hi ive gotten into game programming not to long ago and i now want to create my own 3d models to be used in my stuff.but i have no idea how to design a model.what kind of book do you recommend i can get that will teach 3d modeling in general but not using a specific software.i see these books on amazon "3d modeling with 3dsmax... but i want to know how its done before buying modeling software. anthony rosenthal

Learning modeling from a book alone will be much harder than learning from a book and a software program to experiment on at the same time. When I first learned to model, I downloaded the free demo of Cinema 4D along with the PDF manual. You can do the same from here:

http://www.maxon.de/index_e.html

Afterwards, if you decide that you want to use a different program, the skills you learn with Cinema will be transferable.

Atlas
Spiral Graphics

There are quite a few open source (free modelers) out there that are pretty good.

I personal prefer Wings (www.wings3d.com). The site has a nice PDF manual and links to user tutorials. Note: Wings currently only does modeling, no stable uv texturing, no animation, etc.

I also use Blender (www.blender.org). Its a pretty good modeler, texturer, and animation package. There a loads of tutorials around and you will need them as the interface is a bit different.

I have also heard good things about Art of Illusion and Animor, but I haven''t used them, nor do I know their urls.

Good luck.

quote: Original post by Atlas

Afterwards, if you decide that you want to use a different program, the skills you learn with Cinema will be transferable.

Exactly. It doesn''t matter what program you use to learn on, you will be able to transfer valuable skills to the other 3D packages out there.
So don''t be afraid to just grab one of the free programs and jump right in, you can always change to a professional package later, after you get some skills.

There are learning editions of Softimage, 3DMax (Gmax), and Maya (Maya Personal Learning Edition), but they have restrictions.

So I''d suggest a free, full version program like Blender

quote: Original post by yspotua
I have also heard good things about Art of Illusion and Animor

Actually is Anim8or. The page is www.Anim8or.com. I can''t remember the page of Art of Illusion... so that is what google is for, and it''s late and I''m sleepy so look it yourself, ok? ;D

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