The three virtues of a programmer: Laziness, Impatience, and Hubris. – Larry Wall

From Unreal Wiki, The Unreal Engine Documentation Site

Modeling Application – an application used for creating 3D models.

Model Creation

• 3D Studio Max
• Blender (Free, Opensource)
• gmax (Free)
• Lightwave
• Maya and Maya PLE (Personal Learning Edition) (Free)
• MilkShape
• Rhinoceros
• Softimage XSI
• Truespace
• Wings3D (Free, Opensource)

Model Conversion

• 3ds2unr – Utility that takes a .3DS file and converts to Unreal format (*_d.3d and *_a.3d)
  • Unreal Model Importing – 3ds2unr tutorial
• Alternative to 3ds2unr that adds a few extras
• ActorX – A plugin used to export skeletal animations Available for Maya 3, 4/3D Studio Max 3.1, 4.0, 4.2 Softimage XSI 4, 4.2, 5, 5.11
• MeshMaker – Converts UnrealEd prefabs to decorations
• UnrealROC – Converts T3D to VRML/X3D/OBJ (textures,sounds,etc.)
• UTExporter – 3D Studio Max plugin for exporting Unreal format models
• Carrara 2 Unreal – export T3D, ASE, PSK and PSA from Eovia's Carrara 4

–Links that no longer work –

• [1] – Blender plugin for exporting Unreal format models

Related Topics

• Topics On Modeling
• Unreal Modeling FAQ
• Skinning – Applying textures to your model
• Animation – Making your model move