3d software question

  • Thread starter Barracuda
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Barracuda

Barracuda

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Ive been using photoshop for a while and am pretty comforable with it so i want to start getting into 3d programs. does anybody have any suggestions on which 3d program that i could buy or download. Im going to be using this to at first make simple stuff to get used to the program and hopefully become skilled enough to create my own concept cars. i would love to have one of these programs and knowing the program will look damn good on my college application and my resume. any suggestions would be awesome.

thank you :D
 
Most top of the line 3d programs out there have some kind of downloadable trial available, just search google for any of these: 3ds max, Maya, Lightwave, Softimage xsi etc. Those retail for thousands, but if you look around I'm sure you can find a few free ones.
 
Sketchup.com

One of the easiest, cheapest, and simplest 3d programs that you can use. In fact, start right here: http://sketchup.google.com/

There are a handful of GTP'ers that use this. I use it extensively for any 3d work that I do. If you're talented at Photoshop, you'll really be able to create some fantastic works.

Good luck.
 
Personally I use 3D Studio Max, but I use an old version that I got for free as part of a 3D animation course I did a while back, so I'm not sure of the price. It is quite complicated though, but you can be creating quite complex objects fairly quickly if you stick at it
 
sigh..... i went to download that free version and yet again my computer is too ghetto to support it :lol: . i hate how they trick me and say 2000 while i think that means millenium too :grumpy: .

thanks for the help anyway, ill will definately use you guy's advice...... once i get a new comp (whenever that will be )
 
Dude, ME??!?!?! If you're on a computer with ME, you're in the dark ages PC-wise. ME was a horrible OS, never had ANY reason to live, other than a way to put 2000-style icons on 98-capable hardware, so users of "cheap" computers (the ones sold at Circuit City, Best Buy, Wal-Mart) could get a "taste" of what the real computers in peoples' offices were running. But the point is that your hardware, having come with ME (there being no other way it would have gotten there) is seriously outdated, and will not handle the apps you're talking about running.
 
i think the computer i have may have had 98 or 95 originally and we upgraded to ME. it does suck but hey, atleast its a computer. we have it fully upgraded to 512mb of ram :lol: which makes it barable to use the internet. ( my browser actually loads faster than my dads xp but thats because i use firefox and he still uses ie ) i do run into space problems frequently though because i only have 30g of space.

the only way im going to get a new computer is to get a job. speaking on that subject im going to have to get a job just to play ps3. ( i might get it from my parents though because they occasionaly buy me stuff to shut me up because they know i completely hate florida and it was a huge mistake to move here )

anyways, i went on filefront and found and older version of the program. im going to go install and check it out now.

EDIT: It didn't work :banghead:
 
I use LightWave myself. It's layout seems more intuitive to me... the buttons are all specifically labeled as to what they do, rather than using an icon-based interface like 3DSMAX. For example, if you want to move something, you just click the button labeled "Move", rather than trying to hunt for a little icon with some arrows on it, only to find you've selected the wrong one.

The other big thing I like about LW is the same thing a lot of people hate about it. Modeler and Layout are two separate programs. There is communication between them, so you can send an object into Modeler to tweak it, then bring it back into Layout without having to reload. Programs like MAX are set up as a single program, where modeling and animation is done in the same place. The upside is that you don't have to deal with a second program... the downside is that a change made in that file won't affect other files that may be using the same object.

For example. Let's say you're working on a fan movie or something. You have, say, a dozen shots with an X-wing. Because hell.. everybody who does 3D does sci-fi at some point. It's what we do. Anyway... Let's say the director comes along and says he wants the X-wings to have blue stripes instead of red. In LW, you load it up into Modeler, make the change, and you're done. All of the scene files for those dozen shots will use the new model the next time the scene is loaded. If you're using MAX, you'd have to go into each and every scene and change each X-wing one at a time.

For me, since I got into VFX long before the advent of CGI (in terms of learning.. by the time I actually started doing it, it was CGI), I was used to the idea of a practical miniature being built over in one area, and then brought over to another area to plop it down in front of a bluescreen. In that aspect, LW's dual-program layout makes a lot of sense. It's a more "traditional" program in that regard. It also keeps the workspace less cluttered. In Layout, you have only animation and setup tools... Modeler has all of the modeling tools, but nothing regarding setup, animation, or lighting.

But in the end, it really boils down to what you're more comfortable with. I've known a lot of people who swear that MAX is easier to use than LW, and others who swear the other way around. Try them both out (if you can.. hehe), and see which one works best for you.
 
thanks, ill have to try that.

The file i downloaded off filefront was version 5.25 or something like that and it still didnt work :( dam ghetto computer :grumpy:
 
Unfortunately, when it comes to 3D, there's never a computer good enough. CGI is one of the few apps that will actually use every available resource during it's operation.

And when you upgrade, it doesn't necessarily let you do anything "faster", it lets you do more. I mean, it does let it go faster, but rather than going for that extra speed, you say to yourself, "Hey, now I can add more detail and better lighting and render it at a higher resolution!!" and then it ends up taking about the same amount of time as it did before the upgrade. It just looks better.. hehe.
 

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