I still miss Inifini-D any recommendations?

[cyks]

Over the past 20 years, I have used practically every 3D application under the sun, but, in the past 5 or so years, my needs have drastically changed and I have moved away from them all.

At this point, not only do I have no desire to relearn the latest version of Maya or Lightwave, but I can not justify the price for either.

What I need is something similar to how Infini-D was... incredibly simple, easy to use, and powerful enough with the bare basics.

I'm looking to make some overly rough pre-visualization shots comprising of mostly primitives and a simple model or two and want to be able to quickly drop everything in a scene, possibly move one or two objects on a path, and be done with it. I don't want to have to deal with settings, lighting, atmospheric effects, or anything else.

I've heard decent enough reviews about Blender a few years ago, is that still the reigning champ for ease (and certainly price)?

 

[YESimBLUNTED]

Have you tried Maxon's Cinema 4D? We use it in broadcast all the time and it is very simple to do the things you seem to be needing it for.

 

[Larry-K]

I still miss it too, there were some things I could do more quickly with it than anything since.

Try Luxology's Modo. It's getting a bit more pricey these days, but it's a good value at $1395 (? I think, I bought it back when it was $895, but I've upgraded it 5 times since then). It may take a while to get the hang of it, but some people get it right away (sadly, not me, but I do get good renders out of it now and then).

If it's more than you're wiling to spend, get on their forum and ask about cheaper alternatives. You can always get Blender if you're strapped for dough.

Cinema 4D is good, but I find that to get the best tool sets you need to spend too much, and I think they upgrade too frequently, which kind of forces you into their maintenance program.

Good luck, I miss Logomotion too. It was a one trick pony, but it did the job.

 

[Mac Kiwi]

Maybe C4D Visualize might be what you are looking for. It comes with a lot of pre built scenes etc........quite a bit cheaper then Studio also.


Modo is also a really good app.

 

[mBox]

cyks you have almost the same bio as me as far as 3D goes
I purchased Inifini-D then Strata then formZ and last EIAS back in my early days.
After that it went from MAX, PowerAnimator, Soft and my final resting place Maya which I was using at the same time with past apps for years.
The closest I feel is C4D or whatever the version is now.
However if you are a seasoned vet, give others a chance like Modo (as suggested earlier post).

Im sure they arent as buggy as the other apps Ive purchased (that I didnt want to mention at first) e.g. Animation Master and Lightwave

 

[lucasgladding]

I've heard decent enough reviews about Blender a few years ago, is that still the reigning champ for ease (and certainly price)?

I've been using Blender for the last couple years, and have been pretty impressed with it. I think it has a steeper learning curve than Cinema 4D, but the feature set is great, and it's free. Bottom line: if you're serious about Blender, spend some time in tutorials.

Blender has been getting a redesign starting with 2.5, and there have been some drastic changes throughout (including rendering, modeling, sculpting, etc).

 

[fig]

The only issue with Blender is that it doesn't work like anything else.

I don't know 3DS Max, but I'm familiar enough with Maya and Modo that I could figure out how to model and render something ugly in Max in an hour or so.

I opened Blender for the first time and literally couldn't do anything.

(Third vote here for Modo btw, spectacular little program and a great company to boot.)

 

[12dylan34]

I think that it's a contest between Blender and Cinema 4D. C4D Prime is $1000, but pretty stripped down, although for a quick previs, it's pretty easy to use, and I don't see a reason why it wouldn't suit your needs. If you decide you need to go further with it, it's capable of some pretty spectacular motion graphics as well.

Blender is free, but it works differently than everything else, and would probably have a pretty steep learning curve.

 

[Mithlas]

ElectricImage is still around. I migrated from Infini-D to it many years ago and still use it today along with modo.

EIAS has a new owner who is actively updating it.

http://www.eias3d.com/

It doesn't have a built in modeler but has a good import system. Also it has a good library of primitives built in. The forum community is also very helpful.

 

[mBox]

ElectricImage is still around. I migrated from Infini-D to it many years ago and still use it today along with modo.

EIAS has a new owner who is actively updating it.

http://www.eias3d.com/

It doesn't have a built in modeler but has a good import system. Also it has a good library of primitives built in. The forum community is also very helpful.

I wonder if my dongle is still active
I had to put EIAS to rest 15 years ago.
It cost me 12k at the time but I made my money back in two projects.
Too many good apps overtook its space on my desktop.