I'm a hobbyist programmer. Make games on my spare time. Lately, I've been itching for a project to sell as my own. There is only one small snag, I'm going to need the resources (3D models). I decided it was time to add a new skill to my game development list so I searched for a 3D modeling tool so I can convert it into a programmer friendly file type (3ds, .obj, etc...) I found blender. I've seen really nice stuff from there so I got it all set up. My God, the GUI layout is heck for me. I searched for tutorials on making game object, but the only different thing form a landscape or a scene was... how to make a dolphin. So! here's where I need experienced help. What modeling program do YOU use? Are there any good tutorials for making game objects? (ships, guns maybe, characters) Thank you for your help. ~PCN

First blender is as useful as any pricey tools out there. I've seen just as amazing things done with as 3dsmax,maya. Check out Elephants Dream if you want to see some nuts blender.

I recently had a class on 3dsmax, and compared to blender, I hate it and won't use it ever. Blender is alot faster/easier to use, cuz you point click for editing. In max you have to hit all these "i want to edit buttons". Anyway....if your serious about blender, buy the 2.3 guide book. It's damn good and its even online though I think having a book is better. You actually might want to buy the new book instead, since it covers beginning and new features.

As for specific tutorials like guns and characters, you can read from maya, max etc tutorials. Modelling is all the same fundamentally.

I've actually been trying to learn blender for the past 2 or 3 days, and I'm on the verge of giving up with it. The problems I'm having are mainly that the documentation is absolutely terrible, most of it is out of date (And a lot of hotkeys have changed, so when it says "Press the U key to enter UV editing" you end up undoing instead, for instance), the tutorials don't cover anything but the very basics (Or the ones I've found anyway), and it seems to have an incredibly steep learning curve.
Blender seems to be way too over complicated for basic modelling; all I want is to create simple textured meshes, I don't care about animation [yet], I don't wan't to do video editing, and I don't want to make high quality renders of anything - I just want to create a textured mesh and export it.

Take all this with a pinch of salt, it might just be that I'm looking in the wrong places or I just fail at modelling in general [smile]

PCN I use Truespace 3d to design my own 3d objects and graphics.
Though it looks like simple software it can be a very powerful tool.
I'm very happy with this software.
You can download the 3.2 version for free which is enough for graphical design.
TS also allowa you to export DirectX .X models.
3dsMax, Maya are too sophisticated and pricey software.
If you want to get a license of 3ds Max you have to pay more than 5000 USD.
And you need to be really a 3d specialist to use 3ds Max

I've been using Blender for about 2 months, and I found out that I like it a lot more than I though I would, this is coming from a programmer with some background on trueSpace and XSI.

There are some very valid criticisms, of course, for example the UI could use some work, and panning should not require a key press on top of a mouse click and drag IMO, but once you find where the tools you're looking for are (an manage to remember them each time), I found that I like it more than XSI.

Some Issues I personally have with it:

1 - The Collada support is broken on 2.45, I believe this is due to the constant changes in the Python API, and even if it wasn't broken, the plugin doesn't support Collada skins.

2 - There is NO C/C++ API for writing binary plugins.

There are plenty of tutorials for Blender at 3dtutorials.sk, there is also Blender Art magazine and of course Blender Artist.

I also had a real issue with the Blender interface. I know it's free but if I can't figure out how to use it, it's a waste of my time. I ended up getting frustrated and going with two other cheap (not free) modelers. AC3D is by far my favorite but will set you back $80 US. To me, the layout and controls are very intuitive and easy to use. They also have some decent video tutorials to get you going. I also have Milkshape3D. I haven't used it nearly as much as AC3D but it is pretty easy to use and imports/exports just about anything. It's shareware and runs $25 US if I remember correctly. If you have a few bucks to spend, I'd recommend checking out either of those. You can get demo versions of both to try.

AC3D
Milkshape 3D

Well I like to equate Blender to the vi text editor. People new to programming HATE vi, they think it's needlessly complex, but after a while, after they get a hang of it, they actually decide that it's beautiful and elegant, and the design concepts underlying the seemingly convoluted interface make sense, and in the end, they program faster with it. Blender is said to be "workflow oriented" in that overall speed is favored over a nice interface, which is a big reason why there are umpteen billion shortcut keys.

In other words Blender has a very steep learning curve, but you will really benefit from sticking it out. Having said that i really DON'T think blender is a good FIRST modeling program. Personally I started out on the (also free) wings3d, it lacks a lot of functionality, but at the same time is infinitely simpler, and you'll be creating cool stuff almost instantly (and i'm totally a non-artist, and I was creating stuff that wowed people)

Hey, thanks for the replies and help! I think I've found a good place to start with these replies, anyway, I still want to here your comments on various modeling tools!

~PCN

I'm a blender whore so I'm going to comment back cuz I love it.

First, what tutorials are you reading? I bought the 2.3 guide book years ago and I went through most of it (like a 600 page book).

Comparing the panning method discussed, 3dsmax is damn ugly. And even to edit and drag 1 vertex, you have to go to the edit tab, click a modifier, click on vertex, then from there I think you can finally edit it? But its not not very easy to edit at that point. Blender I hit 'TAB' click on a vertex and just drag it.

As for the hotkeys changing......uh ive been using for over 5 years now, and I think all the hotkeys that I use have stayed the same. You have to be in the right mode to use certain hotkeys.

As for User Interface.....I'm not sure what people are complaining about. Maybe there are too many words they dont understand on it? You have to read up on blender to know what they all do, but obvious buttons like "remove doubles" well .......yea I'm not sure what the complaint is so I cant comment.

I was just showing some friends in my class how fast blender is for creating. I made a tank turret strapped ontop a human leg, and had it hopping around in 5 minutes. And it looked funny, but good.

UV's uhm.....again I dont know about every tool but 3dsmax sucks horribly, blender you just click and project to a texture.