3d software of choice!

[RussianBeer]

Alright, I would like to know what 3d software people prefer and why.

Yes, yes we can argue they are all good in diffrent ways but there still might be something you prefer. Just like FP and DW are both good and diffrent, I still prefer DW.

Please also state why you prefer this software instead of others.


-This can also help some of us beging to work in 3d to decide what software to concentrate on.

[kei]

3dmax..
coz thats the only one i've used before :p
and i guess because theres ALOT of max tutorials available.. :)

[T-O]

WHere's Swift 3d?

[senocular]

No blender?

[eyeinfinitude]

Cinema 4D for me because that's the only 3D program I have and use. I will get my hands on Maya in the near future and I plan to raise hell with it. :evil:

[kei]

I think u can download a free fully functional Maya...
but it leaves a watermark on ur renders or something :P

[.soulty]

Originally posted by kei
I think u can download a free fully functional Maya...
but it leaves a watermark on ur renders or something :P

Yep thats true Kei, there is watermarks in your viewports and on your renders, i think Maya 5 personal learning edition has some changes to the watermark issue though, thats what i heard anyway.

As you can tell i selected Maya!!!!! why, because I believe it kicks ***, its a complete package, from new ploys tools in maya 5 to nurbs and sub d's. Its has basically everything under one roof, now with the addition of mental ray 3.2 renderer in maya 5 , this includes rendering out to swf (as by the same renderer from Swift3d) and also advanced render capabilities such as HDR, caustics and final gathering.

What i like especially about maya is that the interface is userfriendly, the hot keys are easy to remember and the quick menu that comes up by pressing the space bar is just awesome.

I can go on and on, but my best advice is to check it out yourselves :beam: :smirk:

http://www.alias.com/eng/products-services/maya/maya_ple/index.shtml

[Millad]

Is MAya better than Cinema 4d R8 ?:cyclops:
and is MAya easy to learn than Cinema 4d R8<?

[.soulty]

well not really for the second question, It all depends on the user, i find maya easier, because i ve been using it for a while, but another user ( say someone thats been using Cinema) might find it confusing.

Is maya better than Cinema, I believe so, its a Big time 3d package. It all comes down to the mighty dollar, Maya is a couple of thousands of dollars more than Cinema, but as years pass Maya does get cheaper, for instance Maya 4.5 Complete was something like $1,500 at one time. :!:

:: One place where Maya excells over most 3d programs (except Houdini) is its particles and effects. ::

Like everyone says its the users choice, your brain might work differently than mine, its all depends on what feels good to you.

try to get as many trials as you can, and check them out, best way to find out.

:smirk:

[RussianBeer]

I didnt put down Swift 3d because, if we put Swift, Maya, 3d smax, and cinema 4d, in the same room.
Swift would get its a$s kicked!

[DDD]

I prefer max because It has been around forever and I am used to it. ALthough I love the power of LW. I am just now getting into maya but the interface is killing me for some reason. I would say for anybody just learning run with 3ds max because of the available resources. BUt alot of the terms and capabilities transcend software packages so then it becomes whos interface you like. I think max will win this poll and LW will come in last since I think I am the only one here who uses it.

[DDD]

swift is not true 3d also......its output is 2d and the way it handles polys is weird......and indeed its *** would get kicked in this league

[RussianBeer]

ALthough I love the power of LW
So would you say its the most "powerful" software?
And in what way?

[grimdeath]

well i bought a maya book which is very awesome, i made this with it

http://www.bmv-interactive.com/3dstuff/bounce.mpg

and this is just the frist tutorial. The menu system is awesome especially when you work without it you just press the space bar and your menu pops up. Ive tried using other 3d appz like 3dsmax and lightwave, cinema 4d is the easiest to use i can tell you that much, lightwave is like the most complicated IMHO and 3dsmax is a bit complicated even though i ahvent tried using it much. My suggestion get a book and check which app you like best, swift 3d is cool but its not powerfull enough.

[RussianBeer]

Woah, nice one my malnurished buddy!

[ironikart]

Lightwave and maya seem more user friendly, but I'm max lover. Plus it's pretty much industry standard for game design. Maya's getting more popular now with the introduction of the PLE version.

(PS. you spelt lightwave wrong and you missed another industry big names: Softimage XSI and Houdini)

[DDD]

Yeah my buddy uses XSI and swears by it.......SOme good stuff with xsi but it is expensive....I like LW for animation....But for my hdr stuff I go with max and brazil

[senocular]

Wow, Im surpised only Soulty and I chose Maya. Poor Maya.

XSI is really cool though. We have that here at work. I, not to recently, went to a tech demo of the lastest version and it was pretty wild (ok it actually was a while ago I think). Anywho, there are some really awesome things about XSI, but then again there are some annoying things as well ;) But, did you know the entire movie Panic Room was done completely in XSI first? pretty cool stuff.


Maya Maya Maya

[ironikart]

XSI comes with mental ray inbuilt. No need for external renderer plugins. I've heard its the hardest to learn... I've got a copy of the test version (sort of like maya PLE) but I haven't touched it yet.

[mdipi]

i used to have PLE but i like max cause i know the hot keys and its just to hard of a switch.

[grimdeath]

Originally posted by senocular
Wow, Im surpised only Soulty and I chose Maya. Poor Maya.

XSI is really cool though. We have that here at work. I, not to recently, went to a tech demo of the lastest version and it was pretty wild (ok it actually was a while ago I think). Anywho, there are some really awesome things about XSI, but then again there are some annoying things as well ;) But, did you know the entire movie Panic Room was done completely in XSI first? pretty cool stuff.


Maya Maya Maya

i choose maya as well sen so thats 3 of us :beam:

[DDD]

I am still not sold on maya.....but I plan to get to know it a lil more. I just wanna see what all the fanfare is about. Has anyone used both on any profesional level or for some high end stuff. Besides built in HDR what are the main diffs you see?

[kei]

oooo :)
http://www.discreet.com/products/3dsmax6/features.html

check this out

[DDD]

man that new max is a crock......I like max but discreet is pulling a fast one here........

[mdipi]

when is it coming out? i donno i like my max5 :-\ i think they are just trying to be like maya on this one and just try to get a new version out :-\ although it does have mental ray in there....

[DDD]

yeah and reactor 2 which is just about it for the cool features
particle flow was supposed to be part of 5 as a patch
and the dumped the deep paint idea. The rest of that stuff seems to be old 4 scripts. reinvented. BUt me being me I will still end up with it. But they are pulling a fast one

[mdipi]

when does it release?

[DDD]

I think they are releasing it at the siggraph convention. I forget what day it is but I believe it is this month.

[mdipi]

ohhh, cool. i will wait a year to see how others like it. it doesnt seem to advanced and the interface is the same...it just does look like a few more things. i didnt quite read through that artical though.