Which 3D Program Serves You The Best? Select please. Haha =)

[chseng 0]

What do you all prefer.

[hatim 0]

Well AutoCAD is more of an engineering software. In movie making I have heard name of maya alot.Personally I have used blender (https://www.blender.org/).Its an Open Source 3D modeling , rendering software and runs on Linux and Windows alike.

[JUDGE_RELIC 0]

3dmax is the best one but it takes a while to learn, especially if you're going to be self taught.

[jharn 0]

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.

[Reaver 0]

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.

[demolaynyc 0]

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

[Dramo 0]

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

[reboot 0]

3d softwares? Well, I use lately sketchup (and its free from google!). It's quite easy to learn that software.

[Vyoma 0]

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.

[unimatrix 0]

I worked professionally and as a student in the 3D world since 1999/2000. I started with 3D Studio Max 2.5 (back when it was owned by a little studio called Kinetix) and 3D Studio wasn't bad. I found it easy enough to use and it worked nicely with Autocad. My college had an architecture program, but 3D animation was a hobby of mine and I ended up getting paid by other students to "help" them with creating an animation. Actually, I became the campus expert on the distributing rendering system where we'd take a lab of 40 computers and shut it down for a night and just render with PIII 850's with 512MB of RAM....those were the days.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.)

[abhiram 0]

I've been learning to use Maya for quite some time now. I must say that it isn't as easy or as intuitive as I thought it to be. Got myself some video tutorials and a big fat book on Maya and started reading through. The number of tools and features is huge. There are tools for almost anything you need to do to manipulate vertices, edges, curves, nurbs, polygons. I can make some decent inanimate objects, but still need to work a lot with it to really be good at it. The best part of Maya is the Maya Personal Learning Edition (PLE) which gives you all the features of the full fledged version of Maya for free. Of course, just to practice and learn on, but it still is pretty good.I haven't used blender. I wanted to learn something that had some good resources even if they cost some money. I don't think blender has as many resources to learn from as Maya or other more popular 3D software.

[Demonhawk 0]

For me it is bound to be 3ds Max just because it is the program I first used and have the most experience with. However for every person it is probably different because I have used Maya and do see that it has its pros and cons and same with 3ds max. I think that 3ds Max is MUCH better suited for polygonal modelling, but it is absolutely hopeless for things such as NURBS and the animation tools are nowhere near the quality of Maya's. I think UVW mapping is a hell of alot easier in 3ds Max then any other program I have seen especially with Pelt Mapping. Yet again its all user dependent, I know some people who despise 3ds max for everything and say that XSI is godlike for them .

[kgd2006 0]

3D Studio Max is overated, but I believe the best program out there would probably Maya, but the program that I am using at the current state of development of 3d animation is Softimage XSI. This program was used for famous movies like "AI" and "TERMINATOR 3" 3d model of the SKELETON. Right now I am in the process of mastering the program, I say I am about 60% through the program functions, just need to learn how to render and create movies. I have model creation, animation, texturing down. But yup, this program seems to be undercover, but offers everything that other programs offers.

[unimatrix 0]

3D animation, on any platform, is done by one of or some combination these methods: Keyframing, paths, or scripting. Keyframing is usually the easiest to learn, but is very hard for all but the simpliest animations. Paths are like key framing, but if you need a camera or object to go in a certain course it can be useful. And then there is programming/scripting. If your good a programing, this is the best method because you can clearly define things. Especially if there are objects that mimic nature or your trying to create a simulation. Nice thing about blender: Python is an easy scripting language to learn

[msabas 0]

Well i would definately have to choose other.. I have been using Blender . Blender, to me, is a great software for 3D visuals. I have had no problem or issues with it. It was abit tough to learn, but I found many tutorials on using blender and creating images.

I have never tried any other softwares such as Maya or Cinema but form wha I hear those are pretty much the top softwares in the industry. I have tried a few free trials but the trial really dont do theem any justince.

As far as blender it is a free software that can be downloaded directly from their website at https://www.blender.org/ it is under the GNLU opensoftwares and all that good stuff. If you visit the website you will also see a gallery section. make sure you visit that , so that you can view images that have been created using blender by some of the users.. also make sure you note down some of the links for tutorials sites.. as there are not that many but the fuew sites that do offer the tutorials are pretty great..

I hope you guys enhoy it. for those of you who have never heard of blender, and for those of you who have.. give some feed back if youve used it and what your opinions are on it.