3d modeling software

[Femerus the Gnecro]

Hey there.

I'm a Mac user and I'm trying to figure out which Macintosh 3d modeling software is the best for my needs.

I taught myself to use 3dsmax on a PC and got pretty good at it, but I haven't really been exposed to 3d modeling tooks on the Mac. I've been wanting to get back into modeling... so which program do you all suggest? Is there something that has a similar interface to 3ds, or am I going to have to just suck it up and learn a new one?

Also, which one is just the best in general?

Are there, by any chance, some programs which make texture mapping easy? I absolutely suck at texturing my models.

Thanks,

Femerus

 

[Goobermunch]

Hey there.

I'm a Mac user and I'm trying to figure out which Macintosh 3d modeling software is the best for my needs.

I taught myself to use 3dsmax on a PC and got pretty good at it, but I haven't really been exposed to 3d modeling tooks on the Mac. I've been wanting to get back into modeling... so which program do you all suggest? Is there something that has a similar interface to 3ds, or am I going to have to just suck it up and learn a new one?

Also, which one is just the best in general?

Are there, by any chance, some programs which make texture mapping easy? I absolutely suck at texturing my models.

Thanks,

Femerus

Well, you know that the best game houses right now use Maya for 3-D modelling, right?

Well Alias Software has made Maya 5.0 free. You can go to their site and download Maya Personal Learning Edition 5.0 for $0.00. They've got it for PC and for Mac. If you wanted to build your skills, I'd recommend using it.

--G

 

[Aeolius]

I started with Poser and Bryce many moons ago. Although Bryce is now held by the loathesome Corel (who killed the Mac versions of Bryce and CorelDRAW), I still rely on it for quick landscape renders. For human modeling, Poser 5 took long enough to make it to OS X, but it does the trick nicely. For other rendering needs, I often experiment with Carrara. I am also learning Vue, as I have no faith in Corel doing justice to Bryce by selling it to a company that knows what they are doing.

 

[MarauderX]

Depends on what you are looking to do I suppose. Maya would be my pick for 3D motion animation, though if you are used to doing only buildings or small work, go with what you know, and keep 3DS. Bryce is very easy for quick landscapes, but I wouldn't sink money into it for rendering detailed 3D structures as easily. Ease of use and speed of learning are important to me, but then again you are using a Mac...