Whis 3D software do you recommend?

[beaker]

1.) I learned 90% of my 3d/2d knowledge on my own and now Im working on some major summer movies. It really depends on the person. Can you pick up a manual and learn the app or do you have to have someone show you how to do it?

2.) read this: http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19315

3.) It is not the software that makes you an artist. A really good artist can make the most awsome stuff with the crappiest software.

To answer your question, everything is used, it depends on the company, Maya, 3dsmax, Lightwave, XSI, Cinema4d, EI, Houdini, etc...

Gollum was made with Mirai and Maya and a bunch of custom plugins/scripts and software.

4.) Where do you live(this is an international board)? What part of the industry are your working, what level are you at. Are you a good negotiator. Are you a good artist or a sucky one? How many years experience do you have? What position: Entry Level, Sr Animator, Animation Director, Movie Director, etc...? In India 5k a year is good money, In the midwest US, 40k is good, in LA, 60-80k is normal but a house costs half a million bucks.

As you see there are too many questions to give you a solid number, anywhere from 5k a year to 150k+.

[I_am]

i just finished my first project at uni and i will tell u now that90% of the things i used in my animation were learnt by my self..10% were tips from tutors..

al it takes is doing the tutorial, trial and error, a little help from some one that knows more than u and alot of imagination and spare time...(I lost my part time job because of the project and got a 2:1..so in the end it was worth it)

as for software everone hastheir preferences..i here maya is better for character animation than max..but i am sticking with maxtill i become an expert then ill move on

[stewartjones]

Max is the one you want to go for if you are looking to get involved in videogames. Most companys use this as the standard with exceptions of course, but most of the games that you play will probably be created in this. (Halo, Splinter Cell etc).

Maya is great for cinema like stuff, but I have found that it takes a load more time to create things (although I admit I aint that good at the program!)

If you are interested in starting out why not try something free (if you can get it) or a cheap alternative to one of the bigger 3d creators. If you learn the stuff in one, you can transfer those skills to others, it just takes a little time to change over to a different way of doing things.

Learning yourself is more than possible, it just depends on how much you want it. I recommend getting yourself a cheap program, and messing around for a while. After that upgrade, and buy yourself a book or two on that program, and learn all the things you didnt in the first place. Also, remember that you have a MASSIVE resource right in front of you... the Internet.

Overall, the program you use is down to personal preference, each have good points and bad points, and all can be used by someone who has the basics... Right thats my rant over, hope it helps anyway! :)

[kex]

to be truthfull get some experimental copys of the software max, maya, lightwave and xsi all have free versions to play with


blender.org is great and worth playing with at least was my first 3d package


i perfer maya , but im shore id love max and xsi just as much

wings 3d rocks too for modeling

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learning:;:::::::::: get a solid book once you found the product you like and read that as you be able to read it offline and any were you like

[MattClary]

It's all about the interface. Some people just work better with different types of interfaces. I prefer LightWave's text based interface, some people prefer icons. It goes deeper than simply icons or text, so you should do as suggested, get eval copies and do some tutorials with the different packages.

[moogle_san]

thanks alot everyone - this stuff has been really helpful. I was a little bit concerned about trying to learn an app on my own, but it's clear from these replies that it's entirely possible, and I think I'm dedicated enough to pull it off. I think I'll try messing around with a trial version of max for a while, and see how that goes. It's nice to know that I can try to gain some proficiency before I make a financial commitment. thanks again, and wish me luck!

[mcintosh184]

Most companies allow people to demo there products ... try it out and see whats good for you. Its very complexed at first, but it gets easier. I tried out maya 5 and max 6 after brushing up on some tutorials on the web ... and I found max to be a little easier to learn and get into (though I'm sure others will disagree). Another perk is that max is more mainstream then the others, meaning there is more tutorials online (great learing tools). Regardless though, remember that its not the software, it's you ... select an ap, stick with it, and learn how to get your vision across. In the end, whatever you chose will be the right choice. Hope that helps.

[dmeyer]

As stated several times already...its all about whats comfortable for you. Some packages are better at some things than others, but all of the major ones out there can get most anything you'd need done in one way or another, especially as a beginner.

Download the trials/PLE versions and see which one you can groove with.

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