Hi, I would really appreciate some feedback about which software to buy. I am an artist that works with paint mainly and I really want to get into 3d modeling. I bought zbrush and I had maya 4.5- but I don’t like Maya because it is too technical and I love zbrush because I can create what I want easily- it’s like clay 
But I am not getting very far with the painting, rigging, and rendering of my designs and I was hoping you could give me some information about what you think would be the best programs to get in my situation. I really want to find a good renderer. Is Mental ray or Brazil r/s better or is Softimage XSI a good package, or is it just as hard to use as Maya? Is 3DS Max a good idea? Please help me
We actively discourage posts like this because there is no good answer. These sorts of questions usually spark very opinionated debates because people tend to be very loyal to the program that they’ve learned to use. To get a truly accurate response you’d need someone who was equally proficient in and comfortable with multiple packages. Those kinds of people don’t come along very often!
I recommend that you check out galleries of high end work. Find the artwork that appeals to you from a technical standpoint and see what software is being used. Then go to the makers of those programs to compare feature lists and try their demos. From there, you can make an informed decision for the app that will best suit your particular needs and comfort level.
ok. Thanks, I’ll definitely do that.
hi,
I have those softwares, I tryed to learn them all, but to much is too much 
.3dmax and xsi are pretty much the same,as i know.There are both very technical.I know mental ray can be buy as a standalone product but your maya version will probably be incompatible.Well 3dmax9,maya8,5,the basic xsi.5 are available in demo,
Good luck with your download.
sorry for my english.
edit
oh its was 2 days ago hope your dont still downloading.
Check out Cinema 4D. That is the artist friendliest package. XSI the technically mightiest, Maya the most popular. C4D has great interfaces to VRay (in a few days), build in Advanced render, FryRender, Maxwell, and FinalRender2.
So… Lot’s of render engines. Download the demo from the Maxon Page and give it a go. Data Exchange is very good with Zbrush.
Lemo
Try the demos before you buy. Its the best way to judge overall. I’ve got software growing mold because I did not. If you are doing this as a hobby your needs will be much different than a professional. If you only do stills you might not want a high end package you don’t need.
For me, I’m settling down to ZBrush, Photoshop CS3 Extended which I need for the things I publish and maybe Silo. That leaves thousands in moldy software on my system I use once in a blue moon. One of my mentors in art once told me, “In nature there are no straight lines. Put your ruler and rules away forever.”. I’d rather spend my little free time creating and having fun than countless hours learning technical software that amounts to the same thing as using a ruler.
Many thanks to Pixologic for ZBrush 
The only software that seems to have been created for pure art without the rulers and grids. I am getting a kick out of render nodes and what not though 
Let the art flow. Wax on, wax off 
Yes, and do not buy anything you cannot sell again. Like Modo… which grows mold on my shelve. Not a bad piece of software, but if you decide to use something else… then you can’t even give it away for free. You can sell ZBrush again… But I fail to see a single license on the market. There must be a reason 8).
Lemo
If you’re looking for something completely non-technical for weighting, rigging, animation and rendering then well, you’re just not going to find it. Like everyone else said, try the demo’s and see which one you take to.
I would also reccomend looking into the plug-ins you can get for all of the various packages, for example there is a very good add-on tool for Maya called The Setup Machine which will help make the rigging, weighting and animation process alot easier for someone who doesn’t want to get overly technical.