Making Own Blender Objects

First off I’ll admit up front that I am NOT a visual artist - I don’t even play one on television. :wink: However I AM a pretty fair jackleg engineer with a buddy who does a web comic using blender. I would enjoy making things (buildings, walls vehicles etc.) for my buddy to use in said comic. In the past I have had a fair facility at 3D modeling and have no doubt I can recover it. My question is, in what form/format do I save/compile the completed object? I figure Blender objects require 1) a 3d model and 2) texture and bump maps with appropriate graphics for texture and bump map. Assuming I have something useful, in what format do I save/compile it so that I can send it to my buddy to (possibly) use in his comic?

Note: If (as I would expect but was unable to determine) this has been answered elsewhere/elsewhen, a simple link will suffice while engendering my everlasting gratitude - which, along with $5 will buy you a cup of coffee at Dennie’s. :smiley:

I, for one, respect the heck out of people who can take computer software and make beautiful pictures and videos. I am OK with things but awful at making pictures/videos with them.

Thanks in advance

On the assumption that you’re not framing the shots and you’re just creating assets that your buddy can use, I’d recommend simply sending your .blend file. After all, Blender itself is free. Your friend could open your file, move things around, position the camera and hit render. No need for interchange formats.

Let me make sure I’m understanding you.

All I need to do is save the item (hopefully including textures and maps) as a .blend file and email that to my buddy? Correct?

Can I import a 3D model saved in GMAX or .obj or some other format into blender for further work?

I am not sure about *.gmax, but *.obj works.

In a similar topic, there was a mention of one blender user asking a 3d max owner to transform a blender object into 3d max, or maybe it was the other way around. Shouldn’t be too hard to get this information.

Regarding your buddy, I am going to presume that you are going to use assets for backgrounds. If you can collaborate, then he can email you the character scene, and you can then adjust cameras, light, angles etc to suit the mood. And then the next bit…getting the render to match what you have in drawing.

If you can upload some samples, then I am sure you will arouse the curiousity of some of the kind people here, and take it to the next level.

At first glance I thought this shouldn’t be a Problem at all. As stated, “Buddy” is using Blender to make his comic. Given you are using also using Blender simply saving the scene (don’t forget to pack the textures or other external resources) and e-mail it would do the trick. Not packing the textures would require you to provide some kind of project folder with all the resources and the blend saved with relative paths.
Now here’s the thing: Are YOU even going to use Blender? If not, I’d say .obj + textures is your best shot.
Anyway if you didn’t intend to use Blender I’d suggest you should try it. As Fweeb said it’s free so you won’t loose anything. And chances are high, you’re gonna like it.

Edit: After another rethink I’m a bit baffled, that “Buddy” doesn’t know what he can import.

As long as you remember to make sure to pack the textures into the .blend file, yes.