What 3D Suite would you recommend?
by Dark Tengu · in Artist Corner · 05/27/2006 (1:01 pm) · 31 replies
Recently I have been considering getting a 3D suite (modeler, UV tools, animation, etc.) and I'm not sure which one to get. I have been looking at a couple of them online. I have narrowed it down to the following (though I am still open to suggestions):
1. Lightwave 3D 8 - I've heard nothing but good things about it. If I purchase now I will get a free update to version 9 and Vue Infinite for free. Price $795.00
2. Cinema 4D 9.6 - I'm pretty interested in Cinema 4D. One of the main reasons is that I can buy Bodypaint 3D 2.5 down the line for a significant discount. Price $695.00
3. SoftImage XSI Foundation - Looks interesting and the price seems pretty good. One problem is it doesn't have a poly reduction tool in Foundation :(. Price $495.00
4. ZBrush 2 - I would LOVE to own this. However, I hear that it is worthless for low poly creation (I can't confirm this). I think that it still might be worth my time down the road in addition to an all-around 3D suite (i.e. Lightwave, C4D, etc...). No animation :(. Price $489.00
No before everyone starts screaming Blender, I just want to say that I have played around with it. I have no doubt that I could learn the interface. There is just isn't a whole lot of resources for the software. The tutorials and very low quality and assume too much, IMHO. I'm still open to the idea but DEFINATELY leaning toward Lightwave.
Any opinions/advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
1. Lightwave 3D 8 - I've heard nothing but good things about it. If I purchase now I will get a free update to version 9 and Vue Infinite for free. Price $795.00
2. Cinema 4D 9.6 - I'm pretty interested in Cinema 4D. One of the main reasons is that I can buy Bodypaint 3D 2.5 down the line for a significant discount. Price $695.00
3. SoftImage XSI Foundation - Looks interesting and the price seems pretty good. One problem is it doesn't have a poly reduction tool in Foundation :(. Price $495.00
4. ZBrush 2 - I would LOVE to own this. However, I hear that it is worthless for low poly creation (I can't confirm this). I think that it still might be worth my time down the road in addition to an all-around 3D suite (i.e. Lightwave, C4D, etc...). No animation :(. Price $489.00
No before everyone starts screaming Blender, I just want to say that I have played around with it. I have no doubt that I could learn the interface. There is just isn't a whole lot of resources for the software. The tutorials and very low quality and assume too much, IMHO. I'm still open to the idea but DEFINATELY leaning toward Lightwave.
Any opinions/advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
#22
The learning curve will probably be smaller that way, since Maxon makes both programs.
With C4D, you can add more modules later as you wish, like the "hair" module. Try adding hair to XSI; you'd need to buy XSI Advanced to do that.
A year or so ago, there was a comparison in 3d World Magazine of four major 3d animations programs. You can find it here. As you can see, Cinema 4D "won" the test.
In short, I don't think that you can go wrong with Cinema 4D and Bodypaint.
05/29/2006 (3:03 am)
Quote:Is there anything wrong with modeling in C4D, Texturing in BodyPaint, and exporting to Milkshape or Blender and then exporting as a DTS?No, there shouldn't be anything wrong with that at all.
The learning curve will probably be smaller that way, since Maxon makes both programs.
With C4D, you can add more modules later as you wish, like the "hair" module. Try adding hair to XSI; you'd need to buy XSI Advanced to do that.
A year or so ago, there was a comparison in 3d World Magazine of four major 3d animations programs. You can find it here. As you can see, Cinema 4D "won" the test.
In short, I don't think that you can go wrong with Cinema 4D and Bodypaint.
#23
05/29/2006 (9:50 am)
I'm now the proud owner of Lightwave 3D! Now the question is Zbrush 2 or Bodypaint for texturing, lol.
#24
I do have another suggestion for texturing. The answer is depends on your painting skill and what you'd like to achieve. I tried both; Bodypaint 3D and Deepaint 3D, both are great allows you to produce several maps (diffuse, bump, and specular) at the same time (depending on your brush setting.
My budget ...well.... is not great. For texturing I go to www.3d.sk and http://www.environment-textures.com/ (both owned by the same dude , I reckon), for human skins, buildings, ground and weapons kind of textures.
So, I set my UV map inside Blender or XSI, export the UV map out, load UV map into GIMP and manipulate the textures to fit with my UV projection.
www.3d.sk and www.environment-textures.com require membership, but it's not expensive, considering with around $99 you get ONE year membership and 18GB reference pictures to Download!!!!!!! If you want membership for both sites you'll get cheaper rate.
Some textures may not be seamless but you can make them seamless in gimp by using 1 button.
05/29/2006 (10:56 pm)
Congratulation, Marcus! I do have another suggestion for texturing. The answer is depends on your painting skill and what you'd like to achieve. I tried both; Bodypaint 3D and Deepaint 3D, both are great allows you to produce several maps (diffuse, bump, and specular) at the same time (depending on your brush setting.
My budget ...well.... is not great. For texturing I go to www.3d.sk and http://www.environment-textures.com/ (both owned by the same dude , I reckon), for human skins, buildings, ground and weapons kind of textures.
So, I set my UV map inside Blender or XSI, export the UV map out, load UV map into GIMP and manipulate the textures to fit with my UV projection.
www.3d.sk and www.environment-textures.com require membership, but it's not expensive, considering with around $99 you get ONE year membership and 18GB reference pictures to Download!!!!!!! If you want membership for both sites you'll get cheaper rate.
Some textures may not be seamless but you can make them seamless in gimp by using 1 button.
#25
I have used XSI a lot for HL2 modding. I have heard a lot of people say it is easier to use than Maya and has better tools, but I don't know about that. I personally like Maya better, though I am not nearly as proficient with Maya as I am with XSI.
The DTS exporter for Maya works flawlessly. The only down-side is that most of the model packs you get only have .3ds and .max files, which you will need an importer for.
Well, that is my 2 cents.
06/05/2006 (3:11 pm)
Another thought might be Maya. I bought a full copy of Maya unlimited on eBay for $500.00. It was still in the shrink wrapped box. It has 3D painting tools, so you won't need body paint. For serious skinning, you will probably use Photoshop or some other 2D program anyways.I have used XSI a lot for HL2 modding. I have heard a lot of people say it is easier to use than Maya and has better tools, but I don't know about that. I personally like Maya better, though I am not nearly as proficient with Maya as I am with XSI.
The DTS exporter for Maya works flawlessly. The only down-side is that most of the model packs you get only have .3ds and .max files, which you will need an importer for.
Well, that is my 2 cents.
#26
06/08/2006 (9:26 pm)
Maya off eBay huh? You are a lot braver than I am. Anyhow, I received my Lightwave yesterday! :) 
#27
06/08/2006 (10:00 pm)
Hail Lightwave! Glad to hear about your purchase. There are a few quirks about the exporter. Give me a hollar if you need any help with it.
#28
06/08/2006 (11:27 pm)
Thanks, I will.
#29
06/09/2006 (7:43 am)
You know I get that "scared of ebay" thing a lot. I have some simple rules that usually protect me. First, I make sure that the seller has excellent feedback for at least 6 months. I also look to make sure that they have feedback as the seller of items similiar to the one I am buying. If that is all OK, I take a shot. Spending $500 to get a boxed, unopened copy of Maya was well worth it. Granted, I had to look for like 3 months before it popped up. But it was worth it.
#30
06/09/2006 (10:03 am)
And were you able to confirm that it was legit with Alias? If so that is a sweet deal. 
#31
06/09/2006 (11:29 am)
I sold my trueSpace stuff a few years ago to get Lightwave. I love it's modeler! I've even did a few animations with bones inside a character model. I still never sat down and figured out how to texture very well though.
Torque Owner Broken_Sword
@Marcus: If you're short on budget, I'd recommend Blender as an alternative. Interface-wise? well... I've been using for almost a year and I still couldn't get my head around the interface. The DTS exporter for blender is working just fine. If you have more cash, grab XSI Foundation.
I find that XSI user interface is easy to work with. You get to read texts, instead of guessing command from icons. Try the demo.
This is how I work at the time being...-> XSI ->export to OBJ -> import to Blender -> do animations and stuff -> DTS -> Torque Game Engine...
It's quite a long process, but I'm used to it.
XSI foundations has limited features compared to Essential or Advanced (yumm...) but it should be sufficient for your Torque Game Developing purpose.
Can't comment much on lightwave, I used it only for 6-10 months or so. I like the interface, plenty of texts and less icon guessing. But, budgetwise... I'd chose Lightwave (instead of XSI|ADVANCED) to do a short movie project. Lightwave has been involved in many cool movies too, check the website.
If you want to get Lightwave? Go get it.
Hope this helps.