3D Modelling Apps for a Former Modeller?

capsteve asks: "I've gotten back into 3D modelling after YEARS of absence in the 3D scene, and I'm having some difficulty sorting out the chaff from the wheat. I cut my teeth on 3D back in college, learning a dead end system called Z-Grass then moving into Super3D and StrataVision, shortly thereafter. Recently, I've gotten back into doing 3D modelling using Blender, Wings, and a tiny bit of POVray and YAFray for rendering. I'm looking for an all around 3D modeller that has the ability to perform subdivision modelling, particle effects, and HDRI rendering (to name a few options), yet still have an intuitive interface. Also, my platform of choice is a Mac. I'm pretty happy working between Blender and Wings, but I wonder if there are others out there who've had experience with some commercial apps that would be comparable with the ones already mentioned?" "I'm not opposed to working between several apps, but I think in order to really get my skill up to snuff, I need to settle on a single one. I'd love to get Maya or Cinema 4D, but i think my wife would kill me, and I was wondering if some of the entry level apps (like Silo or Modo) would help me build my skills up to the point where i could migrate to a Maya/Cinema at a later date? Any thoughts?"

Comments

One Word:

[ksdd]

Modo.

Great modeler from some former LightWave devs. There's a free, unrestricted, "production evaluation" version available for Mac OS X and Windows. Have at it.

Re:Maya and Lightwave for OS X

[quantax]

My only issue with Macs and 3D is that no company that I know of has released a high end 3D developmental video card such as the Wildcats, FireGLs, or Quadro's for the Mac as of yet, which prevents them from entering the high-end 3D market. I worked in a studio using Maya with both G5s and Opteron workstations, and while the G5s were plenty fast for a majority of tasks, when it came to the more complex scenes with large meshes, textures and such, there was a marked difference in the response-time of Maya, only since the Opteron systems had Quadro's. Otherwise, the systems were essentially the same in performance. Once Apple gets some serious higher end video card support they can offer competition in that market.

For the poster's purposes however, I doubt they will experience these limitations.