[AC]

Can anyone recomend any good,free 3D modelling programs that can be downloaded? The best that I have found so far is Truespace 1!

[GiGGeR]

Blender is a nice and free 3d package for beginners

you can download it at www.blender.nl

Good luck and have fun

[Etah D'Te]

Rhinoceros!!!! www.rhino3d.com you get a 25 save version for free, it's mainly nurbs and splines but it has really stable booleans too. Muchos sweetas!

[JoeKool]

Nendo is free. It rocks! http://www.wingededge.com/nendo/

[Vgta]

Try mirai also, by the same company that makes nendo
http://www.nichimen.com/mirai/index.html

by the way, thanks for the comments.

[JoeKool]

Yeah..I have Mirai. Quite an excellent polygonal modeler. Max does better with textures, particles and rendering. The Inverse Kinematic system, as well as the speed of modeling in Mirai cant be beat. Blows Max, Lightwave, Maya out of the water..
Wish someone would buy their code and incorporate it into their software (imagine Maya's nurbs with Mirai's IK and polys. DANG!)..I think Nichimen went out of business (?)

[AC]

Ok - Its me again... I've tried blender, spent quite a few hours on it now, seems quite cool, but not that cool.

Do we have an agreement on whether nendo or mirai is better for basic modelling? I'm more interested in 3D for art purposes rather than game design etc, if that makes any difference.

[JoeKool]

Mirai IS a better modeler. Its also not free.

Nendo has no numerical entry..nothing is precise. It is more for quick sketching out models, for visualization purposes, for goofing around..for beginners..etc
Nendo is a VERY fast modeler and has a simple 3d painting program as well. Theres no skeletal system, no animation, no particles. etc.
But considering its FREE..and an extrmeely capable modeler..its excellent. i think every art house, game house..outhouse..should have it.

[AC]

OK - thanks for the help. By "free" do you mean download the demo? - Its not time restricted or anything?

Thanks again

[elam]

Nendo is not free. I forget the restrictions of the demo, but it cost $99.00.
I disagree it's for beginners. It's got some nice features, very capable. Blender can hold it's own as well, just takes some time to learn it's quirky interface.

Elam

[ambient-whisper]

just so you know. wingededge is known as IZware now. they did a whole company re-construction. they should have an update to mirai within a few weeks. ( or so i been told by a good source ).

for rendering and textures....yes its not the best app to use but with jig support in the near future ( a month or 2 from now ) i think itll get right back up to speed in that area.( since jig does hair rendering...and does it very well)..also micropolys for displacements, and kickass volumetrics.

as for mirai having an awesome modeller and ik / character tools that other apps cant even touch..i agree to an extent. because that was the case 2 years ago...but isnt as much of a case anymore with other apps raping the mirai tech and incorportaing it into their own apps... ( though from what i learned about the mirai 1.5 beta...itll be right back up on top when it comes to character setup and animation ( just wish IZware had better marketing so that more people would realise the power of mirai.)

nehoo...enough out of me.

[Dan3d]

Have any of you considered using Realsoft3D?This is also noy a free modeler, but it has awesome features for a very reasonable price. You can check it out at the link below:

Realsoft Home Page

[mk]

There are three low price but high end progs.

LightWave -> www.newtek.com (checkout the gallery!)
AnimationMaster-> www.hash.com
Cinema -> www.maxon.de

I think all have Demos to test.

Maybe you should buy an Prog. if you are really intressted. In this way you wont put it away when you hang somewhere, because you dont want to throw your money out of the window. Simple Trick but it works.

Cheers MK

So... now i have to test this ubb-code thing...

[MeatyCheesyBoy]

Lightwave is considered low price? It's $2400. Cinema 4dXL's like $1500.

For low cost solutions I would look at Blender which is free but the company recently announced bankrupcy from what I understand so don't expect many updates, Strata Studio which is also free, Animation Master which $299, Nendo, which is $99 but is modelling and painting only, no animation, real 3d, which is $700, or Cinema 4dGO which is $200.

[TylerHunter]

Nendo is the best cheap/free modeler, play with it, it has a smooth option so its a sufficent SubD modeler, so give it a shot, you'd be suprised what could be made with it.

Tyler

[JoeKool]

elam et all-
Nendo IS free. you get every function EXCEPT the import/export of .3ds, .obj..etc but there is no timer on it..etc. So, if you build the model in Nendo and then want to bring it to Max to animate..yes..it is $99.00..which is quite reasonable in the grand scheme of things.