| | What do you all prefer. |
| Nov 22, 2009 |
3dmax is much a 3d software, AutoCAD is more of an engineering software,but PRO is more 3D engineering software.
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Well AutoCAD is more of an engineering software. In movie making I have heard name of maya alot.
Personally I have used blender (http://www.blender3d.org).Its an Open Source 3D modeling , rendering software and runs on Linux and Windows alike.
3dmax is the best one but it takes a while to learn, especially if you're going to be self taught.
I tend to use Maya, but mostly because I have quite a few books on it. But I really don't Do a alot of true 3D work. For most of the 3D stuff that I do, I cheat and use Poser because it is easier for me to get something done.
Depending in the situation i have used maya , autocad , 3dstudio and Ulead 3d since i am in computer systems engineering and do have a few hobbies with 3d movie snippets. I have even tried massive! which is the 3d fighting engine used in lord of the rings and narnia. Out of the lot AutoCAD would definitely be the hardest to get used to since even i still sit with my 5000 page manual whenever i am putting a design set together but like all programs the more yuo use them the easier it becomes so i must admit playing with all of these programs im really not proficient as i should be or would have been if i chose just one.
For game modding, i'd prefer to use 3ds max because it's very good at 3d modelling. But I heard that for animation, 3ds Max is good, but if you're really good use Maya. That's the program they used for Spiderman 1 / 2
QUOTE(chseng @ Dec 31 2005, 10:16 AM)  What do you all prefer. I prefer Wings3D. It is like Nendo, but better. Very much tools and options, more than in any I think. Based on Erlang-language so you code things. If your used program like milkshape or 3ds max, or any where is 4 windows and tool list it may be hard to learn Wings3D. Also many translations. Wings3D homepage
3d softwares? Well, I use lately sketchup (and its free from google!). It's quite easy to learn that software.
I voted for other. Why? Because I like Blender. Why do I like Blender against the others?
Well, I am not sure about the feature set, but Blender is Open Source, and I am all go for such an effort. And speaking of feature set, I am not that much of a 3d Designer, but I have not found myself incapable of doing anything in Blender that could be done in another of the same genre. And if it is anything to do with Sub Division Modelling, then I should say that one should go for Blender. Ofcourse, as someone mentioned, Wings3D is good too, but I think I will be sticking with Blender. 3D Max these days is the top pick for most game designers and architecture firms since 3D studio plays nicely with Autocad since Autodesk bought Kinetix. The only bad thing about MAX is that it only runs on Windows. I still have a copy of 2.5 around here, but I haven't opened it 5 years. (also because I run on Mac now) Lightwave 3D is my top choice. Why? Lightwave is still the only 3D package I know of that can do broadcast quality work out of the box. The rendering Engine is dated now, but it still that good. Lightwave is the primary application at Zoic, who did the FX for Firefly/Serenity and current does the work for the new Battlestar Galactica series. Lightwave also supports Windows, Macintosh, and Linux systems. This was good since our shop was 100% Mac. Final Cut Pro was our primary editing suite and Shake was our compositing app (and the one I spent the most time with. Also Lightwave was half the cost per seat of 3D Max at $1500 each with our volume discount. Now I think LW is about $900 the last time I looked. Lightwave also has a good selection of high quality models for purchase. That was the key in our business. It was cheaper to pay upwards of $500 for a good model and then create the animation than actually hire and pay a modeller and texture artist on staff. If we needed a car for a car add, we bought that car, etc... Blender is also good because it's free. I've been using it as my hobby application at home since 1.8 and is the best tool to learn on because it's free. It is also powerful, but has one hell of a learning curve. That being said, there getting to be more models available and it can do a lot things the big boys can. Also, the Lightwave+Materials import script works wonders for many LW models. Also, Blender has a fast internal rendering engine. Makes it nice to do pre-vis work for clients, you don't have to tie up machines for a couple days to render a 300 frame animation. Maya - frankly I've never used it, but this has become the defacto standard application for motion pictures. However, I've been told you need to couple Maya with Mental Ray as the Rendering engine as Maya's internal renderer is a bit lacking. Softimage/XSI - Again, never have used it, but folks that don't use Maya for motion pictures seem to be using XSI. Also, there are a lot folks in the Print industry that seem to be using it too. Truespace - this is a good package for a beginner as it's preety powerful and they offer an older version for free to learn on. I know a lot of hobbiest that use Truespace and produce some amazing results. Still, I think Blender now might be a bit more powerful and is free....so.... Cinema 4D - If you have a Mactel, this was the first application certified Universal Binary not written by Apple. Cinema 4D is a good 3D application. It has it's own fan base, but has been the cheaper entry level application for a lot of folks that before couldn't afford Max or Lightwave. That being said, Cinema can be used to produce some really good effects. And there are a decent amount of models available for download for free and purchase at many sites in this format. Personally, I've only used the evaluation version and we seriously looked at the package for our limited 3D needs before Newtek dropped the prices on Lightwave. There are many more applications out there. Poser is a good character studio. I've never used it, but I don't deal with major character animation work. If you want to learn 3D, I stilll say Blender is the best tool. It's free, opensource, large user community, and you can learn all the basics from it. In a few more years, it will be on par with the Maya's of the world. But the lessons you learn from it can be applied to any 3D package. The basics of texturing, lighting, and animation remain the same, it's only where the menu buttons and terminology used that changes. (Alpha map vs. trasparency map = two names for the same thing | Normal map vs. bump map = two names for the same thing, etc.)
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3dmax is much a 3d software, AutoCAD is more of an engineering software,but PRO is more 3D engineering software.
I use 3d Studio Max and Multigen Creator.
I like Multigen very much, manipulate easily and it's great to create terrain model. Recommend everybody to use it!
I've been all around the block. I started out with 3dsMax a long time ago. I went all the way up to version 6. Then I moved to Maya for a year. During this time I started experimenting with lightwave and wings3d and blender. Out of all of them, I was impressed with blender's speed and size. It's a very small app with so many features. I've been with it ever since. I've been using it for about 5 years now. I love it, and it keeps on getting better.
For all the blender bashers out there, the learning curve is a bit steep. Blender is different than most other apps because it relies heavily on keyboard commands and shortcuts rather than a GUI driven interface. In the longrun you'll find this most pleasing and you'll wonder why everyone else hasn't switched to this efficient way of working. Heh, actually, the main reason I signed up for astahost was to get a website back to host my 3D gallery. Actually, it was to host my video editing/motion graphics/3d animation demo reel.
Yes, 3D Studio Max is definetly more intutive and Blender is a bit less. And there are reasons for it. 3D Studio Max has its developers working solely on it, with research done on user friendliness and such stuff.
Blender on the other hand was a inhouse production tool that was made open source I belive after a fund raising campaign. And yes, you do need to read the tutorials of Blender if you used 3DSM or other 3D softwares before, and I think that would be the cost for having a software with so many features free of cost. It is sort of like would you go for Linux or would you go for Windows as an Operating system. Windows costs money and is very easy to use. Linux on the other hand does not cost a dime, but is a hell of a work on your learning curve. But I see promise in Blender. You should download the latest version of Blender - it is so much better in terms of usability than the prior versions - prior to the production of the OpenSource movie Elephant Dreams. Moreover, if Blender makes it fully to the mainstream of game development, we would have a quite unique market setup in the game industry. The content creation (in terms of 3d model) and the game engine would be in the same pipeline. Now, what is happening is, one would use a third party tool like 3D Studio Max or Maya or LightWave to create models - which would need to be exported to a proprietry format that can be understood by the inhouse engine so that it propagates down the pipeline. At a later stage if there requires any changes, it has to be done again at the 3D tool, and needs to be passed through lot of filters and converters to put it back to the pipeline. Now, if Blender (is already having a crude gaming or physics engine) would have a full fledged physics engine built into it, all the gaming companies could concentrate their efforts on creating the game - the gameplay - the content. This case would be good for all, except for the gaming companies that rely on selling a gaming engine. Imagine what kind of cutting edge game/physics engine would be created when the developers work as one and focus on one standard engine. And because of this, and some wishful thinking, that I like Blender, and would like it to take a path that would make it better. Now, in terms of learning it using tutorials - I must confess that I have not found much out there, than the few Blender Magazines. If anybody want to collaborate here at AstaHost and create a Blender Tutorials, I would love to contribute what I can.
Well, I tried Blender after I got familiar with 3D Studio Max.
And I think that was my mistake :/ I knew the basics of 3DSM, how to make a low poly model by boxmodeling, unwrapping it ,etc... As you all know 3DSM isn't _that_ cheap I decided to try a free alternative. I knew Blender for a long time but I have never actually done something with it. So I downloaded -> installed -> opened it and yeah, I was a little bit shocked :/ I was used to the 3DSM interface -> 4 viewports. Instead of 4 viewports I got 1 with Blender (by default) so after a couple of minutes (>30min) I got my 4 viewports back \o/. Then I messed around with the remaining interface (buttons) and yeah wasn't that fantastic :/ In the end I deleted Blender off of my harddisk the same day I installed it :/ I think my mistake was that I tried to use blender without reading any tutorials, additionally I was used to the 3DSM interface and missed it. In 3DSM it simply works fine, you click this button and look what happens, the next and so on after a couple of minutes you are to do some very basic models. However this is not the case with Blender, without any tutorials you are literally lost. So my advice is, before you even think of using blender and you allready know another 3D program (regardless what your current skill is in this programm) read a tutrial first. People told me to read tutorials before I download Blender but yeah, I skipped that advice, which was a very big mistake in the long run :/ So if you're going to use Blender, read some tutorials first it's not a shame  You will only benefit  However if you don't want to render your stuff and simply want to make models for your game, I recommend Milkshape3D. It is very easy to use, no need for a tutorial pretty self explanatory The only downside is, that it is only free for 1 month if you wan't to use it longer you have to pay a very little fee |
 Which 3D Program Serves You The Best? - Select please. Haha =) |
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