Blender or Zmod?

[rdwhyte]

So its been yearsss since i've done any kind of modding but i would love to get back into it!

My question is for the pros here, Blender or Zmod? which one is more user friendly or just better overall compared to the old days of PTTM? i use to use Zmod, I found it user friendly and a little easier to understand
but i see alot of people mentioning Blender so i'm curious which is better? Is Zmod still free or do you need to Pay for it now? I know Blender is free so far. Also there seems to be way more Modding Tutorials for Zmod then there is for Blender
which makes it even harder to learn cause Blender appears to be way more sophisticated. lol 

Let me know. 

[The Other Corey]

I've used Zmodeler right along, and although there is a bit of a learning curve from previous versions, it's not that much different. You do have to pay for it now, and its subscription based. Benefit to it though is you can get one on one support from the creator of it. 

Blender is free, and does have great support from multiple forums, SCS, and Jeff at HalfFast Gaming. He has got to have a couple hundred of hours in tutorials directly related to blender. I've tried using it, but even with the tutorials, I still found the learning curve to steep.

[SchroederFarmAndRanch]

Nov 21, 2020 1:14:08 GMT -6 The Other Corey said:

I've used Zmodeler right along, and although there is a bit of a learning curve from previous versions, it's not that much different. You do have to pay for it now, and its subscription based. Benefit to it though is you can get one on one support from the creator of it. 

Blender is free, and does have great support from multiple forums, SCS, and Jeff at HalfFast Gaming. He has got to have a couple hundred of hours in tutorials directly related to blender. I've tried using it, but even with the tutorials, I still found the learning curve to steep.

I agree with this. I am a Blender user and have been for years but within the ATS modding scene Zmod is way easier. Honestly my favorite part is Zmod can directly export to the scs file format. Blender you have to have 2 different plugins and than other programs to even get it into ATS. I have found myself making parts in blender from my years of Farm Sim Modding and taking the .obj and ingaming it through Zmod. For the like $4 price its good to have. Also Corey being "The Forum Know It All" he is also damn good at Zmod and if you have any questions there is him and many others that know how to help and would be more than happy to help if a problem arised! Have a Good One! -Brayden

[rdwhyte]

Yeah, I remember when i first tried Z-Mod it took me all of 5 minutes to figure out how to import a truck to zmod but you think i can figure it out with Blender and scs_extractor? Nope. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Thanks fellas. Guess i’ll have to pay for Zmod when money ain’t so tight. Thanks Covid. 🖕🏻

[Jon]

Zmod is a lot better than it used to be in that you can do animations and bake textures and normal maps (I think, I haven't touched it in years) and you don't have to hex edit the pmg to make the glass reflective again like you used to have to do in Haulin, but making the 3D mesh itself from what I remember is about as barbaric as it's always been vs. Blender. Just about the only thing it has going for me is like everyone said, it's familiar and you don't need to convert to that stupid .pim format.

I for one am hellbent on never touching zmod ever again if I can help it, although I must admit the Blender GUI is horrifically confusing and intimidating, as are the SCS tools. There are days when I wish we would've had that stuff from the beginning instead of etching Zmod into our brains forever, then maybe we wouldn't be in this awful mess. We would've been making better, more optimized models a long time ago.

Then again, I say that now, but I just remembered the handful of guys that used to make their models in a professional program like 3DS Max and crank the turbosmooth up to 11 before importing them into zmod only to make them look like a freakin cartoon by mapping them to solid colors with no prelighting or shading whatsoever.

[The Other Corey]

Nov 21, 2020 18:16:35 GMT -6 Jon said:

Zmod is a lot better than it used to be in that you can do animations and bake textures and normal maps (I think, I haven't touched it in years) and you don't have to hex edit the pmg to make the glass reflective again like you used to have to do in Haulin, but making the 3D mesh itself from what I remember is about as barbaric as it's always been vs. Blender. Just about the only thing it has going for me is like everyone said, it's familiar and you don't need to convert to that stupid .pim format.

I for one am hellbent on never touching zmod ever again if I can help it, although I must admit the Blender GUI is horrifically confusing and intimidating, as are the SCS tools. There are days when I wish we would've had that stuff from the beginning instead of etching Zmod into our brains forever, then maybe we wouldn't be in this awful mess. We would've been making better, more optimized models a long time ago.

Then again, I say that now, but I just remembered the handful of guys that used to make their models in a professional program like 3DS Max and crank the turbosmooth up to 11 before importing them into zmod only to make them look like a freakin cartoon by mapping them to solid colors with no prelighting or shading whatsoever.

Thanks for the trip down FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF lane. I needed that.

[baconz1343]

zmod is my go too program but that's from all the years of using it blender seems like a pain in the ass,if u need help with ats/zmod get ahold of me and ill help in anyway i can!

[guidot]

I'm Jeff, from Corey's mention. Lots of easy ways to use blender to lego build now. I have a couple of videos on it and you can find me around if you need.

[rdwhyte]

Nov 23, 2020 19:36:33 GMT -6 guidot said:

I'm Jeff, from Corey's mention. Lots of easy ways to use blender to lego build now. I have a couple of videos on it and you can find me around if you need.

Might need ya now, I got my Blender all set up and my backup 1.39 Base Files and i'm trying to learn how to simply import a base scs truck into Blender and following a video.. 

Basically..

Create Folder for new Mod. (Example) "peterbilt_579_mod" 

Copy "dlc_peterbilt_579.scs from :C Drive>Program Files (86x)>Steam>Steamapps>Common>ATS>dlc_peterbilt_579.scs and Copy to new folder "peterbilt_579_mod" 
Extract dlc_peterbilt_579.scs with scsextractor.exe 
Create folder in "peterbilt_579_mod" called "mod" 
Copy Files "automat" "material" & "vehicle" and drop in peterbilt_579_mod>mod 
Create new Folder in peterbilt_579_mod>mod called base_files and move "automat" "material" & "vehicle" to "base_files" 
Delete folder "ui" folder in peterbilt_579_mod>mod>material 

Next, go into your 1.39 Base Folder (Backup Folder on Desktop Example: "ATS Base Files")

Copy file in "ATS Base Files" ATS Base Files>1.39 base>materials and copy file "environment" and paste in peterbilt_579_mod>mod>material 
Copy file in ATS Base Files" ATS Base Files>1.39 base>vehicle>share and copy "share" file and paste in peterbilt_579_mod>mod>vehicle 

Annnnd this is where i'm all screwed up ... When i go into ATS Base Files>1.39 base>vehicle>truck> i have no "share" folder only "peterbilt_579" & "upgrade" 

Did i miss a step or did buddy in his video which is screwing me over or is there a simpler way of doing this? I'm currently annoyed atm. 

Can damn near use this reply as a Tutorial 

[rdwhyte]

Nevermind, i got it imported into Blender! figured out my base folder didn't copy properly so i was missing files but everything is good and 0 errors or shading issues etc.