This image was produced after about five hours messing about with Truespace 7.6, a free 3D modeler and 3D animator.
The background was done already in Photoshop, which is not free, but the little yellow wedge proto-spaceship form is done in the 3D modeler part of Truespace and is the sort of 3D element used in computer games and ever illustrations in paper role-playing games.
This next image of a science fiction role-playing game spaceship design was produced after just a couple more days practice.
Having this great professional 3D application available free is such a great thing about the internet. Two macho internet behemoths play games of oneupmanship and keeping up with the Joneses. Google creates Google Earth and Microsoft copies with Virtual Earth, Google buys a 3D software company and releases their 3D modeler product Sketchup for free for people to use making Google Earth better.
And here's the good part Microsoft buys CALIGARI and releases Truespace 7.6 for free, just to be one up on Microsoft, but the upshot is that spaceship designers like me (here are some of my spaceships) and video game developers everywhere can unleash their talents without shelling out thousands of dollars because these programs are absolutely free. We can launch into designing the type of 3D game elements like spaceships which are state of the art right now.
Microsoft is the company we all love to hate but I already have a free website provided by them, and now I can fill it with 3D models of spaceships and the other science fiction role-playing game stuff that I am so into. Spaceships should be easy but it looks like this 3D design package is good enough to do nice organic looking game monsters as well.