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Which 3D Modeling Software is Best for Learning Use?

Posted by Cliff on from the training-programs dept.

An anonymous reader asks: "Blender 2.26 is out and 2.27 is soon on its way. This powerful 3D modeling/animation/rendering program is released under the GPL so it (along with the source code) is free, there is only one downside: the learning curve is large due to is abnormal user interface. I am in High School (unfortunately) and I want to do something related to 3D animation (movies, games, special effects, etc.) when I get older. Which package should I choose? The free, but difficult, Blender? The amazing, but bankrupting, Maya? Or should I get another program that is cheaper than Maya but easier to learn than Blender? If we take money out of the picture which is the best program to learn about modeling/rendering/animating on?"

15 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. Lightwave 3D by Hanji · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm a big fan of Lightwave. It's a LOT cheaper than Maya, especially if you get a student discount, and it's pretty easy to learn to use, and it's DAMN powerful.

    --
    A Minesweeper clone that doesn't suck
    1. Re:Lightwave 3D by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Informative

      "I'm a big fan of Lightwave [lightwave3d.com]. It's a LOT cheaper than Maya, especially if you get a student discount, and it's pretty easy to learn to use, and it's DAMN powerful. "

      I second that. Out of the box, LW is very well rounded. Very good for character animation, modelling, and rendering. From LW, it's pretty easy to go to Maya or even 3D Studio MAX. (Or not move at all if you dun wanna...) If you start with something like MAX, though, you can end up with layers upon layers of stuff. That can be rather confusing if you move to LW. "Uh.. I just want to smooth this mesh, but I can't find the modifier for that!"

      That's pretty much what I mean by 'get to the point'. You start with polygons, you end with polygons. You don't end up with an 'object' that has a bunch of settings to it you need to keep an eye on. It's like the difference between driving with a stick and having an automatic transmission. If you have an auto transmission, you can start driving right away but never truely understand what it is about shifting that makes a car efficient. LW would be more like the manual transmission, you have to do more work to get around, but you have a much more fundamental understanding of how your car works and how you can apply those gears to various situations like slowing yourself down on a steep incline.

      *hopes that makse some sense, I'm in a bit of a hurry.*

      --
      "Derp de derp."
  2. try Caligari trueSpace by Jim+Morash · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's about $600 for the latest version, and fun to use. I like it anyway. No I don't work there.

    Caligari

  3. Free version of Maya by JensR · · Score: 5, Informative

    MAYA PLE - personal learning edition. Gives you all features, but puts watermarks on everything.
    AW

  4. Stick with Blender by Craig+Maloney · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'll admit learning Blender is a real pain in the you-know-what, but the community is top notch, and the documentation for it really makes it easier to learn. (And it's available in the online store for less than $20). Granted, it doesn't have the plug-in support of Maya, and it's a little more difficult to get results, but once you're there, the pay-off is tremendous. Plus you get Blender's amazing game engine to boot.

    Are you looking to pursue a career in 3D artistry, or are you looking for something to just play around with? If you're looking to do this professionally, you might want to use Maya or 3ds Max. If you're just looking to get your feet wet, or don't want to spend yourself silly, then Blender is the way to go.

    Good luck with whatever you choose!

  5. free learning edition of Maya available by Tumbleweed · · Score: 2, Informative

    Available for download - has been for quite some time.

    Also, the prices for Maya have dropped significantly in recent times, so check it out.

  6. Caligari trueSpace v3.2 for free by ip_vjl · · Score: 4, Informative

    version 3.2 is now available on their website for download for free.

    It's not the most advanced, but learning the concepts is the important thing - not learning the exact intricacies of current software. By the time the author is out of school, the landscape of features will have changed anyway, but knowing the basics of how to animate and model will translate to any package.

  7. Gmax = free by Spokehedz · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you just want to learn how to make models and stuff, and get the mechanics of it down (such as the fun of lining up textures, reducing poly counts, optimizing curves and arches, and manually moving individual vertices for 3 hours and then a power outage happens...) and just practice, but not have to pay all that money for 3D Studio Max... Use Gmax!

    Gmax linkie-poo

    If you happen to 'own' one of the many games that it is compatible with, you can even see your creations in a real game engine! Wowie-zowie! ;)

    It is very close to 3DStudio max, and it's free to everyone who wants to use it. So it's a good starting point for someone who wants to experiment on the cheap.

  8. Don't deal Blender out of hand... by i0wnzj005uck4 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm going to lay it to you straight.

    There are many things to consider when choosing a 3D package. Most of it really comes down to taste and money. I don't much like nurbs or metaballs -- I prefer to have control over a control mesh, so I use polymesh smoothing / subsurface modeling, for which Blender works wonderfully. But you'll need to experiment with many different packages and find what works right for you. Strangely, whatever you first choose will likely end up being your preference, so choose your initial foray wisely.

    However, I'm going to advocate Blender whole-heartedly. It's got most of the important features, support for external renderers, and what's more, it's totally cross-platform. I can model on my Mac and render on my unix box while I'm at work. You can't do that with any commercial package I know, not at prices that a hobbiyst will be able to afford.

    Further, the community *is* great, and once you get past the hurdle of the UI you'll realize it's really powerful software. Don't believe me? http://membres.lycos.fr/garbager/ That's what can be done with free tools.

    --
    - Cloud
  9. Maya, Lightwave, SoftImage, by cooldev · · Score: 2, Informative

    Others have mentioned Maya PLE but there are free / learning editions of most of the top commercial 3D apps these days:

    SoftImage XSI|EXP

    Lightwave Discovery Edition (takes a while for them to mail it, though)

    Houdini Apprentice (a lesser known but very powerful 3D app used by major studios.)

  10. Bryce 3D and PoVRay by Zaaf · · Score: 2, Informative

    May I humbly suggest a few other possibilities?

    First of all there is Bryce 3D which is available from corel (at the moment). It is 'frowned' upon by many pro's but it gets (most of) the job done. Also its terrain editor is great.

    And if you just want to learn the basics, then you can do a lot worse than look at PoVRay, which is free of charge. It has a very peculicar interface, since it's entirely text based. But somehow this gives you fantastic control over your scene. See http://www.povray.org for some amazing examples.

    --

    ---
    "Multiple exclamation marks are a sure sign of a sick mind." (Terry Pratchett)
  11. no single answer; also consider Cinema 4D by schvenk · · Score: 2, Informative
    I went through this process myself about 6 months ago, bought Cinema 4D (the XL bundle), and have been very happy with it. It's $595 for the core package, which has recently gotten a very positive Macworld review. (The XL bundle includes a bunch of modules that give you more animation tools and advanced rendering options. There are additional bundles and modules as well.)

    However, there's no one right answer to this question. Your decision will depend on whether you plan to work in animation eventually; what you plan to do with the software; and to some degree what platform you're using (though there are many who say that if you're serious about 3D you should buy some PC hardware specifically for that purpose).

    There's a great discussion of this topic at zaon.org. Also a previous slashdot discussion I started on the same topic when I was figuring this out.

    Beyond that I'll try to be brief, since a lot of my original questions and their answers are contained in the first linked discussion above.

    • I tried Blender. I found the UI both difficult to understand and buggy. It also lacks a raytracer and some other advanced tools. But the price is right and it's great that such an advanced tool exists as an open source project. Certainly can't hurt to download and try it.
    • Maya looked like a great app, though it seems a little more "techie" than some. I really liked it, though, and the main reason I didn't buy it was that Alias|Wavefront doesn't seem set up to deal with one-man operations. They attach the license to your Ethernet card, charge you to switch computers, charge you for tech support, and I think charge for point releases.
    • My understanding is that LightWave is great, but I didn't like the UI. I like having some icons and I like UI's that conform better to the standards of the platform they're running on. The non-standard, text-only UI didn't work for me, and I wasn't thrilled about the separate apps for modeling and rendering. LightWave's customer service people are nice, and support is free with the app. I believe you do need a USB dongle to use it. There's no downloadable demo but they'll send you one on CD.
    • A lot of people recommended ElectricImage Universe to me. A lot of people also said it's not as serious a tool as Maya, LightWave, or Cinema 4D. I tried it and, like LightWave, wasn't thrilled about the multiple-app workflow. There's an inexpensive version of it out there that you can try, and if you go to 3dny.org you'll find a lot of EI users.
    • Cinema 4D is not as widely used as Maya or LightWave by 3D professionals (though it seems to be used more overseas), but what I was hearing from several places was that it's been improving and can now compete with these more popular apps. Its UI conforms better than some of its competitors to the standards of the platform (Maya also does this well, at least on the Mac), it's fairly easy to learn, and it can produce great photorealistic results. I've mostly been doing still images so I can't really comment on the animation tools, but they are there. There seems to be general agreement, though, that something like Maya might be better for serious character animation. I've been using C4D for several months now and am generally quite happy with it. Maxon's customer support people are nice and helpful, and support is free. I also like the fact that it doesn't require any sort of dongle to use, just a license code.
    • There are many many other apps. Some, like 3dsmax, are PC-only so I don't know anything about them. Others seem to be considered by graphics professionals to be "less serious," but may be adequate for your needs.

    Ultimately, as I said, there's no one right answer. Read what you can online, try some demos, call the companies, and see what fits. I do recommend checking out the

  12. A comparison by Animats · · Score: 2, Informative
    • Blender isn't all that great, but it is free. If you like EMACS, you'll like Blender; it takes many pages just to summarize the control keys. Not much real-world work is done with Blender.
    • The free version of Maya stamps watermarks on everything, but you get to see what Maya is like. Maya is the leading package for film work today, with dozens of major film credits.
    • Lightwave used to be more prominent, and it's still widely used. Many TV commercials and special effects have been produced with Lightwave.
    • Softimage|XSI is good, but was several years late and lost out to Maya in Hollywood. The old Softimage|3D is still used by some studios. Spirited Away was done in Softimage|3D.
    • 3D Studio Max is widely used by game developers. It's good, if a bit clunky. There's a free version, "gmax", which is severely limited and intended as a level editor.
  13. AC3D. by sbaker · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'd get AC3D - it runs on Windoze and Linux - it costs $40 per seat and it's so simple that my son learned to use it by himself at age 8.

    I've used it to build simple 3D games - and whilst it has it's faults and is missing quite a few important features, it has a lot going for it.

    There is of course a downloadable demo version.

    --
    www.sjbaker.org
  14. Coolest thing about blender is how it became open by ron_ivi · · Score: 3, Informative
    If I recall correctly, the open source community bought the software from their shareholders for 100K euros; in one of the coolest fundraising events I remember, beating expectations of all the journalists I saw write about it.


    details and a cool chart here http://www.blender.org/bf/


    I'm sure someone can fill in more details.