Looking for a good 3D program.

[The Castellan]

As the title says, I'm looking for a decent 3D program that is fairly easy to use and understand, since I wanna make my own art work as well.

And, if possible, one that can make 3D people. Though I'd give mine a sorta cartoony anime look to them.

 

[The Axeman]

Sketchup is probably the easiest to use, and has the added advantage of costing zilch. You wont be making people with it anytime soon though. To be honest, most everything else costs a fortune and takes months to get to grips with. Check the huge thread at the top of the board, it has it all detailed in there.

 

[Gepard]

To be honest, most everything else costs a fortune...

Except for Blender. Blender is open source and pretty powerful in skilled hands.

 

[The Axeman]

...and takes months to get the hang of. Most of the free or very cheap software has it's problems or limitations. The expensive software, whilst normally more powerful, is no less difficult to get to grips with. There's no easy route to learning 3D, it's a painful process of persevering with your software of choice.

 

[Forbin]

I've been fiddling with 3D programs since I got Sculpt 3D for my first Amiga 500 in, what, 1987? I've never come close to "mastering" any of them. And after Caligari completely changed their interface for TrueSpace 5 to make it "easier," it completely lost me and I completely gave up on anything but making pretty landscapes with Bryce.

My coworker just talked the boss into springing for two copies of 3DS Max 2010. So now I'd goddamn well better learn the program or she'll never let me forget she spent $3500 on it. So far the basics are no different than what I've learned over the years with other 3D programs. I get a headache when I try to figure out any of the more complex operations, though. I've always been a 2D illustrator at heart.

 

[TheSeeker]

We actually have a pinned thread devoted to a dicussion of 3D software.

 

[jaspertjie]

...and takes months to get the hang of. Most of the free or very cheap software has it's problems or limitations. The expensive software, whilst normally more powerful, is no less difficult to get to grips with. There's no easy route to learning 3D, it's a painful process of persevering with your software of choice.

Indeed. I downloaded Blender some time ago but after two weeks I realized Sketchup was still the Holy Grail.

 

[sojourner]

Na, Sketchup is the Tin Cup. It will get you some good images, but you'll never see god with it.

 

[Aegis]

And after Caligari completely changed their interface for TrueSpace 5 to make it "easier,"

Still using TS4.3 after all these years. Got my free upgrade to 7.1 but it was a pain. Max is great, but pricey

 

[The Axeman]

I could not wrap my head around Max at all, and Blender was like a million buttons that did nothing. Lightwave I got the basics of very quickly, but I've been at it for years and still dont know what half of it is for. Sketchup really amazed me with how easy it was to get going, but given the limitations it has I am surprised at just how good some of the work is that people do with it.

 

[Forbin]

I had LightWave 6 and never got the hang of it either. I think one needs a certain brain structure to be good at these things. And mine has been slowly rotting since I hit 50.

 

[jaspertjie]

I could not wrap my head around Max at all, and Blender was like a million buttons that did nothing. Lightwave I got the basics of very quickly, but I've been at it for years and still dont know what half of it is for. Sketchup really amazed me with how easy it was to get going, but given the limitations it has I am surprised at just how good some of the work is that people do with it.

Yeah why don't they get some real experts at SU and make its limitations go away