Attached Link: http://www.annsartgallery.com/freeprop.html

I put up a tut on how to make and texture models using only freeware. For those of you who are cheapies like me, this is a fun process. Hope to see some wonderful things that you do.

Thanks, fellow soul. :-) But I have several problems. Amapi 4.15 crashes constantly. UVMapper won't even install, because there's something wrong with its installer. Everything on Win 2000. I'll certainly try Metasequoia.

pcplus?

Attached Link: http://www.strata.com/strataproducts/strata3dbase/index.html

And I have a bone to pick with them, too. :-) If they have free software, they could at least make it possible for the program to do something *useful*. Okay, I can understand disabling more advanced features like metaballs and animation. But they disabled boolean operations, too. And you cannot export in a *single* usable format. It's either Save as their native format or as a pic format. Eugh. BTW, nu-be, since I have a dual boot system (W98se/W2000) I had inadvertently installed Amapi on the W98 partition, with FAT32. I'll try installing it properly on W2000 with NTFS.

I use the old free Strata 3D, it was called simply Strata3D. That's before it was called Base, and it's quite useful. If you can find a copy of that, you'll be able to boolean, and export in VRML and dxf. The animation lab is there, but I've never used it. I only use Strata for modelling, and it does pretty well at it. I've used it for extruding and lathing as well as reshaping planes and other primitives Too bad it doesn't support .obj files. But, hey, it was free! I downloaded Base, and I'm soooo happy I never installed it.

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?Form.ShowMessage=718992

Here's the link. And don't worry, you're not of line nu-be. To get the link, just find the thread, then highlight the address in the Address Bar, right click, choose "Copy", and when you write your message, just paste the address in the "URL" box.

You can also try http://www.blender3d.com/ and http://www.anim8or.com/ Both are free and full versions

Attached Link: http://www.3dlinks.com/software_modshare.cfm

Here's a whole list of freeware and shareware modelers and renderers. BTW, while I'll concede that Amapi 4.15 is rather buggy, it's definitely worth the frustration. It's really one hell of a modeler. I used it for a while, then got 5.1 free with Carrara, then upgraded to 6.1. Each newer version gets more and more stable, and more and more powerful, as well. I use Amapi 6 for almost everything I model. But 4.15 is still pretty powerful, and I recommend it highly. UV Mapper I never had a bit of trouble with, and I think Erlik's trouble is most likely compatiblity with Win 2000 (I'm on 98SE). Of course, UV Mapper isn't a modeler, but it is an indispensible utility. I bought UV Mapper Pro, and that's even better! If I'm not mistaken, Blender is no more. Never did try it, but from what I've seen and heard, the interface is confusing as hell, at least to someone used to the standard Windows type of interface, since it was originally designed for some other obscure OS. Anim8or I tried once, but I found it very limited. Amapi 4.15 flat out blows it away. Metasequoia and Strata I've never tried. EricofSD, even though I'm not limited to freeware apps anymore, I'm really glad to see someone creating tutorials for them. Keep up the good work! :) And if anyone's interested in or already using Gmax (which I mentioned in the thread linked above), I know that Joat Mon has a tut in the Tutorials section on using it to make clothing for Poser. Check it out!

I still use TS 2. Never saw the need to upgrade it - it is good for creating simple props. the '57 tbird didn't work out though. (got the books with that one) Amapi Got it - never played with it too much. Blender There apparently still is a site - don't know if it's legal. Blender - It's so complicated - apparently supports python scripting !!!! I hope bushi will expand his scripting efforts in that direction ??? Anyone know the date, executable file size and version of the last blender?? I think I may be up to date but not sure. anim8tor - how does it work? not so happy with that one maybe if I had the time? metaseqoia - seems its around here somewhere. Never got into that one. Gees I still have to learn morphman and uvmappeer and cr2 edit and ... well at least I can use objacton mover thanks to Kozaburo.

Tried MetasequoiaLE last night. Pretty much impressed with what it can do and the way it does it. It could be better, but hey, it's free for us who are mucking around. And, X2000, yes, the UVMapper problem is a problem with Win 2000. When I tried installing, I got a message from the installer "xyz files are out of date, do you want the installer to update them". I contacted the author and he said it's okay, let them update, it's a Microsoft installer. It supposedly updated, told me to reboot and restart the installation, but it happened again. I checked and the installer files are older than the ones on my computer. So I said bugger that for a game of soldiers and quit. I do remember similar problems with Microsoft's installers from before.

Attached Link: http://www.eovia.com/index.htm?amapi/index.htm&0

Just for the record, the Gmax tut is called "Poser Clothing Tutorial V1.0 for Low Budget NooBs" and is by JoanMot2. Sorry, I got the name a little wrong the first time. For Amapi, try this link and go to "Tutorials" on the sidebar. There are tuts for v4, 5, and 6, and maybe they can help a few of you get a better idea of what it can do and how it works. And you can find some others here: http://www.staigerland.com/amapi/tutorials.html Bikermouse, I feel your pain.;) I've picked up tons of software, but some of it I've never even used yet. I paid $50 for Amorphium 1.0 (which was given away free in one of the Brit mags a few months later, but at least I got a manual), but I don't care much for it and hardly ever touch it. Haven't had a need for Morph Manager 4.0 or Cr2Edit 1.52 yet. It was Koz's new hair that got me to use Objaction Mover for the first time, too. UV Mapper I used a lot, and the Pro version is just great. I couldn't do without that. I just downloaded Plant Studio a couple of days ago, but haven't spent more than a few minutes with it, although I will probably get some use out of that. I got Canvas 6, Expression 2 LE, and Cinema 4D 5SE all free from Brit mags, but haven't had a chance to play with them too much yet. But hey, at least they're there when I need them, right?

Damn, I did it again! The name is JoatMon2. I swear it's right this time!;)