Best 3d rendering/animation prog for a newbie?

[Reverend Maynard]

Howdy all, I wanted to start learning 3d rendering and animation and I was wondering what program would give me the best results. Thanks for all help, info you can give me.

[alessandro]

Well,

The best FREE rendering app is of course Povray.It is an EXTREMELY powerful raytracing program(radiocity etc) but it has no GUI interface,so for a beginner is a good introduction in the basics of the 3D world.
Of course there is some shareware GUI modelers for the Povray (or the MegaPovray)like the excelent Moray v3.3 for Windows that make things easier .

For commercial programs, Lightwave 6.5(£1500) is one of my favorites as it is very fast, has a easy-to-use interface and it's one the best 3D animation packages at any price(Very fast rendering , very good modeller etc).Cinema 4D is another good 3d package,and also the new 3D Studio MAX 4(i don't like at all 3d studio max series ...i hate their interface).

Don't forget to look also the very easy to use but VERY powerful NURBS modeller Rhinoceros v1.1&2.0 beta.
Ofcourse there is also the other favorite of mine ,the king of 3D Maya 3 Unlimited, but again only if you find it as a illegal copy as its price is ~£20000 and it's not very easy to learn



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[This message has been edited by alessandro (edited 03 April 2001).]

[Reverend Maynard]

Thanks for the reply. I'll give Lightwave a shot and see what I can do. Rhino is one of the ones I was trying to remember the name of. My fried used to use that before he left, just could not for the life of me remember the name. And hell, since Povray is free I will give that a shot too. Thanks again.

[This message has been edited by Reverend Maynard (edited 03 April 2001).]