The first week of trueSpace
Sunday, August 03 2008 - truespace, blender-3d, xna
Last week we all got the news the trueSpace 7.6 was now free, so for the last week I have been playing around with it just to see how it shapes up.
In the past I have had experiences with a lot of the different 3D modelling applications. I started my journey with lightwave and then moved on through to 3d Studio Max, then with the introduction of XNA and a change in job I had to swap over to a different package. I still had my copy of max, but thought that I would shop around to give some other packages a go, I jumped in with Blender, Milkshape, a little bit of gmax and of course gameSpace.
Over this time I did end up staying with Max and as most of you know Blender. I have found that with the way that I do things Blender actually works better for me.
But with the release of trueSpace I thought I would give it a fare go. What I have found is that the trueSpace system is easy to use and understand, once you get used to the different modelling spaces. In trueSpace you will find that it looks like they are in between versions as there is a Workspace area and a Modelling area. Don't get me wrong it works well.
I did find that the modelling interface works well and is easy to use, the different tools that you have make it easy to get the job done. Also the tutorials that are available on the site are handy and can take you through most of the tasks.
One of the things that I did find is that for some processes you are going to need the help of some 3rd party products, these include external enterers and UV Mapping and Layout tools. There are some built in functions but to get the best job you will need the external tools.
The thing I like about trueSpace is that it supports the export of 'x' format straight out of the box, no longer requiring the use of 3rd party scripts. It will be good when they can get the fbx exporter or supply us with a content pipeline system for there native format... Hint Hint...
On a support not I have posted several questions into the trueSpace forums, and the answers back have been quick and helpful.
For my projects at the moment I will more than likely still use my existing tool set, but I will be adding trueSpace to the collection. Over the last few days I have been able to model simple models in trueSpace and then export them to Blender to use their UV Mapping and editing tools, and then send them back to true space for the final export and render.
In Summary, the system works well and can do the job. We still need to use external enterers for that final render of your work. It's UV Mapping tools need a lot of work. And we really need to have a content pipeline system for the native format...
I am planning on posting some small tutorials in the new future on integrating your modelling experience with trueSpace into your XNA Applications.
