3ds Max

[Phantom]

Did you guys really spend 3 grand for the commercial licensed version? I don't even have the money to get it for a thousand off of EBAY!!!

 

Is there a non-commercial alternative?

Where should I buy 3ds Max?

[Fingernail]

Either get Blender (free, open source), or use some P2P to...umm...find out how to get 3DS Max cheap. There is some good advice on emule, for instance.

[oofnish]

I purchased my copy at the educational price. That was $1500 for the whole shebang. You can get the core peice cheaper. Just have to register for classes at a university long enough for them to ratify that you're a student to discreet.

[DeepOmega]

Haha. 1500 student? Yeah right.

 

Try 500, at www.studica.com. All of my software is student priced I love that site. Adobe Creative Suite - under 400. That's Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, GoLive, and Acrobat, for under 400 bucks. Adobe After Effects, for 275. Hell yes, I say.

[oofnish]

Yeah, the basic version cost around 500. But I got a ton of the special plugins, renderers, and simulators for the full cost.

 

This was also a version or two behind at this point.

[Phantom]

Thanks for the replys guys. My girlfriend and roommate are students, so I could get the student discount no problem.

[Domarius]

Here is the best budget 3D rendering info I have ever read.

I love it because I actually preffer the tools involved over the proffesional ones, because they are simply geared toward video game models, and you can make high quality ones too, for the normal maps.

 

Check out this thread;

http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/phpBB2/vie...t=wings3d#10937

 

This post specifically;

Yes I know Milkshape and I was using it a lot before I found Wings. Milkshape is good all round modeler. If you have Milkshape, you dont need nothing more to make low poly models.

However while Milkshape is good in modeling / UV maping / animating ..its not exelent in none of them. In what it exel is wide range of export formats.

 

As modeler Wings is much better, more comfortable and quicklier. Also you are not restricted to low poly modeling.

 

As UW maper LithUnwrap is better ...have more options and easier editing environment

 

And finaly CharacterFX is better for animating since it suport weighted wertices already and have better editing posibilities. (Bye the way CHaracterFX export to Milkshape format among others)

 

That doesnt mean that Milkshape is useles ...you have everything in one package and if you dont plan to model some wery complicated models its sufficient. Its good especialy for begginers.

 

As for Wings3D, you can upgrade it little bit by downloading YafRay at www.coala.uniovi.es/~jandro/noname/ ...its raytracing renderer. Wings suport it as plugin.

So basically;

Wings3D = Modelling

LithUnwrap = UW mapping

CharacterFX = Animation

 

As an example of what he does with this setup, check out his home page

http://members.lycos.co.uk/arras1/

Click on "Gallery". It's worth it. Some of that stuff would fit right in with the Thief world. His humans are awesome.

[jay pettitt]

The already mentioned blender is free, fully featured and can export to the appropriate formats required for D3 models and animation. There is a blender sub community over at Doom 3 world. I've been playing around with it for a few days. Once you get over the 'huh!?!' hurdle where you can't get it to do anything, its actually pretty good. I'd be happy to help get you started if you want to give it a try.

Edited October 5, 2004 by jay pettitt

[sparhawk]

Once you get over the 'huh!?!' hurdle where you can't get it to do anything, its actually pretty good. I'd be happy to help get you started if you want to give it a try.

I think if you have some experience with Maya then you will adapt more easily to blender then with other animation packages, at least from the interface. Well, I only knew Maya, Blender and Cinema 4D so I don't have that much expierence. Anyway. Blender is Open source is now my prefered tool for animation. Not that I'm the creative artists guy .

But I must say that Blender was the first Program I ever used, that I couldn't do ANYTHING with without a manual at first.

[Domarius]

The thing about www.wings3d.com is that it is BASED on Nendo, which was made by the same people who made Maya - hence they all share a similar interface, and "box modelling" interface.