Attached Link: HELP - Christmas is around the corner!

Hello! Okay guys and gals, can you help me make a decision for my Christmas list. I have poser, and I want to make the most of my 3d world. I would like to know your opinions on what programs to use to custom make props, etc. to either import poser objects to or import objects into poser. For example, I hear 3dsm is difficult. I hear that Maya is great. Rhino...not really for me. I heard Vue' dEspirit was easy. I'm experienced and knowledgable to 3d rendering but I'm not an expert. So could someone point me in the right direction. I mostly work on the web but animation isn't necessary. It's nice but it's not the highlight. I rather work with the art of it all. Creating textures and objects to intergrade in Poser and vise versa. I was told to make my xmas list. HELP! Comments please.

I would suggest that you get the demos. Just about all the major brands have demos except Lightwave (they have one but never sent after several requests). I got that dvgarage toolkit that was offered at www.universe3d.com on the popup window. Great value for $200. Fantastic modeler and animator. Comes with Amorphium Pro. Only downside is the modeler saves in .fac format and you have to run it through amorphium to convert to .obj. Lightwave is on my Christmas list. I think there's a poser plugin. Cinema is touted by many as very good to use with Poser. I didn't like the demo, but others love the program. If money wasn't an object, I'd get Softimage XSI. Maya has a personal learning edition for free on their site, good for one year. Full version but with watermark. Steep learning curve. I prefer Bryce over Vue, though Vue imports from pz3 better than Bryce imports. Again there's a demo. Also on my wish list is a 3d paint program. Deep Paint seems to be the best. I liked the demo but it didn't like my machine. BodyPaint is good also, but a bit strange to use. Or you could join the DAZ platinum club and go wild. Ok, that's my two cents.

Custom make props: Anim8or (free) or Truespace Outdoor scenery: Vue4 w/Ozone plugin Postwork: Photoshop 7 Postwork tool: Wyacom 4x5 tablet Character creation: P4 ProPack, or Poser5 Must have models: Millenium family (Mike, Steph, Vickie, and the kids... lo res are good, version 2 are better) Purchase tool: DAZ Platnum Account Merry Christmas

Thank you :-) Maybe I should of listed what I already have. Wacom tab, adobe, bryce, poser4 going to 5. Got the extra poser models to. Lightwave would be great but I'd have to save for that. You're right, I'll have to get demos. Happy holidays!

Funny, no one mentioned Rhino as a modeler tool. It's a great program, honestly. I've tried a few others down at school and just couldn't get the hang of them. Rhino is kinda the "get your feet wet" it's not a great renderer, but there's always Flamingo for that. For a few hundred bucks, IMHO, Rhino is definitly worth it if you're just going to be doing Props for other apps (like Poser or Bryce) I've used Lightwave and 3DS at school and the learning curve is a hell of a lot steeper than Rhino's is. But get the downloads and see which one works for YOU. It's not a matter of what other's use, it's what clicks for you that counts. Demo's are a definite upside.

Three programs come to mind. All of them are named Rhino. I tried learning Amapi, Lightwave, Truespace, 3DS Max, Cinema 4D XL, and Rhino. I have to say that Rhino was the easiest. It doesn't do animation, but makes great models.

Man i wish I had rich loved ones who could get me $2500 software for X-mas. :p

LOL student, I haven't been a student since 1986! :-)

The good thing about Rhino is the help you can get with it at PoserPros. Wonder about all the new clothing coming out over there? Cin's baby Doll, Sabina's clothing, Xena's clothing pack. Xurge and DW have been teaching up a storm on Rhino. I know that other things can tip one towards one proggie or another, but here's one that has built in teaching right at hand. Emily

Lightwave would be a wonderful gift but um...gawd! that is not in my budget, I'm going to try the rhino demo. I'm an XBox addict and gammer so, it might be something I can look in to. Oh heck, I'll just try anything I can get my hands on as demos! I'm in the middle of rebuilding my web site. I already built a world with adobe atmopshere, working with my poser... dum dee dum...I think I'm going to be locked up for madness! hahahha. Thanks peeps. www.sashly.com My poor husband. He asked for a xmas list.

Going to Bryce 5? Make that a MUST on your list. As for Rhino, I guess its ok if you want to memorize a bunch of icon images. LW and EIU have text driven tool bars with only a little bit of very obvious icon usage. Get the demos and see what you like. I can't say enough about EIU. Nurbs, ubernurbs, bezier, skin, extrude, rotate, yada yada yada. All the major tools. Like I said, the only downside is having to use amorphium to convert from .fac to .obj. And its way cheaper than Rhino and you'll have a ball with Amorphium pro. www.universe3d.com they have demos.

Attached Link: http://www.annsartgallery.com/ei.html

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hey what about 3d canvas

I personally like Lightwave... I like it's feature set. I like the kind of company Newtek is... But alas I have been using Truespace since it was called Caligari 24 on the amiga, and it is bloody hard to come to grips with a new interface... It's like trying to walk again. Plus paying 200 for (less than steller) Truespace upgrades is a lot easier than layin down $1500 (or whatever it is now) on LW especially since I already have TS plugins that emulate many of LWs features. (cel shader particle systems etc...) :) God I hope Caligari is not just blowing smoke about the next version being more animation oriented.