Help me choose a 3d program. Which one is the best?

[TheBadger]

Hello,

What is the best, or best for me... 3dSmax, cinema4d, Houdini, Maya, lightwave, there are others Im sure.

I want photo real modeling, a good animation method and renderer, ease of use is important too. I have looked at product pages and am just not in my element,  I simply don't know how to judge what Im seeing. I have blender, but don't like it too much. The cost of software can be high, so I want to be careful.

Your opinions and thoughts are very welcome!

[Seth]

I think it depends where you live...
for example where I work in Bristol, everybody is working on MAYA, and it seems to be the same in Cardiff and London.
But I heard that in other countries, 3DSMAX might be the main software.
Some might tell you that Lightwave is a good and easier one but it would be for personal use, because it doesn't seem it is very used in the industry...
C4D is very user friendly from my very short experience (I even heard some pro guys calling it the 3D software for the dummies)

Anyway, I think that you can probably do everything you want with any software.
My choice would go on Maya or 3DSMAX but chose the best one between them is difficult because everything you can read about them is like the Vue Vs TG2 war

[rcallicotte]

Blender 2.5 is not far off any of those mentioned, but it's free.  2.6 of Blender is coming out in September and will be stellar.

I have used all of the above at one time or another.  All have pluses and might have minuses, but it all depends on what works for you and your situation.  You could try the demos to find out.  BUT, IF YOU ARE BEGINNING, I would recommend sticking with something inexpensive or become a student so you can get an educational discount so you can try the gamut.

But, no matter what you do, if you need experience, find one package and stick with it to see if you even like 3D (not just the smell of it) and also see if you have the aptitude for it. 

My recommendation - try Silo or Blender until you know you can do this 3D thing with a sense of satisfaction.  Then, start looking at packages for $$. 

[rcallicotte]

Oh yeah - another thing:  if you are within the U.S. or Europe, where some sort of protection exists for copyright and some respect still stands for the amount of work it takes to do any sort of 2D or 3D work, then you can be sure some people who are not paying for their software and who do not need the same amount of money you need will under-bid your work in competitive situations where companies need quality work.

[TheBadger]

Thanks guys, good info!

@Calico, Im in the states, and not too worried about cheap labor in this industry. Anyway, I don't want to be a full time animator or modeler, but I need to be able to speak the language fluently. Also, I would like to be able to use 3d element in my fine art printmaking, so Im taking the long view here.
If blender has a new release coming soon, I will wait and give in another chance. I know people do some amazing things with blender.

@Seth
Software for dummies sounds good to me, but Im a little braver in life than that. Maya is (it seams) the standard, and student pricing is affordable.

Going to have to think long and hard on this

[goldfarb]

don't forget Houdini
the Apprentice version is free and you can do a great deal with it
if you like it the HD version is $99 and has just a couple of limitations (nothing that would matter to you at this stage anyway)..

[rcallicotte]

On a personal note, I like Lightwave.  The direction Newtek is going looks promising - much, if not all, of the CORE software code will be heading into the coming versions of Lightwave.  I can't wait.

[rcallicotte]

This might be interesting, but I'm not sure it's unbiased.   

http://newtek.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121908

[jaf]

While I really like Lightwave, but there's just too many questions right now (for me) about the future pricing and things like possible yearly maintenance subscriptions, etc.  For a hobbyist, it makes the free Blender and a few other cheaper applications really stand out.

Newtek really dropped the ball with me the way they did the 9.6.1 beta -- just virtually stopped communicating and then suddenly closed it down.  Many changes in the company personnel....

That said, Lightwave with LWCAD is hard to beat for hard surface modeling, and I still use it almost every day.

Silo?  I don't know.  I own it, but the developers seem to have lost interest in it.  Nice program though.  3D-Coat?  Yes!  This is the #1 (at least for me) example of a developer that "develops" and  takes care of his user base.  Also Zbrush has been quite supportive of their user base with many free updates.  But this is getting into specialized 3D programs.

Bottom line, Blender would be my choice if I was starting over today.  It's got features that many expensive programs don't have and it has a nice development cycle with many add-0ns.

[TheBadger]

I wanted to ask about Houdini, if you use it can you talk about what you like and don't like.
Thanks guys! This is a good start. I just want to make a good decision, I accept that i'll largely be blind for a while. But in the end I'll know more than I do now and I'll have some kind of 3d program.

[neon22]

You might also consider the component model and break the tasks up into different packages.
- Wings3D is excellent for modelling (also excellent for making 3D printing models as it maintains topo correctness)
- ZBrush - for organic models but regular shapes are now well supported also. Its not as hard to use as it used to be.
- ZBrush also does painting on surface

- do simple animations of models in Daz Studio - simple version free but now version that also rigs characters costs.
- DazStudio has free renderman interface also

- oh yeah TG2 and GeoControl 2 for terrains 

[jbest]

I use Blender and while it works quite well for me and does everything I need, obviously people might need different stuff. I've heard good stuff about 3ds Max and Maya, as well as Lightwave 3d, and for characters, of course Zbrush.

[TheBadger]

What reason to choose maya over max, or max over maya? Why the two programs, don't they do the same things?

ZBrush... It looks like no matter what software I get, I should also get ZBrush?

So it looks like I cant go wrong if I choose between maya, max W/ZBrush?

Also Maya and max have TG2 plug-ins. So they will work better with TG2?

Anyone use cin4d? I have heard that C4D has the best mapping tools?

I know I asking lots of noob questions, thanks for helping.

[neon22]

Cinema4D has bodypaint (not sure if its extra cost) which allows for 3D painting. One of the guys who worked on DeepPaint3D for many years is now the lead on BodyPaint and its a very good projection paint system. Of course ZBrush has this paint mode also but they have different goals.

C4D also has good modelling and animation.

IMHO The main reason to choose one over the other is to do with:
- what UI you like - they are all different even hough they do eth same thing - if you don't know, then ignore this reason or try them all and choose.
- what program is used in your locale or area of interest. Could be you want to work in film in Los Angeles - use Maya. Could be you live somewhere where all the jobs are for C4D, or a local game company all use Max or Houdini, or SoftImage. Pick on this basis and maybe you will get some work.

None of these tools do everything - that's why TG2 and Renderman/MentalRay and moany other niche programs like GroBoto exist. They do some particular aspect very well. Of course this ignores all the extra things you may need to do like Mocha for 3D tracking your effect into existing footage. Or Panoptica - which is hard to explain but oh so very very cool.

[TheBlackHole]

I use mostly Anim8or for modeling and animation. Sometimes I will do a still scene in Blender and, rarely, animate said scene. Usually the only modeling I do in Blender is of asteroids and small moons (I just use displacements because I don't know how to use Blender's modeler).