Which 3D package really shows off the Mac?

[modernpixel]

I am currently using Lightwave, and it clearly doesn't make any use of the power of OS X, my video card, massive amount of RAM, etc. I'm wondering - of the major programs out there - which really uses the Mac for what its worth -- Maya, Cinema 4D, some other package?

I'm looking for something with gorgeous renders (mostly still, but animation capabilities are a must.)

Thanks for your opinion.

 

[TheMonarch]

Cinema 4D is a beautiful program... I know

 

[Sic]

have you used the Swift3D plugin for lightwave, at all? i'm not a 3d designer, but a mate of mine has that app and it's amazing

edit: offtopic but your website is amazing

 

[YS2003]

I am in the process of trying out Blender (open source). I bought a book on it so that I can learn it by myself. It seems the most of the 3D programs have similar features.

 

[dstorey]

how about modo? http://www.luxology.com/modo/

 

[modernpixel]

Cinema 4D is a beautiful program... I know

Is Cinema 4D good with animation and stills?

How about the speed of it's rendering system?

Does it take good advantage of your video card?

Is it an industry standard - or more of a prosumer application?

Joe

 

[Laser47]

Cinema 4D is awesome, I first learned in middle school. Its really fun use it at school all the time. Maybe someday ill buy it.

 

[dogbone]

I have to recommend Zbrush because it is unlike everything else and it has a built in test to optimise for your system. It can deal with millions of polygon editing in real time. And the soon to be released update will take a quantum leap forward. It is also used in conjunction with all the other high end apps.

 

[CmdrLaForge]

Is Cinema 4D good with animation and stills?

How about the speed of it's rendering system?

Does it take good advantage of your video card?

Is it an industry standard - or more of a prosumer application?

Joe

As far as I know there is a trial version. Download it and see it yourself

 

[ATD]

Is Cinema 4D good with animation and stills?

How about the speed of it's rendering system?

Does it take good advantage of your video card?

Is it an industry standard - or more of a prosumer application?

Joe

Maya is excellent with animation and stills. Many CA artists say it's the very best at it, that's one of the reasons why so many movie studios use it. Alias also owns Motion Builder.

Maya will take full advantage of all the processors for rendering. My Quad is rendering more than 2X of my Dual. Maya comes with it's render (Software, Hardware and Vector) and Mental Ray. You can use many other renders like Renderman (Pixar), Maxwell and Turtle.

Mayas OpenGL is by far the fastest. SGI owns the licensing of OpenGL and they use to own Maya.

Maya is very much an industry standard.


Now for the down side, Maya has a very large learning curve. But try it out for yourself, go to http://www.alias.com/ and download the Personal Learning Edition, it's free with no time limit. I'm a former Lightwave user, I think you might like it.