3D PROGRAMS

[adthrawn]

I'm trying to get into 3d modeling but I have GMAX and it doesn't render. Does any one know of any free or relativly cheap programs that can render?

[MDk]

Have a look here:

 

http://www.robsite.de/programme.php?prog=liste

 

I did not try any of this programs, but perhaps you find something there.

[adthrawn]

Thanks MDK. These are really heoful, how much does 3ds max cost? The newest one.

[MDk]

How much? Ehm, well... Have a look over here:

 

http://www4.discreet.com/3dsmax/

 

But please, don't get shocked.

[adthrawn]

Is that $3000 or $30?

[Eko]

There are I think student versions available for less, which is what Mask told me when I said a similar thing. I'm not sure how or where you get them, if amyone finds out please tell me

[MDk]

Is that $3000 or $30?

 

It is not $30.

[Mad78]

Maya is a 3d program and a free version is available which i think may be able to render i haven't tried it but have had lots of good feedback about it.

Otherwise you could use renders such as Yafray but I find them too complicated.

If you intend on buying 3ds max you should close your eyes while signing a cheque for it is very expensive. If you wish to buy a 3d program, Rhino 3d or Lightwave are much more affordable. But in any case you should think carefully but investing in such a program.

btw i am told that Maya is a better renderer that Max.

[the_mask]

Well, AFAIK: you have to send a copy of your student license/id to autodesk and you'll get a cheaper offer then (only ~150 or so a prof once told me).

 

However, that license you obtain with that is only valid for a year. After that, you have to send in your id again to get a new licence, that will ensure, that 3dsm is still running on your computer.

 

To my horror I discovered, that they implemented that in the serial of gmax as well, after I wanted to install it again, last year

[Krytos]

btw i am told that Maya is a better renderer that Max.

 

From personal experience, I found Maya to have some better features than Max and, like wise, some worse. As for the Renderer though - for my entire class it was crap, for a whole semester and on multiple platforms - every render was litered with different artifacts from poor quality, jaggered raytraced shadows to model artifacts with flat sides on high poly or NURB spheres that simply shouldn't have been there. I seemed to have simular problems at home as well (so it wasn't the computers being used), as well as Maya had a tendancy to throw an error or crash for no reason (Yeah Max does the same, but 9 times out of 10 you can predict when it's going to happen).

Here's an example of an image created in Maya by me, I've circled two of the trouble areas. One shows how the shadow projected onto the sphere's surface has several hard/straight edges even though casted by another sphere.

The second shows a section of the sphere that is flat, and shouldn't be. There are other things in the scene (not including the blur effect which was disappointing - however, you could probably use the Mental Ray version instead) that are screwed as well, and these are annoying glitches that aren't at any fault of the model.

Now with a plugin like Mental Ray (which is available for Max and comes with it intergrated in versions 6, 7 and or Renderman that might be different, though from what I could see the default renderer was pretty poor.

[AdmiralToguroAni]

I'd say Gmax is the best. I did all my work on the new Bulwark Battlecruiser with it, and other than a slight texture problem (which Mad was kind enough to fix), it worked pretty well. The only problem is, you need a few other programs to finish the process, but its all free so who cares?

[Mad78]

Basically if you want to stay in the free area:

1) model and texture your model in GMax.

2) render it in Blender

3) Show off your new creations on the forums

[Eko]

Exactly the route i'm taking. Damn i'm cheap!

[Mad78]

Damn i'm cheap!

Aren't we all

[the_mask]

Well, as long as the outcome is classy, nobody should ask, if the methods were cheap

[Slocket]

Basically if you want to stay in the free area:

1) model and texture your model in GMax.

2) render it in Blender

3) Show off your new creations on the forums

 

Yes. Thanks for the info. Something to kick off with for a placeholder design.

 

Nothing like replying to a year old thread, aye?

[nordwindranger]

I plunked down 300 dollars for caligari's gamespace a couple years ago.

 

there brilliant idea was to replace easy to read text menus with little buttons.

 

its frickin horrible, because i can never remember what little button does what

(cries and wishes he spent 300 dollars on a better program or a hooker! hehe j/k)