Looking for a basic modeling program, free or cheap. I want to create houses and their interior. I was thinking of possibly using Hammer and tap into lighting and to get some good shadows.
Any help, much appreciated.
Any assholes, thanks for teh humorz.
Google Sketchup
Blender. It’s interface is a bit confusing to newcomers (I haven’t figured it out yet 
) But it’s powerful and free; no point spending money on a hobby you may find you’re not good at.
Id say go with Blender as well.
:’( | Bad memories tie in with LEGO. I had about a good 3-4,000 pieces and in my fit of childish immaturity back in 8th grade, sold them all for $20 so I was that much closer to buying FFXI which turned into serious disappointment. Oh boy do I still regret that.
While Blender is powerful and free, I really think its not such a great idea to learn it because of the interface. If you get fairly fluent in blender and figure out that modeling is something that you actually want to do, you would have to completely re-learn how to use a modeling interface if you were to switch to commercial software. It would be my reccomendation to go start using XSI Mod Tool. It will be much closer to an industry standard work interface and it is also completely free. An alternative to paying full price for modeling apps, if you are in college, you can get the autodesk education suite for about 300 bucks. That includes:
Softimage XSI
3DS Max
Maya
Mudbox
Motionbuilder
These are all perpetual licenses which means you have the software till you die. XSI mod tool is pretty much the full version of XSI that is used by quite a few gaming companys these days. Minus some redering options and export options. You can export to almost all modern game engines tho to use your models to their fullest.
Just remember that every modeling app is going to be overwhelming at first until you start to learn the interface. Learn it in small chunks so you can remember things. Also, once you know the interface, you can generally implement any modeling technique from any application in the one you are working on. It may just take some searching to achieve exactly how to do it on your specific app.
So there is my two cents.
-Peace
Gotcha. I’ll grab both since they are free and see which I can get along with easiest. I’m mainly going to be shooting for simple shapes since the houses will be modern style. Nice and boxy 
sketchup was made for exactly the purpose you’re looking for… a SIMPLE program for nubs to create architectural models
What are you aiming for with these houses? Developing architectural skills or getting a nice render out of the end-result?
Architecture - SketchUp
Graphics - Blender
I’m looking for do a virtual walk through on dream houses I’ve thought up. So Blender is the route I’m going to take. Similar to what SpyCrabz is doing [He has a WIP in the Show-Off thread]. Including lighting, HDR, HD textures, etc.
What about my link? You don’t trust me? Give it a try.
trueSpace 7
it used to be an award winning 3d simulation software, but the company went bankrupt so now they are giving it out free. i also use it for architectural designs and it turned out to be better than blender.
it has very powerfull tools, nice renderer (with vRay, installed separately) and user-friendly camera movements, like FPS camera mode with gravity and wall collision.
give it a try.
https://www.caligari.com/downloads.html
you might want to download the manual also:
https://cdn.caligari.com/tS76PDF.exe
only to get you going
by the way Eric, i had NO IDEA that pixologic was developing a FREE modeler besides zbrush with the same approach! WOW, I’ll have to try that!
Sketchup will let you prototype your designs quickly. If you want advanced lighting, rendering, and all of that fancy stuff, you need to go with a modeling suite. 3DS Max is the most similar to Hammer in terms of control scheme and UI, but also brings in other elements (texture mapping, lighting and rendering) which you may require.
Honestly, though, if you just want to prototype some things and see how they look with lighting or detail quickly, Hammer is a good choice, and you probably already have it for free!
https://www.caligari.com/Products/trueSpace/tS75/Brochure/guidedtour.asp
^^^ are all their “screenshots” raytraced mockups, or is their viewport shader actually that awesome?
those are the real thing in workspace mode. that’s another cool thing in trueSpace 7.
Yeah, good luck.
Try milkshape 3D, it’s easy getting used to and it’s free.
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