I've been trying to encourage the desktop publishing designers at work to get started with 2D/3D animations. We have Director and Premiere for 2D stuff and Adobe Dimensions and Infini-D for 3D. I mainly use Poser, Infini-D and Premiere for my animations. The complaint I've heard from some of the folks at work is that our 3D apps aren't very "intuitive". Since Infini-D has been discontinued we are looking for a replacement.Some of the suggestions from others has been Lightwave, 3D Studio Max or Maya, since they seem pretty popular and probably won't be discontinued like Infini-D. My feeling is that you can't much more "entry-level" than Dimensions and Infini-D and if they're having trouble learning those then I doubt any other app is going to be more "intuitive", unless you slap on a VR helmet and gloves and do your modeling/animating that way. It seems there's always a layer of abstraction with any 3D app and they should get used to it. I'm personally interested in Ligtwave but I'm not recommending it to others. So, any thoughts on this? Are there any 3D apps that are more "intuitive", that can actually take a technology like 3D and make it as simple as "A-B-C"? Cinema4D,Strata Studio Pro, Pixels3D? Thanks (I posted this in the 3D Applications forum but this forum seems to get more traffic)

Well, if Poser is beyond them, then there is no hope. Poser is the most intuitive animation program around bar none. As for modeling, there are no programs that could be considered A-B-C in simplicity since modeling is intrinsically difficult. The closest thing to easy modeling would be Bryce and Amorphium. Of course, you wouldn't use Bryce for character modeling and amorphium gives limited results. I think that the best trade off for power and simplicity for modeling AND animation (with a fantastic price point) would have to be Animation:Master. It is by no means simple to use but it's powerful, cheap and can do everything. It is also a far site easier to learn than Maya or Max!!! Chris

Well as a former strata3-d studio user i would say pick up 3-d studio max the interface is straightforward and the material editor is a very powerful tool i like the fact that you can edit anything in the modifier stack and see instant results there is a slight learning curve, but i find it easier to use than strata and also in strata the normals flip misteriously during animation, but just one comment no one 3-d app. is ideal for everything max is easy to learn but lacks the rendering Quality Lightwave has better modelling and rendering but is sometimes confusing and maya well its too expensive