Wassup everybody. I got a problem: MED is good with it's ability to export a pic with the mesh on it (to paint with Photoshop) but it doesn't allow to place different views of the same mesh on one pic. Thus if I want to have DETAILED textured side of a human head (ears etc.) - i'll never have it using MED. All of this can be easily done in MilkShape BUT there's no "export-pic-with-mesh-on-it" Yeah, I heard about taking screenshots but I'd prefer a more civilized way of doing this. So please each one of you guys on the forum (the "pros" preferably indicate what software u use for modelling and skinning.

Ok, i'll start:

- Nendo, MilkShape and 3DS Max for modelling
- MilkShape/MED for skinning
- Photoshop 6.0 for painting

I model in MilkShape, save as an MD2, create the skinmesh in Npherno's Skin Tool, save the bmp with the wiremesh on it (select all, Skins > Skin F/X > Outline Selected) and resave the MD2, load up the wiremesh outlined skin in Photoshop and paint it, then load up the md2 in Milkshape and just load up the material and hit assign. NST makes multiple view skinning really easy - you just lay out a wireframe mesh on your bitmap from multiple sides by rotating your model in a 3d view, selecting the polygons (eg face, torso front, torso side) and then drawing a square on your flat bitmap, and it's all automatically mapped. You can then move around your mesh on the bitmap and rejoin some of the vertices. If you're interested, you can get NST v1.0 from:
http://aeq.virtualave.net/dls/nst-july07.zip

And check out www.burnitbaby.co.uk (Helping Hand) for a complete walkthrough of using NST to map a complicated model from multiple sides.

Hmm, I've raved about this before, but it's the best (and free!) tool I've ever found for skinning... Hope that's of use.

I model in Animation Master and paint in Painter 3d. Painter 3d allows you to paint ON the mesh, in 3d.

Hey Swine.. I thought that at firs too, but it's not true. You can have multiple views. Merely make an MDL, select part of an object, click 'Select touching.' Then convert to MD2 and make MD2 mapping coordinates. Bingo. Repeat process for multiple views. Presto two.

Save everytime.. I've gotten some very, very funky errors doing this. But all around, it works great if you merely follow that one piece of advice..

Skinning: Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro 4.12
Modeling: Med for base model and skin layout, Qme 3.1 for animating

Modelling and skinning is way too hard. It takes days to create just one model if you want it to look good. This is a waste of time. I just look for free ones and use them.

I model in milkshape, and skin with PSP. But I'm still a beginner, mostly I use free models as "templates" for my models.

We use here 3ds Max for Modeling and Skinning of most of our creatures and players.

We use Lightwave Syudio, for our terrain maps.

For Paint Programs, we have a slew but mostly Paint Shop Pro and Adobe Photoshop.

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Lead Developer
Unknown Quest for the Golden Dragon

I use Nendo for modelling (absolutely awesome) and havent done any skinning yet. However i second what Ambit said about Npherno's skin tool, coz i've tried it before and its excellent! So that is what i will use for my skins.