They are often used for creating models, levels, and animation that is then exported to be used by the game engine.

--
http://www.3dcgi.com/

I don't understand this ENGINE thing . How does it works ?
does every game has it's own engine ? or not ? please can anyone CLEAR THAT TO ME ? thanks

Edited by - Metal Typhoon on September 18, 2001 11:22:28 PM

programmers create game engines. artists create game art. you see the art in games and it is what you visually pay attention to. the engine is the code that makes the game work, otherwise you would have a bunch of non moving art on the screen that has no interaction. it involves everything from basic physics that you see in the gams ( for example, what makes a sprite go up and down when they jump) to A.I. of the enemies, to just loading the map and background images of the game. without a game engine, you basicaly have no game, because there is no interaction.
-steve

Metal Typhoon:
ok well... in the simplest possible terms- yes.

to broaden that up, every game doesn''t use it''s OWN engine
persay... some companies opt to license engines from other
popular games (when availible).

3dsmax and maya are used to create low poly models to use in
their 3d games. but the fun doesnt stop there, alot of
programmers (like myself) prefer a 2d pre-rendered game
approach, which means that, you build a scene in your
3d modeling program (like 3dsmax or maya), then render it (if you dont know what this means i''ll slap you), then save the
image to a file.
the "finished" render is then used in the final game.

i dont know how to make it any clearer than that, if its
still unclear to you i suggest you read a book or find some kind of basic newbie beginner tutorials.

-eldee
;another space monkey;

NOOOO don''t slpa me !! lol i know that. ok thanks guys now i got some basic knowledg of it.

"The shortcut is not always the best way " ][v][etal ''][''yphoon

Ok, it''s analogy time:

Imagine that the artist of a game creates a series of pictures. These pictures are great, but they just sit there on the artist''s desk and look pretty, no big whoop.
Now the programmers come along, they take the artist''s pictures, frame them, and build a museum to hang them in. Now, thanks to the programmers, people can come and experience the art (or interact with it).
Without programming, art would sit somewhere and do nothing. On the other hand, without artists, programmers would be showing a bunch of people an empty museum (whoo boy!).

If you''re an artist wondering what the programmers are needed for, go ahead and make a really cool model. Now, do you know how to get it onto a PS2 so it can run around and shoot shit? No? That''s what the programmers do.

"If consquences dictate our course of action, it doesn''t matter what''s right, it''s only wrong if you get caught."
- Tool