No problem here, richardphat. You're forgiven.
It's my opinion that part of what forums are for is to ask questions. It's not as much of a pet peeve with me if someone asks a question that has been asked and answered a hundred times before.
Sometimes people get jaded and crotchety in their old (internet) age. :p
To answer your query:
Free 3D Modeling Software
Blender - A very well made open source modeling and animation app that is
comparable to the stuff you pay for, such as Maya and 3D Studio MAX.
Excellent support and many addons available.
Wings3D - Here at Subsim, this is the most popular choice of free 3D apps. Not
as mature and loaded with features as Blender, but it still does the job
well with an easier learning curve.
Anim8or - A freeware modeling and animation app with a large community of
users.Intended for beginner-intermediate level artists but don't let its
simple interface fool you as it is very capable of creating impressive
effects. It also has excellent support and many extras.
OpenFX - A former commercial product, known as Soft F/X, it was released as open
source a few years ago with major improvments incorporated since then.
Built for Windows, using MS Visual Studio, it offers plugins, image maps,
and more.
DAZ Studio - A freeware 3D modeling app offered by DAZ 3D, the same company
that makes Bryce and Carrara. DAZ Studio creates very impressive
effects and many free models and other resources are available but the
really good stuff you have to pay to get.
K-3D - Yet another fine, open source 3D modeling and animation app. I don't know a
great deal about it, as I have never used it, but it has more plugins than you
could ever want and a thriving community.
Free Image Editing/Creation Software
You will need something to create textures for your models, won't you?
The GIMP - What can I say about this venerable, open source graphics app? It's
been around forever and is every bit as good as Photoshop, some say
better.
ImageMagick - Another open source image editing app. Supports over 100 different
image formats. It's a command-line tool, but there have been several
very good GUI frontends made for it.
Project Dogwaffle 1.2 - The freeware version pf PD 2.0, a paint and animation app. It has some limits, such as only using a max of two layers and saving your work in just .bmp or .tga format but it still has many useful features. Also has a free SDK, should you feel like creating your own plugins.
IrfanView - One of the absolute best, all-around tools for viewing and simple editing
of images. Also works as a media player and can use Adobe Photoshop
plugins. It supports a mind-boggling array of formats. A must have even
if you only use it for converting image formats and watching videos or
playing music/sounds.
I hope this helps you find the tools that suit you best for modeling ships and other things for SH3!
