I'm in and made my first post. Only thing being held back so far is my avatar. Simply aWeSoMe!

Recommended it to a gorgeous friend of mine too. She loves chat sites but we keep finding empty ones. LOL.

 Art Zone looks like a cool site. Thanks again! =)

 Thanks, Annie!

BTW CG did the same probationary thing but still let me in within a day. I was surprised as I knew the place was designed for professionals  looking for employment and I figured, out of everyone around the net, they would've been the most elitist and discriminatory. 

 Thanks, Mark. English Bob made mention of this. I've also found that Metaseq will export to types that my other freeware can import and convert to Obj.

Wings 3D has served as an awesome import/export converter for me even though I'm still not quite sure how to adapt to actually modeling with it. LOL.

I've also just downloaded the most recent MilkShape however not quite sure if it's still as massively free as it once was or if what I have is some timed-demo but apparently Milkshape is the be all end all when it comes to having a massive number of import/export options.

 Ah, 'Position 0' Sound like a new sci-fi conspiracy flick! LOL.

Thanks a lot guys. Renderosity has proven to be a huge help with my modeling shenanigans. =D

 The following is something that I've documented and have been copying and pasting in a lot of places. I'm not doing this as blatant advertisement but as resource to the freeware apps that I've found VERY useful as well draw attention in return for these programmers being kind enough to offer their programs free of charge. I'm a noobie, myself. =)

Hey all, 

Just dropping in here to share some free graphics apps with the artistically inclined amongst you all.

Back about ten years ago I spent hordes on 'How to' books concerning 3D modeling and science. At the time this software was nowhere near as free as it is today nor easy to use and smooth to run as it is on home PCs today.

I can draw in 2D but I'm am absolute novice with 3D sculpting.

First up is the Japanese polygonal modeler Metasequoia translated for english users but doesn't have very much support outside of Japan. I've been downloading and trying out all sorts of free polygon-based modeling programs and , by far, this has been the fluent and easy to use with a large enough tool set to establish an basic model.

http://www.metaseq.net/english/

Next, another polygonal-based modeler. GMax is an extremely lite feature of 3D Studio Max and offers a lot more control and larger tool set than Metasequoia however support and production of this software ended many moons ago. You'll also have to search the net for the Listener Grabber and export to obj script in order to get your models out of Gmax and into any other program.

http://www.turbosquid.com/gmax

The following are two clay-style modelers. Unlike the polygonal-based software these are so easy to use that hardly any experience is needed at all to make something semi-decent. I use CB Model Pro, like I do the polygonal modelers, to make the basic models. Sculptris is absolutely awesome for taking in those basic models and adding the finer details to them.

http://www.cbmodelpro.com/

http://www.sculptris.com/

Even if you have no interest in art or design, I would still highly suggest watching the Sculptris demonstration while keeping in mind that the program is currently free.

This next program is for material & texutre editing along with painting of your models. The paint feature allows you to paint directly onto the model as you rotate it around the view window. Spoke with the developer briefly and he will be updating this program in a couple months time so there hasn't been heavy adverts for it but I would still recommend downloading and giving it a spin. I've tried both Blacksmith and Tatto but still feel this to be more practical and easier to use of the three. I was highly impressed.

http://www.futurepaint3d.com/

Note that, unlike the rest of the software in this post, Future Paint 3D is not freeware - it's on a timed thirty day trial but still deserves a look in anticipation of the newer version that will be out soon. Price wise though it costs about the same as a new Playstation 2 game so it's greatly affordable compared to apps like Deep Paint and Body Paint.

Finally, not 3D, but a powerful photo editor and 2D art program that could easily rival older $600 versions of Photoshop and uses the same interface and tools is the completely free G.I.M.P. (GNU Image Manipulation Program).

http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

I mostly have made this thread to help advertise for and support the designers, who've worked so hard to make these programs, as they have made them free to the public while they are still in early development stages. I also love stumbling upon links to free software when Googling. So for lurkers whom have Googled upon this, these links were valid as of June 5th 2010. =)

Ultimately, the easiest modeler that I've used and use the most is Metasequoia. Sculptris and CB Model are must haves but I feel that they are too easy to use, therefore cheating and you won't learn as much as you will from polygonal-based modelers. =)

 The reason that I bring up 'active email account' is, after the fact, I found out one of the forums doubled as a resource outlet for hackers....and that place has not only my web-based account but my IP email account as well.

I'm still kicking myself.

 I know Metaseq tends to slice right through a new created primitive with the grid. Are you guys suggesting to raise the model up so that its base is sitting on top of the grid and then working with from there?

Fortunately, the programs that I am getting the most use out of I've managed to find ways to get imports situated properly with little effort but some others I guess it's just a matter of software compatibility.

 Thanks guys. I actually took this over to the Sculptris forums. The current Sculptris release has difficulties if too many lines are intersecting at one vertice. The horns on my bull head were what was killing it.

Also, I had meshsmoothed the the model to death and I think the heavy polys didn't translate well. I found a really good tutorial for reducing polys at www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/226-Polygon-count-reduction-with-MeshLab.html

Using the freeware Meshlab (so powerful, so free!).

I'm going to bookmark your site, Bob and also try the UV unwrap tactic you mentioned. =)

 Here's a totally amateur attempt at a minotaur:

 Thanks, Shawn. I have TS7 and no, it doesn't have a plug for OBJ files. I downloaded the plug you linked to for version 5 & 6 which I'm pretty sure will work with 7.

I think Compose might be a bit outdated for the release of Metaseq that I have, the program is getting confused reading cob files from it. 

Am also trying Accu-Trans which I don't know how to stop from automatically applying a texture to my model and seems to leave 'accurate transfer' all up to me. So far Accu-Trans OBJ's crash Sculptris.

If all else fails, I have downloaded DogA which I know Metaseq was specially coordinated to export too. So if DogA exports Obj files that should solve the problem.

Going around the net all these converters which were once freeware have been pulled from their hosting sites because they have all evolved into shareware with new names.

 AWESOME! Thanks a lot, man! I'll give 'er a try. =D

 Oh, I definitely agree. Back when I taught myself the general principles I PURCHASED the books and borrowed the programs. Good thing too because there's no way that I could've justified paying several thousand for 3DS Max and Cinema 4D with the little that I did with it back then. 

I'm so happy, now, ten years later that a lot of this stuff is freeware. This way I can find out what I can and can't work with.

I had a book  that was written especially for the first or second release of Blender but even with the book it was a bit of a struggle back then. I think Blender is freeware for people who REALLY know what they're doing and have had a lot of experience in a lot of different modelers.

 Work in progress but will probably trash the body - there's no saving it. LOL. 
This is from a combo of CB Model Pro and Sculptris

 Thanks 50 Parsecs. I might start messing around in Wings as well. I have played with it a little bit and the interface is a bit - awkward - compared to the environments that I'm used to (mostly used a borrowed version of 3DS Max ten years ago when I first tried my hand at this).

But I do like how clean it looks.

The most difficult one by far has been Blender - I can't even figure out how to adjust its interface properly but with Metasequoia and Wings along with CB and Sculptris, Blender is on my back burner for now.