Which Animation software

I would reccomend Blender, however if I am not mistaken Blender's use of size/grid on initial starting and setup does something wierd to the model when imported to UDK and you have to fidget with creating sizes. Don't qoute me on that, but I am almost positive that Blender still has the scaling issue for UDK exporting/importing.

*IE: You export a model which looks correct in Blender, on import it brings everything to Godzilla size portions into UDK.

I would reccomend Maya (Personally love it) as well as 3D Studio Max. If your running on a budget, give Milkshape3D a try. They are very useful to make animations/models in as well as porting/converting. (I have been guilty of importing models from one system through Milk3D and exporting to another format.)

If you are wanting to just do a basic sculpt, try ZBrush.

ZBrush single User - $699
Maya - $3675
3D Studio - $3675

None of these options are suitable for a beginner unless you are a student and can get student pricing, and even then can cost some bucks. I sure do see these products recommended a lot, and not always by students or pros. Must just be a lot of novices with thousands of dollars to burn, eh?

Blenders and Sculptris offer legitimately free solutions to learn by, without bankrupting yourself.

This list of 3D applications is pretty comprehensive and included prices(at the time it was authored), links, etc... for pretty much every 3D app out there.

As JTippetts said, unless you area a student, most of these apps have a pretty heavy price tag. You have a few "middling" apps like Lightwave and Modo that are around the 1000$ mark, and a few economy choices like Cheetah(Mac) or Silo, which appears to be unsupported now; but these are in the 100-200$ range.

Then you have Blender,Wings and Sculptris available for free.

I used to use Wings for modelling and Blender for everything else, but with recent additions to Blenders modelling tools, I simply use it for everything.

Oh yeah, there is also Hexagon, which is now completely free. That said, I looked at it briefly and found it to be kinda crappy. I could find little to no reason to recommend it over Wings3D/Blender, but some people swear by it, and hey, it's free.

A word of warning though, Daz3D will email you... a lot. Too much, far too much. So use a throwaway email address.

Thank you guys.
Yes I am a student. but i have a team to work with me so cost will be divided in 3 ways.
Among
3D studio max
Maya
blender
which one will be easy? My team mates and myself are comforable with programming but poor in animation.
Which one is best suited for us?

Then you are in luck, Autodesk has their entire suite available for students free for 3 years. Granted, if you want to make money, you will need to purchase a license, but it gives you a good start.

Easy is relative. I think for initial "pick up and go" Maya is the most accessible. Max probably has the most books and supporting materials, while Blender, well, it's getting better in this department.

None of them will be easy though; 3D is of itself a complete career. Expect it to take at least 6 months to become reasonably proficient, and years to become an expert. Also don't forget 3D isn't worth a damn if you dont have 2D skills to back it up, at least so far as creating texture maps go, so add a Photoshop/GIMP learning curve to that equation.

So, if you want easy, well honestly, look elsewhere.

If you want accessible, get Maya.

dont scare me.
I have only 6 months to build this game and this project is the most important thing to me.
At present I am in learning process of Unreal Engine with video tutorials.
Any such materials for maya?

When I was taking a course on basic 3d modelling and animation using Maya, my instructor recommended this site. Another option you could explore is finding free 3d models/game assets to use, or even spend a little money on assets. Purchasing assets can be cheaper in terms of money as well as time, and can alleviate some of the headache involved with learning the tools necessary to create your own art in addition to learning Unreal Engine, on top of actually writing your game. Good luck!

Hi, I'm a 3d Artist and do a lot of 3d modeling/animation. As for the best animation/3d software the top two are 3ds Max and Maya. I have used many of the 3d software such as 3ds Max, Maya, Blender, SketchUp Pro, Vue, and Mud Box.


3ds Max and Maya like I said are the two best software out there for gaming developing, film, etc... 3ds Max and Maya are very very powerful I would say I like 3ds max better the user interface is easier to move around in and navigate. Maya is a little more of a mess and takes a little longer to do stuff I think. Also there are a ton more tutorials on youtube and websites that can help you learn the program better. But the downfall these are one of most advanced software's out there. The unwrapping in these programmings are very good in my opinion in helping creating a realistic texture or a texture to your liking. There are I wanna say millions of options (maybe 1000's haha) to get a good detail and quality model.

Blender I just hate it the interface is so unorganized in my opinion compared to 3ds max, its still a powerful program and you can still do a lot with it but 3ds max and Maya are still better.

Google Sketchup is basically a 3d sketching basically its still powerful but textures have low quality and unwrapping and animation/rigging is terrible its really strictly for 3d modeling.

Vue is a 3d landscape program where you can generate land and transform it in anyway and paint it from anything to deserts, to a rain-forest. It can be used for games but its usually more used for film. (It was used in Avatar). There is no 3d modeling at all except for terrain editing.

Mud Box basically you model/transform your objects (has like a clay feeling to it). Great for making high poly models off the lower poly one.


In the end my opinion is that 3ds Max is the best software its well organized interface and everything flows good (But really 3ds max and Maya are so similar its really what you feel more comfortable with) There are well over 100+ plugins and scripts to help your modeling and animation, etc.. I advise you to choose to learn 3ds Max the learning curve is terrible its one of the most advanced 3d software out there along with Maya. The learning curve is different for each person I heard it came pretty easy to me if you really want to learn it. If you choose 3ds Max in the long run you will benefit from it the most in my opinion. Tell me what you choose if you do pick 3ds Max I can help you learn it basically over skype or something. There are many tutorials for on how to create objects, homes, etc...
(3d Modeler, and use 3ds Max on a daily basis)
Hope this helps choose your software!
- Robby

You think Max's interface is good???????

Really?

It's full of a decade of clutter and was kinda clunky back then! Of all the things to praise Max for, UI is certainly not one of them.

You think Max's interface is good???????

Really?

It's full of a decade of clutter and was kinda clunky back then! Of all the things to praise Max for, UI is certainly not one of them.

I couldn't disagree more. While it might be a bit cluttered I find everything is fairly easy to find and everything is where it would make sense.

I've had to switch to Maya for a project and it just felt like everything was the opposite of what I would expect it to be. Now maybe that's because I'm used to Max but it seemed like if you didn't know the keyboard shortcut for something in Maya you were hooped.

You think Max's interface is good???????

Really?[quote name='Dancin_Fool' timestamp='1345607035' post='4972062']
[quote name='Serapth' timestamp='1345606511' post='4972059']
You think Max's interface is good???????

Really?

It's full of a decade of clutter and was kinda clunky back then! Of all the things to praise Max for, UI is certainly not one of them.

I couldn't disagree more. While it might be a bit cluttered I find everything is fairly easy to find and everything is where it would make sense.

I've had to switch to Maya for a project and it just felt like everything was the opposite of what I would expect it to be. Now maybe that's because I'm used to Max but it seemed like if you didn't know the keyboard shortcut for something in Maya you were hooped.
[/quote]

It's full of a decade of clutter and was kinda clunky back then! Of all the things to praise Max for, UI is certainly not one of them.
[/quote]

Wow really guys? I have used it for max for 5+ years I find the UI to be not cluttered at all I personally find all the 'clutter' very useful to help me on what I'm developing. You can also if you want to customize the UI to your liking to not make it so cluttered or even more cluttered if you want. The whole UI customization is very very high, I feel like if you have a good understanding what each thing does the UI is not cluttered to yourself. Sorry but I strongly disagree with both of you guys not trying to be rude at all, but that is my personal preference. All the clutter you say is helpful so it doesn't really feel like clutter just a lot of cool options to me. Like I said in my previous post its all an opinion on what you like better between 3ds Max and Maya. I just think maya's UI is unorganized.

[quote name='Serapth' timestamp='1345606511' post='4972059']
You think Max's interface is good???????

Really?

It's full of a decade of clutter and was kinda clunky back then! Of all the things to praise Max for, UI is certainly not one of them.

I couldn't disagree more. While it might be a bit cluttered I find everything is fairly easy to find and everything is where it would make sense.

I've had to switch to Maya for a project and it just felt like everything was the opposite of what I would expect it to be. Now maybe that's because I'm used to Max but it seemed like if you didn't know the keyboard shortcut for something in Maya you were hooped.
[/quote]

See, of course you are going to favour the application you learned on, it is only human nature.

But Max... first off, I've been using it since 3D Studio for DOS, and most of the same crap is in there still. People don't model in nurbs anymore, and they certainly dont model using metaballs anymore, and yet those tools are still front row and center. Max is in need of a massive house cleaning, purge or hide the shit that hasnt been used since, well... Max 3ish.

Maya when it came out was downright amazing; it was an absolute thing of beauty and made Max look like a toy by comparison. Keep in mind, Maya brought us the QWERTY keyset, the 3d gizmo/widget and the radial context menu. Then to compare Maya 1's shader system to Max's was to compare a rocket scientist to a caveman. That said, Autodesk bought them and it shows... now Maya is as cluttered or more so than Max ever was. Now the "quick" menu is a joke, with about 400 options presented to the user.


Of all of them, I would say pre Autodesk Maya was the best by a mile, followed by Softimage with Max in a distant 3rd ( talking strictly about UI ). I haven't used Softimage in a few versions now, so I have no idea how much Autodesk have messed with it. Softimage was always a bit of an odd duck though.

[quote name='Dancin_Fool' timestamp='1345607035' post='4972062']
[quote name='Serapth' timestamp='1345606511' post='4972059']
You think Max's interface is good???????

Really?

It's full of a decade of clutter and was kinda clunky back then! Of all the things to praise Max for, UI is certainly not one of them.

I couldn't disagree more. While it might be a bit cluttered I find everything is fairly easy to find and everything is where it would make sense.

I've had to switch to Maya for a project and it just felt like everything was the opposite of what I would expect it to be. Now maybe that's because I'm used to Max but it seemed like if you didn't know the keyboard shortcut for something in Maya you were hooped.
[/quote]

See, of course you are going to favour the application you learned on, it is only human nature.

But Max... first off, I've been using it since 3D Studio for DOS, and most of the same crap is in there still. People don't model in nurbs anymore, and they certainly dont model using metaballs anymore, and yet those tools are still front row and center. Max is in need of a massive house cleaning, purge or hide the shit that hasnt been used since, well... Max 3ish.

Maya when it came out was downright amazing; it was an absolute thing of beauty and made Max look like a toy by comparison. Keep in mind, Maya brought us the QWERTY keyset, the 3d gizmo/widget and the radial context menu. Then to compare Maya 1's shader system to Max's was to compare a rocket scientist to a caveman. That said, Autodesk bought them and it shows... now Maya is as cluttered or more so than Max ever was. Now the "quick" menu is a joke, with about 400 options presented to the user.


Of all of them, I would say pre Autodesk Maya was the best by a mile, followed by Softimage with Max in a distant 3rd ( talking strictly about UI ). I haven't used Softimage in a few versions now, so I have no idea how much Autodesk have messed with it. Softimage was always a bit of an odd duck though.
[/quote]

Wow I never new that QWERTY keyset (love it the keyset!!) came from Maya. I never used the older versions of Maya I have used 3ds Max 9+ and tried maya and found the UI right now in the current version Maya 2010+ to very cluttered more so than 3ds Max. But I'm sure you can customize the UI to not be cluttered as in 3ds Max. I personal feel the 2 programs are basically equal to each-other right now I dont know about back in the early versions. I learning on 3ds Max so that's why I like it better, but really I think its more of a person preference to what you like better (basically equal programs though in the long run).

dont scare me.

Sorry, but you're going to have to open your eyes and look at what's infront of you. To cut a long story short, don't do the animation, find an animator to do it for you. You don't have enough time to be able to learn how to animate, model, texture, and write the engine at the same time.

Wow really guys? I have used it for max for 5+ years I find the UI to be not cluttered at all I personally find all the 'clutter' very useful to help me on what I'm developing.[/quote]
Of all the 3D apps, max has by far the worst user interface. Hard coding panels in C++ and Win32 does not make a user interface flexible, it makes it an abomination. Aside from enabling / disabling visibility on a few rollups, there is no other customisation possible. If you think that's a good customisable interface, then you should really get some experience of the other apps out there. In Maya for example, you can replace / modify / remove every single UI element in the entire app. Hell, you could even rewrite the 3DS max GUI in it.

The whole UI customization is very very high[/quote]
No it isn't. It's all hard coded in WIN32 and C++. There is no customisation possible in 3dx (aside from enabling / disabling rollup visibility). In Maya you can edit / replace / remove every single button, menu item, dialog box, etc. If it's part of the UI, it can be modified. In max, some things

Keep in mind, Maya brought us the QWERTY keyset, the 3d gizmo/widget and the radial context menu.[/quote]


Pffft! Young uns! Power animator did all of those first.

But I'm sure you can customize the UI to not be cluttered as in 3ds Max[/quote]
Ctrl + Space
Ctrl + M
Shift + M

Pffft! Young uns! Power animator did all of those first.

I just didn't have a spare 15 grand ( An O2 + PA ) sitting around when I was a teenager.

Besides, Maya 1 was basically PowerAnimimator 10 so...


Almost all of these 3D programs have roots that go back stupid far.

Lots of good information you have here.

Many people use more than one program, even on the same object.

It is common to create the 3D object in one program by preference and make the animations in another one.

Blender and Wings 3D I will recommend because I have used them and they are free. They work great together if you create a complex 3D object in Wings 3D and animate it in Blender. For simple objects I would advise doing it all in Blender.

For 2D, I use GIMP which is free and surprisingly powerful.

Some comment: Blender, Wings 3D, and GIMP are a bit of a challenge in the early stages to learn the GUI, but once you get past this you will find each is quite powerful and flexible. The free programs are often capable of allowing you to create world class game art, so be encouraged by that.

If you can afford one of the paid programs, by all means look into it. A friend of mine uses Milkshake 3D and is often pestering me to give it a try. It is cheap and does some things very well.

I worked for almost 2 years in creating content for a game, so I feel good about my suggestions here.


3Ddreamer

Hi, I'm a 3d Artist and do a lot of 3d modeling/animation. As for the best animation/3d software the top two are 3ds Max and Maya. I have used many of the 3d software such as 3ds Max, Maya, Blender, SketchUp Pro, Vue, and Mud Box.


3ds Max and Maya like I said are the two best software out there for gaming developing, film, etc... 3ds Max and Maya are very very powerful I would say I like 3ds max better the user interface is easier to move around in and navigate. Maya is a little more of a mess and takes a little longer to do stuff I think. Also there are a ton more tutorials on youtube and websites that can help you learn the program better. But the downfall these are one of most advanced software's out there. The unwrapping in these programmings are very good in my opinion in helping creating a realistic texture or a texture to your liking. There are I wanna say millions of options (maybe 1000's haha) to get a good detail and quality model.

Blender I just hate it the interface is so unorganized in my opinion compared to 3ds max, its still a powerful program and you can still do a lot with it but 3ds max and Maya are still better.

Google Sketchup is basically a 3d sketching basically its still powerful but textures have low quality and unwrapping and animation/rigging is terrible its really strictly for 3d modeling.

Vue is a 3d landscape program where you can generate land and transform it in anyway and paint it from anything to deserts, to a rain-forest. It can be used for games but its usually more used for film. (It was used in Avatar). There is no 3d modeling at all except for terrain editing.

Mud Box basically you model/transform your objects (has like a clay feeling to it). Great for making high poly models off the lower poly one.


In the end my opinion is that 3ds Max is the best software its well organized interface and everything flows good (But really 3ds max and Maya are so similar its really what you feel more comfortable with) There are well over 100+ plugins and scripts to help your modeling and animation, etc.. I advise you to choose to learn 3ds Max the learning curve is terrible its one of the most advanced 3d software out there along with Maya. The learning curve is different for each person I heard it came pretty easy to me if you really want to learn it. If you choose 3ds Max in the long run you will benefit from it the most in my opinion. Tell me what you choose if you do pick 3ds Max I can help you learn it basically over skype or something. There are many tutorials for on how to create objects, homes, etc...
(3d Modeler, and use 3ds Max on a daily basis)
Hope this helps choose your software!
- Robby

Hi, I'm a 3d Artist and do a lot of 3d modeling/animation. As for the best animation/3d software the top two are 3ds Max and Maya. I have used many of the 3d software such as 3ds Max, Maya, Blender, SketchUp Pro, Vue, and Mud Box.


3ds Max and Maya like I said are the two best software out there for gaming developing, film, etc... 3ds Max and Maya are very very powerful I would say I like 3ds max better the user interface is easier to move around in and navigate. Maya is a little more of a mess and takes a little longer to do stuff I think. Also there are a ton more tutorials on youtube and websites that can help you learn the program better. But the downfall these are one of most advanced software's out there. The unwrapping in these programmings are very good in my opinion in helping creating a realistic texture or a texture to your liking. There are I wanna say millions of options (maybe 1000's haha) to get a good detail and quality model.

Blender I just hate it the interface is so unorganized in my opinion compared to 3ds max, its still a powerful program and you can still do a lot with it but 3ds max and Maya are still better.

Google Sketchup is basically a 3d sketching basically its still powerful but textures have low quality and unwrapping and animation/rigging is terrible its really strictly for 3d modeling.

Vue is a 3d landscape program where you can generate land and transform it in anyway and paint it from anything to deserts, to a rain-forest. It can be used for games but its usually more used for film. (It was used in Avatar). There is no 3d modeling at all except for terrain editing.

Mud Box basically you model/transform your objects (has like a clay feeling to it). Great for making high poly models off the lower poly one.


In the end my opinion is that 3ds Max is the best software its well organized interface and everything flows good (But really 3ds max and Maya are so similar its really what you feel more comfortable with) There are well over 100+ plugins and scripts to help your modeling and animation, etc.. I advise you to choose to learn 3ds Max the learning curve is terrible its one of the most advanced 3d software out there along with Maya. The learning curve is different for each person I heard it came pretty easy to me if you really want to learn it. If you choose 3ds Max in the long run you will benefit from it the most in my opinion. Tell me what you choose if you do pick 3ds Max I can help you learn it basically over skype or something. There are many tutorials for on how to create objects, homes, etc...
(3d Modeler, and use 3ds Max on a daily basis)
Hope this helps choose your software!
- Robby

Wow...thanks for the very detailed info..
I have maya...but will try to get 3Dsmax
Thanks

ZBrush single User - $699
Maya - $3675
3D Studio - $3675

None of these options are suitable for a beginner unless you are a student and can get student pricing, and even then can cost some bucks. I sure do see these products recommended a lot, and not always by students or pros. Must just be a lot of novices with thousands of dollars to burn, eh?

Blenders and Sculptris offer legitimately free solutions to learn by, without bankrupting yourself.

I agree,

However I was looking at the fact it was for a final project and most of these, if not all of these offer some sort of trial period. I did not really consider the price tag as these kind of just showed up one day at the office . Thank you for reminding me were not all made of cash... being spoiled kind of sucks sometimes.