What is the best free 3D Modeling software to use with Unity?

I'm not the greatest artist in the world. Probably the opposite. I'm not that bad really and I want to be able to create decent models with animations for my games. I've tried blender and am hoping to find a good alternative. Is there a good free modeling software besides blender that I can use, or should I just stick with Blender?

Thanks,
-Nighthawk

 

Blender

 

Polygonal modeling is the weak side of Blender. Not that it is really bad. But there is better stuff. Try the Freeware Wings 3D for the modeling part. Or invest a few bucks and own Silo. That`s also a powerful modeler. For the rest like Animation you can use Blender again. That`s where Blender is strong.

 

Stop it already. We've gone over this in the other thread already.
Blender is fine as a modeler.

@Nighthawk0973:
Check several different pieces of software and then decide
If you don't want to fork out money and give blender a try .... maybe give these here a swirl:
http://3dzentrale.com/tutorials/tutorials.html

Otherwise all I can say is: try, try, try! you need to find the software that suits YOU. Not any software others think fit themselves. Maybe you'll just love blender - maybe you'll hate it. Test it.
on the low priced sector there's Silo, Cinema 4D Basic and maybe even Modo.

Also search the forums. There's TONS of threads around on this very topic. Really - search these forums!
Some prefer Blender, some prefer Maya and some prefer anything inbetween those two. You'll have to download demos, and test them.

 

milkshape3d

 

Nope, you have to stop. You don`t have to agree with my opinion. But that is your problem then.

Blender is not fine as a polygonal modeler anymore. It is not fine as a polygonal modeler anymore since around 10 years. And it will not be fine as a polygonal modeler as long as BMesh is not integrated. There was and is better stuff for modeling. And better is the enemy of good.

LOL

 

You know what .. nevermind. I had a long winded post here. But It's not worth it, actually.

 

For me, Blender.

But for you it might be something different, try some of them and find your favorite!

 

none

 

cheetah3d if you use a mac, its cheap, its easy and it works great with unity

 

The actual correct answer is of course 3ds Max (if you are a student)

 

Unless, of course, you are wanting to try to make money with it. Then you need a commercial license of any Autodesk program in order to make money from its use (yes, that includes making game assets) otherwise you are breaking the terms to the EULA, and can end up getting yourself into some deep legal troubles (which is never a good thing.)

Personally, while it's not free, Silo is a great software, and the Blender 2.6 release is supposed to be integrating BMesh in it. Milkshape is a pretty good quality free poly modeler which was designed around low poly modeling for games. Whatever you decide to go with, let us know!

 

Blender hands down

 

Hmm, I think Freeware Wings 3D looks nice for my taste I'm going to talk with my programmer on using this for unity!
I'm hoping this will work because it's open source


Thanks,


Jon

 

Definitely Blender. Even among commercial software packages, because the price-performance ratio is unbeatable.

While it may does not have all fancy polygon tools like Max at the moment, it is actually pretty good for modeling and retopo. Hands down, you don't need Ngons, or some of Max's mesh modifiers to get things done. That are just icings on top of the cake. Take a look at Blenderartists or Youtube to see what people can do with Blender.
And navigation and UV editing tools are better in Blender than 3DSMax for example. Plus you have Sculpting out of the box. And in a not so distance future Bmesh will be merged into the trunk. Plus Dynamic Topology Sculpting which will be available soon too.

I also suggest to take a look at Bsurfaces for retopo.

Never forget, it is not the tool which creates the art. It is you who creates the art. And when you are good at it, you can produce stuff like that below with Blender as well. If you are an lousy artist, Max, Maya etc. won't make your art better ;P

Cheers!

 

@NiPoCo, great example of what can be done with blender.

 

Yeah, there are dozens of high quality blender stuff like that.
Of course, you can find a lot more amazing works, done with 3dsMax and Maya. But that is not because Blender isn't capable of it. Autodesk software is just the industry standard and used by seasoned professionals, who are more experienced and well trained in art, than the usual Blender hobbyist.
That doesn't mean Blender is crap or something. For an indie using Unity, Blender is just fine IMHO.

Cheers!

 

You haven`t really understood what missing N-Gon support really means. I woud definitely miss the posibility to delete edges and reconnect it in the way i want. That`s not the icing, that`s basics.

 

I respect your opinion mate and I partly agree.
However, you are be able to get things done without Ngons as well.
You are right. They are good for certain workflows and they make things easier. But they are not absolute necessary for low poly modeling. That is more your personal preference.

Personally, I get my things done without Ngons and no hassle. Though, I would like to see these in Blender too. But give the Blender guys a break. They doing a amazing job with their limited resources and it is just a matter of months until they will integrate Bmesh.

Cheers!

 

Blender seeing as its the only free one i can find that doesn't have some insanely retarded user agreement stating that cause u have student version u can't really make anything with it that u plan to put in something......stupid max.

 

Well obviously

 

LOL, one of many reasons why I chose Carrara and Hexagon, even tho I would still have to cough up that extra $500 or so to make those work as a Unity project...but it would still be way cheaper than shelling out 10x as much from Max or Maya.

 

im actualy loving blender now. Using the fixed blender importer for unity file, i been able to make a mall. Mesh the mall, select all, unwrap UV's, save the .blend file in my unity assist folder then put textures to it all.

heres a earlier pic of the mall.
http://t.co/3Tvu0g9x

 

Auto Desk 3D max student edition. What some tutorials and practice a bit but its really good.

 

Shade 3D for Unity is free. You can find a nice script in the Asset Store as well for interactively editing with your project open.

Get the Windows version on Mirye Software
Get the Mac version on Mac App Store.

 

If you want something free Daz Studio recently went free. Its got a lot of stuff in it you might find useful. Blenders great but it's got some draw backs when it comes to nmls and spec maps. I do love Blenders unwraper though its much more innovative than many other software packages.

 

Blender. I'm not fond of it personally but it's the best one since its free, open source, and because 3dsmax is too damn expensive.

 

yes its blender but i will try for wings 3D too and will be doing animation in blender

 

I've always used blender and I find it is the best 3d modeller yet, in my opinion anyway. I've tried 3Ds Max and found it very confusing. If you need some good blender tutorials, I leaned blender from watching these ones: http://www.blenderguru.com/

 

Use 3ds Max student version. I have Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suit 2012 and its free. Register on Autodesk Student Website

 

That's character in the second video looks like it was take right out of the comics I read as a kid.

 

Let me make a commentary on the use of Blender vs. Max:

The fact that max has better "modeling" tools is part of the reason a advise NOT using it as a beginner. Facts are, over the last few years, 3d max modelers have been handing me models that have been modeled using those tools, with absolutely NO knowledge of mesh design. This produces models that have odd creases and clusters of triangle in places, and react poorly in the Unity engine when specular or reflection maps are used.

I ask them to fix it, and the universal response is: "Uh, this is what Max produces with the tools, and I don't know how to edit the mesh directly..."

...

So, if you're new, and want to learn to model for games, I need to advise you use something else than Max. I'm sure a lot of Max users are going to react poorly to this post, but I can't change my experiences. Max seems to do too much for the artist, and to costs them in skills they need to do the work.

Learn how to deal with poly budgets, and keeping a mesh's density even and smooth. How to add creases to allow lighting effects to play over them in a visually appealing manner. When to add a few extra faces to make a surface flatten properly so the tabletop does not look curved when light plays across it.

Nuff said.

 

guys I've downloaded this program for 1 GB and i don't know how to make buildings and stuff like that
please help me

 

GMax

 

i am using 3ds max, Maya and google sketchup if you will ask me my answer will be software doesn't matter its depend on you how do you use these program and how much comfortable you are in your program.

 

Haha,you know? Now Blender have Bmesh in it since the 2.63 version.What about now?

 

You realize that post you quoted is two years old and at the time, Blender was undergoing a HUGE re-write and lacked a ton of basic features, right?

Anyway, I know this thread is old and I'm sorry for beating the poor dead horse, but I'm on Mac, and the current version of Blender kind of sucks. Honestly, I hate Blender, because of how complicated it is, and I can never get it to export anything properly. When I was on a PC, I could do it, not sure if it's just the current version that's broken of it just doesn't play nice with Mac.

I've looked into Cheetah3d, and for $99 USD, it seems like a great program! Native 3D program for Mac for the win! Definitely going to try the free version. That and Silo looked really good, but Silo doesn't have animation tools. I have a lot to try this weekend!

 

In terms of best free 3d software Blender is the best to use imo. Of course everyone has their own opinions.
But seriously, Blender is really powerful and it can do anything expensive commercial 3d software can do and even more. I would choose blender as my 3d software over anything else anyday. (Blender fanboy here)

I think people who are new to it are turned off by the learning curve it has but then again everything new has a learning curve. It you take the time to learn it you wont regret it.

You said you want to "create decent models with animations" for your games. If your looking for that then you can pretty much do that with any 3d software. The software you use wont make you a better artist or pump out better quality models and animations for you. Only you can create these models and animations. How you do it is up to you.

Edit: After looking at JeremyG's post I just realized this is a 2 year old thread. Guess I should of checked the date or read the comments first

but yeah, Blender has become so much more powerful and now has pretty much all the necessary tools and important features that all standard commercial 3d software have these days.

 

Closed.