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Object Modeling
Since this is exactly what tS is designed for, it excels at it. tS works well with low and high polygon count models, and even supports NURBS, Metaballs, and PlastiFrom for those of you doing pre-rendered, or high-detail work.

One of the cool features of tS is its fully 3D work environment. Models are created entirely in an infinite 3D space, rather than using multiple 2D views (front, top, bottom) with the 3D view being secondary. Of course, when the need arises, one can switch to a straight on 2D view, or even create multiple cameras within the workspace so that the object can be seen/worked on from multiple angles simultaneously.

tS has a variety of very powerful modeling tools, so regardless of your skill level, you’ll find that you’re virtually unlimited in what you can create. Most of the models you will create will start out as a primitive of some sort. Then, by using the Boolean tools, you can combine multiple primitives together. By adding points, lines, and triangles, extruding edges, cutting holes, tweaking points, etc, you can turn a simple box, cylinder, or similar primitive into the next MARIO or DUKE NUKEM.

Of course, most modern game engines can’t handle polygons with more than 3 edges, but these are exactly what tS uses to represent it’s surfaces. However, once a model is completed, it can be triangulated for loading into a game engine. By representing a model with polygons rather than just triangles, the real-time render can run considerably faster, and the model can be kept clean and free of clutter.

Although a powerful tool, primitives aren’t the only way to create a model. tS is designed in such a way as to allow you to create a hand-drawn view of an object, load it onto a plane as a texture, and then trace over that image with a polygon, or spline tool. Once you have a basic polygon that represents a single view of the object, you can extrude it into a 3D shape, and you’re on your way. This can be an excellent technique for creating humans, vehicles, weapons, and many other types of objects.

tS also allows for advanced object hierarchies, which are a must-have for certain types of game objects such as weapons, and vehicles. Hierarchies also help a great deal with keeping polygon counts low. For example, if you have two separate objects that you would normally Boolean together, the modeler would have to create quite a few extra polygons and vertices at the intersection of the two objects. However, with object hierarchies, you can simply position the two objects, and leave them separated but within the same hierarchy. This can be an excellent technique for both saving polygons, and creating sharp edges when rendering with gouraud or phong shading in the game engine.

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