- Maya 2014 Sp2 – Professional 3d Modeling And Animation Tool Download
- Maya 2014 Sp2 – Professional 3d Modeling And Animation Tools
- Maya 2014 Sp2 – Professional 3d Modeling And Animation Toolkit
- Maya 2014 Sp2 – Professional 3d Modeling And Animation Tool Free
This category describes software used by artists for game development.
- Maya ® 3D animation, modeling, simulation, and rendering software offers artists a comprehensive creative toolset. These tools provide a starting point to realize your vision in modeling, animation.
- Learn Maya to create incredible animation, environments, motion graphics, virtual reality experiences and characters. Pluralsight's Maya courses will take you through all the software Maya has to offer, which includes animation, modeling, simulation and rendering.
Maya is 3D computer animation software with powerful modeling, rendering, simulation, texturing, and animation tools for artists, modelers, and animators. Autodesk Maya is a 3D modeling and animation program that can be used for 3D printing, and animated graphics. Whether you plan to model or modify objects Maya offers all the tools needed to produce professional and quality results for even a beginner. This tutorial will take you through some of the basic uses of Autodesk Maya.
- 23D Tools
- 2.6Re-Topology Software
- 32D Tools
- 43D Tool Information
- 4.23ds Max
- 52D Tool Information
Popularity
There are no accurate publicly-available data sources about which art software packages are the most popular for game development. There is only a loose consensus about which tools are used the most often (see Maya = Modeling? or Chances of working with 3DS Max vs Maya in the industry? on the Polycount forum). The choice of art software is usually very subjective, or is forced upon the artist by the studio pipeline. Professionals agree on one thing though... the best way to find out which is best is to give everything a try.
Expense is usually not a concern for employed artists, due to the ratio of saved time and effort vs. cost. For hobbyists and students however, low-cost alternatives can be found in the forum thread Free or low cost 3D and 2D apps.
Main 3D Software Packages | 3ds Max |
3D Modeling Software | Modo |
3D Animation Software | MotionBuilder |
3D Sculpting Software | Zbrush |
Decimation Software | Meshlab |
Re-Topology Software | TopoGun |
3D Paint Software | Mari |
3D Normal Map Software | Xnormal |
3D Texture Coordinate Software | UVLayout |
Main 2D Software | Photoshop |
2D Normal Map Software | NDO |
Image Browsing Software | XnView |
2D Concepting Software | Photoshop |
2D Vector Software | Illustrator |
3D Tools
Main 3D Software Packages
These are 'complete' 3D packages with a wide variety of art tools. However external packages are often used in conjunction with the main package, since some of the included tools are often not quite as efficient or strong as external specialized packages. Please also note that the prices below may be different, if upgrading from already own package.
Package | Company | Supported OS | Price $ | Price £/€ |
3D-Coat | Pilgway | Linux/Mac/Windows | $379 Pro / $99 EDU-Indie | - |
3ds Max | Autodesk | Windows | $3,675 | - |
Blender | Blender Foundation | Linux/Mac/Windows | Free | Free |
Cinema 4D Studio | MAXON | Windows | $3,695.00 | £2600 + VAT |
Houdini | Side Effects Software | Linux/Mac/Windows | $1,995 | - |
LightWave 3D | NewTek | Mac/Windows | $1,495 | €1,304.24 |
Maya | Autodesk | Linux/Mac/Windows | $3,675 | £3,100 + VAT |
Modo | Luxology | Mac/Windows | $1,495 | £999 |
Softimage XSI | Autodesk | Windows | Discontinued | - |
3D Modeling Software
Most modeling is done in the Main 3D Software Packages. Sometimes artists will use specific modeling tools, to speed up their workflow. These packages are used mostly for 3D modeling, but they often have additional features as well.
Package | Company | Supported OS | Price | Website |
Carrara | Daz3D | Mac/Windows | $149 | http://www.daz3d.com/products/carrara/carrara-what-is-carrara |
Hexagon | Daz3D | Mac/Windows | $20 | http://www.daz3d.com/hexagon-2-5-download-version |
Marvelous Designer | CLO Virtual Fashion Inc. | Mac/Windows | $50/$300/$490 | https://www.marvelousdesigner.com |
Metasequoia | Tetraface | Windows | $45/$150 | http://www.metaseq.net/en/index.html |
Milkshape 3D | ChumbaLumSoft | Windows | $35 | http://www.milkshape3d.com |
Nvil | DigitalFossils | Windows | $35 | http://digitalfossils.com/ |
Rhino3D | McNeel | Mac/Windows | $995 | http://www.rhino3d.com |
Silo | Nevercenter | Mac/Windows | $159 | http://nevercenter.com/silo/ |
SketchUp | Mac/Windows | Free/$590 | http://www.sketchup.com/products/sketchup-make | |
Wings3D | IZWare | Linux/Mac/Windows | Free | http://www.wings3d.com/ |
World Machine | Stephen Schmitt | Windows | $99 |
3D Animation Software
Most animation is done in the Main 3D Software Packages, though here are some tools that specialize just in animation.
Package | Company | Supported OS | Price |
Anim8or | R. Steven Glanville | Windows | Free |
CharacterFX | Insane Software | Windows | Free |
Messiah Studio | pmG Worldwide | Mac/Windows | $399 |
MotionBuilder | Autodesk | Windows | $3,995 |
3D Sculpting Software
These tools are used to create a high-resolution 3D model with a series of painting strokes, using a pressure-sensitive tablet or screen. Usually the details from these models are baked into textures for a lower-resolution in-game model. Often these tools include 3D painting as well.
Package | Company | Supported OS | Price |
3D-Coat | Pilgway | Linux/Mac/Windows | $379 Pro / $99 EDU-Indie |
Amorphium | EI Technology Group | Windows | $79 |
Blender | Blender Foundation | Linux/Mac/Windows | FREE |
Curvey3D | Aartform | Windows | $99 |
Mudbox | Autodesk | Mac/Windows | $745 |
#Sculptris | Pixologic | Windows | Free |
ZBrush | Pixologic | Mac/Windows | $795 |
Decimation Software
To decimate means to reduce the triangle count of a highly-detailed model. They may be created via DigitalSculpting or Subdivision Surface Modeling. Decimation makes a detailed model easier to load, manipulate, and render in other applications. Decimation tools should preserve the model's essential form without degrading texture coordinates or material boundaries. Decimation is also used for creating LevelOfDetail (LOD) models.
Package | Company | Supported OS | Price |
3D-Coat | Pilgway | Linux/Mac/Windows | $379 Pro / $99 EDU-Indie |
Atangeo Balancer | Atangeo | Windows | $52 |
Decimate Modifier (Blender) | Blender Foundation | Linux/Mac/Windows | Free |
Decimation Master (ZBrush) | Pixelogic | Mac/Windows | (included) |
Mesh Reduce (Maya) | Autodesk | Linux/Mac/Windows | (included) |
Meshlab | University of Pisa | Linux(Source)/Mac/Windows | Free |
MultiRes (3ds Max) | Autodesk | Windows | (included) |
Optimize (3ds Max) | Autodesk | Windows | (included) |
Polygon Cruncher | Mootools | Windows | $129 |
Polygon Reduction (Softimage XSI) | Autodesk | Windows | (included) |
ProOptimizer (3ds Max) | Autodesk | Windows | (included) |
Re-Topology Software
Re-topology means creating a new mesh surface from scratch, that conforms to an existing 'messy' mesh, often created via digital sculpting. Messy meaning that it either has too much detail or has a topology that's not the best for texturing, shading, or animation. The details from the 'messy' mesh are transferred to the new re-topologized mesh by baking a DisplacementMap or NormalMap. The new mesh can either be used directly in-game, or it can be used as the control cage for a subdivision surface. For opinions/reviews of re-topo software, see retopo tools for Max? on the Polycount forum.
Package | Company | Supported OS | Price |
3D-Coat | Pilgway | Linux/Mac/Windows | $379 Pro / $99 EDU-Indie |
froRetopo for Maya | Piquet 'Froyok' Fabrice | Maya 2011-2014 | Free |
Max_Retopo (for 3ds Max) | cyfer | Windows | Free |
TopoGun | PixelMachine Srl. | Linux/Mac/Windows | $100 |
Wrapit (for 3ds Max) | Matt Clarke | Windows | TBA |
Conform Software
These tools are for conforming an existing mesh to another mesh. Two finished models can be shrink-wrapped to one another, for example to fit a new mesh layout to the size/shape of an existing model. If the models have a different vertex count and order, a conform-style tool must be used instead of a morph tool.
Package | Company | Supported OS | Price |
Conform Wrap (for 3ds Max) | Paul Hormis | Windows | Free |
polyShrinkWrap (for Maya) | Linux/Mac/Windows | Free | |
xyShrinkWrap (for Maya) | Linux/Mac/Windows | Free |
3D Paint Software
Many of the main packages include bare-bones 3D paint tools, and most sculpting software also has 3D paint. The Blender site has a list of 3D paint programs here. The following tools are dedicated to 3D paint:
Package | Company | Supported OS | Price |
Blacksmith3D Paint | BlackSmith3D | Mac/Windows | $80 |
BodyPaint 3D | MAXON | Mac/Windows | $995 |
CrackArt | Diego Castano | Windows | Free |
Mari | The Foundry | Linux/Mac/Windows | €1463 / €430/quarter |
P-XCEL | '__stdcall' | Windows | Free |
Substance Painter | Allegorithmic | Mac/Windows | $149 Indie / $549 Pro / $20/month Indie |
See also PaintingAcrossSeams.
3D Normal Map Software
These packages are used specifically for creating normal maps from 3D meshes. See also 2D Normal Map Software.
Package | Company | Supported OS | Price |
Knald | Knald Technologies | Windows | $100 Freelancer / $200 Studio |
MightyBake | MightyBake | Mac/Windows | $99 Individual / $199 Studio |
Xnormal | Santiago 'jogshy' Orgaz | Windows | Free |
- PolyBump2 by Crytek
- Renderbump by id Software
- SHTools by Epic Games
- Turtle by Illuminate Labs
- Kaldera by Mankua is a commercial baking plugin for 3ds Max, but it hasn't been updated since 2005.
- Melody by NVIDIA is a free baking application, but it hasn't been updated since 2005.
- NormalMapper by ATI/AMD is a free baking application, but it hasn't been updated since 2004.
- ORB (Open Render Bump) by Martin Fredriksson and C. Seger is a free baking application, but it hasn't been updated since 2003.
Also, the Main 3D Software Packages and the dedicated 3D Sculpting Software each usually have their own integrated normal map creation tools.
3D Texture Coordinate Software
These packages are specifically for creating UV texture coordinates for a 3D mesh.
Package | Company | Supported OS | Price |
3D-Coat | Pilgway | Linux/Mac/Windows | $379 Pro / $99 EDU-Indie |
Cas Auto UV | Castor Lee | Windows | Free |
Headus UVLayout | Headus Ltd. | Linux/Mac/Windows | $200 |
PolyUnwrapper | Jorge Rodríguez | Windows (requires 3ds Max) | $25 (free for non-commercial) |
Roadkill UV | Pullin Shapes | Windows | Free |
TexTools | renderhjs | Windows (requires 3ds Max) | Free |
Unfold 3D | Polygonal Design | Windows | 299.00€ |
Special Effects Software
- Indie Tools & Utilities – 2010 Update An extensive, ever growing list of free, cheap or simply 'so good they need a mention' tools & utilities for typical development jobs.
2D Tools
Main 2D Software
These are 'complete' 2D packages with a wide variety of art tools for photo manipulation, texturing, concepting, etc.
Package | Company | Supported OS | Price |
GIMP | GNOME Foundation | Linux/Mac/Windows | Free |
Krita | KDE | Linux/Mac(beta)/Windows | Free |
Paint.NET | dotPDN LLC | Windows(XP+) | Free |
PaintShop Pro | Corel | Windows(XP+) | $50 |
Photoshop PhotoshopTools | Adobe | Mac/Windows | $20 per-month, subscription only |
Texturing workflow - software Polycount Forum thread has discussion about the texturing tools game artists are using.
Wikipedia has a nice table comparing the features of multiple 2D editing packages.
Concepting Software
These packages are most often used for painting concepts and illustrations.
Package | Company | Supported OS | Price |
Alchemy #Alchemy | N/A | Linux/Mac/Windows | Free |
Art Rage | Ambient Design Ltd. | Mac/Windows | $50 |
Illust Studio #Illust_Studio | CEL SYS | Windows | ??? |
Krita | KDE | Linux/Mac(beta)/Windows | Free |
Open Canvas #Open_Canvas | PortalGraphics | Windows | $50 |
Paint Tool Sai | Systemax | Windows | 5250 JPY |
Painter | Corel | Mac/Windows | $429 |
SketchBook Pro | Autodesk | Mac/Windows | $60 |
2D Normal Map Software
These packages are used specifically for creating normal maps from 2D images. See also 3D Normal Map Software.
Package | Company | Supported OS | Price | Website |
!Bitmap2Material | Allegorithmic | Windows/Mac | $149 | http://www.allegorithmic.com/products/b2m/overview |
CrazyBump | N/A | Windows | $299 | http://www.crazybump.com/ |
Knald | KnaldTech | Windows | $100 Freelance License / $200 Studio License | https://www.knaldtech.com/ |
MindTex | FrozenFlame Software | Windows | $15 | www.mindtex.frozenflamecorp.com/ |
NJob | Free | http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=68860 | ||
PhotoSculpt | Hippolyte Mounier | Windows | 139 Euros | |
PixPlant | N/A | Mac/Windows | $195 | http://www.pixplant.com/ |
ShaderMap Pro | Rendering Sytems Inc. | Windows | $29.95 (command-line version is free) | http://shadermap.com/ |
Smart Normal | Web | Free | http://www.smart-page.net/smartnormal/ |
- Photoshop nDo Normal Creation Toolkit is a plugin that costs $99. Windows only.
- Photoshop NVIDIA Normal Map Filter is a free plugin.
- Convert a grayscale image into a NormalMap or DuDvMap, many options available. Windows 32bit only.
- Photoshop NVIDIA DDS texture compression plugin is free.
- Same as the NVIDIA normal map filter, but lets you create the best-quality Mip Maps for a normal map, by filtering each mip independently from the original source image, rather than simply scaling down the normal map. Windows 32bit only.
- Photoshop Xnormal filters is a free plugin by Santiago 'jogshy' Orgaz.
- Five filters for Photoshop: Dilation (see EdgePadding), !Height2Normals (see NormalMap), !Height2Occlusion (see AmbientOcclusionMap), Normalize normal map, !Normals2Cavity.
- GIMP normalmap plugin is a free plugin by Shawn Kirst.
- NSpace is a free converter from Diogo Teixeira that can convert Object Space normal maps into Tangent Space normal maps. The tool is discussed in this thread and Osman 'osman' Tsjardiwal has created GUI for it as well.
- Normal Map Actions for Photoshop by Will 'sinistergfx' Fuller
- Overlay: Levels blue channel of current layer to 128 and sets the blend mode to overlay. Used for overlaying additional normal map detail.
- Normalize: Just does a nVidia normal map filter normalize on the current layer.
- Normalize (flatten): Flattens the image and does a nVidia normal map filter normalize.
- Rotate 90 CW: Rotates current normal map layer 90 degrees clockwise and fixes your red and green channels so that it doesn't break your normal map.
- Rotate 90 CW (inverted Y): Rotates current normal map layer 90 degrees clockwise and fixes your red and green channels so that it doesn't break your normal map. For normal maps that use the inverted Y convention.
- Rotate 90 CCW: Rotates current normal map layer 90 degrees counter-clockwise and fixes your red and green channels so that it doesn't break your normal map.
- Rotate 90 CCW (inverted Y): Rotates current normal map layer 90 degrees counter-clockwise and fixes your red and green channels so that it doesn't break your normal map. For normal maps that use the inverted Y convention.
- Rotate 180: Rotates current normal map layer 180 degrees and fixes your red and green channels so that it doesn't break your normal map.
Vector Software
These packages are used for creating vector graphics, commonly used for user interfaces or print media.
Package | Company | Supported OS | Price |
Flash | Adobe | Mac/Windows | $20 per-month, subscription only |
Inkscape | N/A | Linux/Mac/Windows | Free |
Illustrator | Adobe | Mac/Windows | $20 per-month, subscription only |
Krita | KDE | Linux/Mac(beta)/Windows | Free |
Image Overlay Software
These tools are helpful for overlaying reference images, drawing quick review comments on artwork, remote collaboration, marking animation reference points, etc.
Package | Company | Supported OS | Price | Website |
Floaty | 'StrangeDave' | Windows | Free | http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99709 |
Foreground Reference Utility | Mark Grice | Windows | Free | download, video tutorial |
Ghost-It! | Matthew T. Pandina | Windows | Free | http://download.cnet.com/Ghost-It/3000-2072_4-10077652.html |
ozToolOverlay | Osman Tsjardiwal | Windows | Free | http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1040899 |
PureRef | Natascha 'Arookh' Schirmuli | Mac, Windows | Donationware | Reference image viewer - PureRef Polycount Forum thread |
refBoard | Jonathan 'Equanim' Richards | OSX, Windows | Free | refBoard! Nifty little reference viewer Polycount Forum thread |
ScreenMarker | BeamYourScreen GmbH | Free | http://www.screenmarker.com/ | |
Snippet tool | Microsoft | Windows Vista, Windows 7 | (included) | windows.microsoft.com |
Image Browsing Software
These packages are used for browsing image collections and for displaying reference imagery while an artist is working.
Package | Company | Supported OS | Price | Website |
ACDSee | ACD Systems International | Windows(XP+) | $60 | http://www.acdsee.com/ |
DeskPins | Elias Fotinis | Windows(95+) | Free | http://users.forthnet.gr/pat/efotinis/programs/deskpins.html |
FastStone Image Viewer | FastStone Soft | Windows | $35 (free for personal use) | http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm |
First Impression | Utilhaven.com | Windows(XP+) | Free | http://www.utilhaven.com/fi/index.htm |
Foreground Reference | Mark Grice | Windows | Free | http://www.silo3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16966 |
IrfanView | Irfan Skiljan | Windows(95+) | $12 (free for personal use) | http://www.irfanview.com/ |
Kuadro | Kruel Games, LLC | Windows, OSX | Donationware | http://kruelgames.com/tools/kuadro/, Polycount Forum thread |
XnView | Pierre Gougelet | Linux/Mac/Windows/etc. | $34 (free for personal use) | http://www.xnview.com/ |
Textur.us | Textur.us | Windows/Mac Photoshop CC 2014+ | $5/$10/$15 a month | http://textur.us/ |
Tiled Texture Tools
- Filter Forge ($) procedural tiled-texture editor.
- PixPlant ($) texture tiling tool.
- Seamless Texture Generator ($) texture tiling tool.
- Seamless Workshop free Photoshop filter that fixes tiling errors by blending edges.
- sdvTile free Photoshop script that expands the canvas 3x and repeats your texture across it.
- Texture Frank free 3d tile previewer. Great for viewing tiled textures while painting. EXE shows textures on meshes, drag-n-drop, auto refresh, diffuse/normal/specular/displacement maps, multi-layer PSDs, etc. Many options!
- Wood Workshop free procedural-wood tiled-texture editor.
Screen Recording Software
Record your screen to a video file.
- CamStudio (free)
- Camtasia ($)
- Fraps ($)
- Gadwin ScreenRecorder ($)
- Game DVR (free, Windows 10 required)
- Open Broadcaster Software (free)
- Overwolf (free)
- ShadowPlay (free, Nvidia card required)
Sprite Tools
- TexturePacker by CodeAndWeb - Sprite sheet packer supporting many game and web frameworks
- ShoeBox by Hendrik-Jan 'renderhjs' Schoenmaker tools for working with transparencies and sprites.
- SpriteSheet Preview free tool for viewing multi-frame sprite sheets.
Tablet Utilities
These are tools that help with using a tablet or Cintiq.
Package | Company | Supported OS | Description |
How To Easily Make Your Cintiq/Tablet Better | ConceptArt.org forum | Windows/Mac | How to manually tweak your Wacom sensitivity, and links to some tablet tweaker apps |
Tablets - Tips, Tricks and Resources | Polycount forum | Windows | Tips and links to tablet tweaker apps |
Tablet PC annoyances BEGONE! | Polycount forum | Windows | Removing the annoying UI gizmos on tablet PCs. |
Tablet Pressure Curve Editor with a GUI | TabletPCReview.com forum | Windows | Note: might not be supported with latest Wacom drivers. |
Lazy Nezumi Pro | Guillaume Stordeur | Windows | Smooths out cursor motion in a similar way to ZBrush's Lazy Mouse feature, and adds other useful line processing features. See the Polycount thread Lazy Nezumi Pro - mouse and pen smoothing in PhotoShop and other apps! |
Illusoft's Wacom Monitor Switch Utility | Illusoft | Windows | Use a hotkey to switch the tablet from one monitor to another, on a multi-monitor setup. |
![Maya 2014 Sp2 – Professional 3d Modeling And Animation Tool Maya 2014 Sp2 – Professional 3d Modeling And Animation Tool](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DgjioOigaQA/maxresdefault.jpg)
3D Tool Information
3D-Coat
Best known for: Voxel sculpting for topology-less sculpting, texture painting and advanced retopology capabilities including auto-retopology which can generate all-quad meshes using nothing more then a few basic guide splines drawn by the user. It also has polygonal sculpting with dynamic tessellation, PBR Shading/Material painting, advanced curves based painting/sculpting tools and a unique UV unwrapping algorithm called 'Globally Uniform' that unwraps even some complex meshes with near perfect uniform polygons across the UV map.
- PBR Materials in 3D-Coat - by Javis Jones
- Construct a PBR Material in 3D-Coat - by Javis Jones
3ds Max
Best known for: the power of its modifier stack for modeling. Features powerful viewport shaders such as Xoliul's Shader and the 3Point Shader. Category:Shaders lists some popular shaders and has articles about how to make new ones.
- 3dsmax Basics - Solving the Preferences - by Sascha Henrichs
- Max and Maya: Similarities and Differences - by Paul Neale
- MAXScript for MEL users - by Borislav Petrov
- 3DS clean - 3ds Max 2009 customized for speed
- <3 3ds Max 2009 - more tips for customizing 3ds Max.
Plugins and Scripts
Maya 2014 Sp2 – Professional 3d Modeling And Animation Tool Download
- ScriptSpot Your community resource for 3ds MAXScript or SketchUp Rubyscript.
- MAX Plugins.de The database for freeware and commercial 3ds Max plugins.
- Creative Crash List of 3ds Max plugins & scripts.
- Autodesk AREA Plugins List of 3ds Max plugins.
- Autodesk AREA Scripts List of 3ds Max scripts.
- Quad Chamfer Modifier {$} - better chamfer for SubdivisionSurfaceModeling.
- PolyUnwrapper - many maxscripts for UVW Unwrap.
- Advanced UV Normalizer - use custom Texel Density to normalize the UV Shells across different models.
- TexTools - many maxscripts for UVW Unwrap.
- IllusionCatalyst - Scripts - maxscripts for edgeloop modeling.
- select every other edge on collapsed subdivided mesh - 3dsmax - maxscript to revert subdivided meshes
- EdgeSmooth - Free, open source smoothing plugin - maxscript for defining hard edges like Maya does, instead of assigning Smoothing Groups manually.
- Grabviewport 2.5 - capture high-resolution screenshots with passes (alpha, wire, ssao, etc.).
- Max plugins archive Polycount thread
Blender
Best known for: being a free alternative to more expensive packages, and as a very inclusive package with it's own compositor, sequencer, sculpting system, and game engine.
- Blender 2.5 Crash Course (Not For Retards) Polycount forum thread
- How to set 3ds max default viewport controls in Blender Polycount forum thread
Mari
Best known for: being used in the production of Avatar film, and can handle multiple 32k resolution textures.
Mari is a 3D painting app best known for it's high res texture painting capabilities. It uses the hard drive heavily as a swap disk, and thus requires a significant amount of free space (250gb free recommended).
- Mari - does anyone actually use it? thread on Polycount (the answer is, yes!)
- Mari release thread on Polycount: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=75224
- Mari video: http://media.fxguide.com/fxguidetv/fxguidetv-ep078.mov
Maya
Best known for: the speed of its marking menus while modeling, and ease of animation due to the versatility of attributes.
- Guides for Transitioning to Maya - by Autodesk. Four guides to transitioning to Maya from: 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Lightwave, or Softimage XSI.
- How to switch UI styles in Maya 2011: Autodesk Maya 2011 Qt style switch
- How to Inset faces like in 3DS Max: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1168816&postcount=14
- How to Push like the 3DS Max modifier: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74491
- How to fix corrupted files: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=66262
Sculptris
Best known for: adding geometry to a mesh dynamically, avoiding worries about topology while sculpting. Sculptris is a powerful, easy to use, and lightweight sculpting app. Because you don't have to worry about geometry or using a base mesh, it is quickly becoming popular for roughing out and concepting ideas. Afterwords artists will retopologize their concept sculpt and take it into ZBrush or Mudbox for refinement. There are also painting tools for color and bump, but as of v1.02 their is no way to preserve the paint if one decides to go back into sculpt mode.
As of July 23 2010 Sculptris has been purchased by Pixologic, and its Developer (Tomas Petersson) hired by them (whom now works for The Foundry). What this means for the future of Sculptris, its technology, and its 'free' status has yet to be determined.
For v1.01 :
- Unofficial Mac port: http://drpetter.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=sculptris&action=display&thread=661
- French translation: http://drpetter.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=tech&action=display&thread=316
Softimage XSI
Best known for: the modeling toolset, and ICE (used for creating effects) is considered very powerful, plus tight Mental Ray integration. Even though Softimage XSI isn't as commonly used as in the games industry, there are big studios that use it as their primary 3D software. Some notable examples are Ubisoft (Assassins Creed), Lionhead (Fable series), Konami (Metal Gear Solid 4), Valve (Half life 2).
- 3ds Max to Softimage XSI Transition Tips - by Stefan Didak
- Max to XSI Jumpstart - by 'Vmpre'
World Machine
Best known for: Widely used in the game industry for creating terrains using natural erosion techniques. Great for creating height maps, textures, and texture masks.
- Category:EnvironmentTerrain has tutorials for World Machine.
- World machine, advanced coloring macro - by 'Buzzcore'
Zbrush
Best known for: being well a supported and innovative sculpting package. Zbrush's Ztool system allows for minimal use of a traditional 3D package, while its tools attempt to bring digital media as close to traditional, physical media as possible.
- ZBrush Custom UI Showcase Polycount forum thread, people sharing their UIs and tools.
- Custom Brushes using Zbrush and Max video tutorial by Michael 'Orb' Vicente
- Free Custom Zbrush Brushes by Michael Dunnam
- Nick's Tools - Zbrush Plugins by Nick 'nyx702' Miller
- ZBrushCentral user forums, galleries, etc.
- Pixologic ZClassroom video training
2D Tool Information
Alchemy
Maya 2014 Sp2 – Professional 3d Modeling And Animation Tools
- Alchemy thread on Polycount
Illust Studio
Open Canvas
Best known for: The 'Network Canvas' feature that was present in its free pre-commercial version, which allowed multiple users to paint on a single canvas over the net or LAN (This feature was removed once Open Canvas became commercial software, but the free version despite its limitations and age remains popular to this day because of it).
- Download the free version here.
Photoshop
See PhotoshopTools.
/! Note: prices are accurate as of June 27, 2010
Vastly Improved Modeling Tools Make This a Most Welcome Upgrade
Autodesk Maya 2014 is a genuine milestone upgrade. This release plugs the gaping hole that has existed in Maya's polygonal modeling toolset and continues the refinement of its character animation tools with a Grease Pencil and new Joint Tool options. But there are many more great updates, such as better viewport performance with enhanced DX11 support and improved asset management with Scene Assembly tools.
Maya 2014 Sp2 – Professional 3d Modeling And Animation Toolkit
Polygonal Modeling for the 21st Century
While Maya has a comprehensive modeling repertoire, its polygonal modeling tools have been in dire need of an update for some time. In fact, even 3ds Max, which is considered a modeling powerhouse, has only recently had its polygonal modeling tools updated with the advent of Graphire Modeling in the 2011 version.
Maya 2014 Sp2 – Professional 3d Modeling And Animation Tool Free
Click any image to view a higher-resolution version.
In spite of its popularity and prowess in animation, Maya has lagged in polygonal animation tools, forcing artists to use other applications for this important task. However, Maya 2014 goes a long way to updating its polygonal modeling workflow with innovative tools like Quad Draw.
The debut of applications like Luxology modo, with its innovated approach to polygonal modeling, may have spurred an industrywide 'less is more' attitude toward polygonal modeling. Ever since modo, applications have been making the move to a more streamlined and intuitive polygonal workflow.
However, Maya is late to the game. It is difficult to get excited about modeling tools that have existed in other applications for years; nonetheless this release delivers awesome polygonal modeling tools based on digitalRaster's NEX modeling engine.
Some of my favorites include Quad Draw, which makes it easy to create quad meshes by simply laying down an initial matrix of vertices. Quad Draw also intuitively edits meshes by adding, deleting, and merging mesh components (vertices, edges, and polys), and its tweak mode is a super-fast way to edit. Also noteworthy is the ability to easily retopologize existing models with the new modeling tools and/or by using the parametric Mesh Reduction Options dialogue.
In Maya 2014, symmetrical modeling is not limited to the standard XYZ planes. Edges can be used to define the plane of symmetry, even on posed models. As with standard modeling, component highlighting is improved in symmetrical modeling. The really cool new symmetry tool is Symmetrize, which mirrors the topology of a group of polys across the plane of symmetry.
A bevy of utilitarian improvements include Freeze Transformations, which prevents common problems with transform functions like flipped normals. Selection and selection-highlighting of objects and components is greatly improved, including Soft Selection. The object manipulator on component selections now allows interactive transformation. Along the same lines, component selections are 'remembered' in the same object or in different objects, and Select Similar (from the Edit Menu) makes the tedious job of selecting similar components in different objects easy, almost as if editing instances.
This entire review could be written just about the new polygonal modeling tools. There are many more significant modeling features that bring Maya up to par with 3ds Max and other applications in terms of modeling. So now, Maya artists can work entirely in Maya, from modeling to animation, without having to leave their favorite application.
Remarkable Paint Effects Options
Maya's Paint Effects has been drastically improved, with new options to control how paint strokes interact with each other and scene objects. Surface Snap makes paint strokes grow from their base on the nearest surface point of an object. Populating a scene with trees, for example, is much easier than before. Surface Attract causes stroke objects to be attracted to surfaces so that they cling to or wrap around dynamically, as in vines growing on a wall. Paint Effects strokes are smart in that they are aware of the space occupied by other strokes, thereby avoiding self-collisions. Even more cool, with Make Collide, Paint Effects strokes can react to moving objects in real time. Overall, the new Paint Effects options make working with this complex tool easier and less time consuming.
Maya's Paint Effects got much better in this release with new options like Surface Snap, Surface Attract, and Make Collide. The new options give artists more intuitive ways to deploy Paint Effects objects.
Improved Viewport Performance and Real-time DX11 Support
Maya 2012 introduced the high-performance Viewport 2.0, which improved real-time display of large datasets and support for advanced Maya render nodes like PTex and CGFX. In Maya 2014 Viewport 2.0, debuts support for even more Maya render nodes, like the 2D texture nodes Bulge, Cloth and Noise, more 3D texture nodes, and a myriad of utility nodes. Improved texture filtering allows even faster and higher-quality texture display.
Maya 2014 improves Viewport 2.0 performance with support for additional render nodes, but more important is full support for DX11, which means game developers can preview their assets in Maya as they would appear in a game engine.
Real-time application developers, such as game developers, will love the ability to preview DX11 shaders inside the Maya viewport. All aspects of the DX11 shader can be easily accessed and adjusted to create textures and preview them as they would appear in a game. This is a huge time saver.
Better Asset Management
Displaying dense scenes, like a detailed cityscape, is taxing on any system. To improve viewport and processing performance, Maya 2014 debuts Scene Assembly tools that allow artists to swap out and display representative instances of scene assets at varying levels of detail.
The new Scene Assembly tools are designed to improve performance by allowing artists to decide the level of detail with which scene assets are displayed.
Scene Assembly tools use Assembly Definition nodes as containers that organize and allow access to various instances or scene representations of stored assets like models. On the other hand, Assembly Reference nodes organize and combine Assembly Definitions into scenes. Together they work seamlessly to minimize system overhead, but be warned that the Scene Assembly tools learning curve can be steep.
Animation Always Improves in Maya
In Maya 2012 and 2013 there were significant improvements in character and particle animation tools. While this release focused on polygonal modeling and performance, there are important new animation additions in Maya 2014, like the Grease Pencil and Joint Tool.
This release focused on polygonal modeling and performance updates, but Maya 2014 still delivers new animation tools like the Grease Pencil for marking up animations on screen and new Joint Tool options like Snap To Projected Center for faster rigging.
The Grease Pencil allows animators to quickly block out an animation by sketching it in the viewport at specific key frames and then using the sketches as reference while animating. The sketches may be toggled off and on, onion-skinned, and saved. Further, directors may use the Grease Pencil to mark up animations to communicate changes to the animator. Though the Grease Pencil is a neat idea, it isn't a novel concept — Blender features a similar tool.
Maya's character-rigging toolset just got better, with improved joint-centering and symmetry options. The new Joint Tool option Snap To Projected Center automatically finds the center of a volume of an object, such as a limb, and projects new joints into the center. While the rigger is placing joints along one axis, Maya takes care of joint position in other axes. In addition, the new symmetry option allows riggers to quickly create and edit rigs symmetrically. These new additions to the Joint Tool will make rigging a bit less tedious.
In my opinion, just the new modeling tools are worth upgrade to Maya 2014 — but then, as a modeler, I may be a bit biased. All kidding aside, Maya 2014 delivers important performance updates to the viewports with DX11 support, better Node Editor workflow, optimized asset management for heavy datasets with Scene Assembly, cool animation improvements with new Joint Tool options, and remarkable new Paint Effects options. That's quite a bang for your buck.