Custom model workflow

[Fulcrum]

I've been mapping for a fairly long time and decided with my new project to dip into custom models.

I've made a stone model already but the textures are all streched, the sides don't match up and even with smoothing groups the rock looks fauceted.
In the past I have used propper to make some of the custom models but it has generally got an inorganic look.

I did use propper to create the base of a cliff then in 3ds max extruding and moving stuff around, it looked alright but I felt I wasn't getting the full potential of 3ds max not being able to use it from scratch due to the crazy uv mapping stuff.

I also have an issue with lod models are these created seperately or during the modelling process? Again the problem here is UV mapping as I can't do it easily so the unwraps tend to be too different causing obvious switching.

I plan on making 10 or so rock models with LOD, several tree models and various other detail assets for my map. Does anyone have any advice on the above or useful tutorials which got them over the stepping stone of UV or just help in general on workflow?

Thank you

[boing]

There are some great tools for creating rocks and trees automaticly, but i would suggest you do some tutorials and learn to create those assets yourself first

Search youtube for some tutorials on uvw unwrapping. Also polycount is a great place to find help. Maybe start a wip thread for a model that you are working on and get instant feedback.
After all its just practice.

[Fulcrum]

I did look at some tree creation software, but I'm after a very specific style of tree, 1 which I can model with some work but find Uv unwrap messy. The rock creation tutorials on youtube are nice but I end up with a 19000 poly rock Not really something I can spam all over my map, I think I can export the model to a bump map then use the bump map to make ambient occlusion for some rock texture to give my little spamable rocks a reasonable look without needing bumpmaps or 100s of polys.

[nub]

Since you're just starting with modeling, you should definitely work from the ground up. Getting UV mapping down early is essential if you plan on creating custom assets for your levels. You can make the nicest model ever, but if you unwrap it horribly or slap a really bad texture on it, it won't look good at all.

Interlopers has a few good tutorials regarding modeling, but I would also suggest 3D Total. They have a lot of nice, free tutorials for you to browse. And not just for one program. The site supports Autodesk products, Blender, and XSI (and more I think).