Reality Factory

I was surprised recently to discover this when visiting Autodesk's (creators of gmax and the very popular modeling software 3ds max):

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/in ... eID=123112

In short:

As of October 6, 2005, Autodesk will no longer offer Gmax® software as a stand-alone product. If you are interested in other 3D animation, modeling, and rendering applications from Autodesk please check out Autodesk® 3ds Max® software. You can download a free 30-day trial, view product demonstrations, read customer success stories, and get more information about this powerful, versatile product.

Allow me to mention that gmax was very ideal for RF actor creation. With this important software no longer available, it narrows the choices for free actor creation software quite a bit indeed.

Let me mention that recently Autodesk aquired Alias Wavefront, creators of, no surprise, what is arguably 3ds max's biggest competitor, Maya. Almost immediately after, they cancel their only free modeling software.

I got Gmax at turbosquid, is it gone?

Watch Maya disappear or cost $4,000.

I know gmax is pretty cool , and it'll be missed . However, blender can do quite a bit if you can deal with the learning curve.... it says it's pretty intuitive, but since it's so different than most of the programs, it takes a while to get used to. and it's free.

hike1 wrote:I got Gmax at turbosquid, is it gone?

sure is.

wiseman2 wrote:I know gmax is pretty cool , and it'll be missed . However, blender can do quite a bit if you can deal with the learning curve.... it says it's pretty intuitive, but since it's so different than most of the programs, it takes a while to get used to. and it's free.

ive been brushing up on blender a bit, but are there any decent rf exporters for it?

http://www.turbosquid.com/Forum/Index.c ... StartRow/1

Dear Gmax users,
I am here today to inform you that Autodesk has officially decided to end its support for the Gmax product and that their company has stopped support for it effective October 6th.

Since Turbo Squid is a valuable partner for Autodesk and we've been managing the product and community on their behalf for the past year, they've allowed us to continue to offer the Gmax download until November 1st so that we can effectively manage the transition for this now defunct product. At that point, the ability to download Gmax from our site will be removed as will the ability for users to get authorization codes for the product.

These forums will continue to operate for the community for a small period of time beyond that date, and we'll be happy to try and assist the community during that time.

Respectfully,

-=Beau


Beau Perschall
VP of Publishing
Turbo Squid, Inc.

sorry about that, i thought i heard someone tried to get gmax but couldnt.

why not sum1 host it on their site

if someone were to, it wouldnt really help because every time you reinstall if the key has been about a month since it was generated you need a new one or gmax will not start, and since we do not know the code they use in keys, we cant do anything about it.

Actually you wouldn't need to do that! Someone in the turbosquid forum has allready figured that problem out! If you search there forum for key problems or something you will probably find it. I'll look and see what I can find.

[edit]OK I found it but before I post the link or the small file is this considered a hack?

hmm. that would be good, if it isnt illegal. if not, thats awesome!

If you read on down in the topic It looks like they are going to try and buy it or something, but it sounds like they will do a lot to keep gmax.

Of course this is illegal! Modifying the registry to circumvent registration of a program IS cracking!

There are some really good modeling and animation programs out there for free. They don't natively support your bdy and nfo format though, but I'm sure you guys could get with the authors or make one yourself. These two are my favorites:

ppModeler is the best and easist subd modelier I've found. In many ways it reminds me of Maya. It is free.

And this animation tool is the bomb: Fragmoton is very easy to use. It supports weighted vertices along with half-life 1 & 2 smd files. It would be very easy to convert your rigid bodies to smooth binding, giving your models curves with this tool. It has a 20 day trial, but only cost 20 dollars. And it supports MilkShape ms3d format, which takes away the hard learning curve of Milkshape.

Blender is cool, but I haven't taken the time to learn it yet.

And while I'm at it: Tattoo is an awesome mesh skinning tool for free.

Some of you may check them out and find them to be what you need. Or you may want to write plugin scripts for your format.

Happy Modeling!

Autodesk has always been a ripp off. Now, they're partnering with Alias to create the biggest software monopoly in history. And now they're cancelling one of the most popular programs ever made.

Honestly, for someone to charge ~$4,000 for one person to use a program is absurd in the first place. But now, not to even offer a basic version for students or casual developers that dont have that kind of money is just asking for piracy and cracks to become more prevelent. And, Im not condoning piracy or cracks, but you have to admit, they do bring it on themselves.

GMax is not that big of a deal though. I've worked with it, and I've worked with 3DS Max. Nothing special. Maya is THE PROGRAM for game development. In 3DS Max, you can't even rotate the 3D viewport, without going through the hastle of camera placement just to see if you got that one vertex welded.

I really think we are in for a lot bigger ripp-offs than this if these companies merge. My prediction: Maya PLE, GONE; Max 30-day Trial, GONE. 3DSMax and Maya price increase, APPROVED.

GD1 wrote:In 3DS Max, you can't even rotate the 3D viewport, without going through the hastle of camera placement just to see if you got that one vertex welded.

did you try the arc rotate tool? does exactly that. but anyway, sorry to go off-topic.