3D rendering programs..

[Ryan2]

What's the best? I'm looking to get into rendering..

 

[Shannon]

3D Studio Max
Cinema 4D
Maya
Bryce
Lightwave

There are heaps...

 

[skylineGTR_guy]

I like maya 4.0 the best but its a few thousand dollars so try Kazaa!

 

[miata13B]

Lightwave studio is amazing, but the user interface is a little tricky. Definately got my vote - $1,646.95 that is the price Dell has for it.

 

[rjensen11]

3d Studio Max is the best for retail, seriously. It's what Pixar uses for Monster's Inc, Toy Story, and all of their 3d animations. The best one I've seen so far, however, isn't for retail. It's what Dreamworks made to use Antz, then they upped the ante to make Shrek. If only I could get my hands on that program, but they said it took forever to render with it, even when they networked over a hundred computers together. But that's because, well, look at how good Shrek is rendered! And they even had to DOWNSCALE the princess because she looked too realistic!

 

[skylineGTR_guy]

Pixar and Dreamworks do use 3D studio max however they only use it a little bit. Most large studios have their own proprietary software that is custom made to fit their needs and is not available to the general public. I'm not sure what Dreamworks uses but I know Pixar uses a program they designed called marionette (they used it to make Monsters inc. since most other programs couldn't hande the fur rendering to realistically.) If you look at the bonus features in Monsters Inc. It will show you Pixars marionette software.