General Newbie(Wanting to know about creating a pipeline with UDK/Carrara 8)

eight-fives

Hi all, recently at university we started looking into basic games programming with java and i absolutely loved it and to that end i set about wanting to create more advanced and better looking games so to that end I started to learn to use the Unreal Development Kit(UDK) as it looked kinda fun and learning the basics at least wasn't beyond me.

Now however I find myself wanting to add my own custom characters and animations to the UDK. Unfortunately i'm struggling with which software to use for this part of the development, after looking around about which would be feasible Carrara 8/pro seemed like an option, it wasn't mind boggling expensive and it seemed to be able to do animations nicely.

So what i wanted to has anyone had any experience with Carrara 8? would you recommend it for a relatively inexperienced developer? and finally can it be used with the UDK? After searching through some forums and you-tube it seems that it is possible to export from Carrara 8 to the UDK but i'm not sure if you need a extra plugin or something in order to be able to do. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated :)

Thanks Tom

WendyLuvsCatz

it is possible http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhEvXIKWfRY
but do not ask me how to use UDK %-P
took a lot of re-reading stuff posted by others about using kismet and matinee just to get a rigged animated character in the foliage set game scene and I still have utterly no idea how to actually do anything in it.

Carrara on the other hand I can tell you LOTS about!
best idea is to download the 30 trial and play with it
and ask questions in the Carrara forum about using Carrara.
it is a truely cool 3D program for animation and art
incorporating modeling, terrain generation, rigging and animation

Blender plays well with UnReal game engine apparently if you want a free alternative
definitely DO NOT ASK ME HOW TO USE BLENDER aaaaaahgh!!!!

eight-fives

Hi wendy thanks for the info, ive been experimenting with it the last couple of days and managed to import a figure into the UDK and animate even if it was very basic xD unfortunately have to return to doing some pointless coursework(animation with java) but hopefully in awhile ill be able to post something i'm planning on doing, in the right forum this time!

I did try blender for a bit however I found the layout to be very confusing and have to admit i didn't really enjoy using it, this is my first time using this sort of software but for some reason i just enjoyed using the Carrara program and since i got an email back from my accommodation provider saying they overcharged me a few hundred quid they are giving back i feel like splurging on an end of exam treat ;p i think its going to be between Carrara 8 and poser 9 though i haven't tried the latter out yet