[Veltliner]

I know there is GIMP, the free alternative to Photoshop, but I don't know anybody who's using it. Me, too, I prefer Photoshop.

The main cost of a new software is not the purchase price, but the time and effort to become good at using it.

Well, in 3D applications the price is much, much higher than Photoshop.

So, Blender would be interesting. It looks like there is a complete network supporting it.

But my question is: is it kind of a standard that people are actually using?

Or is it just another free alternative, that cannot keep up with the professionally used applications like Cinema 4D?

[Veltliner]

Huh, obviosly nobody is using it...

[SirCastor]

I use blender, but I am by no means a 3D artist, I'm just a guy that goofs around. What I have observed is that a significant number of amateur 3Ders use things like 3DSmax convinced that it is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Professionally, I have heard of Maya being used, but only in passing. The only commercial software that I have seen actually used has been Lightwave. Lightwave has been used in Battlestar Galactica, and I've seen that from a direct source. (here)

Unlike image editing, where Photoshop is the end-all-be-all, the 3D world is a bit more diverse. More than anything else, I've heard that most shops write their own software, rather than use someone else's. I know this is the case with Mainframe Entertainment as well as Pixar.

I think Blender is and always will be a fringe product, even though it is fully featured and very powerful. This is just the reality of the software market where there are so many choices. As there are more artists experienced with 3DSmax than with blender, most studios will probably look for max people. Blender gets chosen because a studio wants to be open source or they can't afford it (at which point, why are they a studio?)

That said, once you get a feel for the interface, 3D sculpting and animating is not that different from program to program. The buttons may be different, but I think that anyone who is an experienced artist will be able to transition within a week or two.

[Veltliner]

Me to, I'm rather looking into playing and fooling at the moment.

I looked into 3D magazine, and found, too, that 3DSmax is being used by most.

The best work is being done by people using 3DS, but it looks like that it's not the software, but the people - that those are pros, and this is why their work is so good.

Good to hear that the different applications are different, so you're not investing into some really exotic software (time, I mean, not money, as it is free), that leaves you like on an island.

I have seen very interesting work from people using 3D software in combination with Photoshop, so I got curious.

There is quite a Blender community out there, and if, as you say, any software can do the 3D game, it's not a bad idea to choose free, open source software over 3500$ software.