[Info and Tips] Most used 3D Programs

[ChrisArt]

People allways ask this question now and then so il clearify. Im gonna list the top programs used in the industry today by game companies, movie groups and fanboys.

I would say that to date there are 3 main 3D modeling programs. I say main because they are the most comercialized and used programs out there.


1. Maya
Website - Free Learning Edition

From website: Maya® Complete integrates the world’s foremost modeling, animation, visual effects, and advanced rendering technologies into one complete workflow solution. That’s why film and video artists, game developers, visualization professionals, Web and print designers and —3D enthusiasts everywhere— turn to Maya to take their work to the next level.


2. 3D Studio Max
Website - Gmax

From website: Do you have the vision to bring 3D film effects to the big screen? How about generating realistic characters in a top-selling game? Maybe rich and complex design visualization is in your plan? Or perhaps your school is ready to introduce a new dimension to your curriculum? Whether you are new to 3ds max® technology or already a fan of the world's #1 3D animation solution, 3ds max® 7 will empower you to boldly tackle even the most radical creative challenges.

You bring the imagination. We'll bring the rest. Introducing 3ds max 7—the must-have 3D modeling, animation, and rendering solution for demanding artists, schools, and production environments. This landmark release of Discreet’s award-winning software raises the bar once again, defining the new state of the art in 3D animation for game development, design visualization, feature film and television effects, and education.


3. XSI
Website - Mod tools (Free Program)

From website: SOFTIMAGE|XSI sets a new standard in productivity. By giving artists and developers greater access to the most advanced content creation tools, XSI dramatically accelerates any pipeline. Featuring better access to compositing and crowd simulation, enhanced integrations with industry leading tools, such as Alienbrain Studio, as well as unmatched support for post and broadcast file formats like OpenEXR and MXF, XSI allows artists to produce more for less. With a superior workflow and unprecedented interoperability within the Avid Computer Graphics family, SOFTIMAGE|XSI is the smart solution for studios of every size.




Suggestion for beginners
I wont say I know alot but I know enough to give some nice helpfull tips I would like to believe. If youre a first timer and want to get into 3D you should be aware of a few things.

* Getting good takes time and hard work
* You should have a keen eye for shapes and like traditional drawing. It helps alot.
* And the most important in my mind is dont go out of your way to copy anyone elses style out of doing tutorials only. Start with just playing around, maybe buy a few books on the program your planning on using and get used to the tools. Then test everything out and see how it works, make some primitive models and try out different techniques. Then try doing a few tutorials (as most books has tutorials), then find some tutorials online and try those out. Just dont get hooked on another modelers style, at first I did this and I got reasonable ressults but I never got beyond those ressults and I was limited to the one type of modeling. Once you find your own hype and style you will go on to greater things so allways experiment with what works for you and not what works in a tutorial.


Good luck everyone!

 

[st0lve]

someone should sticky this.

 

[CADMonkey]

Cinema4D

http://maxon.net/jumps/cinema4d_portal_e.html

 

[Jackal hit]

thought i should mention, i've always heard of "the big 4." 3ds max, maya, xsi, and lightwave. from what i've seen, it's give and take with all of these programs. some are good at uvw mapping, some aren't as good at navigation, some blah blah etc... but just thought i'd toss lightwave into the mix, because that is another MAJOR 3d app.

also, if you have money, you should look into programs like modo and zbrush. these programs are where the future of modeling is going, more designed for artists as opposed to science people. it's much more like working with clay w/ these programs. anyways...

 

[ChrisArt]

***bump***

 

[CommandoSR]

*bump* That hurt.

 

[thereisaspoon]

thought i should mention, i've always heard of "the big 4." 3ds max, maya, xsi, and lightwave. from what i've seen, it's give and take with all of these programs. some are good at uvw mapping, some aren't as good at navigation, some blah blah etc... but just thought i'd toss lightwave into the mix, because that is another MAJOR 3d app.

also, if you have money, you should look into programs like modo and zbrush. these programs are where the future of modeling is going, more designed for artists as opposed to science people. it's much more like working with clay w/ these programs. anyways...

modo is just an insanely efficient, fast and powerful 3d modeling app. it can only model and uv map. its not a sculpting tool like zbrush. there is a sculpt tool in it but its nowhere near as fast as zbrush's, which cna handle polies in the milions in realtime

 

[st0lve]

why isn't this stickied?

 

[CommandoSR]

They ran out of glue.

 

[Some0ne]

thought i should mention, i've always heard of "the big 4." 3ds max, maya, xsi, and lightwave. from what i've seen, it's give and take with all of these programs. some are good at uvw mapping, some aren't as good at navigation, some blah blah etc... but just thought i'd toss lightwave into the mix, because that is another MAJOR 3d app.

also, if you have money, you should look into programs like modo and zbrush. these programs are where the future of modeling is going, more designed for artists as opposed to science people. it's much more like working with clay w/ these programs. anyways...

lightwave rocks :thumbs:
its definatly one of the "big 4"

 

[Computer5k]

Blender wins because its free, and the next version has widgets

 

[kropcke]

WOO-HOO!!! - First time at the forum

Anyway (as I'm busy looking for some specific reasons to move from Doom3 -> Source), I ran across this thread, and thought I'd at least give something to the community before asking a million questions in the near future about this new (to me) mapping environment.

Game companies tend to use vanilla packages of the before mentioned 3d apps. CG movie/fx companies will tend to use derivatives of, if not entirely proprietary software. So depending on where you think you might be headed, you might want to focus on the overall concepts rather than kicking-butt in one package over the rest. A CG movie/fx company will certainly provide you with an orientation/grace period to learn their own software while a game company may not even return your call if you don't model/animate/light/etc. in their preferred development environment.

Just my 2 cents.
Glad to be here!

-kropcke

 

[junkers]

also, if you have money, you should look into programs like modo and zbrush. these programs are where the future of modeling is going, more designed for artists as opposed to science people. it's much more like working with clay w/ these programs. anyways...

Um, i beleive that for games, Zbrush is used for normal map/texture generation, more than specific modelling tasks themselves. Like for instance, using 3d studio max to make a model, then unwrap it, then drop the model into zbrush and start editing he mesh on a subdivided model, then exporting the texture co-ords for normal mapping.