[Technical Talk] - Free or low cost 3D and 2D apps.
polycounter lvl 20
OK, since we always get people coming and asking for links of applications to start modeling or doing digital art, This sticky is going to be for any and all free or very low cost 3D and 2D applications you can think of or find.
3D Applications
<ul type="square"> [*]Wings3D
[*]Blender
[*]Silo
(this one isn't free, but very low cost)
[*] Zbrush
(again, not free but low-cost)
[/list]
2D Applications
<ul type="square"> [*]The Gimp
[*] Art Rage
[/list]
This is all I have, if you have anything to add, please do but make sure to include a URL to the product and whether it is a 2D or 3D application. Enjoy!
3D Applications
<ul type="square"> [*]Wings3D
[*]Blender
[*]Silo
(this one isn't free, but very low cost)
[*] Zbrush
(again, not free but low-cost)
[/list]
2D Applications
<ul type="square"> [*]The Gimp
[*] Art Rage
[/list]
This is all I have, if you have anything to add, please do but make sure to include a URL to the product and whether it is a 2D or 3D application. Enjoy!
Replies
Anim8or:
http://www.anim8or.com/main/index.html
I am not a big fan of it, but some pleople really like it.
Same goes for Milkshape3d:
http://www.swissquake.ch/chumbalum-soft/index.html
(not free but only 20 I think)
P.S.: I think you should add that cheaper does not equal worse than full price apps, exspecially concerning Wings3d (and maybe also Blender)
How the hell did I forget Milkshape?...
Go thru Paul Jaquays site.
Don't forget the age-old Maya, XSI and Gmax limited versions
Its $495 usd.
copy&paste of what it comes with:
-2 CPU mental ray® v.3.3 rendering
-Advanced Subdivision Surface Modeling
-Full Cloth & Particles
-Standard Character Rigs
-NLA3 Full Nonlinear Animation, Audio, and Actions
-5-DVD Softimage Production Series
ps. the 2 cpu licenses for mental ray are worth nearly that price alone.
Not sure of the price...but I THINK you can still order it from the links on this site http://www.xs4all.nl/~renep/quakeme/download.htm
It's still pretty good for doing some things, I still use it for building my initial shapes, poly by poly.
Blender.org's the correct site. :P
Don't forget the age-old Maya, XSI and Gmax limited versions
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Here are the links:
Maya Personal Learning Edition (3D software)
Softimage|XSI EXP (3D software)
Gmax (3D software)
UV Mapping Software:
LithUnwrap v1.3 Free (Old version of unwrap3d. You can't get it from the official site anymore.
Ultimate Unwrap 3D - Not free: $39.95
You may also want to check out the links section of the Ultimate Unwrap site: http://www.unwrap3d.com/links.aspx
Btw, maybe it's a good idea to update the first post with all the links that are posted here.
*edit* Thanks notman! I just updated the links.
http://www.softimage.com/Products/EXP/HL2/
Free application that creates Normal and Displacement maps from high and low poly model sources. Works as a previewer too.
Looks quite good and is cheap..
http://developer.nvidia.com/object/melody_home.html
Will preview and create normal maps from .objs and will make its own mapping if none is specified
Melody
http://www.hash.com/products/am.asp
Tatoo
does blender do it?
http://www.caligari.com/gamespace/
you can find there also LIGHT version, which's free.
I wonder if theres any free 3d(skeleton)animating program that will export the animation files to 3d objects because last time I fiddled around with anim8or, they didn't ahve that feature.
does blender do it?
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try to use CHARACTER FX _ animation tool, it cost only 15$ !!! Easy to use.
http://www.insanesoftware.de/
animation export format into DIRECT .X ( ideal for DARK BASIC, TORQUE )... and there's also format for BLITZ.
You can look at one of my animation what I've done under CHARACTER FX - for DARK BASIC. ( still in WIP )
http://www.miseryproduction.com/alien_run.html
This program sounds interesting.
Can character FX be exported into game models like Quake3, UT2k4, Half-Life2, etc.
This program sounds interesting.
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unfortunately non , except if we will find a programmer to realize one plug-in, the SDK of this software is available on the website.
(I don't think that we can search the man here.)
http://park18.wakwak.com/~pixia/
In the same line, Open Canvas. very cheap, my fav painter for my wacom.
www.portalgraphics.net
http://www.portalgraphics.net/en/index.asp
curiously, seems japanesse site has oc 4, and english only 3.x... and a 2d animated toon maker
I downloaded from someone an old free 0.72 beta. But the newer ones are really good.
I model with wings ( a just started orco ) and is my favourite modeller of all times.
I use Blender for animation and XSI Foundation...which is really good.
About Character Fx...You can export as X, or quake2 md2. You could in theory use Deep Exploration to convert an x file to other game formats. But Deep is not cheap. Max can import X since recently, I found a non translated site with an x importer supporting weights, bones, etc...I think there was no other before.
Blender can import md2 , full with animation, and export as md3 or md2, both animated also.Oh, and as x, md5, cal3d, Torque, and some more.
I have tested most of those and they work.
I prefer Blender to Character Fx, but Blender is way more complex to learn.
Milkshape is quite a good overall tool, but it supports no weights yet. While Character Fx and Blender, do.
http://jpatch.sourceforge.net/
http://k3d.sourceforge.net/new/index.php
Art of Illusion
Runs just about everywhere since it is written in Java and supports animations.
But haven't really tried it yet.
http://icculus.org/freyja/index.html
Ac3d
Deled 3d
Doga 3d
Neg 3d
Lightray 3d
Curvy 3d [/list]
Here are some more apps that needed mentioning.
Most are 3d app's.
and I almost forgot SketchUP 3d . Its a little pricey but i like It.
[ QUOTE ]
Here's a free 3d model file converter (over 400 formats including md3, obj, lwo, and 3ds: 3d model viewer/converter
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I am looking for a free converter for some time now, I need to convert 3DS to .X but with normals and UV coordinates. The Conv3ds included in the SDK doesn't do this right.
The above tool you mentioned is not free, it is shareware, and does not save most formats (like .X) with the shareware version, too bad.
Any other free converters out there that save .X with normals and UV please?
Firle
Whoops, I think I'm off topic. I can't think of anything beyond the appz already mentioned.
$40+- to buy, much like a cut down version of Cinema 4D, I used it when I was first learning the super basics of modeling last summer cheetah3d.com
http://freegamearts.myexp.de/tools.html
(Look under Image and Texture Software)
P.S.: The FreeGameArts website is always looking for contributions.
Don't let your unused etc models rot on your harddrive, make them available for use in (homebrew) games.
let the good times roll.
Bree
www.gamemaker.nl
Low cost ($20 usd) game creation program. Mostly sprite based 2D games, but has 3d capability and multiplayer over TCP, IPX or Serial.
DirectX based, so you need windows.
I definitely give GameMaker a 4.5 out of 5.
I hope I'm not off topic, but I just noticed that the link to the normal & displacement mapping tool ORB doesn't work anymore (http://www.soclab.bth.se/practices/orb.html). Does anyone know if there is an alternate download link for it? (I searched the net, but I couldn't find one).
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It's now available from the main site, but none of the tutorials or plug-ins are now available.
http://engineering.soclab.bth.se/tools/177.aspx
that is it's new home.
I use this quite a bit.
Paint .NET
thought it has some way to go before it's even close to as useful as Photoshop, it's headed in the right direction.
Automatic (almost) uv mapping. Educational "Fraternaware" version available from site. The free version has limits, but I've found that what I get by unwrapping manually in Max I get in seconds with this.
Early version of a Zbrush like open-source program.
Catch22: only runs on Linux so far
Misfit Model 3D
Haven't tried it, but it has quite a lot of features and is free. Seems to be more geared towards really low poly modeling.
http://sharp3d.sourceforge.net/
Early version of a Zbrush like open-source program.
Catch22: only runs on Linux so far
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NOW AVAILABLE IN WINDOWS FLAVOUR!
http://sharp3d.sourceforge.net/mediawiki/index.php/Windows_Development