Now, I have recently contacted several local 3d artist freelancers for some models and settled for one. The problem is this: I have received an email (probably from a rival artist) that my current 3d artist is using a non legit 3ds max copy, and the models he will sell me are made using that. He claims he’s using blender.
So, my question is this: is it possible to know what software was an .obj file exported from ? Like, reverse engineering it or something to find out whether it came from 3ds max or blender ? His models are really good, and I’d rather find out if they’re legit or not, instead of just moving on.
If the software used is not legit, should I expect any problems ? Or should I just move on to another artist ?
I’d be very careful of freelancers in the forums. Either find one in the Asset Store or elsewhere that you know is legit and be prepared to pay a lot for original work. Something like $35 - $55 an hour which is reasonable for a real 3D modeler, especially if you’ve taught yourself some modeling to know what’s involved, but a lot of money for a character for an Indy to spend on crap shot attempt to make money from a game.
I spent $200 on a Z-Brush bust from a well known modeler and soon as approached with a question to make a game ready character the price shot up to $600 - $800 per character and that, truthfully, is a good price. Of course I know he must have a huge stock of meshes he simply modifies to topology somewhat but still you’d normally pay $1500 minimum for a character.
I’ve also talked to modelers in the asset store and to be clear, don’t expect them to make an original model for you at asset store prices, see above. Too many of the models in the asset store look like a retextured Anime base model from some demo somewhere or retextured leftovers from the days of Evolver.com.