Pretty good 3D modeller!

(EDIT) I meant to FREE modeller in the title.

My appologies if I am the last to know about this program, but I see recommendations for far worse programs.

http://www.openfx.org

It's actually much, much more than just a 3D Modeller, but the **Designer** reads and writes 3DS format.

It's about 40MB download...

i played with it but was disappointed in the apparent lack of development. that may have changed.

btw, site mentions a 4mb d/l as well.

I've known about this one for a while. I tend to forget to mention it when listing free tools because it's pretty forgettable. It's nice and all but not as good a modeler as Wings3D and not tremendously good for much else. With respect to Blitz game creation that is; it doesn't have any good tools for texture mapping and it cannot export any animated file formats. It IS a pretty good choice for pre-rendered animation like FMV cinema sequences, but then for not too much you can purchase a better tool for that purpose.