What's a good 3D modeler?

I'm looking for a decent 3D modeler, it can be of any price, and I'd like it to have a good tutorial.

Milkshape 3d and 3DS max.

personally, i use milkshape.

For modelling the likes of jk, its all you need. its awesome.

if(getThingFlags(source) & 0x8){
  do her}
elseif(getThingFlags(source) & 0x4){
  do other babe}
else{
  do a dude}

I use Maya.

Isn't there a free program called Wings?

Alright, Milkshape is what I think I'm going to get. Now can anyway provide me with a link to a tutorial page?

Wings3d and Blender are the two top-knotch free ones.

Maya. Seriously, Maya.

I like Truespace. It has a clean UI to it.

Ok.. well now I'm confused. Can you provide me with a reason why I should use Maya/Blender/Wings3D/Truespace?

Lightwave. It's all you need. Trust me. It is better than maya. The rendering engine is number 1.

http://www.newtek.com/lightwave/tutorials/videos/

Oh, yea, I forgot to mention that this will be used soley for JK. So it needs a converter, too.

JED?

For free, use Milkshape 3D, and if you plan to move up in the world of modeling ever, instead, user blender3d. Both are free, and blender is free forever. Milkshape 3D is only free for 30 days.

Blender is far more similar to traditional modeling software. It's a very capable modeling program. Milkshape 3D is just something a lot of us use, but probably shouldn't.

Ok thank you all for the advice.

but does blender work with jk? i forget... and i don't recall seeing any jk model with blender, even during the blender craze a few years ago.

I never got Blender to work with JK.

I never got blender to work period.
Wings, baby. No animation, no textures, no rendering... but you can get some good models. Then, export to .obj, then render in Cinema 4D.

-But then again, that's not your situation. So, yeah. Milkshape. I should get that again.

Maya if you want to do serious hardcore work.

Milkshape/Blender/Bryce if you don't.

Maya is kick-*** though.

The only 3D modeling I've done is in Jed, so I'm not going for something as hardcare. I'll probably Milkshape or Maya.

Maya isn't free. Milkshape isn't as good as blender. Trust me, blender.

Maya PLE that comes with UT2k4 Director's Cut is. Go with Maya--I think a personal license only costs like 60 or so anyways. It's cheap dude.

Spend 60 dollars to model for JK. Seriously Reid, it's a GREAT idea!

Milkshape will end up costing 30 bucks after it expires.

Blender, however, is free.

You're title says all, Mr. Pessimistic.

For now, I want to model for JK. Later, I will model for other things. I'm taking 3D Modeling next semester and I wanted to do stuff at home and at school, but I will as of now use it for JK.

S A R C A S M.

If you want to learn more eventually, use blender. If you want to never understand an advanced modeling program, use MS3D. Oh, and pay 30 bucks.

I'm with Kirby on this one. For JK, your only choices are JED, Milkshape 3D (which is abysmal) and 3ds max. Yes, 3ds max has an exporter to 3DO! However, it's expensive, even for a student liscense. Just...get it another way. That's what the rest of us do.

ooh taboo taboo

Generally speaking, the greater the price, the more powerfull the modelling tools, and the higher the learning curve.

Except for Blender, which is free and has a high learning curve.

I suggest you get milkshape 3d, and learn a more powerful tool, such as blender. Basically because milkshape 3d can import almost anything, and exports 3dos.

My workflow goes 3d studio max > milkshape 3d > JOKE > Jed > ingame

BUT Milkshape will RUIN his understanding of the normal tools. Blender's learning curve is worth it.

3dsmax and Maya. Milkshape is ok but its utter crap compared to a REAL 3D modeling package.

If you're taking cg classes next semester, then get Maya. That's what you'll use. Get it now, or you'll just end up getting it in 6 weeks.

i know everyone has their opinions, and just from this thread alone there are a lot of different personal preferences, but i recommend using wings3d, for several reasons:

1. it's free - i know blender is also free, and many companies have free "personal learning editions" of their software available, but wings has never (and will never) cost any money and the guys who work on it update it pretty frequently. i wouldnt spend any money right off the bat if you're just getting into modeling, because how do you know what you like/need in your workflow if you don't really have a workflow yet?

2. it's intuitive - most 3d programs have GUIs that look as if they were designed by a visually impaired person using an actual food blender. the wings interface is streamlined and clutter-free, and uses context-sensitive menus so only the tools you would want to use in a particular situation are available when you right-click.

3. it's powerful - the simple interface is deceiving, because behind the exterior lie a number of incredibly useful tools that work you would expect them to. you can build up to the more complex tools, too; when you start out, "advanced menus" aren't enabled, but if you turn them on in the options you get access to magnet functions, the incredibly useful constrain by vertice/face/edge tool, and more.

4. it's easy to learn - wings has a user manual which features a number of step-by-step tutorials that introduce you to both wings and poly modeling in general, taking you from simple objects to more complex ones in a short amount of time. once you get over the initial hump of thinking in 3d, i believe wings will provide the fastest learning curve for you, as you won't be hunting through a program like maya which has hundreds of menu options.

5. it's free - did i mention this already?

6. it plays nice with others - wings has a variety of export options, including 3ds, obj, and fbx, which means whatever you create can be brought into pretty much any other 3d program on the market, should you later want to texture, render, or maybe even animate one of your models.

7. it has even more sweet stuff - i love the uv mapping tools for wings (for when you finish modeling and need to paint your textures); i know blender has a sweet LSCM implementation as well (which i have yet to try out). you can always try modeling in wings and then import to blender to make some sweet renders.


why you shouldn't use wings:

you shouldn't use wings if, for some reason, you hate the box modeling technique. if you have your heart set on creating things poly by poly (personally i don't know how you people do it), wings is the wrong choice. the program's setup requires a closed volume at all times, so you can't just delete faces and leave a hole to the interior (note that you can still create "tunnels" within a mesh), and you can't just build a model by creating a face, attaching another to it, etc.

but the poly-by-poly technique seems a bit silly to me if you consider how people usually draw, sculpt, etc. - by blocking in a rough overall form and then refining details, rather than creating details in one area and moving on to the next. it's too easy - especially for beginners - to get lost in the minute intricacies of the outer elbow and forget things like proportion, scale, general form, etc.


anyway, i hope this really long post gave you at least a little sense of direction. good luck starting out and i hope you have a lot of fun! if you have any questions don't hesitate to drop me a PM or something...

Thrawn, Jenny_Kitty, Zanardi, Ruthven and Kirbsare all fine modelers.

havent ever used maya, but lightwave is indeed pretty good.

If all you want to do is make models for JK what is wrong with JED? It's great for making models. Once you learn the basics of modelling, then move on to something like, 3ds max, maya, or lightwave. They are all great programs. I believe there are free versions of these softwares (I know 3dsmax free version is called Gmax). Try them out, and see which one YOU like the best.

The only problem I have with JED is that level-style texture is a serious no-no for organic models. Programs like forceremap are a nice work-around but doesn't provide control like you would get from something like milkshape. Basically, if you're just making something basic like a primative shape or something non-organic like a robot or door, JED is ok but anything fleshy like an alien or a person, getting Milkshape (if you're on a low budget) is a better solution.

The biggest beef I have against Milkshape is its crappy method of trying to select faces without selecting the ones you don't want because of its inablilty to remove faces from the selection without having to deselect all the faces (same goes with vertices and groups too). Having to hide faces/vertices/groups just so you can select the ones you want is a lot of uneeded work. Also, you can't delete edges or cut faces to make new edges. That's incrediably lame. Even JED can do something simple like that and its just a level editor! Its little things like these that makes Milkshape inferior to programs like 3dsmax and maya.

ZBrush is pretty nifty

Update: oops, zanardi already said this

There is a free version of 3ds max (something like 18 meg d/l) specifically for game and other ameteur editing called gmax. You can save in a native .gmax file format but can't export to other formats. A script or sdk plugin must be used to export the model.

Yep

Yeah but I don't think it's very good for making low (or high..) poly game models.

Uh...it's great at making high poly, high detail game models, and perfectly fine at making low-poly ones too. It's all in how you use it.