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Hi, I need your advice regarding 3d modeling and file formats..

for a small fun project I need to load textured 3d models.

which free 3d modeling package can you recommend ?

which file format should I use? (.3ds, .obj) ?

"TrueSpace" has been available for free download for a couple of months already, see www.caligari.com.
Is it easy to use and do the exporters really work?
What about Blender
(seems to have a steep learning curve..) ?

I'll only need to import the basic stuff (vertices, normals, texcoords, vertex colors).

For a fun project and if you're using DirectX and don't want to mess with exporters / Max SDK / import code or things like that, you can have a look at the DirectX .x format

It will allow you to prototype simple stuff quite quickly (not to mention that you will be able to reuse DirectX's samples code)

That applies AFAIK only to DirectX versions before 10, btw.

what's with DX10?

not using DirectX but OpenGL.

I am mainly asking about the modeling/export toolchain,
what (free) tools can you recommend ?

keops: how does the .x format help me prototype stuff? which tool do you use to create/export .x files ?

i guess you're better off just trying those free tools yourself and feel which one works best for your modeling skills... as for file formats, there's plenty of plugins to export all the usual formats and yes, there's always .obj (otherwise there are conversion tools too, just dont try to convert animations tho, that's usually a hassle as in, unneccesary keyframes etc)

ask keops says .x is a good format as you can just plunder the dx SDK, but there's plenty of .3ds loaders on the intarwebs around too...

Hermes : because the use of an .x file with DirectX is straightforward and because a fair number of tools support this format (XSI, Blender, Deep Exploration support it afair), so you don't have to really worry about import / export code.

maali: I am downloading truespace right now. my "modeling skills" are very modest, at best. I have written loaders/viewers for .lwo and .3ds in the past but I always had trouble creating/exporting *own* models with the free tools/converters back then (98-2003) (materials or texcoords went lost and issues like that). I could download me a backup copy of Lightwave but I don't want to install any wareZ.

hmm :) truespace looks quite ok. not exactly intuitive but worth a try. the .obj ASCII export via the "Luuv" plugin (already included in ts 7.6) looks clean and easy to parse !

only nasty part of .obj is that it's a fucking bloated format.. even lowpoly meshes easily get in the tenfolds of mbs... but it should pack okish.

maali: good point. that problem can probably be solved by writing out the "engine" imported objects to an internal binary/packed format.

I tried both the .x and .obj exports in TS, the .x file was ~850k while the .obj was only ~500k (i.e. less bloat)

well, first I need to write a viewer for obj after lunch and dig through the TS tutorials ;) (..in the hope that I'll learn enough to be able to model some "placeholders"..)

Hermes : .x files are usually huge but you mentionned a fun project with stuff easy to handle, so...

I would never recommand this format for a serious project ;)

keops: understood. but I don't like the idea of using "preset" objects ;) OTOH, -- duck.3ds rocks! :D

Very simple format in ASCII with all the basic stuff that you need: The Stanford PLY format.

Great utility for make 3D models: Wings3D (but doesn't support PLY).

Another 3D program, that can import Wings3D objects (and can export and import to .PLY): Blender.

Happy coding & modelling! :)

like maali said, try 'em all out and then you'll know if it fits your tastes. I heard Wings is pretty cool, Blender is usually too complex, but fans of linux love it, and Milkshape got a good number of tutorial and stuff. Back in the days there was gmax (3dsmax aimed at gaming/modding) but it's got discontinued, probably possible to find it on abandonware site or somewhere else on the nets. I never tried TrueSpace but i guess it's that bad.
You've also got sketchup but you can't export other format than the GoogleEarth one (with the free version) and you can't do much more than buildings with it i think.

have fun with your project!

blender and own exporter with python.

This is not a suggestion, but the contrary:

But some reason I've created my own Collada loader. It is the most overcomplex and crazy format I've ever seen (I've worked only with 2 more, but both were much more simpler), so I don't recommend you to try it...

I'd go with Wings 3D and .obj. The modeler is a snap to learn and you can probably write a loader + viewer for basic obj models in a day or two. The source of "fit-039: Boy" contains both.

hermes, keops: .x files doesn't have to be huge - the format includes both binary-storage (as opposed to ascii which seems to be the default for most x-exporters) and some kind of pretty decent compression.

what about collada? its open and has alot of features also it's well supported by blender, xsi (also de free mod tool) and cinema4d (since r11)

@PsyKon: in theory. Also in theory blender supports the 3ds format, but in practise there may be some surprises.

PsyKon: read my post 4 posts before yours.

what trace said :-) use blender!

texel: complex probably, but i wouldn't say overcomplex according to my little experience so far as collada seems to be the best exchange format between the gazillions of 3D tools in the wild :)

ah but as a 'native' format for a 3D engine, probably overkill yes :>