I'm rather impressed with the simplicity of Wings3D for making models to supplement Bryce scenes. But as a 3D hobbyist, I'm always on the look out for new and better tools. So, I tried out Blender and its subsequent tutorials. Right out of the box, Blender seems to be considerably more complex than Wings. It therefore, IMO, has a higher learning curve, but its sophistication allows for better more complex models. Am I right to assume this? Is Blender, in the long run, better than Wings as a complete 3D package? Or is it unfair to compare Wings with Blender seeing as that Blender has both a rendering and animation engine?

I don't know blender, but I sure miss a few modelling tools in Wings that would speed up the modelling process a LOT in some cases.

It's like comparing appels to oranges.Imo.

I would say it is an unfair comparason. Blender has a lot of things that Wings does not. Animation rendering and so on. Wings is a very easy direct way to get to the modeling without the added learning of the rest of the program. I don't know how Blender handles high polygon models. Wings is really good till you get to around 25K polygons. (in wings usually double that number in Bryce)Blender does have nurbs and metaballs. th eproblem with belnder is the interface. If you have a progam that does everything you need to have menues for ti all the interface is a bit much. In fact with all the complainign about lightwave I fired up Inspire and appreciate the interface more having a modeling and rendering area seperate.

Every other 3D app I've used X axis is left/right, Y is Up/down and Z is in/out. In Blender Z is up/down and Y is In/Out. I thought this was a standard Cartesian convention. Why did the makers of Blender feel then need to change this?

Of course it's a fair comparison. Both are modelers, and both are free! Blender has always had more power under it's hood than Wings. I remember when it first came out, the tutorials they had in 3D Artist Magazine were excellent! Alas, I've never made anything of any worth in either. I tried a Rhino demo back on version 1, and never looked back. Rhino 4 will be out soon, and that's where my $895 is going. You get what you pay for... That said, since Blender and Wings are free, why waste your time in the lesser of them? I'm just anti-Wings, at the core it struck me as being terribly underpowerered, especially compared to Blender.

I think the word 'complex' sums it up. I've fiddled with Blender..it has some features Wings does not. The interface for Blender..uh..what to say..;) It really depends on what you want to do, and where your talent lies. For example, I could be given a copy of Rhino (yeah, right..;), and my models would likely look pretty much the same as they do now..;) They're both free, and you can send files from each to the other, so you can use both..or one or 'tother..;)

Rhino also has that Z up and Y out. And when you export an OBJ, you are asked whether you want Y to be up. :-) Bandolin, you might check Silo, in spite of it not being free. Although I haven't tried it yet, you could ask Kemal. >:-)

Heh... Also note Blender just doesn't run on some machines. It seems to have trouble with just its interface being functional, something that should be simple to make work on windows machines. Why? Who knows, they probably use an unconventional means of coding that just causes it to hang on machines that use motherboard based graphics. Wings will run on anything. Even an ol' 386 if you happened to have one up and running. It's upper limit is more due to how fast computers will run. It just gets too slow using it's method of handling data around the 25K polygon mark. It could handle more, but the lag time starts being a big issue. Perhaps it's more Erlangs fault than Wings, but I doubt anyone's re-writing and compiling it using C+ programming anytime soon.

Hmmmm, if your computer can run Blender it would be an advantage to learn that application.It may be "more complex" but big deal.On the other hand, If you just want to model and nothing else.....Wings is not a bad choice.I think it all depends what you are after in the end.If you are serious about 3d graphics and simply can't afford a high end application, Blender is a very wise app to download because it has many features that can help you along that path.I'm just rambling though.

I've seen some killer stuff done in each of them, both of them mesh well with Bryce. Take a look at Mrdodobird's more recent stuff, even has a partially Blender-generated movie in production.

Aye, gotta agree with MoonGoat here. It really doesn't matter HOW it's doen, as long as it's done! I'm just so addicted to NURBS now, I can't imagine using much else.... SOmetimes I even dream in Rhino!

Wings is a great app for modeling it has a good workflow that is why all the C4D Rhino and other high end app guys like to use it. The problem with wings is that is ti just a modeler and does it just really one way. Blender will get you into soem new areas like Nurbs and can do soem animation and you can even do soem posign of characters and th like in it. But the interface is like many other full featured app interfaces it is very cluttered and finding what you want when you don't know where it is damn near impossible. If you buy a book on Blender then I woudl think it is a good choice. But all the tutorials I have seen say the same thing. I assume you are familiar with the blender interface!!! Get both Wings is a great modeling program for low to medium poly models.

blender is easier in adding details, working with curves, aplying uvmaps etc. its also growing faster the newest version even has easier transform tool you can check out the beta already. Wings is nice for its simplicity but in the long run limited you can use them probably next to eachother. A good ideer is reading some tutorials and then choose one to start with, if you dont like it change to the other.

bandolin blender is the only 3d app then that does it right. x and y for the horizontal plane and z for the height we learnded that at maths in school already.

Hmm, I don't understand the x,y, and z stuff. Are you saying Wings doesn't do coordinates?

the xyz cordinate system in blender are similar to math set-ups(in the way they label them).But that doesnt mean that math people are right in the way they set the letter system.From what I've heard, X is left/right while Y is up/down(as represented on a paper or something), Z is then used as in/out.It also depends on the system of math.I have a graphing calculator that uses Y as up/down as well.Blender is just different.

That is all merely a matter of perspective... Not many programs allow you to change their internal direction, though. .. Thus sometimes you'll find .obj export options which allow you to change it per object in most of these modelers, even Poser. Poser is not a modeler. Is it?

I have both Wings and Blender, but I use Wings the most (even over C4D [well, apart from organic models] because Blender's interface is a little bit too complex, but if I wanted to animate, I'd use C4D.

I spent about 2 hours doing tutorials in Blender (I'm already familiar with Wings). I find the interface very cluttered. And I'll agree that Blender is more feature packed, my basic complaint is that; when I work in Wings, I'm actually having fun. Whereas, I find Blender to be more like work. It isn't nearly as fun, and its interface gets in the way of creativity. Maybe what I'll do is start a model in Wings (use it as a kind of sketch pad) and when I have a solid idea, bring it into Blender for finalizing.

From the Wings3D manual: Torus Knot Originally a plug-in by Anthony D'Agostino (scorpius) it is now included as part of the standard Wings distribution. This simple plug-in creates a torus knot with the absolute minimum possible number of faces and vertices. It is meant to be used as an input "cage" for the Catmull-Clark subdivision algorithm. The knot was created with Blender by extruding a Bezier circle along the path of a NURBS curve.

one hand washes the other..;)