?: 3D Studio Max Plug-ins

[Signal2Noise]

You want PIs & Scripts that assist in anything to do with keeping the number of polys to a minimum. Have you checked Script Spot (http://www.scriptspot.com/start.htm) under the Gaming section? Lots of good stuff to be had there!:thumbsup:

[chrisdejoya]

The one plug-in most max game artists seem to swear by is Texporter for making shadow maps, but it's usefulness goes beyond game art. And anyway, Render To Texture seems to be a good replacement for it. Oh, there's also Meshtools (for the Divide Edge function, which max 5 surprisingly still doesn't have).

The only major add-on I use for characters is Character Studio.

All in all, I think standard max is adequate enough for game art. I actually cleaned out the plug-ins I DON'T use and cut max down to half it's size (around 77 MB now). It loads faster now, but you don't need to do that. I'm just trying to illustrate a point.

[Chris88]

Yes, snowfly has a good point. Max is pretty good by itself and there should be really no need for any plugins for some characters. Poser is something that will create basically an instant character for you, but theres really no need to go out and spend all that money. Im sure you could check out the discreet site for some if you think you need them, but if you have max and character studio, you should be fine :)

[Ryno]

I think that the key point here is the fact that you want to "Create" characters for games. Some plug-ins may do this for you, but in these cases, it is the plug-ins, and not YOU who would be creating the characters. Max's polygon modeling tools are fantastic for modeling characters, and Max alone is what about 80% of the game artists use to make them. The Unwrap UVW is great for setting up mapping coordinates. Texporter is a nice plug-in for exporting UV coordinates, but hitting PrintScreen on your keyboard can be sufficient. You will need PhotoShop or another paint program to paint your textures, then you can animate your character using Max's Skin and Bones, or by using the Character Studio plug-in with Biped and Physique.

No plug-ins will create a beautiful, custom-designed character for you by pushing a button. And if you want to learn to be a game artist, using these type of auto-character plug-ins will really hurt the development of your skills. It takes a lot of work, patience, training, and artistic vision to make a game character, but doing so yourself will make you a better artist, and you will end up with a much more original piece of art.

[Ashe Tie'skar]

Wow, thanks everyone for the advice! It definately helps!

Thanks again!

[Ashe Tie'skar]

Divide Edge with Meshtools.


Could/Would someone please explain this feature and how its useful. How and where to use it?

Thanks a Million!

[chrisdejoya]

Hi Ashe,

divide edge does as it's name describes, divide an edge into 2, 3, or 4 equal parts by placing verts along the selected edge/s in equal intervals, blah blah, I think you already know this from experience.

useful, because 3ds max doesn't seem to have any built-in way to create extra verts along an edge without connecting it to another edge first. Especially useful if you are using modeling old-school low poly techniques and can't afford quad-based modeling...so you go geodesic.

did that make sense? It's really a matter of approach and personal taste. some people may not find it essential, but me I can't not have it and not grumble.

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