A while ago, I had a need for some simple 3d models for a recently completed puzzle game (Orthot II). Since my budget for the project was $0, I needed a consistent style which I could reasonably accomplish. Being a programmer and not well-acquainted with some of the more conventional tools, this simply resulted in great frustration and inefficiency.
Then I decided I to design my own. It worked well for the task. Now, when I need some new capability, I add it to my own tool, rather than try to look for it elsewhere. I now am wondering if I produced something which others might like to have, so...
Ek3d is a low-level modelling tool which is designed for a very bottom-up approach to modelling. It provides an efficient interface for precisely defining vertices, and another for selecting and re-selecting groups of vertices from which to form triangles (and with further development, reasonably arbitrary geometric objects and surfaces).
It also features a navigation interface which, in my opinion, is sensible. The transformation used to convert screen-space mouse coordinates into a 3d point is very predictable and unambiguous - You define a a specific plane for it to pick against, and that plane does not change by moving or re-orienting the camera. The camera also is somewhat unconventional for 3d editing; It is based on a third-person controller, rather than first person and tied in with the point selector interface (For movement, the camera tracks a "focus" point which is moves along the picking plane, and for perspective adjustment, it orbits that point).
It seems like it should be quite useful for constructing models with a low polygon count (particularly when specific vertices are desired) as well as for building shapes to use in more sophisticated editors.
Presently, it looks a bit like this:
I am thinking about developing it further and possibly selling it. I would like to know whether or not others are interested in such an editor (If there is little or no interest, it will likely remain an "in-house" tool). I posted a demo of it on my website:
http://www.eketech.com/demos/ek3d.htmlAlso, though the main focus of this post is the polygon mesh editor, the demo also includes a voxel-based editor. The main need there was voxels plus attachable/orientable objects, so I could construct puzzles without weird hacks, rather than dissatisfaction with existing editors. I would like to know whether it is desirable as well.
Developer
