[Tomten]

Which program shall i use? is 3d-studio max the ultimate 3d-modeler?

[faustgfx]

yes.



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sky high with a heartache of stone you never see me 'cos i'm always alone

[email protected] /
icq#35983387

[SporQ]

no

[Visigoth]

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Your car is a fiberglass penis extension.

[Flinthawk]

yes

[Flinthawk]

no

[Flinthawk]

well, maybe...it's what I use for work anyway =)

[[Shizo]]

yes

[waylon]

Use max or maya. Most people use max. Some people say Maya is cooler, but I guess Max is more plug-in friendly, which is why it's still more popular for game-art.

Err, I mean "yes".

[Trance-R]

Lightwave is the easiest to pick up and use instantly. That's the one for you if you want to start modeling instantly without having to shuffle through menu items. Every modeling tool is assigned a shortcut key.

Max... I don't understand how to use. I don't even know how to edit a mesh in there.

[EviLToYLeT]

... there really isn't an ultimate modeler. It's just kind of like tablets. There are like dozens of brands of tablets, but in the end they get you the same results with only perhaps a small difference. Go try them out and use whichever is most comfortable and appeasing for you.

[Xyberbulb]

3D Studio Max is by far the best modeler in the business now. Why do you think so many gameing companies use it. But both Maya and Softimage have better light and shadow renders and are faster as well. You can emulate very good shadows in max as long as you understand lighting and shadows cause soft shadows in max is still very ruff and jagged.

Also its good to base your models on texture and a lot of the lighting can be put into there. As well max has character studio and many forms of bones and spacewarps. So max is the best over all but still needs work.

[Bradford]

Lightwave and Softimage are nice.

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[email protected]
icq#:3704871

[anticz]

They are all pretty much the same. I use sub division surfaces for most of the stuff I build. Max, Mirai, Nendo (very in-expensive and powerful), LightWave all have some flavor of sub-D (I'm talking about polys here, not NURBs, though technically they are a type of sub-d surface) built in. Maya has a somewhat less robust sub-d approximation called poly-smooth (if I remember correctly) but, it can be extended with Pixars sub-d surface plug-in (although, it's somewhat pricey). Ultimatly it comes down to whatever package you feel comfortable using and have access to. Also, keep in mind that sub-d's are not the only alternative for modeling and you may prefer some other method (splines, NURBs, H-splines, ect...). Hope all of this isn't to confusing and you find some of it useful.

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Mike B. - Supervising Janitor
anticz.com
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[faustgfx]

i say yay for nendo.



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sky high with a heartache of stone you never see me 'cos i'm always alone

[email protected] /
icq#35983387

[Anthony]

Model in LW...send to Dp3D for UVs...send to Maya for animating...send to LW for surfacing and rendering...send to Digital Fusion for edits. :]

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-Anthony
Carpe Carpem

[M Cuevas]

quote:

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Originally posted by Xyberbulb:
Why do you think so many gameing companies use it.

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I think most gaming companies use 3DSMax because it's cheaper. A seat of Max (roughly $3,495) is a bargain compared to a seat of Maya Complete ($7,500). Plus, Max isn't as stingent on PC qualifications as Maya is although that's slowly changing. In addition, Maya Builder is supposed to be a more cost effective solution but it lacks a great deal of features.

From experience, I like Maya a great deal. I started out using Wavefront then moved over to Max after a year or two (for cost reasons) and I quickly grew fond of it. When the first release of Maya came out, I still stuck with Max for its superior polygonal modeling capabilites. Maya just seemed to be playing catch up. But now, with the advent of subdiv surfaces in 3.0, I'm officially converted. Again, just my opinion.

[Giant Hamster]

Max - is good for Low poly work and is very well organized. the modeler and layout are on the same screen. and is really cheap.

Lightwave - is a bitch. but its good. it can do a lot of funkyness. and its cheap.

maya - is funky! looks great! cost a lot! but is easy.

softimage - is also funky and looks great! cost way too much, and isnt as easy.

so i would reccomend getting Max first, and playing with that for a while. get used to 3d. then get lightwave. get the "inside lightwave" book while your at it.

i prefer lightwave 6.0 over the rest. 5.5 used to be my fav. and 6.5 they moved everything.

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-JameZ the Giant Hamster-

The Hamster Alliance
AIM: Gianthmstr
Multimedia Producer/designer/all of the above.,overall guru :)...and music music music! weee!!

[toast!]

max is good , but not the best for fast modeling i think (maybe for low poly or subdivision surfaces methods ) ; i personnaly get used to rhino3d (it s very close to maya / alias modeling techniques with nurbs) and when i came back for modeling in max , it s a real pain ; the shorcuts , zooms , pans, contestual menus are not working as good as rhino or maya for example ; I suggest max for animation , i admit it is really a great program with an intuitive interface when coming to character animation .

has somebody tryed the 4th version ? the previews makes it think that many maya interfaces stuff have been ripped (like on the 3rd thought ).

[ferdz]

Low -end its nendo for about a hundred dollars.

On the high end side look at its big brother Mirai. Viewpoint Datalabs uses it as their modeler.

Basically I a max 3d guy. Its what is required of me at work but if I could get my hands at mirai.........

[Infinity]

milkshape 3d

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f33r me

[zeebit]

just sculpt it and scan it in.
i think digiscribe's 3d scanner is only 3,000 bucks and paraform or cyslice(if you want it in NURBS) are only 20,000 a piece.
heh
but i use maya.
-pete

[Ben Barker]

I'm a MAX guy, but Tomten should get a cheaper program first, like Hash A.M. You doesn't really need 'the ultimate 3D modeler' if you're just starting.

And Ghost is going to bring Max's renderer up to the level of Lightwave

[balistic]

My tool is better than your tool.



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"What we're hearing, techno, is the process of trying to create something of the future." - J.M.

Brian "balistic" Prince
3D Artist
Eggington Productions
www.bprince.com