What software creates 3D models?

Answer 1

depends on the use:

Maya = maybe the best most powerful for professional animation but extreme expensive and very complex

Studio 3D Max = a more affordable powerful animation software

Poser = creating detailed human figures

AutoCAD = ultra precison drafting but extreme expensive

TurboCAD = affordable precision drafting

GMax = animated video game objects (was free but may no longer be available)

i personally use a program called illusionmage as i am a small time 3d animator my self i find that this program does everything i need plus it is straight forward and easy to use so it gets a big thumbs up from me :) ill shall post the site below

http://bc4d4k0dy9xz6pdgsi0fngw1jl.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=MB92DWB5

youll find it here

Define best?

The best software to save in all other software formats and trust me you would need this later on would be Right Hemispheres Deep Exploration 6. This allows you to open a model in a 3d format and save it in another 3d format even if you don't have Maya, Studio Max, Modo etc

Best for learning?

Without doubt Cinema 4D its more easy to follow the materials libraries, uvwmapping etc than 3D studio Max.

Best for rendering, animation and all round best software?

Hmm its close but I would say 3D Studio Max (if you can afford it) or Modo. Which everone you go for you will have months of study, so stick at it as the rewards are well worth it.

Answer 2

It's a matter of what one hopes to do in rendering.

Typically though, Mental Ray and V-Ray are considered top range production quality render engines for photo-realistic rendering, though they are both capable of much more. Renderman is also a top line renderer used by Pixar and many other studios.

There is also a new 3D mapping software tool created by a UK company called Skape. They are a 3D city mapping tool. It offers accurate, easy-to-use imagery, height data and organance survey mapping that makes geospatial information even more accessible.

Answer 3

i'm not sure how good it is compaired to the others, but alice is a nice, simple, animation software created by Carnegie Mellon University for a basic programing course. it is easy to use, and fun to create movies and other worlds in it. Hope it helped. The website is www.alice.org.

Answer 4

Edit: AlanR917

I personally recommend Blender 3D. It's free open scource, and you can do almost anything with it.

Blender is good, so is Google Sketchup if you want to start off, plus with Google your models can be uploaded to a 3d store and of course published on Google Earth if you a doing any sort of building models.

For anything else a good software I use is 3D Studio Max or the more affordable Cinema 4D.

You have to decide whether it is worth the pain of studying the freeware software or go with a paid for product where there is more help and guidance available to you.

Answer 5

A basic comparison including release date/version information can be found on the Comparison of 3D computer graphics software page. A comprehensive comparison of significant 3D packages can be found at CG Society Wiki and TDT3D 3D applications 2007 comparisons table..

• 3ds Max (Autodesk), originally called 3D Studio MAX, is a comprehensive and versatile 3D application used in film, television, video games and architecture for Windows. It can be extended and customized through its SDK or scripting using a Maxscript. It can use third party rendering options such as Brazil R/S, finalRender and V-Ray.

• AC3D (Inivis) is a 3D modeling application that began in the 90's on the Amiga platform. Used in a number of industries, MathWorks actively recommends it in many of their aerospace-related articles[1] due to price and compatibility. AC3D does not feature its own renderer, but can generate output files for both RenderMan and POV-Ray among others.

• Aladdin4D (DiscreetFX), first developed for the Amiga, was originally developed by Adspec Programming. After acquisition by DiscreetFX, it is multi-platform for Mac OS X, Amiga OS 4.1, MorphOS, Linux, AROS and Windows.

• Blender (Blender Foundation) is a free, open source, 3D studio for animation, modeling, rendering, and texturing offering a feature set comparable to commercial 3D animation suites. It includes features such as multi-resolution sculpting; retopology painting; 3D view texture painting; and other features. Blender is developed under the GPL and is available on all major platforms including Windows, OS X, Linux, BSD, Sun and Irix.

• Carrara (DAZ Productions) is a fully-featured 3D toolset for modeling, texturing, scene rendering and animation.

• Cinema 4D (MAXON) is a light package in its basic configuration. The software is for lay users. It has a lower initial entry cost due to a modular a-la-carte design for purchasing additional functions as users need them. Originally developed for the Amiga, it is also available for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux.

• Cobalt is a parametric-based Computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D modeling software for both the Macintosh and Microsoft Windows. It integrates wireframe, freeform surfacing, feature-based solid modeling and photo-realistic rendering (see Ray tracing), and animation.

• Electric Image Animation System (EI Technology Group) is a 3D animation and rendering package available on both Mac OS X and Windows. Mostly known for its rendering quality and rendering speed it does not include a built-in modeler. The popular film Pirates of the Caribbean[2] and the television series Lost[3] used the software.

• form•Z (AutoDesSys, Inc.) is a general purpose solid/surface 3D modeler. Its primary use is for modeling, but it also features photo realistic rendering and object-centric animation support. form•Z is used in architecture, interior design, illustration, product design, and set design. It supports plug-ins and scripts, has import/export capabilities and was first released in 1991. It is currently available for both Mac OS X and Windows.

• Houdini (Side Effects Software) is used for visual effects and character animation. It was used in Disney's feature film The Wild.[4] Houdini uses a non-standard interface that it refers to as a "NODE system". It has a hybrid micropolygon-raytracer renderer, Mantra, but it also has built-in support for commercial renderers like Pixar's RenderMan and mental ray.

• Inventor (Autodesk) The Autodesk Inventor is for 3D mechanical design, product simulation, tooling creation, and design communication.

• KeyCreator (Kubotek) KeyCreator developed by Kubtotek USA is a 3D direct CAD modeler used by mechanical designers. It is extensively used in manufacturing and supply chains due to its ability to import and edit many CAD formats.

• Lightray 3D (Sxcreations)[5] Lightray 3D Developed by Sxcreations, is a 3D Polygonal Modeling, Rendering and Animation piece of software it has extensive import/export capabilities it is only available on Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/7

• LightWave 3D (NewTek), first developed for the Amiga, was originally bundled as part of the Video Toaster package and entered the market as a low cost way for TV production companies to create quality CGI for their programming. It first gained public attention with its use in the TV series Babylon 5[6] and is used in several contemporary TV series.[7][8][9]. Lightwave is also used in film production.[10][11]. It is available for both Windows and Mac OS X.

• MASSIVE is a 3D animation system for generating crowd-related visual effects, targeted for use in film and television. Originally developed for controlling the large-scale CGI battles in The Lord of the Rings,[12] Massive has become an industry standard for digital crowd control in high end animation[citation needed] and has been used on several other big-budget films. It is available for various Unix and Linux platforms as well as Windows.

• Maya (Autodesk) is currently used in the film and television industry. Maya has developed over the years into an application platform in and of itself through extendability via its MEL programming language. It is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.

• Modo (Luxology) is a subdivision modeling, texturing and rendering tool with support for camera motion and morphs/blendshapes.and is now used in the Television Industry It is available for both Windows and Mac OS X.

• NX ( Siemens PLM Software) is an integrated suite of software for computer-aided mechanical design (mechanical CAM), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), and computer-aided engineering (CAE) formed by combining the former Unigraphics and SDRC I-deas software product lines.[13] NX is currently available for the following operating systems: Windows XP and Vista, Apple Mac OS X,[14], and Novell SUSE Linux.[15]

• Silo (Nevercenter) is a subdivision-surface modeler available for Mac OS X and Windows. Silo does not include a renderer. Silo is the bundled in modeler for the Electric Image Animation System suite.

• SketchUp Pro (Google) is a 3D modeling package that features a sketch-based modeling approach. It has a pro version which supports 2D and 3D model export functions among other features. A free version is integrated with Google Earth and limits export to Google's "3D Warehouse", where users can share their content.

• Softimage (Autodesk) Softimage (formerly Softimage|XSI) is a 3D modeling and animation package that integrates with mental ray rendering. It is feature-similar to Maya and 3DS Max and is used in the production of professional films, commercials, video games, and other media.

• solidThinking (solidThinking) is a 3D solid/surface modeling and rendering suite which features a construction tree method of development. The tree is the "history" of the model construction process and allows real-time updates when modifications are made to points, curves, parameters or entire objects.

• Solid Edge ( Siemens PLM Software) is a commercial application for design, drafting, analysis, and simulation of products, systems, machines and tools. All versions include feature-based parametric modeling, assembly modeling, drafting, sheetmetal, weldment, freeform surface design, and data management.[16] Application-programming interfaces enable scripting in Visual Basic and C Programming.

• SolidWorks (SolidWorks Corporation) is an application used for the design, detailing and validation of products, systems, machines and toolings. All versions include modeling, assemblies, drawing, sheetmetal, weldment, and freeform surfacing functionality. It also has support for scripting in Visual Basic and C.

• Swift 3D (Electric Rain) is a relatively inexpensive 3D design, modeling, and animation application targeted to entry-level 3D users and Adobe Flash designers. Swift 3D supports vector and raster-based 3D animations for Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight XAML.

• trueSpace (Caligari Corporation) is a 3D program available for Windows, although the company Caligari first found its start on the Amiga platform. trueSpace features modeling, animation, 3D-painting, and rendering capabilities. In 2009, Microsoft purchased TrueSpace and it is now available completely free of charge.

• Vue (E-on Software) is a tool for creating, animating and rendering natural 3D environments. It was most recently used to create the background jungle environments in the 2nd and 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean films.[17]

• ZBrush (Pixologic) is a digital sculpting tool that combines 3D/2.5D modeling, texturing and painting tool available for Mac OS X and Windows. It is used to create normal maps for low resolution models to make them look more detailed.

Answer 6

Maya is effectively the best 3D liveliness programming on the lookout and comes in at a sensible expense of $1,545/year (or pay $195/month). They additionally offer a 30-day free preliminary so you can test the product prior to making the purchase. Renderforest would be the 2nd best 3D amination software for which has a more reasonable monthly plan than Maya. Its monthly plans start from 39.99 to 49.99 a momth.

Answer 7

If you're a student, you can get free 13 month licenses for all of the Autodesk software, like Maya and 3DSMax, which is the industry standard for 3D graphics.

Answer 8

There are a few 3D animation software programs that are available in today's market. The most known is LightWave 11.5, 3D Modeling and has some packages that go along with it.