6mM1XZE

don't forget to set FPS to 10 if you're animating stuff for quake.

[ooppee]

I use various programs.
I actually main in Milkshape 3D - you can laugh now lol
However it's not that "weak" - check out the SoA weapons I did, about 90% of the work on them was MS3D. Weapons referring to are the Mjolnir and Laser Cannon (my edited version of Ruohis' GL for the Prox Launcher was also done in MS3D).
I recommend this for anyone new to 3d Modelling. It's very basic and has a easy learning curve. I've only stuck to it for it's simplicity. On my high poly work I usually start the model in this then improve upon it in one of the below.

Blender I am giving a try, however I am REALLY hating this whole version exclusive plugins. When you update a program - have older plugins work on it too.

Lightwave 3D is another, however FAR from free. I got to learn it in highschool when Animation 20 was introduced in Grade 12. Love it, however it builds things in polys and not triangles - which basically all games use from my experience and converting to triangles in it is horrible. There could be a option to build in triangles - but I haven't seen it.

3D Studio Max. I find it to be the best overall. I just hate the layout to no end. Gmax falls under the same.