Best model + movie maker software?

#1 Two suggestions:

1) Lightwave 3D - good solid inexpensive choice (in comparision to Max or Maya) capable of producing professional results.

2) Animation Master - pretty cool, cheaper than Lightwave, but I don't know of any professional productions done on it.

#2 I use Lightwave and Modo. I know people who use Maya and Max and XSI and love them. I would suggest downloading the trials and testing them out to see which one works best for you and your workflow.

EDIT:
Just thought I would also mention that you will want a solid editing package for the movies. I use Final Cut Pro (Mac), but Adobe Premiere and Avid are great top-tier programs. A lot of people I know love Vegas as well. I just don't like the interface much (which is strange since I like SoundForge's interface).

#3 Like David suggested, downloading demos and trial versions is one of the best ways to evaluate any program, modeling or not. Different apps just 'feel right' to different people and for different purposes. Some apps are great for modeling but not so great for sculpting or texturing (or whatever). For this reason, it's always a good idea to keep a number of programs in your development toolbox.

For my tastes, Silo 2 seems to fit me better than any other modeling/sculpting/UV-layouting tool. However, it has doesn't have any animation capabilities or whiz-bang renderers and it doesn't have any direct export to Torque plugins.

Silo isn't as popular as some of the more expensive apps out there, but it has a loyal fan base and has been used in various stages of development on some high profile projects like Heavenly Sword for the PS3 (along with other apps, of course).

#4 Lightwave hands down.

#5 Alright I will download a couple of those, I was looking at silo 2 before I wrote this so will try that one first.

So is animation master the only choice for the movie aspect then? looking at some of the videos made from it it does seem pretty nice. Couldn't find much information on how it worked on their page though. (don't need it to have had any professional work done with it since I'm extremely far from that point ;-) )

#6 3D Max, Lightwave, Maya, Blender, XSI, Modo, and the like can all make videos of your animation sequences. I'm not sure about Silo 2. I only used the first one and would render from LW.

#7 @David B.

Unfortunately, Silo 2 doesn't do animation. One of these days, maybe. :)

@J Sears

I may have misunderstood your last post, but to clarify something, Animation Master is a 3D app that, in addition to its modeling and animation abilities, can output video files into traditional movie formats. From there, you would want to use Final Cut, Premiere, or something similar for editing, splicing, titling, transitioning, etc.

#8 Another option that I didn't see mentioned yet is Caligari TrueSpace. I've been using
version 2 for many years to make 3D logos and some short videos. There are examples
on their site of some amazing things that others have done with it.

I've recently upgraded to version 7.51 and they have added a lot, including hair.

It's probably not the best program in the world, but it worked for my way of doing things.

It has the ability to render your animations to AVI in full uncompressed frames and you
can edit with some other package if needed.

Just thought I'd throw that into the mix. :-)

#9 Good call, Kevin. I usually forget TrueSpace because I'm not a fan of the interface. But it is a very good package. It just didn't fit my workflow.

#10 If you want a one package deal then to do that all you need is Softimage XSI
It has all the features for making high quality models. (it will import Zbrush high poly models!)
It has a built in compositing tool.

So for a low price of 3000 you can do what normally costs over 10000 in software.
Now if your on a limitless budget then you can go with just about anything.

What ever the choice you go with just take advantage of one of the local business that will render out your project. That way you will not have to buy several machines for rendering.

Good luck on your project.

#11 You can do all that above and more in lightwave. Lightwave was also used in such films as 300, serenity, The new Battlestar... (tons more) for most CG work, using the stock and some modified renderer. Even its methodologies is oriented towards film and broadcast (Take a look at the dope sheet and scene/composition) editors

Any animations for broadcast or video is best done (IMO <-- ) In lightwave, most other packages do not have anywhere near the support for that type of output that lightwave does.

Click this link, and see if you recognize anything =)

Your requirements are what lightwave was built for. All for less than any other AAA package.

LightWave v9 Full PLUS SpeedEDIT with PDF Manuals = $895.00

LightWave v9 Full PLUS SpeedEDIT with Printed Manuals = $995.00

(The printed manual is 1505 pages in a binder and all pages are aprox 11 x 14 in)

#12 Thanks for all the imput guys, I am planning on going with Animation Master at first. For both budget and whole package reasoning. Find it interesting that it uses patches instead of polygons so will have to get used to some changes there though. So probably a christmas timeframe for me to pick that up

TrueSpace was a nice suggestion though because I found that gamespace's interface really worked well with my way of thinking. Exactly the opposite can be said for blender which made me do nothing but want to tear my hair out and scream.

Hopefully I can show some work in a few months after I pick up animation master.

#13 Cool. Good luck with your decision!

#14 I'm probably to late, but Blender is a great option if you want the program to be free. It's GUI has a big learning curve, but after that, it's great.

#15 Unfortunatly blender's UI makes me want to rip my hair out followed by my eyes, tried it several times and could never make myself like it, especially the way the camera moves, I like a standard rotate left rotate up rotate down rotate right, not the 3d grab camera goes crazy thing.

But I do appreciate the suggestion.