I'm very interested in learning 3D modeling. I've been using others' objects in Poser, Bryce and Vue long enought that I'd like to learn to make my own... thing is, I have no clue where to start. Can anyone give me an idea of good 3d software to start learning with?

heyas, modeling is one of the greatest parts of 3d. to start u can pick a nurbs modeller such as rhinoceros. it is cheap and a very small learning curve. or u can choose a polygon modeler like nendo it is extremely cheap and u are able to do great stuff with it. rhino u can find at: www.rhino3d.com and the best rhino forum is right here at renderosity(u can buy it here for US$600,00) nendo's home is: www.nichimen.com US$100,00 good luck!

$600 is cheap? What does an expensive 3D program cost?

well, if u take maya for example u'll have to pay US$15.000,00. lightwave US$2500,00. they are expensive, but very good!!! oh, i almost forgot! u may want to check this out: ANIMATION: master. www.hash.com great software, great modeler(patches) great render, and great animation system. and US$300,00 maybe this is ur most complete choice. check this Animation master's work. www.navone.org he's a great person and very talented too. he works for pixar right now and his passport was an animation made in animation master.(outstanding work btw) good luck again.

Newtek makes a cut down version of Lightwave called Inspire. Inspire has been hailed the best poly modeler for your buck. If you just want a modeler, go with something like Inspire or Rhino. Lightwave and Maya are that amount of money because they come with great animation systems, fx tools, compositing tools, as well as many other things.

Don't forget about GMax. It's made by discreet (same people that make 3D Studio Max.) It's main focus is on game creation and game modelling. But from what I've heard it's a great little program and the interface is fairly similar to that of Max. Another one you might want to check out is Carrara, it's a pretty powerful little program. But it does lack some things like Nurbs and patches. Still good for the price though! I think around $400 - $600US. Most modelling programs are gonna run you anywhere from $150 - $600 for the "inexpensive" ones :) Jared

You can do a search for Amapi3D , it's a great modeller and was released for free awhile back. Personally I am a Rhino user but have bought Maya through work. Don't buy the latter since it's designed for teams rather than individuals.

Attached Link: http://www.anim8or.com

I'd like to recommend anim8or. It's free, and a neat little program. It will export obj files, which means you can use it to create Poser characters. The author of the program is very helpful, and always responds to emails. It's pretty basic, but you can't beat the price, and you can find out if you like modeling enough to invest in a more expensive package. If you want to use it to make Poser figures and morph targets, I have two beginner tutorials at http://www.jabberdoggy.com/Tutorials/Tutorials.html.

I will have to say for the bucks Amapi seems to be the best I have used. If you run a Mac try pixel putty I use a PC now and that is the one program I wish would be ported over. AMapi is a Nurbs modeller and can do things like facet etrusion that makes for capabilities to make character models. Also a technique I have been using is to make a model in Amapi and then animate it in poser by making different versions of the model and using them as morph tagets. It works out smoother than using the bones in Poser.

you can buy Rhino here for $570 or $185 if you are a student. There is also a full function demo the only restriction is you can only save 25 times, which is enough to find out if you like it or not. Visit the Rhino forum here there are lots of tutorials and helpful people there.

Yeah try rhino, I just started using the demo, starting to learn, and geting along very well with the rhino forum ppl (I think)

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

I'd like to add a another potential software to the modelling shootout. BlenderCreator by NAN. The current version is 2.22. I've been using Blender for six months, and I think it's a great tool. It has everything you need to get started without the investment that you would have to make for a more popular modeller. Blender Is a full featured, all in one program that supports nurbs, curves, metaballs, animation, you can build complex layered textures, and phototextures. It uses open GL and has it's own renderer and Game engine. It's an all in one package and it's FREE. The only downside that I've found with Blender is that it only exports dxf and vrml1. To get around this, I use Crossroads to convert my models to .obj format to use them with Poser and other apps. The interphase takes some getting used to, but once you dive in, I think you'll find that you can work alot faster than with other apps. Definately worth checking out. That's MY 2 cents.. Peace~

Thanks so much to all of you for your advice...I'm looking into the above titles as we speak :)

thanks too! i am JUST getting started in....(wincing look) Poser 3...