There is lots of software to make 3d animation. Some of it is free, and some of it is very expensive. It seems that 3ds Max and Maya are the two main packages used in professional 3d animation, with Cinema 4d being third, and Houdini being the last of the 4 major packages. The more i look into this, the more it seems that there most animation artists use several different application-specific tools to get the best result. I have left out the Adobe range of products.
Autodesk 3ds Max $3495
Autodesk Maya Unlimited $4995
Autodesk Maya Complete $1995
Houdini Master $7995
Houdini Escape $1995
Maxon Cinema 4D Studio Bundle $3695
Maxon Cinema 4D Core $995
LightWave 3D $795
Carrara Pro $549
Hash Animation Master $299
TrueSpace free
Blender free
3D modeling software, that perhaps can be exported to animation software when completed, and some DVD-authoring software. Note, most packages support Maya and 3ds Max formats and obj format.
Poser Pro $499
Poser $249
SketchUp Pro $495
Zbrush $595
Bryce $99
FaceGen $299
Art of Illusion free
DAZ Studio free
DX Studio Pro $530
DX Studio Standard $250
Sony Vegas Movie Studio $495
Magix Video Pro X $249
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added 2009-05-24:
iclone pro $219
Vue Pro $399
Terragen $199
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added 2009-12-6
I’ve learned that video editing software can have almost as large an impact on a 3D movie as the software to create the movie itself, so have researched a bit on what product is best. There are some free ones, but the only free one that looks good is Windows Movie Maker, and also one very expensive one – Avid – is left off this list. There are also a few solely for Mac, but left off this list as i use Windows.
Adobe Premiere Elements $80
Adobe Premiere Pro $700
Pinnacle Studio 14 Ultimate $120
Cyberlink Power Director 8 $100
Magix Movie Edit Pro 15 $50
Ulead Video Studio 11 $130
Corel Video Studio Pro X2 $90
Sony Vegas Pro9 $500
Sony Vegas Movie Studio9 $100
Right now i’m leaning to the very first one or very last one.
Found new interesting software today to do “Markerless Motion Capture”. This will allow 3D objects to get moving very quickly!
http://www.ipisoft.com/index.php
It’s a long url, but the following tutorial shows how to use Bryce software to make a city landscape very quickly. COOL!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPqmJ7MX36Q&feature=PlayList&p=45DAB8BC0B87D768&index=2
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One more cool thing seen today, is Next Engine 3D scanner. It’s hardware, but could make importing actual objects super easy into software programs. Price = $2,995
iclone looks to be very good too. I spent all morning checking it out.
http://www.reallusion.com/
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The cost of the PRO package with the 3DXchange software which is necessary to get obj format support is 219usd.
The price on Newegg is $160, and the price for the “Academic” version is 135.
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This software looks good for quickly learning how to get an animation made with the characters and props acting like you want, getting faces animated, doing landscapes, and quickly getting both whole projects and storyboards for other, more robust software. The price is excellent, but with the various landscape and cloth and figure packages etc., the price could spiral up pretty quick.
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The drawbacks look to be that the quality is noticeably less than what can be done in Maya and 3ds Max for example, because the entire figure is not changeable, just points on the figure. Also, the content availabe is not so large, but with obj import, that restriction is mostly relieved.
For $25 i bot a book with a CD on it including Hexagon and Carrara Pro 6. So i’m leaning right now to looking at the 3D Daz family which includes Bryce and Daz Studio and the above 2. Daz Studio is free, and Bryce is less than $100. The quality tho looks to be middle-of-the-road. Probably good enough for what i’m planning 🙂
Vue looks to be a souped-up version of Bryce. Both are specifically for landscapes and clouds, but Vue looks to be the heavy hitter, and Bryce for the hobbyist. Terragen 2 is also specifically for landscapes, but looks quite difficult to learn.
Quidam is software used to make changes to the mesh of models you have. Daz seems to use the main two models – Michael4 and Victoria4, and while they are “morphable”, i don’t see any easy ways to change their basic looks. This software will allow basically unlimited changes in facial and body features. Perhaps it could be used to make many different kinds of angels etc. Cost is 199euro.
Blacksmith3D is a paint-on application to “paint textures with Alpha Masks (RGBA)
paint across UV seams as if they didn’t exist
use the Clone Tool for easy texturing
auto UV map virtually any object with a click of a single button
use the smudge & blur tools to paint across seams
use the Soft Selection Tool to paint, morph & smooth your polygonal model ”
Suite 150cad.
3D Coat is powerful “sculpting” software. It is available for 235usd.
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What makes this program so interesting, besides the nice features, is the story behind the man who programmed this software – Andrew Shpagin.
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http://www.3d-coat.com/about.html
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He writes “Currently we work as a separate company, independently designing 3D-Coat and game project “The Pilgrim’s Progress” based on the book by John Bunyan under the same name where 3D-Coat is used for character detailing.
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Right at that time my wife had an idea — to make a game based on John’s Bunyan «The Pilgrim’s Progress». We wanted to tell people about the Christ interesting and not obsessively, especially to those who would even hold the Bible in his hands. Me and some of my friends gathered to think about the concept of the game and the script. That was rather nontrivial because in the book the way of Christian was perfectly streight, so what gameplay could we do in the game? There are a lot of dialogs in the book but unlikely reading of big dialogs would be interesting for those who play. Then a lot of ideas appeared. For example, an idea of «assignment» of initial character and set of bad habbits, and for a player it becomes a taks to find different ways to motivate and reform heroes’ character to save him from the upcoming furious historical events and death eventually.”
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His passion for Christ is beautiful to read, and his obvious skill in programming should be rewarded. Who knows, maybe in the future he will design a “Great Controversy” game???!
Today i got my free copy of Carrara Pro 7 included in 3D Artist magazine. Now i really need to get a new computer,,,and get to work!!!
Bryce 7 Pro just came out,
http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?p=2449991
and is 50usd until August 16, 2010. The Instancing thing looks great. The art some people are coming up with is really amazing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcHk8Ux8YYM&feature=player_embedded