THE BEST! 3D modeling program available for Torque

#1 It's all a matter of preference.
the only real difference that i know is that if you use maya to export DTS you will have to define the type of image in the material.cs file if your using TGEA. (myTexture.png - instead of just myTexture). and thats not realy a hazzle.


for difs id go with constructor, it's a realy great tool once you learn to work with it... it might be abit unstable at times, but as long as you save often your in the clear.

#2 Ok so any modeler is good and can you actually make profesional buildings with Constructor?

K if you had a choice between

3Ds Max
Lightwave
Houdini
Maya
Cinema 4D
then of course Blender or Milkshape.

which one would you choose?

#3 If you can use all of them well , then go with the one with the best dts exporter which i believe is Houdini, max has always had a good/the best one (has been used by gg for years and is my preference and used alot in game dev like at epic etc) and soon maybe xsi (in the form of modtool pro for Xna).

good luck!

#4 Let me just say this. Houdini is THE BEST for animation. That's a no brainer.

3ds max is very popular, as a result, it has much documention and is easy to learn, but it is fairly expensive.

Blender is a 'simple and to the point' type of program. But that simple stuff is hard to learn because of the lack of documention.

#5

Quote:Money is not an issue whatsoever!!

i wish i could say things like that....lol

#6 From the list that you provided, i would pick houdini simpley just because of the price issues, especially if you're just beginning game programming!

If you're considering other packages, try truespace, my first and all time favorite modeller!

#7 Ok I've downloaded Houdini learning edition and would like to know if there is any good documentation or Tutorials to get me started?
Right now I cant do a thing Blender is easier! lol =)
Thanks alot everyone!

#8 Artist Documentation Landing Page. Open that up, then look under the Houdini sections.

#9 Thanks alot Michael!

#10 Hmm, money doesn't matter

ok then;


Maya
3D Studio Max
XSI

#11 For me 3DS - 9 have a creditable exporter and is 3ds :)

#12 @Peter

I am with you on those choices. Though I would also slot in Lightwave into that list because of the fantastic work that David Wyand did creating the exporter for it, its as full featured as the one you will find for Max or Maya (which are to be honest the two best DTS exporters out ther for Torque). Aside from that I feel that you definately get a solid and professional package with any of those four applications and all of them are backed by strongly committed companies in the 3D application field.

#13 XSI mod tool doesn't cost anything and XSI is good at both modeling and animation. You pretty much get the full capabilities for non-commercial use, and there are lots of training resources. It is used by the Source engine modders, but DTS support seems to be lacking.

That said, 3dsMax is the one i see most commonly used for games, with Maya for animation. Lots of training resources and 3rd party plugins. The problem is that neither has an entry-level package. You can get a 30-day full-featured trial for 3dsMax, though. I didn't find the Maya trial to be of much use last time i tried it. If you're eligible for academic pricing, or have the funds, 3dsMax is a safe choice.

Houdini's claim to fame is high-end particle-based movie effects, but in 9.x their modeling and animation have become much better. I was using XSI, but am now looking at Houdini because of their embedded DTS exporter, their unique (among these tools, anyway) procedural approach, and the low cost of entry. It doesn't hurt that they're on the GG home page, either :>).

#14 Yeah i've been doing 3d art professionally for a while now. i've worked in all 3 of the major apps -- xsi, 3dsmax and maya, and in my opinion --

XSI wins hands down. the interface is simple and organized and the editing tools they have are intuitive. the rigging is solid and the weighting tools are great. animation as well is the best out of all three, from my experience. the particle engine sucks.. but i think they re did it in the newer versions.. so that might not be the case anymore.

3d studio max generally as the widest support for small development systems, and might be your best bet, although i find it's interface convoluted as HELL and the tools are buggy. once you get it it's fine, but you'll find yourself cursing at it for being stupid.

maya is a programmer's wet dream. it's a beautifully constructed program, but it's complex to wrap your head around and the interface for artists, at least out of the box, is bat-shit horrible. horrible. it's painful to model with, in my opinion.

maya and xsi both have better organization system than max, like an outliner that shows the contents of your scene, but maya's is much more sloppy and less intuitive. everything in maya is a node -- a object mode, a 'shape node' a 'material group' node, a 'material node' .. it's fucking crazy. theoretically it's "cool" because "wow! you could plug anything into anything"

the new version of xsi has that functionality as well, but it's organized.

if you can get torque support for XSI, use xsi. if not, you might want to get MAX.

#15 K thanks alot all of you I still havent made up my mind but I think I'll go with Max, Xsi, or Lightwave.

oh yea Houdini hows that. lol theres so many!

#16 @John

It seems that you haven't used 3DS Max in a few years. You should try out the demo when you get a chance, most of your concerns have been addressed in the current 2009 release and the future holds some pretty sexy things.

I totally agree that their UI could certainly use a nice touch-up. Personally I wish I could just remove all the depricated tools and options that they leave in to support guys with old files and old work flow techniques. Great commentary though otherwise (though you forgot to mention that 3DS Max has some of the best polygonal modeling tools of the 3, while Mayas pretty strong with the Nurbs, but thats ok).

#17 Also have any of you used body paint I was looking at getting that for the program I choose is it any good?

#18 I've been using 3DS Max and I will start it at this. I didn't do much in modeling before I started. My first choice was XSI which I found to be simply amazing due to how easy it was. However, I got 3DS Max which was a problem at first. But once I got past simple learning issues and found a few techniques that worked for me I have managed to get really into it. So my choice would be 3DS Max.

#19 There is no "Best" 3D Package. Its all a matter of preference. I use Max, Maya and XSI. They all have their good and bad points. Once you learn how to model you can do it in any software, its just adjusting to a new interface and learning what you can and cant do in the program. The best thing is pick one and learn it inside and out. I prefer Max but I like alot of things that Maya does. Just have to decide for yourself because your the one that creating the art. DL out.

#20 I certainly would have to agree that there is no best only "whats best 4 you" I have heard MilkShape was easy by lots of people, however I sucked at it, I heard Maya was complicated and I am very efficient in it. So it all depends on who you are, and possibly what side of the brain you use.
I have seen people model in ZBrush from scratch and I don't get it. So you will have to try them all until you find your fit. You should commit about 2 weeks to a program since some have a steep learning curve.

Good Luck Dude!