Hi there! You are currently browsing as a guest. Why not create an account? Then you get less ads, can thank creators, post feedback, keep a list of your favourites, and more!
Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 21st Feb 2005 at 11:47 PM
Default Best 3D Program [FREE]
What do you guys think is the BEST 3d program that is free?(that supports the OBJ file)? I need some help picking my program.
Advertisement
Test Subject
#2 Old 22nd Feb 2005 at 12:02 AM
sorry dude, can't think of any good free program for what ur askin. If you're willing to throw away a few hundred dollars i'd look into getting Maya or 3D Studio Max. Don't worry...I don't have either, but I do have a very lucky friend who can afford anything. Good Luck...
Test Subject
Original Poster
#3 Old 22nd Feb 2005 at 4:44 AM
T_T Awww man...I can't use anim8or either since it somehow doesn't support the OBJ files
Test Subject
#4 Old 22nd Feb 2005 at 12:51 PM
Test Subject
#5 Old 22nd Feb 2005 at 12:58 PM
Hiya!

If you want to model professionaly I'd advice you buying a good 3d prog like maya.

I'm using carrara - try the trial there: www.eovia.com

-J
Forum Resident
#6 Old 22nd Feb 2005 at 1:01 PM
Blender at http://blender3d.org/ is a great and free rendering and modeling package, but you have to spend some time to get used to the userinterface and general operation. BTW it supports .obj-files.

happy simming,
Xanathon


Xanathon's Laboratory :: WishList

.: Do not harass me with requests via PM, you will only get ignored :.
.: Don't post my objects or objects derived from them on paysites or the exchange! :.
Test Subject
#7 Old 22nd Feb 2005 at 1:10 PM
Yes, Blender is a great 3d program. I use it myself. Although, I've had some trouble with it's .obj-files in The Sims 2. I'm not sure if they work now, with the new versions of the Mesh Tool, though.
Field Researcher
#8 Old 22nd Feb 2005 at 4:41 PM
I've messed with Blender, Milkshape and XSI and without a doubt the easiest to learn and make changes to a mesh is Blender...The problem is the obj file format. If they get the mesh tool's obj file format fixed, I would be eternally grateful, then Blender is without a doubt the better of the 3...IMO. Course if the people developing the import/export scripts for Blender would take pity on us they would develop one for the SMD format...
Guest
#9 Old 22nd Feb 2005 at 4:46 PM
i don't know how to work with a 3d prgram....can anybody exlain??
Lab Assistant
#10 Old 22nd Feb 2005 at 5:21 PM
Quote: Originally posted by grykon
I've messed with Blender, Milkshape and XSI and without a doubt the easiest to learn and make changes to a mesh is Blender...The problem is the obj file format. If they get the mesh tool's obj file format fixed, I would be eternally grateful, then Blender is without a doubt the better of the 3...IMO. Course if the people developing the import/export scripts for Blender would take pity on us they would develop one for the SMD format...

I used Blender.It is quite easy to use. Now I am going to try XSI. Do you guys think XSI is user-friendly enough for beginners? Any detailed tutorials for XSI on the web(except the softimage official site)?
Lab Assistant
#11 Old 22nd Feb 2005 at 5:27 PM
There's another free 3d program called Anim8tor.
Forum Resident
#12 Old 22nd Feb 2005 at 5:35 PM
Quote: Originally posted by raijinald
There's another free 3d program called Anim8tor.


Have a look at post no. 3...

happy simming,
Xanathon


Xanathon's Laboratory :: WishList

.: Do not harass me with requests via PM, you will only get ignored :.
.: Don't post my objects or objects derived from them on paysites or the exchange! :.
Field Researcher
#13 Old 22nd Feb 2005 at 7:29 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Mabelline
I used Blender.It is quite easy to use. Now I am going to try XSI. Do you guys think XSI is user-friendly enough for beginners? Any detailed tutorials for XSI on the web(except the softimage official site)?


To me XSI looks about as confusing as Milkshape...I have successfully loaded the smd file into the program, but slap me and call me stupid, I can't figure out how to get the vertices to show up let alone change or add any...I think the biggest problem with it is it might be geared more towards animation then towards just creating/editing a mesh...Being a total novice on this kind of stuff I don't know for sure but that is my thought. I did finally find a way to get just one image and zoom in on it...That's what I liked about Blender, a few keystrokes and I was exactly where I needed to be. And there was only one model and I could freely rotate all around it...can not find that in milkshape or xsi...If you gain any knowledge please share! *laugh* Thanks!
Lab Assistant
#14 Old 23rd Feb 2005 at 11:44 AM
A few hundred dollars on 3ds Max? Isn't it more like a few thousands?
Lab Assistant
#15 Old 23rd Feb 2005 at 11:46 AM
or am I thinking about a different program? (probable)
Lab Assistant
#16 Old 23rd Feb 2005 at 11:48 AM
nevermind: The retail price for a commercial license is $3495. The cost for educational licenses ranges between $600 and $1000.

Anyway.
Instructor
#17 Old 23rd Feb 2005 at 11:58 AM
3D Max in Norway costs NKr 33.500,-. You can buy a good second hand car for this amount.
Lab Assistant
#18 Old 25th Feb 2005 at 7:34 PM
Do meshes edited with wings3d & lightwave show up in the game?
Field Researcher
#19 Old 25th Feb 2005 at 8:01 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Mabelline
Do meshes edited with wings3d & lightwave show up in the game?


Wings3D doesn't support the bones and animation so meshes edited in this program don't work correctly in the game. I tried with hair & clothing several times and had no success, the vertices were all over the place because they lost their bone assignments. I'm not sure if it works with objects, but I doubt it would work well, if at all, especially with objects that have any sort of animation.

~faeriegurl~
Sims 2 Creations - http://www.sims2creations.com

faerie's blog - http://spaces.msn.com/members/enchantedrealm/
Test Subject
Original Poster
#20 Old 26th Feb 2005 at 5:31 AM
Hmmm... that's really weird because I tried using blender AND wings 3d [before I began this thread] and seriously, NOTHING works. It's so weird. It just says there's an error. I don't really want to use the new mesh extractor to extract SMD either because it's not really finalized and I don't wanna mess up my items and stuff.
Lab Assistant
#21 Old 2nd Mar 2005 at 10:57 PM
I use milkshape, true it's not free. But it's practically free compared to some of the other moddling programs out there I've use. Rhino3D and 3DSmax could probably do a better job than Milkshape, well they CAN do a better job, but I'm not sure it's 100x better at my moddling abilities. 100x being the price difference.
Lab Assistant
#22 Old 3rd Mar 2005 at 12:17 AM Last edited by Jaycephus : 3rd Mar 2005 at 12:39 AM.
Professional modelers who work in the game and animation industry, and are creating models that will be animated in Maya don't necessarily use Maya to do all or any of the modeling. Wings 3D and Silo are quite popular, actually. Silo is only $109, and there is a trial version that actually will save a mesh with less than 100 verts, I believe, so it could be tested.

However, the problem is that only file formats from a select few applications are currently compatible with Mesh Tool. People using 3DStudio Max are having to import and export through Milkshape as an intermediate step, I believe. I don't know if this technique will work with Wings3D. It may or may not work with Silo. I wish I knew which version of SimPE and Mesh Tool are actually 'fully funcitonal' because I and a lot of other people are having problems getting edited meshes all the way into the game. I've gotten one from XSI Foundation (similar to XSI ModTool) all the way into SimPE, but it crashes Bodyshop. At some point, I will try Silo to see if a mesh could be imported to Mesh Tool by way of Milkshape or XSI. I have successfully edited a mesh in a non-compatible program (ZBrush), imported/exported through XSI, and gotten it into Mesh Tool, but I'm still attempting to get something all the way into the game 'successfully'.

For now, the best tools, due to compatibility, are the cheap/free ones: Milkshape3D and XSI ModTool. For some reason, people complain a lot about ModTool, but it has better poly modeling capabilities than Maya does, and is more user friendly, IMO. I think the problem is that since it is based on XSI, and there are so many options in terms of animating, texturing, rendering, etc., that people don't realize that poly modeling in XSI is pretty good. There is just a small hump to get over to learn how to do it in XSI.

BTW, I assumed that you are asking about programs that can be used to edit Sims 2 meshes. The short answer is 'there isn't a free program with .obj support that works with Mesh Tool.' The best answer is that XSI ModTool will work with .smd files, which the Mesh Tool will import, making .obj support unnecessary. Or Milkshape 3D is so cheap that it is practically free, and it functions well enough. Personally, I liked XSI so much that I bought XSI Foundation ($500 version). But not just for Sims 2 modding.

- Jay
Nearly alive
#23 Old 3rd Mar 2005 at 1:00 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Jaycephus

BTW, I assumed that you are asking about programs that can be used to edit Sims 2 meshes. The short answer is 'there isn't a free program with .obj support that works with Mesh Tool.'



I`d just like to add one small comment, while I know some people having had much success using blender to create obj files and the mesh tool importing these, I believe most of these people having the problems are trying to import modified objects(mainly body and hair meshes) not new objects using the wizard, I know I have no problems importing new objects created with blender using the wizard.

I do really recommend for most meshes that people try to use smd files though, because even a lot of the objects which work with no real problems with obj files, do actually have bones in them and as such really should be imported from smd files, sofas and some types of chairs are examples of such objects.
Field Researcher
#24 Old 3rd Mar 2005 at 1:31 AM
After much trial and error (testing?), I have found the most compatible program (to me) is Milkshape...there are just somethings I've had to surrender myself to that I can't accomplish...maybe one day.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#25 Old 3rd Mar 2005 at 2:25 AM
I just hope that they can [eventually] make the SimPE plugin able to export the mesh into .3ds files T_T
Page 1 of 3
Back to top