How about Quidam from n-side?

#1 I posted this on the resource itself, but the forums get more traffic, so I'm posting here too.

I just purchased Quidam Studio 3 from N-Sided to make character renders for a client and to build some characters for short animations.

But as far as Quidam's suitability for game dev, now that I have the program and can actually export and see the geometry it creates (as opposed to the demo, which does not allow for export), I see some pluses and minuses.


STRENGTHS:

1. Quidam's strength, for me, comes in the texturing side of things.
I know that this is not the focus of the program, but my texturing skills are poor. Sure, I can build a pretty decent model in Max but when it comes to texturing, that takes a lot of time for me. Maybe that's not the case for everyone, but Quidam makes good skin textures in high res and then when you go low poly and export, you can re-import into Max or whatever and the textures still look good even after the poly reduction.

2. Another strength is that, unlike Poser, Quidam really does have some decent mesh deformation tools, that, when used in conjunction with some preset values, save hours of time. You can edit vertices, polys, and edges. And you can do the same with imported props. And it has "jelly brushes" and soft selection and the like.

If you haven't seen the video above, you should check it out.

3. You can paint directly on the models, just like in Maxon's BodyPaint. This feature works well.

4. Several other very nice features including several "studios" to tweak the various aspects of your characters, from macro to micro changes. Great way to creatively bring a character to life and save a lot of time doing it.



WEAKNESSES:

1. Low poly to them is not low poly to me. When I export to the "low poly" option, the mesh is kind of a mess. I mean it's workable, but it generates a 8000 poly character (their idea of low poly), which is low poly for an animator, but not for me. You DO have the option of exporting to triangles only, but the mesh is not as clean as it would be if you were working with a model built with the intention of low poly to begin with. Luckily, I was able to slap on multi-res in Max and crank it down to 4000 polys and it still looked decent enough to use in game, except for ears and mouth which I could easily tweak.

2. HUGE limitation: While you can edit polys and vertices and edges of preset models (and skin tone, textures, props, jewelry, etc.) its very very hard to make something with an abnormal skeleton size. This really blows. I wanted to make an infant and Quidam just can't do that. I heard about someone on the forums using the "boy pack" and detaching the skeleton in Quidam, resizing bones, then reattaching, which would be great, but resizing bones in Quidam is tough because you can't really directly scale bones....you have to use a workaround. Very limiting. I didn't know this.

3. The demo does not allow exporting, which severely limits your ability to see what kind of geometry it's really creating at lower poly levels. Again, bad for game designers.

3. Overall, its a fair, but not a great tool for game designers for the two reasons listed above. I think it's a great tool, however, if you want to create characters in the medium to high poly range. you should see the gallery. Awesome stuff. Far beyond what Poser could do because of the freedom you have with the tools.



Well, that's it for now. I will post more after I play with the program some more.

By the way, it does have animation and automatic rigging of your characters if you've purchased the 3ds Max and/or Maya export module.

#2 I have been playing with Quidam more, and I have to say: I like it.

And some updates....

8,000 polys as a "low poly" model is fine for me now. Even TGE handles 8,000 poly characters really well (we are talking MAIN characters here...have not tried armies of Orcs !)

But as a main character, 8K is fine, and I can cut that number in half by optimization and post-export work in 3ds max.

My other drawback : "Abnormal" skeleton size.... I can work around this in Quidam and if you get it, send me a message and I'll tell you how. Not a cure all, but its an option.... you use the hand tool and stretch or shrink as needed. You will have to disregard the skeleton after you do that but it works for me. I was able to make a toddler out of a much older child mesh, so that worked .

Overall, I like Quidam. You have to follow it up with some good intensive work in 3ds max or whatever your modeling program is, but it gives you a good starting point.

#3 I use Quidam for LightWave. the best feature about that is that I can export out of Quidam a High Poly character into LightWave. In LIghtWave I can then Reduce Polygons + to different Levels. You can also adjust the percentages of how much it can be reduced.

I can only speak for using Quidam with LightWave. For me it has been worth it as it has saved me lots of time in creating basic characters for clients. Also I agree with Jones the texturing is good, especially the export of UV's.

The skeleton size can be controlled during export or within the engine itself. Personally I like to create my own skeleton in LightWave and then set it up for all my other characters. Basically a template.


Cheers,
Glen