[nayr x]

Hi All,

I need to expand my 3D capabilities here in the near future. The only 3D I have ever really used is Bryce (although I have pushed that to its limits). I am working on a large project and have some money available to upgrade to a more capable program such as Maya, Lightwave or the likes. Price isnt too much of an issue, I can get Maya Unlimited 7 Student Version for less that 300 i believe... anyway, if anyone has experience or knows which of the candidates (including any I havent listed in my comprehensive list above) may provide the best soluition. I need something with a learning curve (I pick things up quick anyway) that wont stop me in my tracks.

Most of what Ill be doing is generating landscapes and geologic landforms for later animation to incorporate into HD video. In many cases they will likely be more diagramatic, with less emphasis on photo-realism. Also, the ability to preview in realtime sounds appealing (One of the big drawbacks of bryce).

Any sugestions are appreciated

[loki74]

LOL Have you been keeping up w/ your other thred?

Anyway I'll basically repeat what I said, now that I actually own Lightwave and Vue.

If you want to make lanscapes, and that's pretty much it, go with Vue. It can create intredible landscapes and has many features. Unfortunately (although not as bad as LW) it does not give much store the Apple HI Guidelines. At any rate, its imagery is incredible, and the EcoSystem and SolidGrowth technologies are massively useful. Terrain generation is ridiculously simple. (I can only speak of Vue 5 Infinite, as I have not used any other versions of the program). One of the rendering drawbacks is that I can't quite figure out how to get the DOF to work, and the AA is funny sometimes.

However, a slightly (ok, greatly) cheaper and quite reputable terrain generation software is Terragen. Word has it it is obscenely simple to create moderately realistic terrains.

But it sounds like you are also looking for something more advanced? Vue is lacking in animation capabilities, and I don't even know what Terragen can do.

Basically it looks like this... Lighwave has the hands-down best modeling system. Its animation capabilities, while formidable, seem to pale in comparison to Maya. Maya has an OK modeler, while its animation capabilities are incredible. (This is based on the opinons I've seen expressed on a couple of message boards)

Another package you might want to look into is Maxon Cinema 4D. I checked out their site and the software looks pretty impressive. The modeling capabilites don't look quite as good as LW's, but they certainly look easier to use than Maya's. I did not do a whole lot of looking into its animation capabilities.

One of the most popular packages is 3DS Max. Use this if you want to make videogames (doesn't sound like what you'll be doing...)

The package I would call the smallest of the big boys is Strata3D CX. The thing I love most about this program is its similarity in UI to Photoshop, as well as its tight integration with Photoshop. I would probably be using this program were it not for the fact that (imo) its view rotation behaves very odd--in Maya and LW and A:M, the camera can rotate around its personal X and Y axis, , but not its Z axis. In strata, the camera rotates on all of its personal axes, which makes viewing your object very odd. Also, it does not have a darker interface, which is something I like.

The package I would call the biggest of the small boys is Hash Animation:Master. This is probably the most unique program as far as modeling--it does not use polygons, Sub-D, or NURBS. It uses a system of splines and "Hash" patches. I suppose it is most similar to NURBS, seeing as how it is a type of curve, but in my experience using Maya, NURBS are much more difficult to manipulate. This type of modeling can be more tedious than Sub-D, but it is much lower resolution, and does have conventions for providing patch resolution on demand (in the form of "hooks" and 5-point patches) Unlike the otheres, it is not scriptable.



All of the above mentioned porgrams are good decisions IMO and have good reputations in various things. It sounds like you want to create landscapes, but not be limited to only landscape creation--you want something less lightweight. In this case I would make sure you have a terrain generating software that can export (is this what Bryce does? I never really looked into it) and then go with whatever you can afford. If you don't have a terrain solution, I would suggest you do what I did--get LW and Vue together and save a lot of money. Conversely, you could get Terragen which is very inexpensive, or a cheaper version of Vue, and then get a very heavy weight main app--ie Maya.

As for the learning curve issue, it sounds like you are fairly experienced, if you have been able to push any program to its limits. Maya was pretty intimidating to the likes of an amature such as myself, but who knows? Maybe it will be a walk in the park for you. The best way to find out if you ask me is to download the Maya PLE if you haven't already done so. Its free although you do need to register. Poking around in the program will provide you with a pretty good feel as to whether or not you'll be able to swallow a pill as big as Maya.

Best of luck!

[fluffmaster]

Maya:
It does have some learning curve, but that curve depends a lot on how savvy & quick to learn you are. Also there are just tons of learning resources for it on the net. And, if you ever want a gig doing 3d - maya is definitely in demand.

C4d is ok, I used it for about a month at one point. Wasn't what I was looking for.
I used Lightwave for a couple years.. and honestly, I think maya's got it spanked.

You should check out this one 'Modo'. That looks pretty sweet...
Good luck & have fun.

[loki74]

Yes, Modo 201 is very impressive... but AFAIK it only does modeling/rendering. If I were doing landscape stuff, I wouldnt model any of it by hand.. I'd use a displacement map, and then maybe do stuff with it. Well technically speaking I would use Vue, but assuming one does not have Vue, I would use a map.

[fluffmaster]

Yeah I was checking it out for modeling & looks hot!
I don't do much landscape.. any environment work
I do is urban anyway, but have seen some great work
done in Vue.

Some really nice tools out these days... makes me wish
my days were like 100x longer. damn.