3D software for designers
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- number_nine
What software do you recommend for a designer to learn?
- babaganush0
Cinema 4D
- johnnyklebitz0
Strata 3D
- wordsarepictures0
Sketch Up.
Ok Cinema 4D.
But I learnt Sketch Up first.
- the2ndday0
softimage
- EKUL0
not this again....
- Fariska0
Maya!
- ukit0
Adobe should make a 3D software that is actually easy to use.
- I agreenumber_nine
- i agree 2the2ndday
- ImpossibleFariska
- impossible 2Mishga
- impossible 3twokids
- They used to way back in the day. I just can't remember the name of it.rluna
- adobe dimensions, they should do itn everynthing leads to it:photoshop 3d software too very sooncreez
- oh man i see the futurecreez
- i saw it firstukit
- Fariska0
The fact with 3d software is the amount of control you do want to give to the user and on which sector of 3d you want to focus (Modeling, texturing, rendering, character setup, animation).
Maya is an excellent all rounder and it has an interface that allows you to get good results in few time. Once you grasp the basics of it, modeling will be as easy as sculpting with clay. (and sometimes you wish you had the same amount of control with illustrator).
- anxious_arms0
how deep do you wanna get? there aren't really any 3d packages that are "easy" to learn. maybe Swift if you're only doing flash stuff. Cinema 4D is probably a good place to start.
- keithrondinelli0
I can't recommend Cinema 4D enough. I tried Maya, and it felt like you needed an engineering degree to use it. C4D feels very painterly and designer-friendly, with a nice visual interface. It's very powerful, but intuitive. Go for it.
- Mishga0
I think it really depends what kind of work and amount of time you want to spend learning 3d.
For MotionGraphics I'll recommend Cinema4D because of the Aftereffects (if you use) integration. And it has a really easy learning curve compare to Maya which is much more complex and of course complete. Blender has also a fast learning curve.
If you really want to go for the 3D industry, then go Maya.
and of course take one of these:
http://www.escapestudios.com/en_…
Going for the 3D industry it's like having a baby, prepare to spend most of your time at home with it.
oh and If you have a wacom tablet you should try Zbrush, Real FUN!
Cheers!
- formed0
3D Studio with VRay (and other plugins)
But my company does mostly architectural 3D, otherwise I'd choose a more reasonably priced package.
I'd probably go with Cinema or Modo. I don't care for Autodesk too much. Better hope they don't buy Cinema too!
- i forgot about 3dS.MAX which is getting better and better, best for architectural 3D and Game industry.Mishga
- Mishga0
check out the forum for answers and the gallery:
http://www.cgchannel.com/
- twokids0
I have worked with various 3d packages on and off over the past 20 years. This is what I have learned:
1) 3D is hard. There is no 'easy' way to do it. Because you creating things in three dimensions with lights and shadows and texture maps and polygons and vertices and hierarchichal structures and...well the list goes on, it is just....complicated and takes a long time to learn.
2) To really be in 3D you need to be working in it almost every day to be efficient. Being 'casual' does not really work. Even 3D artists who do it for a living are constantly re-looking up how to do things and asking people in forums BECAUSE IT IS SO COMPLICATED
3) All the major 3D packages are pretty much the same. You can use Maya or Softimage or Max or Lightwave or Blender and they will all do pretty much the same things, with just slightly different combinations of tools. You can find passionate advocates for any one of these. A good overview is here: http://wiki.cgsociety.org/index.…
4) Stay away from the cheap programs, like Swift3D. They do very little, and what little you can do with them comes at great expense of time and pain. If you are going to spend time learning 3D, learn a real program, like one of the ones in the list above.
5) Blender is free, and the functionality is equal to the other high end packages, if you read the link above. I am using it today and I will tell you; it is hard, but it is an awesome, deep toolset. But it will take time to get good at - months of hard work
6) If you want to work in the industry, you will need to learn Max or Maya probably. This seems to be what most people use (I am not actually in that industry right now, so this is my disclaimer).
good luck
- Fariska0
Actually having knowing people in the industry (vFX and Videogames) i can tell that 3dMax is mostly used for VG while XSI (softimage) and maya are used for vFX and production. Since now these 3packages belong to autodesk maybe their file format will be made compatible.
- creez0
houdini
- The_CCG0
Pretty open ended question.
1. What do you want to use the software for?
2. What are your deliverables? Are your files going to production? or are you going to work with engineers? or are your designs never going to be realized in physical form?
3. How much of your life are you willing to invest in learning this?
4. Is this key for your job?Personally, 50% of what I do is product design, so I roll SolidWorks. It's the industry standard. There is nothing you can't create in the program and the output is pretty good. Granted, engineers are still going to remodel whatever I do in Pro_E, but that's another conversation.
- version30
AutoCad, IronWorks
- djurizen0
For design, C4D, for sure. I agree fully with keithrondinelli's statement... i did the same thing, starting with Maya. Once you see how intuitive C4D is, and its tight integration with After Effects, you will stop your search. In my mind, for motion graphics at least, its close to perfect, and each update gets better and better.