What 3D program is the best?

[Austin Wallender]

everyone has their favorites. cinema and invigorator are good places to start, but if you want to do complicated things, you’re going to hit a wall with invigorator. Lightwave, Maya, and Max all have fervent followings as well. I would download some demos and play around.

[Chris Poisson]

If you’re on a dual proc Mac you should try Kinemac. Really easy to use.

Have a wonderful day.

[Rhett Robinson]

Hi Brian,
I’ve personally learned to work Maya the best, because of the “personal learning addition” (free) version. There are disadvantges, because the projects you make with the PLE will not open in the full version. After using it for a while, I *really* like the way Maya feels, but there may be changes on the horizon, as Alias and Autodesk are coming together I think, so Maya and 3DS may become merged, or something.

I’ve surveyed most, and I think the most bang for the buck is Cinema 4D. It opens/exports more formats than almost anything, and seems to include a lot more goodies for a whole lot less money than most of the others (like solvers, particle add-ons, etc.). I’ve played quite a bit in C4D as well, and was impressed with the user following/ready tutorials on the net, and it’s ability to work with other file types.

It looks like they have a demo, but I’m not sure how full-featured it is. The Maya PLE is pretty complete, but doesn’t include things like fluids.

https://www.maxon.net/
https://www.alias.com/eng/index.shtml

(yep – it’s already part of AutoDesk…)

[Vince Becquiot]

My vote will go to Cinema 4d simply because of its integration with After affects.

In the end you have to look at two important factors.

1) Will you always be working on your own or with an another company ?

If you will be working with another company, Maya will likely be what they are using… (Things may change however.)

2) How much money do you want to spend in the near future… Again, as mentionned above, C4d is likely the cheaper option

Other than that, I don’ t think there really is a BETTER 3d app in the top apps previously listed.

Cheers,

Vince

[Spritemaster]

Just to chip in as usual with the vote for XSI. I’m not sure how one can get C4D for less than $495, the retail price for XSI Foundation which is an amazingly comprehensive app. Of course ultimately it’s up to personal needs and preferences – that’s just one more good reason to give Softimage a go. It is truly brilliant.

AA

[Mike James]

I actually took the full tour of duty.

I first learned LightWave, then 3DS Max, then briefly with Maya via the PLE, then I bought multiple licenses for Cinema 4D, Modo 103 and I’ve used Houdini 8 most recently via their apprentice version.

If I were asking the question you just asked and I was able to advise myself I’d say go with Cinema 4D. Even though it is one license per OS, you can always buy another if you move from Mac to PC or vise versa. And it exports directly to native AE files.

Above all else, it was the easiest interface of all the 3D apps I learned to use.

If you were a combustion user I’d steer you towards 3DS Max because of integration. If you used Shake I might be inclined to suggest Maya, but now C4D exports out to native shake files as well.

What I did above was painful and expensive, but I can understand why some users of some apps don’t understand and can’t answer certain things in general terms of all the 3D apps out there. Any 3D app is a big time commitment to learn. It ain’t like 2D.

I also happen to be selling a Mac commercial license of C4D 9.5 as advertised on the Cow Classifieds. $499 + training DVDs

https://forums.creativecow.net/cgi-bin/new_read_post.cgi?forumid=38&postid=855423

Mike James – VFXpodcast.com
Avid Xpress Pro ::: Avid DVD ::: Avid FX ::: Avid 3D ::: ProTools 7 LE

[Josh Miller]

You probably would want to go and get C4D. It has the easiest interface to work with, and intergrates very nicely with AE. I use 3DS Max, because of some features it has that C4D doesnt, but for a beginner C4D would be the way to go.

Josh M

[Rhett Robinson]

Hey, sorry I got caught up in the opinions part… if you’re a complete noob to 3D, and just need to learn/have a rendered animation with alpha to put in AE, I’d look at some free options. There are a BUNCH for PC, and several for Mac.

Blender comes to mind, because it’s really knock-your-socks off powerful for FREE, although I really had to fumble with it, although I feel comfortable in several 3D apps. Things like Wings 3D etc… anyway, there are a number of free programs to try your hand at first, and get to know the lingo etc.

http://www.blender.org

check it out!

That said, if I was going to buy a new 3D app today, and wasn’t comfortable in Maya already, it would be C4d.

Rhett