Alternative and good 3d Package.

Having just requested a refund for Truespace 7 + Vray(refund should take 3 - 4 working days) I'm looking at purchasing a different package. I've looked at Cinema4D and XSI foundation and was wondering what people's experiances with these software packages are. A lot of people have been bigging up XSI foundation and at only £299 it seems kind of cheap. I'm going to download the trials for both and see how I get on but any information anyone can provide on how these 3d packages work and if they're any good would be appreciated.

If I don't find anything I'll be stuck woith Truespace 6.6. The thing is I want to get as far away from Truespace as I can.

IMHO XSI Foundation has everything you could ask for, unless yoo want 3D Hair and Poly reduction etc.

I have been using it for a while now and I like it a lot. I to have been bitterly disapointed with Calagari's latest offering and will be seeking a refund, thus moving onto XSI fulltime.

Download the Demo and have a play, FOundation definatly offers more bang for buck than anything else out ther at the price.

There is also a wealth of Tutorials out there for it too.

Sigh... I have just applied for my refund... and feel very sad :(

Cheers

garion

Hey Garion, Yet another person that recommends XSI. I'll definately give the demo a try.

As for Truespace 7, well, it doesn't work. What I mean is that the software is bizarre. I had to put up with Truespace 6.6 and thought that with Truespace 7 things would be improved but it didn't turn out like that. Modelling with Truespace is difficult for me as the tools don't respond and work the way you would think they would. Add to that random crashes and a non existant skeleton/bone system the price their asking for it is just to high.

Downloading XSI foundation now.

Thanks.

XSI, Maya, Max and Lightwave are real 3D apps, the rest are cheap junk.

The only problem I see with XSI is that its not well supported with 3rd party tools. But otherwise there is no competition at the price :)

I find C4d to be an excellent 3d app, too.
It uses a hierarchy interface for mesh manipulation which, while a bit inconsistent seeming at times (or at least the consistency could be a bit better...) is really easy to use and allows for quick changes of all sorts of things which may be completely unchangeable in other programs. (Every piece of your object's assembly can stay fully intact in the hierarchy thing).

I vote for XSI.

In case you missed the Truespace 7 thread ;)

Lightwave8 and VUE5 infinite is absolutely the best combo in 3D for the money. Both together are onsale for USD$795.

I gave up on Truespace a few years ago. I have v4.0 thru 6.6 if anyone wants to buy it cheap :)

LW8 is absolutely unbeatable imo and whats coming with V9.0 will knock your socks off (think 3D at near realtime rendering using GPU and shaders) you owe it to yourself to go check it out at:

www.newtek.com/lightwave/lw9_features.php.

To buy V8.3 with free upg to V9.0 and Vue go to:

www.newtek.com/lightwave/partners/e-on/


Allan

Most of the high end apps let you use shaders in viewports already Hambone. In max 8 you can create a regular max material as you would for a pre rendered scene. Lets say multiple UV material with a mix map in the diffuse slot masking 2 textures with a greyscale mask, a greyscale specular map in the shinyness slot, and the same again in the bumpmap slot.

You can view it in realtime in the viewports, and the click of a button exports a .FX and .HLSL shader files which you can load into your engine, or rendermonkey etc and edit.

Looking forward to shader engines being more viable for indies :)

Video below sjows you mixing shaders, scene shaders as well as material shaders etc.


Low res video:

http://download.autodesk.com/media/3dsmax/directx_max8_150k.wmv

High res video:

http://download.autodesk.com/media/3dsmax/directx_max8_350k.wmv

Very true. I would like to point out the $2700 price differential.

I took AMON to be in the sub $1000 price range.

XSI is good but in this price range crippled. Same for C4D which I like a lot, I have V6.3 and although it's older I find myself still using it.

There will be a fully functional time limited demo of LW9.0 so we will all be able to evaluate accordingly.

Bottom line is; so many choices and so little time.

Allan

While I'm a big LW user (I think it's modeler is simply super-neat) and it's definitely worth the money (£495 will now net you Vue5 (worth about £400) and LWCAD tools (worth about £150) for free until LW9 ships), it's essentially a choice of how you prefer to do your work.

Oh, and...



...is bull. V9.0 promises a lot of neat improvements, but absolutely no "near realtime rendering".

Futuremark (me included) moved from Lightwave to XSI last/this year... we're still in transition mode sort of and use both but I can still recommend XSI - It's cheap, fast, stable and bug-free.

Personaly at the price I think XSI is a no brainer, and the most likely to serve you well in the future if you are going to be doing any professional work.

Maybe I am confoosed (it happens a lot when yoo get older) :) but XSI Foundation is not crippled in anyway and costs $495 USD around £300 GBP.

Here is a link to the Package comparison page for yer perusal.

http://www.softimage.com/products/Xsi/v5/comparison/default.asp

It does offer the best bang per buck and there are .x exporters / importers availible on the Softimage site.

Like many I have used several apps in my model career (Flashes eylashes at audience) :) and although XSI FOundation has been a bit of a struggle for me, I am finaly getting my brain around its way of doing things.

Cinema 4D I have always liked, I have version 6 and 8, but rarely use it atm, but it sits there on me HD lurking and will always be ready for me :)

Cheers
Garion

Amon,

Get Silo for characters, or something like lightwave second hand.

i still use TS 4.3 (and 5.something or the talky animations only)... but never really got the hang of the new ui...

4.3 still works for me...

--Mike

Another vote for Lightwave.

and another for lightwave 2gether with terrabits converter

I may try lightwave but will wait to see what replies I get from the 3D Studio Max resllers. I sent each seller an email asking for a finance option for 3DSM8. One of them will get back to me today after they have done a credit check. If it doesn't look like I'll get it I'll be forced to either get XSI, Lightwave or C4D.

I use max every single day. There's nothing I don't know about it... for me, it is the perfect tool for everything I do.

No offense but you are way out of your depth. You shouldn't even be looking at max until you model really well. I think you do not understand the value of some of the cheaper tools out there. Some are BETTER than the big tools in a lot of ways.

SILO's tools are ON PAR with max and maya's modelling tools. If you can't get your models done right in silo, then you don't have a chance with max which is harder to use, not easier.

There is also a demo of 3dsmax from the discreet site. I would try getting used to it first. But ultimately, I recommend something like silo (you get silo 2 free if you buy now).

And something like fragmotion / milkshape etc for anims... thats your characters sorted out. For levels, a good way is to use something like 3d world studio or cartography shop. Sure it has room for improvement, but importantly, it works really well.

Basically for $200, you could have a very respectable level and character modelling solution which is totally reliable and dependible for .B3D as well as being pro-artist friendly.

Seriously, I think you will turn out better quality stuff with a $250 suite of apps than if you spent $2500!

LW is the most complete package for the money, but i prefer XSI...i just cant get on with LW modelor.

Silo is king! Do yourself a favour and listen to OEJ, you don't need max or any of that heavy duty stuff for low-poly game modelling. Silo, Ultimate Unwrap and Pacemaker or Fragmotion will cover all your blitz modelling needs.

Yeah I can add to Silo. It's also what I use to model and if you buy it now you will get version 2.0 for free. And version 2.0 will have some really good features and workflows that no program out there will have.

depends what your using it for, most shareware tools are ok, but without decent snaps and limited toll limitations they aren't always great for level building. Max does have some distinct advantages with its engineering roots over other tools, particularly in scenery and level design.

Hardly any apps have decent snapping tools that go beyond grids let alone object/subobject snaps which make modeling, and optimizations by hand almost effortless once you get to grips with using them.

You should definately try all the demo's and see what suits your way of working, and what your willing to pay in order to unleash your skills.

Hi, I passed the credit check and was offered 3d Studio Max 8 but decided agaisnt it for a couple of reasons. 1) They added hefty interest and 2) Listenig to OEJ's idea would save me a lot of money.

I've got Silo but am not entitled to the upgrade as I bought it quite some time ago. I think I'll start using that again instead of Truespace 6.6 and pay for the upgrade to silo when it comes out.

I've got 3D World Studio so that takes care of my level building. I've got Milkshape, UU, CFX and Fragmotion so I'm basically set aren't I?

Very true, and good points. If I recall correctly from playing with the demo, however, Silo has awesome snaps.