[thelist] 3d modeling software recommendations?

[Stephen Smiroldo]

No one has mentioned Electric Image's Universe <http://www.electricimage.com>.

I have been using this program now for 3.5 years. We use it in 
conjunction with FormZ. My co-worker and I went to Siggraph this past 
August to get training in Maya and to talk with the folks at Maxon 
(Cinema 4D) and NewTek (Lightwave). There were areas of each software 
that we were very impressed with (i.e. Maya's Paint Effects, dynamics 
and 3D paint technologies & Cinema 4D's multipass rendering 
capabilities) but ElectricImage offers a hybrid surface/solids 
modeler, incredible rendering speed, excellent quality renderings, 
easy and straight-forward yet powerful interface, souped-up character 
animation tools, incredible texture mapping/shading capabilities, 
etc., etc., etc. All this for $995!!

We were seriously thinking of moving to one of the other "well-known" 
3d Apps, but once we discovered that Universe does many of the things 
other 3D apps do, but better, we have decided to stick with 
ElectricImage's Universe.

They have been through a rough time over the past 2 years, but are 
now picking up some serious steam. The people over at 
<http://www.dvgarage.com> use ElectricImage for all of their 3D 
tutorials and almost give it away in their "3D Toolkit" software 
package.

Stephen Smiroldo
HSMM, Inc.
<http://www.hsmm.com/3danim>


>  > Can anyone recommend any good 3d modeling software?
>
>Well, Lightwave would be the program at the top of my list.  Runs on many
>platforms and can be had for a decent price, especially if you do a
>competitive upgrade.  And the wealth of free tutorials, as well as books and
>videos is amazing.  The power and ease of use this program offers right out
>of the box is incredible.  I would also highly recommend Maxon's Cinema 4D
>XL. 
>
>If you need a more cost effective solution you could get one of the Cinema
>4D packages below the XL one.  I think there are two versions that come in
>under $1000 and are still extremely capable.  And the most cost effective 3D
>program of all is Studio Pro.  It used to be Strata Studio Pro but now is
>given away for free, and you can register the program for more features for
>something like $30.  While the feature set is a couple years behind other
>programs you still get a knockout rendering engine and most of the basic
>modeling tools you will need.  Check out http://www.strata.com/
>
>What it comes down to is this..... How serious are you?  If you want to do
>some really good 3D and have the time to invest in learning, then get a good
>tool that you are comfortable with.  While you can create some stunning art
>with some of the very cheap or free 3D packages you will also find that
>there are just a lot of features that will be unavailable or not really
>strong enough to make use of, so choose wisely based upon your needs.
>
>
>--
>
>Christopher Orth
>corth at nwlink.com
>http://www.awakemm.com/christopher/
>Poser Arcana - http://www.awakemm.com/poserarcana/
>
>
>
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