I am but a newbie to modeling. Scratch that, I don't even go under newbie because I don't know HOW to model! Which 3D modeling program would any of you recommend (that's not too cheap, might I add)?
if you cant afford other apps, then well blender is probably the most powerfull full featured free app you can get.
abit of warning though. The interface is abit odd although 'efficient' imo once learned, and the hotkeys are much different that other apps, and considered 'non-standard'. But they also make more sense, such as r for rotate and s for scale. Other apps well are not so 'intuitive' but they are standardized across many apps especially max/maya etc.
It's great to sign up to use it and learn it, just because it's great to have the skills if you want to get a job doing this stuff. If you are going to school, it's a no-brainer, especially if you are aiming for a job in the industry. The first thing they will ask you is whether you use Max or Maya.
But you do have to think that the minute you leave school and you want to upgrade... BAMM - $6,000! I've paid for Photoshop, but no way can I justify dropping the cost of a small car on soft.
raul - Yes it is, and it still has those same 3 pics of Gordon Freeman, the 'Teabag Monster'from HL1 and the Quake II guy going for a swim in his full combat gear.
I am but a newbie to modeling. Scratch that, I don't even go under newbie because I don't know HOW to model! Which 3D modeling program would any of you recommend (that's not too cheap, might I add)?
I'd go with DKK's list, 3ds max is easier to use than Maya and XSI but if you learn Maya and XSI (either one of them) you will find just a slight difference between both of them (according to DT tutorials)
I'd recommend Maya because its easier to use than Xsi.
I'd recommend XSI only if you are dedicated to learn it like a nerd.
do the student versions of those let you export in a version valve accepts, from what I understood you can only save a specific file type that the student versions read.
As much as I enjoy Blender, I would say go ahead and go with Autodesk's tools if you are a student. It is a good idea to know what everyone else in the industry is using, even if you never buy a copy for your personal use. They didn't use to have it free for students, so this is a great opportunity for learning these industry-standard tools. 3DS Max for general modeling, Mudbox for sculpting.
If you feel like transitioning to cheaper/free software later, Blender and Sculptris aren't going away.
I like how no one is listening that everything is free for autodesk for students.
and r and s for scale and rotate don't make sense, they are far apart, you want the keys for certain controls grouped.
sure they make sense, how are they far apart? they are all reachable by the left hand in standard hand-keyboard posture. " WER" keys, if using standard keyboard finger layout will require use of all 3 fingers, and moving of all 3 fingers, the "srg" approach leaves one finger automatically on the letter, then the other two rg, are all reachable by one finger, from a typist point of view this makes tons more sense. In Blender the main modeling tools are grouped logically to the letter that they represent. Like k for the knife tool, e for extrude tool, b for 'bounding box', c is for center. Obviously other tools are not grouped by letter but nothing hard to learn either. For quick modeling, one can keep the left hand on the keyboard the righthand on the mouse and "never" look for buttons, straight from the get go. Albiet this 'logical' approach is not the industry standard. But this is all imo and dont want to turn this into a my apps keys are better than your apps keys :thumbup:
But anyhow to the op, if your a student and want to model for more than just a hobby/indie dev, then jumping on the free max/maya will be usefull. My school also offers students Lightwave free as well as long as your in the class. But if your looking just to be a hobbiest then something like Blender is tuff to beat...
plus if you want a game engine so that you can play around with simple routines, Blender comes packed with its own game engine. Just hit p (play) while your modeling and walla the game engine runs, that simple. And if you want to extend that from the logic brick system it uses for generic game stuff. Its python extendable. Also the ability to link stuff through other .blend files inside your games means you can have a game file seperated from all your model files so that when you make a change to your model file its changed in the main game file. Really fun stuff when you play around with it.
As well since blender is written in C++ and its source is openly available you can play all round with it if you want. As well as extend it to C++ game engines with some work
Most the industry pros use notepad to write OBJ files, like this
the commercial programs like xsi, 3ds max, maya, silo, modo, are really a rip off and targeted more at non-art oriented people who just want "quick" models generated automatically by the program.
here's a quick cube i modelled
# cube.obj
#
g cube
v 0.0 0.0 0.0
v 0.0 0.0 1.0
v 0.0 1.0 0.0
v 0.0 1.0 1.0
v 1.0 0.0 0.0
v 1.0 0.0 1.0
v 1.0 1.0 0.0
v 1.0 1.0 1.0
f 1//2 7//2 5//2
f 1//2 3//2 7//2
f 1//6 4//6 3//6
f 1//6 2//6 4//6
f 3//3 8//3 7//3
f 3//3 4//3 8//3
f 5//5 7//5 8//5
f 5//5 8//5 6//5
f 1//4 5//4 6//4
f 1//4 6//4 2//4
f 2//1 6//1 8//1
f 2//1 8//1 4//1
This might look complicated but this article on wiki should get you off to a good start
EDIT: Oh how could I forget normalmapping, you wanna be next gen right?
Just get the gimp (a photo editor), and look at each channel. Red is for left and right, green is for up and down. Just paint the object as if it is lit from the top in green channel, and as if it's lit from the left in red channel. Try to keep your texture maps on square images and apply one texture map to each polygon. Sometimes you will need to use 40-50 maps to get a nice effect.
I haven't really tried many modeling programs except Maya so I can't give you any personal recommendations there. But I do know that one of the teachers at the university where I study is using Modo a lot.
Maybe something to look up, it looked pretty neat when he showed it atleast.
If you are a student - grab Max or Maya - I personally found Maya to be much easier to use at first glance than Max.
If you are not a student and you don't have $7,000 to drop on your hobby, then get Blender. There are exporters for all the major file formats available. Blender has a number of annoying quirks, but from what I hear from Max and Maya users, the same thing happens there.
Replies
Autodesk is offering all their software for free to students, take advantage of that and give them all a try, do a few basic tutorials.
How long is the free offer?
http://students.autodesk.com/
abit of warning though. The interface is abit odd although 'efficient' imo once learned, and the hotkeys are much different that other apps, and considered 'non-standard'. But they also make more sense, such as r for rotate and s for scale. Other apps well are not so 'intuitive' but they are standardized across many apps especially max/maya etc.
best of luck to you
and r and s for scale and rotate don't make sense, they are far apart, you want the keys for certain controls grouped.
But you do have to think that the minute you leave school and you want to upgrade... BAMM - $6,000! I've paid for Photoshop, but no way can I justify dropping the cost of a small car on soft.
I'd go with DKK's list, 3ds max is easier to use than Maya and XSI but if you learn Maya and XSI (either one of them) you will find just a slight difference between both of them (according to DT tutorials)
I'd recommend Maya because its easier to use than Xsi.
I'd recommend XSI only if you are dedicated to learn it like a nerd.
blendercookie for learning blender
If you feel like transitioning to cheaper/free software later, Blender and Sculptris aren't going away.
sure they make sense, how are they far apart? they are all reachable by the left hand in standard hand-keyboard posture. " WER" keys, if using standard keyboard finger layout will require use of all 3 fingers, and moving of all 3 fingers, the "srg" approach leaves one finger automatically on the letter, then the other two rg, are all reachable by one finger, from a typist point of view this makes tons more sense. In Blender the main modeling tools are grouped logically to the letter that they represent. Like k for the knife tool, e for extrude tool, b for 'bounding box', c is for center. Obviously other tools are not grouped by letter but nothing hard to learn either. For quick modeling, one can keep the left hand on the keyboard the righthand on the mouse and "never" look for buttons, straight from the get go. Albiet this 'logical' approach is not the industry standard. But this is all imo and dont want to turn this into a my apps keys are better than your apps keys
But anyhow to the op, if your a student and want to model for more than just a hobby/indie dev, then jumping on the free max/maya will be usefull. My school also offers students Lightwave free as well as long as your in the class. But if your looking just to be a hobbiest then something like Blender is tuff to beat...
plus if you want a game engine so that you can play around with simple routines, Blender comes packed with its own game engine. Just hit p (play) while your modeling and walla the game engine runs, that simple. And if you want to extend that from the logic brick system it uses for generic game stuff. Its python extendable. Also the ability to link stuff through other .blend files inside your games means you can have a game file seperated from all your model files so that when you make a change to your model file its changed in the main game file. Really fun stuff when you play around with it.
As well since blender is written in C++ and its source is openly available you can play all round with it if you want. As well as extend it to C++ game engines with some work
the commercial programs like xsi, 3ds max, maya, silo, modo, are really a rip off and targeted more at non-art oriented people who just want "quick" models generated automatically by the program.
here's a quick cube i modelled
This might look complicated but this article on wiki should get you off to a good start
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obj
EDIT: Oh how could I forget normalmapping, you wanna be next gen right?
Just get the gimp (a photo editor), and look at each channel. Red is for left and right, green is for up and down. Just paint the object as if it is lit from the top in green channel, and as if it's lit from the left in red channel. Try to keep your texture maps on square images and apply one texture map to each polygon. Sometimes you will need to use 40-50 maps to get a nice effect.
MAXIMUM RESULTS
Maybe something to look up, it looked pretty neat when he showed it atleast.
If you are a student - grab Max or Maya - I personally found Maya to be much easier to use at first glance than Max.
If you are not a student and you don't have $7,000 to drop on your hobby, then get Blender. There are exporters for all the major file formats available. Blender has a number of annoying quirks, but from what I hear from Max and Maya users, the same thing happens there.