Best 3d software?

[thekev]

Please can I chime in?
I'm new-ish to 3D, and my boss wants me to look at software than can import files from the CAD department (I work for a manufacturing company), so that I can render it and make assorted multimedia collateral.

After reading this thread, it seems that Maya and Cinema 4D look likely - but nowhere can I find if either app will import Unigraphics/SolidWorks CAD files with no drama.

Welcome your opinions...?

There are always issue with how things are imported. The implementations of things like nurbs and b-splines are totally different from what you would find in a solid modeler, and even importing tessellated data can be different. You will probably have to deal with some drama no matter what and just find a workable overall solution. I suggest asking in a forum that is more focused on various facets of 3d imaging.

 

[ryanmillercg]

If 3DS is your thing, just run it on Windows under Boot Camp on your Mac.

I would second the recommendation for Maxon's Cinema 4D, which I have been dabbling with for several years, but I believe that Maya now has a fairly respectable Mac port, so you may want to look at that ...

Cheers

Jim

Maya has been on mac for a long time, ands runs very well. I've used Maya for more than a decade, and it's very good, albeit very expensive.

Maya LT and Modo are excellent and less expensive alternatives, while Blender is also very good, and free.

If you're on a Mac, you can safely ignore 3dsMax... you're not missing out on anything that Maya or Modo doesn't offer. Forcing you into bootcamp to use it is inconvenient, and running it via Parallels is a recipe for disaster. A Mac port of 3dsMax is never going to happen.

 

[v3rlon]

Please can I chime in?
I'm new-ish to 3D, and my boss wants me to look at software than can import files from the CAD department (I work for a manufacturing company), so that I can render it and make assorted multimedia collateral.

After reading this thread, it seems that Maya and Cinema 4D look likely - but nowhere can I find if either app will import Unigraphics/SolidWorks CAD files with no drama.

Welcome your opinions...?

Well I will continue pushing Lightwave, but a Solidworks conversion is a tricky thing for ANY of these packages.
https://forum.solidworks.com/thread/51881
Lots of info there.

 

[ryanmillercg]

The mac community is overlooked for cad and 3d apps i believe mainly due to the evil empire of autodesk (maya being the exception).

I disagree, mac is a rich environment for quality 3d packages. We've got Maya, Modo, AutoCAD, Blender, Cinema4d, ZBrush, Sculptiris, Sketchup, and more. Many film, game and vfx studios choose mac.

 

[Renzatic]

After reading this thread, it seems that Maya and Cinema 4D look likely - but nowhere can I find if either app will import Unigraphics/SolidWorks CAD files with no drama.

Welcome your opinions...?

Modo has a plugin for Solidworks that supposedly allows easy porting between the two.

 

[rei101]

What is the closest equivalent to 3D Studio Max on a Mac?

As a die heart Mac user I am, if you are going to use a computer for only 3D, get a PC and run 3D Studio Max.

Macs are good for multitasking multimedia stuff. But if you do not have the 3D software on Mac, go with a full loaded PC and run your software there. Then just connect your PC to your mac and finish the color correction on your Mac, you just need an ethernet cable.

Myself, I used Cinema 4D, is friendly and good for motion graphics but I do 3D each 6 months.

This is a render of a friend of mine in C4D using Mental Ray I believe: Carlos Agell

 

[chrono1081]

As a die heart Mac user I am, if you are going to use a computer for only 3D, get a PC and run 3D Studio Max.

Macs are good for multitasking multimedia stuff. But if you do not have the 3D software on Mac, go with a full loaded PC and run your software there. Then just connect your PC to your mac and finish the color correction on your Mac, you just need an ethernet cable.

Myself, I used Cinema 4D, is friendly and good for motion graphics but I do 3D each 6 months.

This is a render of a friend of mine in C4D using Mental Ray I believe: Carlos Agell

Image

I'm sorry but I have no clue where you get the idea Macs don't have 3D software or are capable. I also think the recommendation of 3Ds Max isn't a good one seeing how Max is now getting the SoftImage treatment (compare it's new features to what Maya gets.)

Here's the 3D software I have on my Mac:

Maya
Modo
ZBrush
Houdini
Realflow
Mari
Substance Painter
Substance Designer
Marmoset Toolbag
VRay

So I'm not sure where you get that Mac's aren't good at 3D. Pixar, The Foundry and Apple even did a demo with Mari painting characters in Monsters University at one of their WWDCs.

 

[v3rlon]

As a die heart Mac user I am, if you are going to use a computer for only 3D, get a PC and run 3D Studio Max.

Macs are good for multitasking multimedia stuff. But if you do not have the 3D software on Mac, go with a full loaded PC and run your software there. Then just connect your PC to your mac and finish the color correction on your Mac, you just need an ethernet cable.

Could not DISAGREE more.

Plenty of good 3D software Mac. Most of the industry screams Maya. While It isn't my choice, it is available on Mac. This is the one that everyone talks about in movies. It is the one your clients will ask about (and you will hate it if you choose some other software).

There are plenty of options for the Mac and at numerous price points. Not having 3D Studio Max ruled out is like having Sony Vegas unavailable. Sure, it is good stuff. Some pros use it, but it isn't the only option.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

As a die heart Mac user I am, if you are going to use a computer for only 3D, get a PC and run 3D Studio Max.

Macs are good for multitasking multimedia stuff. But if you do not have the 3D software on Mac, go with a full loaded PC and run your software there. Then just connect your PC to your mac and finish the color correction on your Mac, you just need an ethernet cable.

Myself, I used Cinema 4D, is friendly and good for motion graphics but I do 3D each 6 months.

This is a render of a friend of mine in C4D using Mental Ray I believe: Carlos Agell

Image

I've seen your work before, very nice.

 

[pmiles]

I've been running 3DS MAX on my Mac (under Bootcamp) for years. I've also concurrently run it on a PC at work. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE.

I have also been running CATIA, SolidWorks, Inventor, and AutoCAD under bootcamp. Again, no difference.

I have run Maya and Lightwave on the Mac side in the past, but since work uses 3DS MAX exclusively, it's what I use now at home predominantly.

As for transferring files from say CATIA (or the like) into Maya (or the like), the issue here is that the applications themselves don't construct their content even remotely similar. CATIA, Inventor, and SolidWorks are all parametric modelers. You can't even exchange the data between them (other parametric modelers) and maintain their construction hierarchies. At best all you can do is transfer the surfaces from one to the next. All information about how they were constructed or the ability to modify their construction goes right out the window. Which essentially defeats the point of transferring that data in the first place unless all you want to do is slap a material on it and hit render.

Models created in 3DS MAX, Maya, and the like behave similarly when imported into applications like CATIA (and the like)... because they don't use the same type of modeling at all.

I've moved data sets from CATIA into Inventor, from Inventor into SolidWorks, and even data from these applications into 3DS MAX and Maya. There are ways to do it, but most notably you need a plugin to do so. But even with said plug-in, it will never be like loading up the file in it's native application.

Again, if all you are doing is applying materials and hitting render... getting this data into these other applications isn't really a huge problem (with the right translators... which can cost a pretty penny depending on the applications you are trying to cross-between). It's when you need to edit these data sets, or animate their hierarchy's that things become a mess. In some cases, it's just easier to recreate them than to use them. Depends on what you are attempting to do.

And if you think that because SolidWorks is owned by the same company that makes CATIA that these two applications talk nicely to one another, they don't. Two applications developed separately that just so happen to be owned by the same company. Now at least the Autodesk products play fairly nicely with one another even though they weren't initially written to ever do so.

 

[rei101]

You guys like to write more than read, I wrote:

"if you do not have the 3D software on Mac, go with a full loaded PC and run your software there."

I mean, if the 3D software is not on the Mac PLATFORM get a PC.

Damn... you all can not make a better fool of yourself.

 

[v3rlon]

You guys like to write more than read, I wrote:

"if you do not have the 3D software on Mac, go with a full loaded PC and run your software there."

I mean, if the 3D software is not on the Mac PLATFORM get a PC.

Damn... you all can not make a better fool of yourself.

Take your own advice (and your own insult). The OP said he would like to purchase 3D software for the mac he already owns.

You are suggesting getting the software AND a PC. Additionally, you suggest getting something that costs as much but is less regarded than Maya AND doesn't run on Mac, unlike the OP original suggestions (Maya, Lightwave).

3DS Max $3675 + cost of a PC to run it
Maya $3675 (and runs on Mac just fine)
Lightwave $995 and runs on Mac
Modo $1495 and runs on Mac
Cinema 4D Studio $3695 and runs on Mac.

So unless you can get "a fully loaded PC" for $20, it Looks like the suggestion to get a PC AND Max is a bad one.

 

[juanm]

Could not DISAGREE more.

Plenty of good 3D software Mac. Most of the industry screams Maya. While It isn't my choice, it is available on Mac. This is the one that everyone talks about in movies. It is the one your clients will ask about (and you will hate it if you choose some other software).

There are plenty of options for the Mac and at numerous price points. Not having 3D Studio Max ruled out is like having Sony Vegas unavailable. Sure, it is good stuff. Some pros use it, but it isn't the only option.

Keep in mind it changes a lot depending on the market/geographical zone. While nowadays all are able to do pretty much everything, mainland Europe, in my experience, is mostly Max-centric, for instance, and some countries are more into Maya, while others will use mostly 3ds max.