I want to use some TurboSquid models (purchased) and some other custom modeling and animation to upgrade my game's unit graphics. Right now they are all hand-drawn 2D sprite sheets (the game is browser-based), but I'd like the option of porting them to XNA as 3D models, if possible.

My thought is that purchasing models will reduce the modeling/rigging/animation cost significantly. The draw back is that most are available in .3DS or .MAX format, but not .X. And I'm very uncertain about the conversion process: software available, quality of conversion and what the end result would be.

If I were to find someone to build a model and animate it, would it be something that I could expect the artist could do to export to .X format? Do the textures and such survive that conversion? Do the animations? What else don't I know about 3D modeling and using those models in XNA?

Thanks for the help - I'm a programmer, not an artist, and know little about the tools and techniques available.

Hi, this is Michele from TurboSquid. We do a lot of file conversions for files purchased at TurboSquid, and we do conversions from MAX/OBJ to X all the time. For models and simple animation, the conversion is pretty easy. Conversions of skeletal animations can be a bit tricky, but are sometimes possible.

To make sure you can get what you need for your own project, I recommend you shop around and find a model that's representative of the kind of things you want, then contact support (before purchase) and ask if the model can be converted to X. They will likely tell you "Yes". Then purchase the model and get the conversion, and test it out for your project.

For products purchased at TurboSquid, we do free conversions for up to 5 models purchased. There's a cost after that, but it's quite reasonable, and the price per model goes down depending on the volume.

We also have a Talent on Demand service (just put /Talent after our URL) that can create the custom models for you in X format at an affordable price.

Please feel free to contact our support or Talent on Demand team if you have any further questions.

Michele

Thanks for the answer. Your conversion services exclude sets, though. (Or, I suppose, the free conversion does?)

And I would also want some texturing changes on the models, which may make it easier for a modeler to just start from scratch... I don't know.