Tf2 modelling

[Terbulus]

have a few idea's for some tf2 items kicking about about in me head
so i decided to actually try and realise them
wanted to know if anyone has any tips/advice on getting started
like what programs would be most tf2 friendly,tutorials etc stuff like that

[Toco]

im pretty sure it was buck who entered into the polycount contest terb, he would prolly be ur best bet

[__fell]

i have no real idea as to the process but would love to see some ideas come to life.. keep us posted

[Sir Psycho Sexy]

i had a dabble making hats, blender's a free to download and pretty well supported modelling program. i think smokedef uses 3dsmax. for textures you'll need Photoshop. uhm, there are some good tutorials on youtube for literally getting you started. but exporting and compiling are super tricky and thats kinda where i gave up.

[Trim]

i've modelled a little in 3ds (not hats or tf2 related mind) and it can be tricky but just needs hours of input. The output can be well worth it.

[Flynnstone]

for textures you'll need Photoshop.

Or GIMP...and some perseverance.

The only problem I can see with using blender at the minute is Blender 2.5 is half done so the exporters might not be up to par. Then again learning blender 2.49 at this point would be a waste as its interface is dramatically different to the newer betas. I think valve have some info their wiki about using blender for models although I'm not sure how up to date it is and it's not loading at the minute so I can't check.

Edit: I stand corrected there is a blender 2.54Beta exporter. Clickie Herie

Aside from a cracked version of commercial software Blender is probably the best legal way to try out 3d modelling.

[Terbulus]

IT BEGINS

[Advent]

My god it's a thing!

Where are you going with this terb?

[Terbulus]

along these lines
with a wrangler style firing mechanism and arm brace

[Advent]

Badass.