Just want to start off by saying that I just found this site yesterday....and the art work is just amazing! I've been a pencil and paper artist for most of my life, and I want some ideas on the best way to switch over to some 3d modeling/drawing. I downloaded the demo for poser4 ( I think its 4 anyway)..but it is very limited in what can be done. Seems good tho...is it worth buying the full program, or should I start with something else? All ideas and help are greatly appreciated> :)

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?ForumID=12445

Ah well it depends what you want do and since you're new to 3d you probably don't have a clear idea yourself ? LOL!

Poser is pretty good at what it does and you can produce impressive results with it. It's also very cheap now!
Bryce ( from www.daz3d.com) is another huge bargain now, it's a landscape programme and has a better renderer than Poser4 (though it's very slow) Both these apps are pretty old now, which is why they're so cheap! With Poser you're pretty much stuck with existing models (though you can change their appearance using morphs, different textures etc.) Bryce will allow you to create landscapes from scratch.

If you want create models yourself you'll need a modeller, there are dozens ranging in price from free to thousands of dollars!Even a cheap commercial modeller will cost you a hundred so I'd recommend starting with a free one, at least until you know a little about 3d and can make a semi informed choice!

My favourite modeller is Wings3d (available for FREE from www.wings3d.com)it's as good at what it does as any commercial app and better than most!

Silo (www.nevercenter.com) costs $109 (which really cheap for a good modeller)and is also very good.It will also allow you to try a wider variety of modelling methods than Wings. Both of these apps are first class modellers and I'd say were easily as good at what they do as the major packages that cost a fortune (Maya, Max, XSI)Neither has a renderer though so you'll need something like Bryce to show off your models. There are also excellent free renderers but they tend to be more difficult to use and I wouldn't recommend them to a total beginner.

Also look out for freebies on magazine cover CDs. Apps like old versions od Cinema, Truespace, Amapi are given away or sold for very low prices quite regularly. Hope that helps and hasn't confused you even more! :o)

If you try Wings drop by the forum here (see link), we're a friendly and helpful bunch! - Baz

Message edited on: 07/16/2004 03:51

Message edited on: 07/16/2004 03:52

Believe you will be like most of us... and find that the more apps the better. Poser I think you will find usefull, and it's fairly easy to use. Bryce for the current price would be handy for landscapes as well as a renderer, though it does a good job, as a raytracer, it's slow though.

Other ideas as well as wings which is a polygon modeler, is Rhino - which is a nurbs modeler. The demo is full featured and allows 25 saves. Has a different approach to modeling then a poly modeler, but for some of us is more intuitive and logical...

Another idea is zbrush, which is on my "to buy" list. It has some capabilities that no other has, though the learning curve is suppose to be steep.

Cinema4d, max, lightwave, soft image, maya - - - are higher priced, but allow animation and particle effects.

A good image editing program, like photoshop, paintshop pro, or painter, is another essential - for texture creation, compositing, etc. UVmapper classic is good and free, there's a pro version, and then there's the high priced body paint and deep paint for texturing...

Still Poser, Bryce, Paintshop Pro, and Wings will take you a long ways for minimum outlay of cash - especially if you are a student (or know one) student discounts can save you a lot, and in most cases, the academic versions is the same as the pro market....

Have patience, and have fun experimenting, and gaining technique and skills. Being a traditional artist will be a great asset as well moving to 3d.

Best, hewsan

also, keep your eyes open for the following magazines; Digit, Computer Art, 3d World, in the past, they've had (older) but complete versions of things like Strata, Cinema 4d, Xfrog, Poser 3, etc., (I think I hold the record for most packages used in a single render..15..;) Also Terragen (forum and web link on this site) does good landscapes, and is also free..welcome to the place, and have fun..

I would suggest Zbrush since you are new to 3d modeling. I would compare it more to modeling out of real clay than building up your mesh like in other programs. The learning curve isnt very bad at all dispite what people might think. The interface is a little wierd to get used to at first though cause it isnt set up like most programs. Poser isnt really a modeling program but more setting up scenes so i dont think thats the way you want to go, or mabey you do but you wont be able to create your own models but just tweak settings of models that other people have created. Also Silo is a pretty cheap way to start and it is also a pretty good program from what i heard but all it has is modeling. Maya, Max, Lightwave, Softimage XSI are probably your best ones to get but they will set you back about $1000-8000. I personally use Maya and Zbrush and love them both. www.pixologic.com has a free demo of zbrush if you want to try it out and Maya has a free version Called Maya PLE that you can try out and see if you like them. The only thing about PLE is that it watermarks all of your renders so you cant really use it but for learning but you cant beat the price lol. Also I think about all of the rest have free demos that you could try too. I hope that helps a little.

Isn't Zbrush a tad expensive... Ofcourse there is a demo to try.... How does Zbrush compare to Amphorium...???

I think Zbrush is about the same price as Photoshop. I think it was around $550. If you want to texture your models in any other program you probably will need a copy of photoshop along with a copy of that program but with z brush you can texture your models efficiently inside of the program. The only downfall to z brush is that it doesnt have any animation capabillities. I dont know how Z brush compares to Amphorium because ive never used it. Zbrush is the closest thing to modeling out of real clay that i found out there which makes making impressive 3d models really fast. Unlike other 3d programs where you mostly pull and push verticies to shape your model. Plus it has a very powerfull displacement mapping system that makes a very very low poly model look like it is over a million polys. One more thing to blab on about Zbrush is that Weta Digital (Lord of the Rings makers) are using zbrush to make all of their 3d models now. One example is the King of the Dead in the last movie plus a lot of the orc characters. So yes, Zbrush is a tad expensive but whell worth the price in my opinion. Best 500 that ive ever spent on a program.

O yea i forgot to Mention Rhino earlier. Its a pretty good nurbs modeler but the thing with nurbs is that they are kind of hard to use for beginners.

and it costs even more..;)

Attached Link: http://forms.caligari.com/forms/ts3all_free.html

You can get Truespace 3.2 free from this link. It's not the best modeler (IMHO) but it's OK, and it does incorporate a pretty good renderer. It's a big download, though (about 18Meg as I remember) so use a download manager with resume (in case of linedrop) if you're on dial-up. If you get Metasequoia LE (see the masthead box above for a link) you can model in that and export directly to Truespace.

Mick. ps Forgot to say, this info is only valid if you're using PC/Windoze

Message edited on: 07/19/2004 16:13