Best 3D package?

[Markp.com]

Simple question! Which 3D package do you (all of you) personally find the best?

Easiest to learn, use and gets the best effects output?

Can all 3d images be imported into flash4?

(I'm new to this can you tell?) :¬)

Markp.com
http://www.mp3.com/markp
http://www.markp.com
http://www.markp.com/style.html
http://www.arcade4.co.uk
http://www.arcade4.co.uk/markp

[Triadis]

For raster 3D graphics I use 3D Studio Max. I feel that once one learns to use all the tools in it, it is the best program to model in. There are pretty much no limits to what you can do. But it's not that easy to learn. There are lot's of buttons and textbox's and sliders and little gadgets and stuff. So it's really overwhelming at first. But once you get the hang of it, it's great.

I also have Strata 3D Pro. What don't like about Strata is I feel it is very cumbersome to model in. The viewports move all funky and it's slow on my PC. But besides that, it's still easy to use. And that's what I like about it. It's pretty straight forward. All the buttons and stuff are right there in front of you. But my favorite thing about Strata is the way it handles textures: Super easy to use. And the results look good. Check out http://www.3d.com and look at their showcase artists. Some high quality stuff there. One more thing about Strata: there is a Free version of it. Now that's a plus.

Another program is Nendo. This program rocks. It's basicly just 3D modeler and painter. But you can get awsome results with it. It's super easy to use. It doesn't have all of the advanced features but it's still really powerful. It's also fun to use. For $99 I think it's a good deal. Nichimen, the makers of Nendo, also have another product called Mirai. I've never used it but the screenshots blow my mind. The only way to get a demo is by mail. I sent for it like a year ago but never got it. Maybe I try again. Anyway, check out http://www.nichimen.com

As for Vector 3D: Swift3D. It's all I need for 3D in Flash. It's super duper easy to use and works seamlessly in Flash. What I like about it is that you don't have to be Mr. 3DMaster to figure it out. Just put your art or font in the viewport, color it, make it move, then click export. Viola! 3D Flash. Cruise over to http://www.swift3d.com for more info.

I hope that helps.

- Alex

[Pope de Flash]

Here is a great FREE Program that will do a ton of stuff. Blender is a great full range 3D soultion.

http://www.blender.nl/

If you can afford it, Maya is the Bomb but it runs $20 -$25,000 USD. I have the great privilage of working in a shop that has three copies.

As Alex said 3D Max is a good solution it runs around $3,500 USD.

As far as Vector animation there is only one solution Swift 3D!!!!

Regards, Bill

[stoobie]

The problem with Swift3d is that you can't do any decent modeling, as I was extremely dissapointed to find out. In order to make something as simple as a cube I need to extrude a wingdings character.

But you can import 3ds files.

So the question is...Is there a package that exports to 3ds for less than $3500? Do Blender and/or Strata export to 3ds?

[sdalgarno]

blender exports .dxf so you need a program that can convert it to .3ds which is out there winfileconverter v4 shareware. but for cheap 3d truespace exports .3ds file imports .dxf .ai .eps .lwo version 2 being the cheapest at 50 dollars i think not sure about file imp or export on v2 but can speak for v3 at 99 dollars www.caligari.com of course im on a budget and am clueless about studio max etc also worth noting is a basic version of strata 3d available for free at www.strata.com about 24mb now how free free is im not sure both win and mac versions
by the by i still think blender is very good value free and about 2mb

[Christian]

Once learned, nothing compares to Autodesks 3D programs and with Vecta and Swift to import .3ds files it well worth the investment. Don't forget 3D Studio Viz is about half the price of Max.

[christo]

Hello all of you,
just a few words to say that Amapi also exports very well modeled 3Ds files and it's really cheap compared to other programs. You can now often find the 4.1 version for free, it does the job very well and it's incredibly easy to use.

[Highlander]

Dependent upon your budget, as Triadis and Pope de Flash said, 3DSMAX or Maya can't really be beaten, but give yourself a few months of hard graft to learn them. Caligari Truespace 4.2 is also pretty good, and it's cheap. For NURBS modelling Rhino 3D is ****hot, and again quite cheap. Both of these are really easy to pick up as well.
A month or two ago, Truespace 3 SE was given away free on the cover of "Computer Arts" magazine. (Known as "Digital Arts" in the US I think.) Caligari have also just released "I-Space" which is a 3D website development tool. I've downloaded a demo from their website but haven't had chance to play with it yet. Looks quite cool tho'.

[Jorge Gomez]

Well, if you want do make profesional 3D animation, only one choice, Maya and other packages for rendering like Renderman or Mental Ray , etc.

But if you want a good modeling package, a low cost Rhino3D, is a good choice, and i think this package export 3ds files.

For vector, I use swift 3D, really easy to use, but has many limitations, but it´s good, check other software, that is a plug-in for 3d max like Vecta 3d or Illustrate