Hi everyone:biggrin:
I could use some help in choosing a program for creating poser content (clothing, props, character modifications, pretty much anything).

I have access to some really good prices for Rhino3d ($200 CDN), Zbrush 2 ($400 CDN) and Maya ($400 CDN) - student prices- and I've also found out that Eovia (the creators of Carra) are releasing Hexagon2 soon.

So you see my problem... I want something that is high quality and fairly easy to use... any suggestions? ALSO could anyone suggest a good UV mapper?

Thanks everyone who replies.

I'm not sure if all those programs have demo-versions, but if they do, I'd suggest you try those. Possibly older (and free) versions as well.

Some ppeople prefer Max, some Lightwave (to name two of the expensive ones) and it's really hard to tell which one fits YOUR workflow.

Personally, Max is the only program I've been able to figure out, and I've tried a lot of different ones over time, but I know many people who find it totally illogical.

I've heard good things about Hexagon (never tried it though) and Carrara should be easy to start with (except that I couldn't figure that one out either :lol:)

Attached Link: http://www.wings3d.com

If you want to go the 'easy to use' route first, and get you chops up to speed, here's 2 freebies that can do pretty good modeling (I've seen Quinlor make entire characters in one).

Wings is 1 - it's pretty easy to use, and if you have problems, we have a forum you can come to and ask questions. It has a built-in UVMapper as well 

Blender- is not easy to use, at least at first; it's trying to be all things to all software users. sort of a cross between a Swiss Army knife and Polish Notation..;)  but it's also free..and I think it has a UVMapper as well

For that matter- UVMapper Classic is (was?) free, so you can start with that. I had better luck with Wings UVMapping, but that's me

If you're medium to advanced, there's also Lightwave, which a lot of people here use. Spendy, but reportedly worth it.

Quote - Hi everyone:biggrin:
I could use some help in choosing a program for creating poser content (clothing, props, character modifications, pretty much anything).

I have access to some really good prices for Rhino3d ($200 CDN), Zbrush 2 ($400 CDN) and Maya ($400 CDN) - student prices- and I've also found out that Eovia (the creators of Carra) are releasing Hexagon2 soon.

So you see my problem... I want something that is high quality and fairly easy to use... any suggestions? ALSO could anyone suggest a good UV mapper?

Thanks everyone who replies.

Before buying anything at "Student Prices", check in the copyright forum.  Apparently the EULA is different for student priced copies and retail priced ones.

Not sure how anyone would know which copy you had if you didn't tell, but apaprently student priced copies have restrictions of use put on them and if you want to use them as you would a retail copy, you have to pay more.

ZBrush is good for manipulating existing models but I would not want to make clothing from scratch in it. Of the others each will do what you want. I use Truespace ( http://www.caligari.com )which you may want to consider. In my opinion it is essential to try a demo before you purchase. I tried several before going with Truespace. All did the job and had similar features but for me Truespace "clicked" so I went with that.

As for UV mapping, I've found the best bang for the buck is UVMapper Pro ( http://www.uvmapper.com ). There is a free lite version on that site you may want to try first.

Hope this helps.

The student license for all of the above packages specifically forbids use in commercial works.

The price is low to entice you to purchase so that you can learn how to use them, as they each have a learning curve that can sometimes be a bit steep.

Attached Link: http://www.eovia.com/products/hexagon/hexagon2.asp

http://www.eovia.com/products/hexagon/hexagon2.asp

I used trueSpace for quite a while but got hexagon when it was released, and never went back, trueSpace is (to me) a low cost high end application - a very capable piece of software, with MANY addons and plug in's available to boost it's power even greater, but hexagon is just so gosh darn easy to learn and the upgrades to the software available in version 2 is astounding.

Shade, Cararra, Vue and C4D (I think) will directly import and work with Poser scenes. There are plugins for Lightwave (by Greenbriar Studios) that allow you to import Poser figures but you have to rig them yourself. I don't know if Maya or 3D Studio Max have anyway to import Poser content.

jsmith8045,

I've been a been a long time Carrara user, all of my 3D has been made in it. I purchased Hexagon 1 and found it hard to adapt to, made up my mind to stay strcitly with Carrara... THEN came the announcement of Hexagon 2! After reading the new features and improvements they've made to Hexagon to I immediately pre-purchased the upgrade and have started working my way thru the tutorials again.

I think Hexagon 2 is going to be a true star in the 3d world following this upgrade. It will certainly match Silo, with it's new features, and, I think catch up to many of the more "professional" packaged such as 3ds Max.

I think Carrara is a great companion package a lot of Poser cross functionality. Many seem to see it as THE alternate renderer to Poser, and it has built in modeling functionality that is just a bit below Hexagon 2's.

Try everything tho adn see what suits you! Any 3d package is only as good as it's user, so you comfort with the interface and functions is even more important than the actual funtions. By that I mean it's sometimes easier for a user to utilize "work-arounds" for some functions than it is to work with an uncomfortable interface.

mike

I've been a very happy Wings3D user for years, there's nothing I haven't been able to make with it for Poser, and nothing I couldn't map (unwrap) pretty well.

But I recently decided to expand my horizons and check out more sophisticated tools, I wondered if I was taking unnecessarily long in wings to do things that would be quick with other applications.

I first checked out Rhino, partly because it talks well to a parametric solids modeller I use for other stuff. I concluded that Rhino is a super-capable modeller but I didn't like the interface much and I don't feel it is ideally suited to making low-poly poser stuff. Moving models to Poser and back also isn't as smooth as Wings.

Then I tried Silo but I didn't feel it was enough of an improvement on Wings to justify investing time becoming fluent with it.

Next look was Hexagon1. It has a much prettier 'face' than Wings and some cool tools, but will I be able to make better models faster than in Wings? Frankly, I'm not sure.

Now I have the demo of Modo which looks very cool, and the upcoming release looks VERY nice - fancy renderer an' all (things like instant ambient occlusion in the modelling window etc).

What I've found with poser modelling is that I spend a heck of a lot of time 'fine-tuning' and tweaking to get things just right, remove unnecessary edge loops to get the count down, adjusting the fit of things, getting the look just right etc. I spend much longer on this, at vertex level, than I spend creating the initial form. So whether I start with a box or a patch or a nurb or a spline or whatever (in whatever fancy application), chances are I'll still want to fiddle with the verts for hours after the basic shape is there.

And chances are I'll end up fiddling with the verts in good ol' Wings, because it is so good at that close-in adjustment stuff and the selection tools are so superb. And then when it comes to UVmapping in Wings it's just an extension of the modelling process, not a whole new thing to learn.

So I'm probably looking at adding another modelling application to my toolbox, to help out where wings struggles, but I don't see Wings retiring anytime soon because I haven't yet seen anything that is EVERYTHING that Wings is, and more.

Oops, didn't mean to go on so long ...  ;-)

i've worked with maya for years (my company writes plugins for it), and i love it to bits; one can pretty much do anything in it. maya cloth is a huge advantage for making clothing IMO because it allows one to work much like a tailor. i am new to poser and haven't moved much content back and forth, but there is software out there to facilitate it more easily (bodystudio and greenbriar). maya also has a personal learning edition, so you can try it out for free before you shell out any money (it'll watermark your renders). be prepared to work hard, wry grin; the learning curve is steep.

that said, i am currently trying out hexagon 1.2, and it is very intuitive, and easy to pick up -- easier than maya, easier than pretty much anything else i've ever tried (and i've tried all the high-end apps). also, price-wise it's no comparison, since you won't be able to legally do what you want with the student version of maya.

i agree with trav -- try as many demos as you can, because an interface that works well for one person might seem really cumbersome to another. try to model the same thing in all of them so you get a decent basis for comparison.

I use Cinema 4D. I have version 7, but 9.5 is the latest. I find it very intuitive. I think there's a version 6 that is free to learn on, but I'm not really sure where you get it. I think it usually comes with magazines and such. Try wings though. It's a great program!

I have Wings3D and Amapi 6.1 which have been modeling in. I like them both as they each have their own capabilities. I have Truspace 3.2 but haven't really used it, the interface seems awkward. I just purchased Carrara 5 and Hexagon 1.2, waiting for the 2.0 release. I have played around a little with both of these and am pleased with the purchase. If you have used Amapi then Hexagon will seem familiar to you as some of the features are similar.