I've been using Wings 3D for some time now and I am still going to use it. But I have noticed some comments about Rhino and that it can do things that Wings cannot. Also Silo was mentioned as a good modeller... So what's the difference between Silo and Rhino? (abilities and price too.) Plus any comments on other modellers? P.S. (Blender need not be mentioned - cos I've tried that and can't get my head around it.)

I think the difference is that Rhino is nurbs and Silo is subdivision ;)

Attached Link: http://www.curvy3d.com/

One major difference: Silo is a polygonal modeller, like Wings. You push and pull polygons and edges, bevel or extrude them and so on. Rhino is a NURBS modeller. It means that basically everything starts with curves which then create surfaces. You can do extrusions, bevels and fillets, but everythign can be done with curves, too. As to the abilities of both, it depends on the author. The only one that I know with Silo is Kemal (and bobtronic over in Cinema gallery, but he has just one pic, AFAIR). Kemal does wonderful stuff with Silo. Rhino users appear to be technically oriented (me included :-)) and you can see cars and planes and stuff, but you also have Teyon who's wonderful with weird creatures and Xurge who models all of his Poser clothes in Rhino. OTOH, Silo costs $109, while Rhino is 895 euros (for you in Scotland. IINW). For the Americans, it's $895. Modo also costs quite a lot, $895, and it's something like Wings/Silo, cause it's a polygonal modeller. Other modellers would include Cinema, which is a full blown app for 499 pounds/ 499 euros (great speedy renderer and materials, too) and which has both polygonal and NURBS-like modelling. See Kromekat's, Cartesius's or 3D Explorer's stuff for models done in Cinema. I haven't tried Curvy 3D (see the link), but it has a painting approach to modelling and costs just $84, as opposed to ZBrush 2, which uses a similar approach, wonderful for organics, but costs $529 for the boxed version. IIRC, Zhann was a beta-tester for Curvy 3D and you should ask her about it.

At current prices, XSI foundation is a steal (299)

But if you purchase Modo now (the price is $695 at the moment), you will get a free upgrade to Modo 201, which include click and drag UV unwrapping, 3D painting, radiosty renderer with micropolygon displacement as well as the modelling. Ok, sorry - it sounds like an advert, but I'm loving modelling in Modo at the moment and it's the most exciting future I have seen for any application. We all like different things...the best thing to do is try the demos :) Cheers

Attached Link: http://www.blender.org

Blender does nurbs, converts a beacoup amount of formats, and has a few useful things in it. I'm currently using it as a 'toolkit' for the things that Wings doesn't do (and Wings for the things that I can't figure out how to do in Blender..;)..it's free. It suffers from a convoluted interface, and wants to be a little bit of everything (models, renders, andimation, etc), but hey, whaddayawantforfree? rubber biscuit?..;) oh, and to answer your question, apparently, about $800..;)

Message edited on: 08/26/2005 16:34

Hmm. If U guys dont mind me asking, then whats the difference between Wings3D and Silo? Seems they both look alike, so whats the difference, except for the Price of course. Thankx...

If you are going to model things, that is inorganic objects such as cars, radios, boats, spacehips, airplanes, then Rhino is your choice. If you are going for organics like beasts and birds and humanoids and fishes and such, then you will probably want to try Silo, or one of the other Polygon modelers. Check out Teyon's work in the modeling forum. I understand he is using Silo and Wings3D for most of his stuff these days.

Fran if youare comfortable with wings then I woudl reccomend Silo. While the interface is different there are soem similarities and you will be ableto navigate aroudn a bit better. Teyon has been doing a lot of creatures now in Silo. Silo has more features and can handle more polygons then wings. You can try it for 2 weeks see if you like it. Rhino is a great modeler but is compleatly alien to me.

I am an AutoCad/Rhino/Cinema modeler, but I have recently bought Silo and I think it is really cool. It is easy to learn and the workflow is very fast. I have wanted a modeler for organics and snatched up Silo after going through the Nevercenter and user websites. If you do the same, you will find that the program offers a great deal for its price and is very well supported...the guys who create the program actually visit their site's forum and take requests. :D What really got me to crack open my wallet was the preview for the next version due out in a few months. It will have displacement painting and UV texture editing. YooHoooo! If you are looking for an all in one program, I echo what has been said...take a good long look a SoftImage XSI. You get a lot of program for not much cash.

well if you couldnt get your head around blender im afraid all the other pro packages will do you in too fran, paying buckets of money wont making 3d any easier , even for max you have to study to a bible of a manual. I advise you blender once more and now just buy the book and do your tuts before jumping in. :P

Max has one of the worst learning curves I know of. The only rival is Lightwave. Cinema is much easier.

Well, professionally I have used Max and Maya and use Cinema 4D and Modo when "relaxing" after the 9to5 job and tried Blender a few years back and have poped my head around the door now and again since. Now Blender is a pretty powerfull package but it lacks one thing...effective workflow. For me too many clicks, too many commands hidden away when they should be there at hand. Although to give Blender credit where it is due, some paid for apps suffer from a convoluted workflow also. For free, I don't think you can go wrong with Blender if you put in the work to get to grips with it, but for anybody starting in 3D modelling I fear it would put more people off rather than engrossing them in the artistic process. Cheers

Hi Fran- Cinema pulled me in with its all round performance. I picked up the core and Advanced Render module and am now contemplating adding BodyPaint3D. Overall not cheap but not as big a ticket as some of the other main apps. I found the transition from bryce to be relatively easy. Using bryce and poser now mostly as plugins for special mesh needs. Richard

Thanks to all for their comments. I think that Max and Maya are out of my financial league. Cinema; I think I have a downloaded demo of that somewhere, on the other computer I think. I also have trial versions of Modo, and now Silo and Curvy3D. I must try to get a demo of Rhino too - if they do one. I have a week before I go to Oman for a couple of months, there I'll have time to try these things out, but as I'll be on a 56k modem again and the internet is often down over there, I'll need to download demos here first. I do like the sound of the future Silo displacement painting - ever since I've heard of displacement painting I've wanted something that does it...