Most of my modeling work will be done in 3dsmax, because that is the tool i have the most knowledge of. Then i'll import to softimage to re-apply the textures, apply the shaders, get the tangents right, and fix any smoothing errors from conversion.

We need more detail of what these "tangents" are. Most of what was explained about them was a little vague, and i dont completely understand them. However from what i gather it tells Sins how to render the shaders. Which is why we need more detailed info on what it is, and how it works.

If Mod tool can take a 3dsmax model, and fix it for for Forge Tool import then ill be very happy.

That sucks that you have to use XSI to get models ingame. At least its free though. Hopefully I can export my models from 3ds Max and import them into XSI with the UV maps intact. Would rather not have to try and learn another 3d program.

Is XSI fairly easy to do things like UV map and texturing? I tried out Blender so long ago and that was an example of horrid UI design. Much prefer 3ds Max and Maya for its easy and simple interface.

Its not as bad as it sounds. The devs said they will write tutorials for how to import the models. If you already made your model, and UV mapped it in another program the UV's should remain intact when you import it to mod tool. The only thing you would need Mod Tool for is to apply shaders, and tangents then export to dotXSI.

If blender can export obj, or 3ds then yes you can use the models. If not you will need to convert the file to a format Mod tool can import.

Thats good to know they will release tutorials. Shouldnt be too bad then. I use 3ds Max so it has plenty of export options including .3ds.

I've used max, xsi and Maya. XSI is definatly the easiest and fastest package.

and the youngest(core) *g*

personally I would be grateful for an end2end ship model build tutorial for a SoaSE ship, even if it is a frigate.

No matter what program you are using principels are allways same. For a frigat start with the box then devide that box into polygones. Create only as much polygones as you need. After that you will have to use extrude, bevel and vertix tools. You will shape you box to the model you want to create.

Such technique is called low poly modeling and it is used for games mostly.