Maya/Lightwave/cinema 4D?

[ToiletDuck]

Any of you guys have a prefferance for any of these? Can you list any pro's and con's? I would really like to start getting into 3d Modeling.
Duck

[mtc]

I've only dabbled a little in 3dsmax 4 and found it quite tricky to use.


From reading posts on other forums I visit, most people seem to to find Maya harder than 3dsmax.

Seeing as I probably aren't much help here's some links that might be:

http://www.graphic-forums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=808

CGTalk has really good forums on all the main 3D modeling apps:
http://www.cgtalk.com/

And SomethingLeet is good for both 3dsMax and Lightwave help:

http://www.somethingleet.com/forum/

Have fun :D

[ToiletDuck]

hmmmm thanks for the links. I'm going to start reading on them:)

[int 21h]

Most CG people I know rely heavily on Maya for character/animal/living thing animation (Renderman by Pixar is something to really get into). Those same people use Lightwave and Cinema4D for more of quick views of things, mockups of environments, etc.

[TactX]

I've no experience with any of these, but a friend of mine did some quite nice things with Lightwave without investing too much time into it, so I think you should give Lightwave a try.


Just my 5000 € :D

[Lord of the Discs]

There´s a DEMO of Cinema 4D at Maxon, what´s unusuall for a high-end
3d-app, i just don´t know how crippled it is. I use C4D for my anims,
and 4 years ago, as i started messing with 3D-anims, it looked easier
to learn then Lightwave or 3DSmax. Maybe this changed in the meantime,
but i´d say it´s worth to try this demo.

have fun with it

LotD

[mtc]

If I remember rightly, there is also a free version of Maya available for download as well. I think it is fully functinal, but leaves a water mark on your work.

[ToiletDuck]

I'd like to hear from anyone that has used more than one product extensively (if Possible) I really want to get into a 3d program and I hear they are like bibles. Once you get one you stick with it.

[Neo Neko]

I am not going to comment much on the aforementioned software titles as I don't have enough experience in all of them to make a very detailed analysis. But I might muddy the waters a bit with one of my favorite 3d apps of all time. www.blender.org now open source.