3D Modeling/graphics software

Hembot

I'm interested in making 3D models of stuff. Mostly it's just a personal outlet for art. My price range is around $200 but a lot of the software I'm seeing ranges up to $7000! These all seem to be used by professional movie studios and such.

Does anyone have any suggestions for:
A) A good cheap introductory program around my price range?
"best bang for your buck" software priced maybe around $750 if I really get into it.

Raslin

Honestly, these programs are meant to be used by professionals, hence why they have such expensive costs. You can download trials for most of the good programs, like 3ds max, Maya, and Modo. I believe Maya still has a Personal Learning edition, which is essentially a free version of it.

1ddqd

You mean Maya and 3DS? Best bet is to wet your feet with OpenFX, which is free.

zanetheinsane

Blender is definitely great and free and has an extensive tutorial. I haven't used it in a while so I don't know if they've improved the UI any, but getting around it isn't as big a deal as everyone makes it out to be.

You can get very professional results out of it and even some commercial game developers (smaller independent studios) have used it to generate their content.

Also if you do any kind of modeling, I definitely hope you have a nice large widescreen monitor. Two monitors would be even better. Most of the time you're going to have at least 4 viewports open (front, side, top, 3D) plus some additional windows and toolbars.

Raslin

Ehh, I modeled on a single 17in 4:3 monitor for a long time, it wasnt horrible. I prefer my new setup with a 20.1in widescreen and the aforementioned monitor as a secondary, but its not un-doable.

TychoCelchuuu

Try out the Maya Personal Learning edition definitely. If you're serious about things and want a fully capable 3d package for cheap, modo is your best bet.

Raslin

Also, modo is so smooth and I love it. I'm still a max man at heart, but modo is my mistress.

Trentus

zanetheinsane wrote: »

Blender is definitely great and free and has an extensive tutorial. I haven't used it in a while so I don't know if they've improved the UI any, but getting around it isn't as big a deal as everyone makes it out to be.

You can get very professional results out of it and even some commercial game developers (smaller independent studios) have used it to generate their content.

Elephant's Dream was made with Blender, among other open source software.

MechMantis

Don't expect to use the PLE for anything other than making models that look neat in the Maya PLE.

It uses an entirely unique format that no one has been able to break, so if you want to work on a mod team or something, forget about it.

That doesn't seem to be your aim, but there are also restrictions on the size render you can make, and there's a great big watermark right in the middle of the image.


EDIT: Although DAMN that UI is nice. If only Blender had a UI that easy to understand.

mongrol

Blender Blender Blender. Free, professional and awesome. Arguably the greatest open source project right after the linux kernel.