Maya or 3ds max

#21 Blender + TFM = Divine Happiness

#22 LW has a different type of workflow then maya and Max. You don't model and animate in the same program... so i feel the menus aren't cluttered with stuff you dont need at the moment. Don't forget blender! it's free. It's pretty decent too.

#23 I use LW and Modo for almost all of my 3D work. Silo has an excellent workflow as well (no animation). I like ZBrush, Max, and Maya as well. As many people have said, try the out and find which one fits your workflow and has the features you need. Starting with Wings3D, Anim8or, and Blender is an excellent idea since it will get you indoctrinated in how 3D applications work. That way you can figure out your workflow. All too often, much like game development, people want to jump in at level 10 without acquiring 1-9 first.

#24 Say Nathan,

If you haven't made a choice yet, you might also want to look at TrueSpace/GameSpace.
Though GameSpace, while being built along the same lines as TrueSpace has all the exporters for Torque, (as well as other 3D engines) built in, while with TrueSpace, you'll need plugins to export the models into your Torque environment!

For a liomited time you can also buy GameSpace bundled with 3DGS on the Conitec website, saving yoiurself $100 bucks if you were to purchase them seperately!

#25 I like 3ds max

#26 U can actually still find Gmax on the internet, and the maya personal learning edition can't export any file formats, though u CAN impot .ma files u CAN'T export .ma or .mb files. I haven't tried lightwave, i heard it's good but i never used it, just download the personal learning edition of maya, and get Gmax and see which one u take to better. I like Maya, but that's probly just cuz i learned maya first, if u have a student ID u can get Maya 7 for like 400$ now, i think 3DS Max is a similar price. Zbrush is an awesome modeling app, it's 200$ with student ID, 400$ otherwise, but i don't think u can export those file types to .dts, u have to export a .obj file, and THEN IMPORT the .obj file in Max or Maya, where u would EXPORT the .dts file.
Anyways,
1. Get Gmax and Maya PLE(personal learning edition), read some tutorials, and see which u like better, Maya PLE can be found at- http://www.alias.com/glb/eng/products-services/product_details.jsp?productId=1900003
and found Gmax on www.filefront.com , or u could try www.fileplanet.com, though fileplanet requires like 6-7$ monthly subscription fee.
2. If u take classes at just about any college u should be able to get a student ID from there, there are TONS of sites that give huge discounts to students. If u don't go to college one viable(though complex) option is to enroll for some 1 credit class that doesn't cost much, maybe PE, and then u can get a student ID, i don't think it'll matter what classes u take.
3. If you're EXTREMELY cheap and don't want to pay ANYTHING, u could :
A- get Milkshape or Blender they're free and have most of the options that the big time apps have.
or B-use Limewire....though such a large file will take about 24 hrs. to dwnload...and it's illegal...

Hope i helped ^__^

#27 I can't find Gmax anywhere!?

#28 It's on Flight Sim 2004 cd 4 I think :)

#29 Try searching on Turbosquid.com as it is the retirement home of gMax.

#30 Free/ cheap modelling solutions:

As mentioned previously:
Blender 3d - Free
Wings 3d - Free

Also:
Milkshape 3D (w/ Torque export) 30 day trial - $20 registration
Anim8or - Free, rather nice "homegrown" modeler
Truespace 1.04 (very old) is Free... but old. I mean OLD. =\
Rhino 3D - 30 Day Trial (NURBS modeler), $900 to register
Zbrush - Free trial (feature handicapped)... insanely cool modeling app - $500 USD to buy
Animation Master - No free trial (that I'm aware of) $299 registration, very cool app

~There's a few to get you started. You'll find oodles of other stuff if you search through Google.

#31 ... aren't there educational/student licenses of 3ds max? I know many schools use educational licenses (with splash screens) of Max...

#32 Yes, you can buy educationally priced versions of many software applications from vendors like journeyed.com or through your school either at their bookstore (if its a post secondary institute) or through a contact at your schools administration (if you are in a secondary school).

Certain restrictions do apply to be eligable through so you should read them thoroughly and ensure that you understand the liscenses for educationally priced software and how you should and should not be using them.

#33 I've seen an artist run lightwave on a 14" monitor....
lightwave requires you to learn words

max requires four 24" monitors to use it.
max requires u to learn 1000 icons.

#34 @Charles

And the point of your post is...?

Any/all graphics applications, regardless if they are 3D or not, work best on larger monitors that are capable of running resolutions of 1280px wide. The more pixels that you have to use the more workspace at your disposal, its as simple as that.

#35

Quote:I've seen an artist run lightwave on a 14" monitor....
lightwave requires you to learn words

max requires four 24" monitors to use it.
max requires u to learn 1000 icons.

four 24" monitors! Must I have four 24" monitors? And Charles - What does "lightwave requires you to learn words" supposed to mean?

#36
Well take a look at LW's modeler for example. I took a screenie, kinda shrunk it down from my res, but you should get the idea.

LW doesn't have 1000 different icons you gotta "learn" LW has everything in plain english. There are tabs on the top to sort the different types of modeling tasks, and the panel on the left displays available actions.

the note about the 14" monitor probably means that LW doesn't require a giant monitor because the actions are spread out and not all visible at once.


here's a shot of maya i found online to compare.

#37 No you don't need four monitors to run a graphics application, all of the tools run fine on one monitor (contrary to the incorrect information provided by Charles B), the only key is ensuring that your monitor can handle high resolutions since this will give you more work space to operate in.

I should note that it is possible and quite common however that artists that do use two or more monitors do so because they are working on some pretty large projects and want more work space to store and hold stuff so that it is all at their fingertips versus having to multi-task between applications or windows. Think of it like having a big U shaped desk versus a stock corner desk unit, more real estate gives you more room to spread your stuff out on for easier reference.

In regards to the complexity of a tool such as Maya or Max, it should be noted that you can customize your UI to show or hide as much or as little information as you need or want access to. Its all really up to the end users preferences.

#38 Modo's user interface is still my absolute favorite in just about any application (though DFX+ has a very intuitive flow interface).

But the initial learning curve of figuring out those "1000 icons" or what the "plain english" labels really mean is nothing compared to the learning curve of actually utilizing the tools in the best possible way for your workflow.

Maya, Max, LW, XSI, Cinema4D, TrueSpace, Blender, etc...will all require time to not only learn to use, but learn to use effectively.

#39 You know, I'd never really looked into Modo before, but after a quick perusal I must say that it's interface...


looks awfully familiar...


Strange.

#40 How hard is it to export something from Zbrush to torque... can it be done using intermediate programs.. like export to max or blender(hopefully) then export to dts?