Quick Static MDL In kHED Created 6 years ago2017-07-24 03:36:39 UTC by The303

I recently found this little piece of freeware called kHED that ive found is very intuitive and easy to use. Its actually easier Ive found to use than Milkshape3D and has GoldSrc compiling right out of the program with .mdl export. The only downside is that there is no rigging or bones, however this program can also save scenes as milkshape files. Ive used a wide variety of 3D programs and id say this would be something id be playing around with if I were an absolute beginner.
http://khed.glsl.ru/index.php?page=home

Ive made a 15 minute sped up video of a static TV prop from start to finish. I went for quick and dirty so most of the stuff is PS layer style effects.
Things to note:
-I didn't need to UV unwrap the antennas because I used a special "_chrome" texture (64X64 only).
-If you get errors on export/autosave try running as admin (also if your compiled model is 0kb)
-There are some things I rushed like some bits of wasted UV space and having an on red light when the TV is clearly off (whoops.)
-You can find the QC and SMD in the folder you saved your working kHED file and edit it to add other things if you need
-If you are a more experienced modeller (Blender,Max) you can probably pass on this. However the UV unwrapping tools on this program are superior to MilkShape3D with more options and an active selected 3D preview next to your sheet and if you are a Milkshape user id give it a try (also remember you can save as milkshape scenes)
-For Sven id probably go with item_generic, I went with cycler_sprite for generic vanilla GoldSrc compatibility
YouTube Video Of Prop Making
I threw on some GTA3 RISEFM because why not.

There is a Snap to grid button that can be adjusted with Right-click to set the snapping distance.

Also, I demonstrated cycler_sprite because its still used in CS1.6 and some others for staticprops. Standard cycler can have issues (its shootable and bleeds and sometimes has an iffy collision; better to make a clip brush + cyclersprite)

@The303

Does 3DS Max have the "Snap-to-Grid" feature as well? Forgive me for such a dumb question.

Yes it does and with a wider variety of control. Max has a very deep amount of customization. My experiences with various 3D programs are as follows:

3DSmax: Decent straightforward UI & layout, has a learning curve similar to photoshop but goes much deeper. Powerful general purpose 3D editor who's main strength is hard-surface, enviroments, and the "modifier stack" (imagine each edit to your model is saved as a "snapshot" or layer stack so you can have non-destructive editing. This is what max is known best for).

Blender: Not quite as powerful as paid main industry standard software but as free program its excellent. Its strength is speed due to its heavy reliance on hotkey workflow. Main drawback is that it tends to have a rather awkward learning curve and by design is very different from any other modelling program. This made it difficult for me to learn even with my 6+ years of using 3Dsmax and others. Also its UI and design compared to others has a fairly mixed reception online.

MilkShape3D: Easy to learn, has a simple UI, but works on very old workflows and is considered very clunky to use. Its UV editor and animation is particularly lacking, however it has a lot of built-in tools for legacy games which has made it a popular choice among modders.

kHED: Incredibly easy to learn freeware, modernized UI, nice UV editor with active preview & vertexnormals on UV render for easy texturing, has more powerful gizmos for scale/rotate/ect than milkshape, has a very simple smoothing , group & materials menu. Lacks rigging capability, but id say the best for an absolute beginner. Also has built in SMD/MDL and milkshape export.

Maya: While Ive barley used it, it shares a lot of similarities with 3Dsmax, but its main strengths are animation, rigging, movies, and has become a more popular choice for gamedev over the years (Valve went from Max to XSI, then to Maya for orangebox).

@Windawz
Of course it does! Just press S on your keyboard to toggle it.
You can also customise the heck out of the grid, too. You can make it measure in Half-Life units, too.

@Admer456

Wow. I'll try to get it as soon as possible then.

Well, to be honest, I don't really use the snap-to-grid feature because it broke for me. I don't know why it broke, maybe it was because I just hit any random key hoping that something would happen.

Snap-to-grid is pretty useful, though, when it comes to modelling stuff like buildings etc.