TrueSpace VS Blender

This is true. if the UI for Blender were intuitive, then I would drop 2 of the 3 other products I have like a hot potato. But, I just cannot wrap my mind around it like the people who have had it since the beginning.

And that's why I'm still using Blender

Hi. I know the title seems a little provocative.

trueSpace 7.51 is a wonderful, absolute amazing and a great tool.
So why do I use Blender then, though I have licensed trueSpace 7.51.

The reason is simple enough.

I can't export my work to something usable by either GameStudio A7
or Torque Advance which are among the most used game engines
for the indie game market.

Why are the game exporters removed? There used to be exporters
for both GameStudio and Torque. Using the old ones (tsx) in the model
does not work either... Why.. Because they are old and don't support
the formats (mdl is now mdl7 in gamestudio as an example)

I was around in early testing of ts7.0 and pointed out the need for
game exporters and they existed (at least GameStudio) during the
Beta. After have being away from trueSpace since, I updated to
latest ts7.51e and was very surprised to see that ts7.5 is still an
closed tool width lack of exporters.

It does not help me or anyone interested in game production that
trueSpace is a great tool when its not possible to export the work.

A good FBX exporter would solve the problem for most game engines,
but as you all know there is no such thing either.

Ok. I can export objects as OBJ or 3DS files and used other software to
get things together although that's a tedious work which also often
leads to errors because local differences in same file formats (even though
they should be the same, it seems that 3DS and others have dialects
that won't work together). OBJ seems to be the only reliable format.

But the worst thing of all ... trueSpace skeletons and animation tools
are soooo great, especially together with Mr Bones wonderful skeleton.
All this and there is no possibility to export any rigs or animations
( ... at least ...could we get a fbx exporter ).

So here I am.. building armatures and animations in Blender (which has
fbx, mdl7 and torque exporters) and the trueSpace desktop icon has since
long been move to 'unused desktop shortcuts' by Windows.

Is that not a shame?

I own one of the greatest tools and can't use it because my work
is not possible to get out of the system.

My hope is that anyone now gives a reply telling me that I am
a real looser which just don't know how to get the animated figures
from trueSpace to GameStudio A7 (which I'm currently using). That
would just be great to hear and I would not be offended at all

Please tell me that a 600$ tool can do what the free Blender can.

Cheers
Roland

(which still has hope .. )

Hi again

Tested your suggestions

Blender
Collada import
OBJ import
BHV import
GameStudio MDL7 export
FBX export
+ Exports both MDL7 and FBX
- Have to do the skinning here
- Collada importer don't accept tS dae files

Note:
So far the best and cheapest solution

fragMotion
OBJ import
BHV import
GameStudio MDL7 exp
ort

+ Exports MDL7
- Have to do the skinning here

Note:
This works but is no better than using Blender
which is free.


Ultimate Unwrapper
Collada Import
GameStudio A7 export
FBX export
- Collada importer don't accept tS dae files

Note:
The Ultimate Unwrapper would have been great
as it would need no extra work. But as the collada
import fails this fails.


Thank's for your effort to help
and hopefully Caligari someday will give us fbx export or
a Collada export (includng animations) that will
be accepted by third party tools as Ultimate Unwrapper.


Cheers
Roland

If you need to create cut scenes and cover art blender is your best choice.

when the blender 2.5 will be ready I think blender gain more points

That there is no more official further development in trueSpace doesn't mean that trueSpace is dead or useless. The currently working features didn't disappear, they are still in the app. It's just the official development that is stopped. Plugin developers are still at work. And community gives help too.

Of course it is dead. It may not be totally useless now but soon enough. Time doesn't stand still.

It won't adapt to new windows or directx versions

it won't be able to make use of new hardware

it won't have any new features the competition will come up with

In a few years it will be useless and you will have an outdated skill set

How can plugin authors fix bugs in the closed source core?

What a waste of time to work on plugins which will result in a patched up mess. :p

Milkshape doesn't progress either (actually I would call it dead too) but at least its author is still around for bug fixes as far as I know. If you are into simplicistic and limited 3D modeling and animation software then there are better alternatives like fragMOTION.

As told, a vertice is a vertice. An endgeloop will stay an edgeloop. And it will be a edgeloop in 100 years too.

Where did I compare trueSpace to Milkshape? I didn't. I just mentioned Milkshape because you mentioned it.

And I mentioned modo and silo in the context of modeling tools as a response to your "a vertex is a vertex, a polygon is a polygon,..." blah blah blah. smile Also not as a comparison to trueSpace.

Milkshape doesn't progress either (actually I would call it dead too) but at least its author is still around for bug fixes as far as I know. If you are into simplicistic and limited 3D modeling and animation software then there are better alternatives like fragMOTION.

Just to point out that "a vertex is a vertex, a polygon is a polygon,..." is only true on the surface.If your tool of choice stops progress then all other "a vertex is a vertex, a polygon is a polygon,..." tools will overtake it left and right after a few years.Currently some people look into combining the advantages of subdivision surfaces modeling with the advantages of NURBS (trims,...), probably voxel based sculpting will get popular,...

Thankyou for all that info and help everyone!
I have a couple of new questions now.

1.
Do any of you know if milkshape can export directly for med?
Or does it also have issues with skin/animation like truespace?

2.
Between milkshape and wings which do you guys prefer, and why?



P.S.: The new version of blender looks great, cant wait for that new UI.

Can wings export with no problems for med?
Does wings have any skin/animation issues for exporting like truespace?

-truespace has issues with animation when exporting for med
-milkshape has issues with animation when exporting for med
-wings3d does not have any animation when exporting either...

One thing I do not think anyone has pointed out is that the most efficient way to get models into your game is to buy them from people who specialize in making models. To make models for your games you will need to learn to model them, rig them and most important how to paint them. That is a whole lot of learning to do unless you really enjoy it.

Have to disagree here. A vertice stays a vertice, a face a face, and a bone a bone. Just think of Milkshape here. That is what i call basic, here the time stands indeed still. But it is still popular