Getting Started Thread

hi i just got a new PC and was hoping to find some good 3D mod tools so i could start to make 3D Models of my own. dose anyone have any good ideas also this will be my first time making 3D models so don't expect for me to make anything big. yet

I'm a Softimage XSI fan, so I'm going to have to take this chance to push XSI Mod Tool on you.

Softimage.com

The download for it seems to be offline at the moment, probably so that Autodesk can get around to branding it with their logo. Luckily there are mirrors for it at:
Games.on.net
Fileplanet.com

ok i'll take a look at it and let u know what i think. but answer me this can some one new to 3D modeling get used to it fast?

It's all going to depend on the person and how fast you can grasp the principals of 3d (edge flow, etc). As a result the first program you learn is always going to take the longest. That said I found XSI's user interface to be pretty good, the workflow is nondestructive, you don't have to attach modifiers just to edit a cube, etc.

Modtools starts out with a unique/custom look. Somewhere in the View>Layouts area you can change it to the real XSI layout. From there, there are plenty of video tutorials to get you started at Community.softimage.com

ok thanks i'll take a look at the videos in a little bit. also if i have any problems can i ask u since u seem to know a lot about the program.

Feel free.

K thanks

HY .I am new with 3D modeling ! But i need to learn . Can you recommand me something easy to use !

Max is a popular choice. There are a fair few learning resources associated with it too. Free program wise, Blender is also popular, but has it's high learning curve.

ok i will try MAX ! Thanks for you advice !

I believe GMAX is the free version of 3DSMAX. It doesn't have all the features of the full version (which is quite expensive I think), but I hear it has everything a modder will need.

i used to have some problems trying to get started with 3dsmax, in the end i tried cinema 4d, and learn a lot, and found it just as good as 3ds in the long run.

If you are literally just starting out, i would recommend downloading google sketchup, just to get used to working in a 3d environment, its free. and then move onto one of the higher end products.

jerrif wrote: I believe GMAX is the free version of 3DSMAX. It doesn't have all the features of the full version (which is quite expensive I think), but I hear it has everything a modder will need.

If I remember correctly GMAX is simply a stripped down version of MAX 3. Also, it hasn't been updated in 5 years, so it's rather out of date at this point in time.

If I remember correctly GMAX is simply a stripped down version of MAX 3. Also, it hasn't been updated in 5 years, so it's rather out of date at this point in time.

Didn't Max pretty much go 7 years without being updated (beyond the purchase and incorporation of plugins) after being bought from Discreet? Even stripped down and old, it should still have a decent amount of modeling tools I would think (then again, for the most part I can get by with just a tool to add edges/verts and a tool to move them ^^).

Pretty much - when you're learning the basics, it still has everything you'd need.