Reality Factory

I'm new to character modeling but ive been doing maps for the past 5 years or so.

I'm looking for a free 3d moddeling program that is compatible with RF, i need something that's fairly easy to use and that i can animate in.

I would also really apreciate it if someone could explain to me how animation works in RF do i animate in RF or in the 3d moddeler?

any help is really apreciated,
-Chicky.

Milkshape isnt free (only 25 dollars swedish or something)
or
Gmax which is completely free and is based on 3ds max.
i have used milkshape and it is easy to use for a beginner.

you animate in the modeller and rf just plays the animation when the pawn script requires it. Lets say i shoot someone in the face the script has the shot in face death animation played. its like an if then statement.

Blender (http://www.blender.org) is completely free but I am not sure if it is directly compatable with RF. The latest version does come with exporters for a few of the RF formats. I dont know if they work though. I downloaded it recently and it looks promising. I havent gotten time to figure it out yet.

There is trueSpace 3.2, it is completely free. However it is from 1997 and has no bones for animation so making whole models and animating them would be extreamly difficult and near impossible(I have never tried to do so). You need an exporter to convert the .cob files it uses to get them to RF format.

Blender is good but has a interface that takes a while to get used to.

Gmax is the easyest and best free modeling program.

I know this is a really old thread, but where can you download Gmax?

Here is the link: http://www.turbosquid.com/gmax

EDIT:
Well thats where its supposed to be... I get a 404 error. Seems that the link on turbo squid is broken as of when I posted this.

EDIT: EDIT:
Well I hope that this doesnt mean that the free g max wont be available anymore...
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/in ... eID=123112
Says that gmax is no longer a stand alone product and is part of 3ds Max. So, is there another place to g max?

Thanks for your helpful and yet annoying info.

I found a working link!

I do not know how legal it is though... its from the turbo squid forums: http://www.turbosquid.com/Forum/Index.c ... adID/18797

And here is the link to download g max. Click it and it should download.
*I still dont know if its legal or not*
http://files.turbosquid.com/Products/L5 ... gmax12.exe

EDIT: To use g max it requires registration with turbo squid. After making an account for turbo squid they will send you the activation number for g max via email.

I had GMax, before the autodesk buyout fiasco junk, and found it to be an incredibly annoying program. I prefer anim8or and Milkshape.

I never got past the registration dialog in g max. I found it too much of a hassle. Yeah, I guess thats might be considered being lazy, but I already know and love trueSpace 3.2.

On a side note:
Only thing bad about tS 3.2 is that there are no bones, only joints. So everything that moves has to be a seperate object that increases poly counts. This, however, will make an easy transition to rag doll !

EDIT: I know previously above(not this post) I stated about animation being near impossible in tS3.2 but I think I can handel it with a little practice.

I think I can handel it with a little practice.

No doubt you can!! How is work progressing on your project? I had TS3.2, before I had to swap out my HDD. I think it's still on a disk somewhere, but I may have to go get it again. I'm registered and all, so maybe they'll have mercy.

Work is going very well with my project. I am nearing the completion of modeling one of my characters. It seems that the past 2 years of modeling in gameSpace lite and trueSpace 3.2 are paying off because this came together fast! I started it only a week ago. I am almost complete with the model (need to finish the hands yet) and I only have 784 triangles! Also, this model is chopped up and ready for rag doll. Another reason the character is chopped up is so I can make a generic skeleton model to attach each part of the charater to in the game world. This way I dont have to animate each different character. It will be: spawn player skeleton, spawn right foot move to position attach, spawn right lower leg move to postion attach etc... After that I will need to texture, create the generic skeleton and animate. Hopefully before August ends I will have most of the characters competed. I will have to keep everyone more informed of my progress. Especially when I get to the dual weapons bit!

Edit: I have fiddeled with animation and It seems to be pretty easy. Only hard part is animating within the right number of frames to get the animation speeds correct. Of course, getting life like movements is also hard... I will cross that bridge later...

Hopefully before August ends I will have most of the characters completed

Man, you got a very complex project going there!! It sounds just awesome. End of August is not very far way. I can't wait to see it.

Free and they have good Manual on the Page
http://www.anim8or.com/

Hi styx! Welcome to Reality Factory! Yes, anim8or is not only a great program, but it too is a great community. I recommend everyone to go try it out. Steve, the developer of anim8or, was (or is?) a programmer for Nvidia!!

P.S. - beautiful models, styx!!!!