Which 3D modeller?

[Slumbercub]

I am wanting to get into a little bit of 3D modelling work, just for a hobby. I am a very experienced CAD user (Vectorworks, mainly 2D) but I am considering a pure modeller/animation package. I was wondering if any of you guys have any experience with such software and which one to recommend, as it is a hobby I don't want to spend much money so I have narrowed it down to several options but I can't to make up my mind, they all seem to do the business:

Cheetah3D
Shade 8
Silo
and of course, Blender

Any recommendations out of that lot or any other relatively inexpensive software suggestions welcome. It will be used mainly for buildings, lifeform models and perhaps some landscape.

 

[ezekielrage_99]

Try Blender, it has tonnes of users, documentation and training material.

Maya PLE is also another very good choice for USD$100 you can get the DVD with the training documentation (believe me it makes things easier).

 

[LeviG]

I'd say try blender first to, its free, so if you don't get on with it theres no loss of money etc.

Ashlar vellum software (not really landscape) may be worth a look afterwards as is sketchup (theres a free version of this too)

For landscapes its got to be bryce, there was a free v5 floating around a while back

 

[Lone Deranger]

Depends what you mostly intend to model.

For freeform sculpting I'd recommend Silo, zBrush, MudBox (although this is more of a addition to a modelling workflow) and modo.

For hard surface you could consider Rhino, Maya (though that's probably beyond your budget), Lightwave and again modo.

For procedural landscape/terrain generators I'd go with Vue or Terragen.

 

[suboko]

Try www.ac3d.org - X-Plane people use for the worlds and planes.

 

[Slumbercub]

I thought Rhino was Windows only?

ac3d looks good and I must admit I hadn't considered it.

 

[LeviG]

I thought Rhino was Windows only?

I was under that impression too as is the website

 

[Slumbercub]

I had a look at ac3d but for rendering POVray is required. However, at the moment, that seems to crash on Intel Macs.

Anyone had any experience of Art of Illusion?

 

[Apemanblues]

I use Carrara. It's has a lot for a mid-price app.

Z-Brush is also cool, for the more organic modelling experience

 

[POHeerwig]

I haven't tried this...but I understand that Maya is one of the best for 3-D graphics (ATD might be able to give you further insight); and there is an Autodesk Maya Personal Learning edition that's free to download (see below). It might be a good place to start, if it's virtually the same program and you might be able to get a book from your library to help you through the maze of it.

If you do try it, I'd be interested to hear how it works out. Good luck!

Autodesk Maya

 

[Slumbercub]

I have tried out so many demos in the last few days, my head is spinning. There are so many great apps out there for this type of work which I suppose that is one of the great strength of the Mac platform.

Anyway, I have decided on Cheetah3D as it seems to offer the best combination of price, power and ease of use. I may migrate to a more powerful solution later but it seems to fit my needs well at the moment.

Thanks for all of your advice.

 

[toaster_oven]

sketchup - probably not exactly what you are looking for, but as someone else who uses CAD a lot - it's by far the easiest 3D app to use. plus it's free.

as for another 3D package, I've been really getting into modo (www.luxology.com) lately... it doesn't have animation.... yet... but the UI is really nice and the user community is great... not as intuitive for someone who comes from CAD, but if you are into character/organic modeling, this is by far one of the best 3D apps out at the moment... check out the forums... people are doing some amazing stuff with it, they have a bunch of tutorials, and people are very helpful.

plus- they give you extensions on the trial version if you ask nicely. I've been really impressed by the company- and apple has used them in the past to test their hardware.

-to