I’m more of a programmer and kinda new to Art pipelines and developing content.
I know that UE4 uses the Autodesk FBX 2013 format, (I’ve worked with the SDK). And I understand that most any tool can be used which supports this version and format.
That being said.
Which 3D Modeling editor (If any) and version, does the UE4 team recommend AND USE for their content development ?
When it comes to the art pipeline, I need every advantage possible. So, Which tool (or tools) does the UE4 team use ?
Are there any advantages to using one tool over another for content development in UE4 ?
Autodesk 3DS and Maya are widely spread, IIRC I saw Epic using .
However in this area one thing goes above all that: Whatever you feel comfortable with. Most of these tools are capable of the very same basic things you need, some have advantages here and there or better usability, but in general most tools work fine and you can get the very same quality from free tools like Blender like you can get from expensive Autodesk products. Especially since all the refining is done within the engine anways, so you don’t need a lot of offline-production stuff. Not quite sure where Modo stands these days, but I think it too is a valid option.
When you’re totaly new, I would actually recommend Blender since you’re not biased in the workflow and get off fresh. That way you do not have to bother later on for commercial licenses if you ever would want to sell your product.
Depending on your download speed, you could be playing with Blender in 5 minutes. No credit card, no monthly payments. Spend a couple days with the “Noob to Pro” Wiki book, catch some great advice and tutorials here on the forums, and you are good to go. Good luck, a Un-realperson
I too recommend Blender. I found this video series to be a quite good intro: ://cgcookie/blender/cgc-courses/blender-basics-introduction-for-beginners/
As everyone here has mentioned, it would really depend on what you want to do. I personally fall into the 3Ds territory, but that’s because that’s where I started. I first started modeling on Sketchup and then moved to 3Ds.
Each modeling program has it’s advantages and disadvantages. As Haldolium mentioned, you have no bias towards any particular program. I have personally found Blender to be frustrating beyond belief, but I started in a different area of 3D modeling.
also brings up a good point as well that Blender is free to use. 3Ds and Maya both have substantial costs for their license to use them.
Starting with the release of 4.2 UE4 will be supporting FBX 2014. Currently, Autodesk’s FBX Converter which Blender uses does not support FBX 2014. Autodesk have not released their latest update to handle the export yet. You can still use FBX 2013 but there will be a warning when imported in to UE4 after the release of 4.2. This won’t be a problem aside from an annoying message giving you the warning.
As an instructor once told me (actually every instructor probably says this at some point when looking at a students work):
"A good texture can make the difference between a good and bad model. A bad texture cannot cover up a bad model.
I downloaded the student version of maya and am starting to make some slow progress. When importing, it it better to do materials and texturing in maya and then import, or just do a wireframe and import?
Second hand info here, but my art partner is finding Modo to be the most intuitive system to use. He started with Blender and, well, had a bit of a nightmare time. Not sure how well Modo fits into UE4 just yet since we are still new to this engine, but…well, there’s another recommendation that might be worth a look.
Cinema 4D is pretty decent too, been using it for years and have successfully shipped multiple console, desktop and mobile games using it as our content app.
