Whats your favorite 3D Modeling App?

[WILL]

I was just thinking of this not to long ago. What major commercial programs do you like to use most for 3D modeling, animation, etc?

Off the top of my head there are available; 3DS Max by Discreet, Maya by Alius, trueSpace/gameSpace by Caligari and LightWave by NewTek.

Did I miss any?

[Harry Hunt]

I used to have access to a legal copy of 3DS MAX, so I've used that for a while. I don't anymore, so now I use Blender most of the time.

3DS MAX has a tough learning curve, but once you're past the basics it's really great.

Here's an image I made with MAX 3
http://www.xwrs.net/render.jpg

[Sly]

3DS Max is by discreet and Maya is by Alias.

Other modellers:
Wings3D
Milkshape
Blender
Aztec
Metasequoia
ppModeller
gmax
SoftImage

Personally, the power of gmax is hard to beat, plus the price (free), but the export restrictions are a bummer. However, it should be possible to export to MD3 using the freely available tempest plug-in.

Maya Personal Learning Edition (Maya PLE) is a great way to learn Maya, but export is even more limited (almost non-existent). I've heard there is a way to write a script to output the model data to the script output window as text and then you cut and paste it from there.

Blender has a very wierd UI, but after you get used to it, it is apparently quite powerful. I believe {MSX} uses it for his models.

SoftImage have released a free version called XSI for Half-Life 2. It's interface is also quite strange and difficult to get used to.

Milkshape is a simple modeller, but perhaps too simple. The lack of real editing features in the 3D window limit it. Apparently Milkshape 2 is on the way, but it's been on the way for a long time.

[{MSX}]

Blender has a very wierd UI, but after you get used to it, it is apparently quite powerful. I believe {MSX} uses it for his models.

Indeed i use it for all my 3d stuff..
The interface is different from all other programs and is optimized for heavy usage.. Most of the time you use both the keyboard and the mouse togheder. Lots of functionalities are practically avaiable only by hotkey (they are buried down in the menus).
So if you use it a lot you can remember all keys and so you can go very fast.
A great features is the scriptable system. You can write your own exporters with really little work. It uses Python for that, and even if i hate it deeply, i must say that it came handy in this situation. (i'd have preferd a nice Pascal or Java plugin system ). You can also write your own tools to perform operations on models, and they can integrate in the UI.

In the end i'm quite happy with it. I once used 3D studio Max and it was very nice and easy to use, but it's harder to make plugins and exporters.
Also, since i switched to open source i throw it away

[M109uk]

I used to use Lightwave and 3DS max r3 but had a hard time with the UIs, but now i use Cinema 4D R9 and Milkshape 3D.

I havnt really tried any other software, i had a quick look at blender but i never really sat down and used it.

[Sly]

Here's an image I made with MAX 3
http://www.xwrs.net/render.jpg

That link gives a 404 error.

[Sly]

I used to use Lightwave and 3DS max r3 but had a hard time with the UIs, but now i use Cinema 4D R9 and Milkshape 3D.

Ahh yes. I forgot Cinema 4D. There's also trueSpace and gameSpace by Caligari, and of course DeleD.

[Harry Hunt]

[quote="Sly"]

Here's an image I made with MAX 3
http://www.xwrs.net/render.jpg

That ]

Oops, sorry:
http://www.kaijaeger.de/render.jpg

[Traveler]

It's Lightwave for me, but I don't think thats a surprise.

Cool image btw Harry!

Here's something i've been working on for the past couple of weeks. I eventually want to give him a body too, and let it feature in a game. But at the rate its going, it's unlikely that's it'll happen anytime soon :-/

[Harry Hunt]

Thanks!

I tried character modelling and i find it to be very difficult and time consuming. Your work on that head is very impressive. What modelling technique did you use for that?