3D tools recommendation?

[thaaks]

Hi,
to enhance my Astrobreak game I'm looking for some tool to easily create rotated objects.
For example I would like to have the powerups being colored disks with a letter or symbol engraved on them.
Then I would want to have several images showing a 360 degree rotation of the powerup disk.

Also I'm thinking about using 3D modeled space ships and create some images that show the spaceship with its wings moving up and down to simulate flying curves (can't describe it in a better way - hope you get it  :rolleyes: ).

Can anyone recommend an easy to use and cheap (free) 3D tool that allows modeling it and in some easy way store the animation sequences to some image files?

I might dig deeper into Povray but I'm open for any other suggestion.

I already looked at Wings3D which is nice to model with but it does no animation and coloring/texturing does seem pretty complicated...

Thanks,
Tommy

[Ian Price]

Anim8or is free and very easy to use (I knocked up a robot in 20 minutes from never having modelled anything before).

Hope that helps :)

[BlinkOk]

my number one favourite is swift3d from erain. it's costs but it's super easy to use and can create cell shaded output which really suits games.
www.erain.com

[Ian Price]

At only US$229.00 it's a bargain :blink:

Not quite in the free/cheap league though is it?  :P

MilkShape is also good, but it's not free, though it is cheap - US$25 or €25. It is also available for 30 day free trial, so you can have a play before deciding if it's right for you.

[BlinkOk]

haha! i hadn't noticed. i've just been upgrading since it was released. i think you can get a student version for about $US90. still expensive but as i said. it produces cell shaded output which is perfect for games.

[thaaks]

No chance with being a student for me. Made my diploma 15 years ago :D
But Swift3D looks impressive. It's just not the amount of money I want to (and can) spend. You know, all those greedy kids and pets at home  ;)

I think I will look at Anim8or (again) and also have a look at Art of Illusion.

I tried Milkshape but didn't feel comfortable with it - although its features are good for the price I think.

Maybe I will also give Blender another try - their GUI is somewhat - strange and needs to get used to.

If you've got some more tips, keep them coming  :D

Thanks,
Tommy

[Ian Price]

I forgot about Blender, but for the majority the interface is horrid, even after viewing the video tutorials. I do have one contact who got on fairly well with it though. It is free though and very well supported.

I've never heard of Art of Illusion though.

[Calypson]

probably the best modeller i have ever seen in my life is zbrush.  Check out some of the videos where they create a masterpiece model right before your eyes.  $500 though  :(

http://pixologic.com/home/home.shtml