So, I'm assuming that this project is one that we will likely be releasing for public consumption, rather than just using to make showcase videos for the engine, so with that in mind it must be said that there are certain tools that cannot legally be used. If you have fully licensed software, great. If by some miracle, you have a floating license, then consider trying to set it up so use can be shared between members of the team.
I know for a fact that student version Autodesk software cannot be used for released game projects, commercial AND non-commercial, and the same applies to many similar applications. Check with your preferred programs to see if this might be a problem as their own license agreements may only stipulate that the produced work does not generate revenue.
With that said, we should try and compile a list of resources usable software. This can also be a great way help each other out in finding more suitable software for personal use. Free is great, cheap is good, but I'm sure not many of us can go the $3000+ range.
You all likely know most of these already, but just in case, I'm putting them out there:
- Blender - is probably the most well-known free application for 3D content. It doesn't just stop at being modelling software either and while it's tricky to learn, it's an extremely powerful, versatile and customizable tool that could almost be used as your only tool for asset creation.
- Sculptris - One of the most natural-feeling sculpting programs, at least to me. It allows great freedom with limitless (to the extent of what the program or your system can handle) polygons that can be add as you sculpt. It's simple, but powerful.
- Cheetah3D - A low cost Mac-only all-in-one tool for 3D assets with a relatively friendly UI that can make some great looking models, has full animation support, as well as texture painting, UV editing/unwrapping and more. It has an impressive feature list, view-able here.
- TrueSpace - Another all-arounder program, though not to the extent of Blender or Cheetah3D, that was once a professional, premium tool, but is now free to use, but was actually discontinued back in 2009. Some unofficial updates followed shortly after, but is now completely unsupported. That doesn't mean it can't still be used and if you find you like it and can use it better than other programs, why not use it, right? It features widgets for the editing tools, making it easy to understand what you're doing.
- Wings3D - A free subdivision surface modeler, primarily for low and medium-poly models. It supports texturing, but not much else further. It almost entirely for modelling.
- 3D-Coat - I feel like I have to mention this because of how amazing it is. The price is still relatively low-cost, but might still be out of range for most at $379, but you get an insanely powerful tool at that price. Voxel sculpting is something else entirely, it really is...there's also a brilliant auto-retopo tool in it, and texture painting is beautiful. The do have an educational version for $99 for non-commercial use, but I'm not sure how far that extends. If it's any non-commercial use, or if it's still limited like Autodesk software.
- Terragen 3 - Terragen is a powerful scenery generation tool. While we can't use the free version IN the game, it could be a helpful tool in visualizing world concepts. As we are not generating a terrain for photo realistic visuals in a movie (as this tool is frequently used for), we should be able to use the free version for our own personal visual aids and sharing of ideas. It's a little complicated and totally not as intuitive as I would hope, but it produces some amazing looking stuff.
What it can be used for:Just about everything. You would likely use an external program for creating textures, but you can still use texture painting in-program if you want.
Price: FREE
What it can be used for: Really only modeling and painting textures. For object modelling, it's sometimes good to start elsewhere, depending on the object, and import into Sculptris to add detail, but it's great for starting scratch for characters and creatures.
Price: FREE
What it can be used for: Just about everything for asset creation, like Blender, though it lacks a game engine, unlike Blender...but that doesn't matter as much for us, right?
Price: $99
What it can be used for: Modelling, animation, UV editing
Price: FREE
What it can be used for: Low/med-poly modelling and texturing.
Price: FREE
What it can be used for:Modelling, texture painting, retopology, uv mapping
Price: $379
Toying with the settings, I came up with this within five minutes:
It's obviously quite empty and I need better camera placement, but it's for a quick preview. It supports importing objects of various formats (including .obj), so you should be able to put in models and use it to get an idea of how a gorgeous alien world might look. Right now, we seem to be discussing a cartoony style, so maybe it's not the best thing, but...it's beautiful. It has been used in films such as: Man of Steel, Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton), SuckerPunch, Tron: Legacy and more.
Does anyone else know of software, with more open licenses than some have, they would like to share to use for our project here?