3D Programs - Which to use (blender user)

gibson543

hey everyone I'm new here, I use blender 3d for modeling and I'm pretty comfortable with it. But I want to move onto a more advanced program. This includes modeling, animating and sculpting programs. I would like the forums opinion on what program I should attempt to move onto

r_fletch_r

If your a casual user there is nothing wrong with blender. It covers most of the major workflows and doesn't cost a dime.

If you want good advice your going to need to post more information about what you want to do. If its games work then there doesnt seem to be a clear winner between max, maya, or Softimage. I have no idea about c4d but u think it is used by some companys for games. Really you need to pick 1 and stick with it. I personally went from Blender to 3D studio max.. that was back in the 90's tho

So far as sculpting programs go there are the 2 major commercial contenders zbrush and mudbox. 3D coat is a nice alternative if you dont have much cash. it also has some great painting tools

Justin Meisse

oh boy....

I'd recommend Zbrush for sculpting, Mudbox charges for updates, it may have improved alot since purchased it but I don't feel like dropping another $400 to find out.

As far as modeling+animating, get some 30 day trials and have a go.

gibson543

Well mostly I do game asset design, I'm trying out environment design, and I'm pretty good with characters, but most of my stuff is low poly, and I'm leaning towards autodesk products I'm just not sure which to get, SoftImage, max or maya, right now in my mind max seems to be in the lead, but I want to see if someone can sway my opinion.

And yes I've already made up my mind about sculpting Zbrush

hijak

Well max is pretty nice, because it has great support for real-time stuff, in viewport which can be nice, and it also has a stronger base of 3rd party tools, that implement well. However coming from blender i would think mayas workflow to be a bit easier to adapt too. You really have to try both though for at least 2 weeks each, if you want to have a clear idea of what feels comfortable to you. Also softimage is pretty sweet too, so you could try that. Really though with time you should be able to achieve the same results in any package, and yeah zbrush is great, and if your not already super accustomed to traditional 3d apps, then zbrush should be a bit easier to grasp.

rumblesushi

I've been learning modelling for about 5 days (5 days work time) - and after trying out Lightwave, Blender, and Max - I've really taken to Max.

I find it significantly easier to use than the other two, yet it also seems more complex and powerful. It runs much slower than the other two though, and crashes, it's not very fast or lightweight, but it's a great program, no doubt.

I'm going to try out Maya and Modo, but I think I'll go with Max.

I'm also using it for low poly game assets and levels.

PolyHertz

For modeling Max or SoftImage over Maya (the workflow is fine, but its toolset is more limited for modeling purposes). If given the choice when it came to asset creation I'd use Max because its toolset is vast, and modifiers are awesome.

divi

isn't blender really awesome these days?
not sure if there's all that much you can't do in blender you can do in another package.
i'd stick with blender, get awesome at it and never bother with any of the "major" packages.
at least once a month i try to wrap my head around the navigation in the blender viewport but it always deters me from diving in deeper and then i give up. im ashamed.

gibson543

I assumed most of you would go for max lol ah well all of you are making wonderful points for each program and after I read the Maya's workflow is similar to blender's I started leaning towards that, but after I read that Max has a much larger toolset, I'm again leaning away from maya and I'm now moving closer to max and softimage. Let opinions begin!! Again!!

James Edwards

rumblesushi wrote: »

I've been learning modelling for about 5 days (5 days work time) - and after trying out Lightwave, Blender, and Max - I've really taken to Max.

I find it significantly easier to use than the other two, yet it also seems more complex and powerful. It runs much slower than the other two though, and crashes, it's not very fast or lightweight, but it's a great program, no doubt.

This is exactly how you should go about deciding on a software package. Just keep trying them. Something will click more in one than in others and you can weigh workflows vs features, performance and stability and how they best suit your particular needs and preferences.

Asking in forums really doesn't help you at all. The software is there for you to try for this very reason. It's definitely not as simple as getting a forum consensus and takes a significant amount of effort and time to work through all the different apps and get a feel for them. If you don't have patience for that you might as well just pick one randomly and learn it.

.02

gibson543

Alright thank you James I see your point, and now I think I'm going to download the Maya, Lightwave, Max, and SoftImage trials thanks everyone!