3D Design

mnemic

im ok with photoshop but absolutely crap with illustrator now apart from these 2 programs, whats another program where you can design 3d graphics? ie, text, characters, objects?

beaudoin_n

blender

mangaroo

there are a lot of 3d text tutorials for photoshop mnemic.
characters and objects in 3d...well blender is free. there are other programs but i know they are also expensive and have a learning curve of their own, maya, 3dsmax and zbrush *note so does blender take time to learn- if you already have photoshop then i really would stick with that although illustrator for fonts and menus etc would be ideal but ideal is $$$$$

mnemic

Blender is like trying to learn Japanese at the age of 90. Can you do 3d modelling in photoshop? or at least have a 3d effect in objects?

icanmake

just look up some vector tutorials for illustrator so you can learn. ex. http://vectips.com/tag/tutorials also livetype is great for text.

mnemic

im rubbish with illustrator

diamond000

i use flash instead of illustrator, flash lets you bend any line just by clicking on it. if you need to do 3d there is always truescape its pretty easy to learn and its free with no restrictions. used it years ago.

KrakenCMT

As far as 3D is concerned, I use ZBrush for most of my 3D work. The nice thing about ZBrush is that you don't have to worry about polycount, polyflow, etc. It's made for the artist to create and not think too much about the technical stuff. I haven't made any games yet with GS, but I think that ZBrush could work to create static elements and even characters and possibly animations to use with GS. The learning curve for someone new to 3D graphics is steep, but once you learn it, it can shave a lot of time off character and asset creation.

xyloFUN

mnemic said:
im ok with photoshop but absolutely crap with illustrator now apart from these 2 programs, whats another program where you can design 3d graphics? ie, text, characters, objects?

hey mnemic,
most of my apps use 3D renders for artwork which, in the past, were created on a variety of apps.
If I was starting out, I'd give 3D Coat a look .... there are also tutorials etc ...

Depending on what kind of stuff you make, going 3D can set you apart from the regular 2d stuff which is plentiful

Fishtefa

Studio 3ds max is your hardcore 3d modeling program, i think that you can get a one month free trial, just google it

xyloFUN

Fishtefa said:
Studio 3ds max is your hardcore 3d modeling program, i think that you can get a one month free trial, just google it

Where do you get the "free" windows machine (for one month)?

FjantInc

Fishtefa said:
Studio 3ds max is your hardcore 3d modeling program, i think that you can get a one month free trial, just google it

As an old-time user of max I just must correct you there It's just called 3ds Max. You're mixing it with its old name, 3d Studio MAX. But nowadays it's just 3ds Max.

xyloFUN said:
Where do you get the "free" windows machine (for one month)?

Check out www.autodesk.com

Chunkypixels

Theres no point getting involved with Max or Maya one month trials, unless you really have the thousands of dollars to pay for the software once the trial runs out.... as you wont get a whole lot done in just your first month.

Blender would be a more logical path to choose... as its free, will always be free, and its pretty much on a par with the more expensive options, regarding features, capabilities, and final output quality.

All 3D packages have a complicated learning curve... so if your going to invest time learning one, you might as well make sure its one you'll be able to keep using in future.

Personally, I mostly use 3DS Max, but thats because Ive used it at various studios over the past 15 years, and Ive aquired paid licenses through my freelancing, so its the package Im most familiar with. But having played with Blender, and used it on one project, I think its definately as capable as 3DS Max, and would be the software of choice if I no longer had access to 3DS Max.

Blender has an amazing online community, with lots of tutorials, videos and information, and theres a very good selection of great Blender books out there too, to help with the learning process.

Dhondon

Chunkypixels said:
Theres no point getting involved with Max or Maya one month trials, unless you really have the thousands of dollars to pay for the software once the trial runs out.... as you wont get a whole lot done in just your first month.

Blender would be a more logical path to choose... as its free, will always be free, and its pretty much on a par with the more expensive options, regarding features, capabilities, and final output quality.

All 3D packages have a complicated learning curve... so if your going to invest time learning one, you might as well make sure its one you'll be able to keep using in future.

Personally, I mostly use 3DS Max, but thats because Ive used it at various studios over the past 15 years, and Ive aquired paid licenses through my freelancing, so its the package Im most familiar with. But having played with Blender, and used it on one project, I think its definately as capable as 3DS Max, and would be the software of choice if I no longer had access to 3DS Max.

Blender has an amazing online community, with lots of tutorials, videos and information, and theres a very good selection of great Blender books out there too, to help with the learning process.

Creating commercial content with trial versions is in most cases illegal. The same thing goes for educational licenses.

Have to agree that Blender is an great alternative. They have improved their GUI. Not perfect, nut better that the old one.