ZBrushCentral

Your favorite 3d package, and why.

Hey everybody! I don’t want to start any kind of flame war, or pointless bickering, but I have a topic to suggest.

What is your favorite 3d animation/modeling package, and why?

Please don’t use Zbrush, as we all know it is the best, but the industry hasn’t caught on as much yet. Some examples would be Maya, 3ds max, lightwave, cinema 4d, XSI, etc.
Thanks, this should be interesting!

First, I don’t want to start anything either, but I have to question the word ‘Best’ used in relation to ZBrush or any other package…
I mainly use LightWave, but I also have MAYA Unlimited, Cinema 4D XL, 3D Studio MAX, and Truespace, as well as AMAPI…I use LightWave primarily because I can make a material that is not only accurate to its real world counterpart, but also because I am a gemcutter by profession. When the ‘wish list’ was created for the present version, as well as previous versions, I requested the ability to apply actual Refractive Index settings to materials…Why? Because all materials depend on R.I. for a realistic appearance. In LW I have refractive index, transparency, translucency, shaders like true Fresnel I can apply, deformation pallete options, Displacement mapping, and many more things under my control. Also I can drive textures with previous levels or alphas or anything else, since I can potentially layer 100’s of shader and texture combos to produce a material from scratch. I also require visible lights for my style, as well as particle and volumetric effects, which ZBrush doesn’t have…MAYA didn’t suit me because I didn’t like the workflow, or filling piles of little boxes with numbers, and then checking to see if it worked. In LW, I can watch a real-time update of a material sample as I design it and modify it. I can tweek reflections, use light probe images easily for HDRI reflections, and animation is a breeze…On this section of ZBC, I posted frames from an animation I did based on a tutorial, of a stormy ocean…This is a plane object, scaled to one kilometer, and uses layered textures and displacement maps, driven by ‘null objects’ to move them. The foam on the waves is controlled seperately from the waves, to give a realistic movement and character…

(But I don’t necessarily believe LW is the ‘best’ either…To me, that sounds like a ‘cult’ view of software, and I don’t accept that…They are tools only. It’s up to the artist to decide the best bridge between vision and execution of that vision…)

Interesting potential for discussion here… :+1: :sunglasses: :+1:

(Here’s a link to the frames of animation I posted, and if anybody is interested in a condensed version of the animation, email me, and I will send the file. I have two versions, ‘Ocean Light’ which is around 2.5 Megs, and is 24 fps, as well as a full version which is widescreen, 30 fps, and weighs in at 29 Megs…I think that would illustrate my points about materials, and refractive indices…)
http://www.pixolator.com/zbc-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=001154

3D canvas by Amabilis

It is a true jack of all trades - although it has no built in renderer it works with povray.
It has a rather unusual interface which puts a lot of people off and can be slow at times but for about $70 you would be hard pushed to find a more complete package.

I have never tried any of the “big names” - I just cant afford them as this is only a hobby for me.

(and no I don’t work for them :slight_smile: )

That’s a pretty cool package all right Alan… :+1:
Personally, I’ve always thought that the POV-Ray render engine is one of the best, and I used POV-Ray a lot…(It got so I was writing scene description files in my head after a while… :smiley: ) Anyone who hasn’t should check out POV-Ray, and the app you pointed me to, with POV-Ray could be a hell of a combo for sure!

Hey Stonecutter,

By my calculations you have about $10,000 worth of software there… :eek:

Either you have a funky job, which i know you do, or you’ve been visiting newsgroups…

*8

Your first guess is correct… :wink:
(On my best day I earned $2800.00 for about 8 hours work…It was a fine violet Sapphire, and I charge 10% of the appraissed value for my cutting… :wink: )

Jeeez, i need to start cutting some rocks… :slight_smile:

No worries man, just seemed unusual that anybody would own both Maya and Max, not to mention Cinema4d…

Keep cuttin’… :wink:

In answer to the original question:

Wings3d (For the basic mesh, as I can’t really get what i want with Zspheres…sorry)
The mighty Brush(Albeit for it’s ease, but i’m hangin’ on now for the next version…bring it on!!!)
3D Studio Max 6(This is my virgin 3d program, again, easier than Maya yet full of too many choices…)

Hope this helps.

It’s all down to the person though.

*8


For the powerful of the simplicity :rolleyes:
And useful during the electrity blackout :slight_smile:
Pilou

What, a box of crayons!

Now we’re getting more realistic… :wink:

*8

Micrografx Simply 3d V3 is an obsolete program but still my favorite for modeling and animation. I can model the simple props I need in it easily and never had to crack a manual to figure out how to do it. It has an abundance of animation effects, a fast ray tracer, easy camera control, lots of light sets and textures and it came with over 1,000 models, many of them fully textured. A great program to get one started if you just want to make web graphics or animations or set up some scenes. Best of all it has a simple and effective user interface which makes it very easy to use. I’ve used it for years now, from Win 95 through XP and I’m hoping to take it with me into a 64bit OS and hardware of the future.

Cool! Stonecutter, yes I know that the word “best” probably wasn’t the…best?..word to use there :slight_smile: What I meant was that this is a Zbrush specific board, and as such, most users probably favor Zbrush. Anyway, this post was mostly done out of curiosity. I hope to purchase a 3d package soon, and I’m really just getting some ideas from others. I’ve tried TONS of demo’s, and education versions, and I must say that Wings3d and Zbrush have been my favorites so far :slight_smile: However, I hope to one day work in the industry of animation and as such I need to be “savvy” with a major piece of software.
Anyhoo, out of all the demo’s and ple’s I’ve used, my favorites have been Gmax, Lightwave and Cinema4d. Not sure why, I guess I just felt like the interface and workflow seemed to be a little more friendly. I think I abhor Maya, seems a little too…UN-artisticly minded.

Keep em comin guys!!

@FootFace
If you try to keep it “low budget”, AND you are used to work with Wings - just try Nendo. I believe that Wings was done much with Nendo in mind, and it has some nice additional features (painting your meshes is one of them).
Concerning the “not so big names” (for what ever reasons): Truespace (http://www.caligari.com) is selling earlier Versions at low prices (maybe some others are doing this as well). Good luck

hello… difficult of course to have an idea of the “best” package, as it is totally involved with the user’s way of thinking… here we are all sure of the definite advance of z brush… for others soft, on areas that zbrush doesn’t cover today, I foud clearly rhino, and the nurbs approach, as the quicquest way of modelling, and the most powerful modeller non organic… (but i haven’t tryed a lot!); I don’t believe at the all in one package; i always, of course model essential parts in z brush, always mechanic and so on in nurbs, and found the low priced carrara clearly the best materiual editing and render i have tried; and a sprecial “mention” on vue 4, with it’s handfle very specific of landscapes… amitiés M. Oh, and I agree with pilou: the most useful package in 3d is pencil and paper…

:cool: :cool: :cool:
Pilou

pilou, tu signes là un message d’un hermétisme d’esthète: si ces lunettes noires indiquent une admiration profonde de mon niveau d’anglais, tu as raison il faudrait que j’achete assimil; si comme je soupçonne ces black glasses sont une subtile allusion a la mafia, je te signale que je ne touche pas un buck des logiciels, et que meme a l’apple expo je finance mon sandwich!..

Hi Marcel
C’était seulement pour la dernière opinion qui montrait que quelqu’un au moins partageait mon humble avis :slight_smile:

Et la peinture pour Le challenge de l’île des morts, elle avance ? :smiley:
Pilou

@stonecutter:

>>>>"… in my head!"<<<<<<

camera {location <20,40,28> direction 2*z look_at <0,2,0>}

light_source {<-140,200,300> rgb <1.0, 1.0, 0.95>*1.5}
light_source {<140,200,-300> rgb <0.9, 0.9, 1.00>*0.8 shadowless}

#declare r1 = seed(0);

//----------------------- THE TABLE
#declare Pig_1 =
pigment {
gradient z
color_map {
[0.00, rgb <0.01, 0.59, 0.81>]
[0.70, rgb <0.01, 0.59, 0.81>]
[0.70, rgb <0.98, 0.98, 0.87>]
[1.00, rgb <0.98, 0.98, 0.87>]
}
frequency 4
}

#declare Pig_2 =
pigment {
bozo
color_map {
[0.00, rgb <0.35, 0.58, 0.88>*1.0]
[0.25, rgb <0.35, 0.58, 0.88>*1.1]
[0.50, rgb <0.35, 0.58, 0.88>*0.9]
[0.75, rgb <0.35, 0.58, 0.88>*1.0]
[1.00, rgb <0.35, 0.58, 0.88>*0.8]
}
scale 0.1
}

#declare Nappe =
cylinder {0,y*-1,50
texture {
pigment {
gradient x
pigment_map {
[0.0, Pig_1]
[0.5, Pig_1]
[0.5, Pig_2]
[1.0, Pig_2]
}
warp {turbulence .05 octaves 2}
}
normal {quilted 0.6 scale 0.025 warp {turbulence 0.05 octaves 2}}
scale 5
translate 10
}
}

object {Nappe}

//----------------------- BISCUITS
#declare Tex_Biscuit =
texture {
pigment {color rgb <0.98, 0.83, 0.58>}
normal {dents 1.2 scale 0.01}
finish {phong 0 brilliance 0.7}
}

#declare Base_Biscuit =
union {
blob {
threshold 0.7
#declare I = 0;
#while (I < 359)
sphere {<4,0,0>, 1+rand(r1)0.1, 1 rotate yI}
#declare I = I+(360/28);
#end
}
cylinder {<0,0,0>, <0,0.5,0>, 4}
texture {Tex_Biscuit}
}

#declare Chocolate =
union {
difference {
cone {<0,0,0>, 4.2, <0,0.4,0>, 4}
cone {<0,0.1,0>, 3.6, <0,0.401,0>, 3.75}
}
torus {
3.55, 0.1
translate y0.2
clipped_by {torus {3.55+0.1, 0.1 translate y
0.1}}
}
union {
#declare I = -4;
#while (I < 4)
cylinder {<-4,0.1,I>,<4,0.1,I>, 0.05}
#declare I = I+0.5;
#end
clipped_by {cone {<0,0,0>, 4.2, <0,0.4,0>, 4}}
}
torus {3.96, 0.04 translate y0.4}
torus {3.79, 0.04 translate y
0.4}
}

#declare LogoFun =
object{Povray_Logo_Prism rotate x90 scale 2.2 translate -0.3z}

#declare ProjLogo =
blob {
threshold 0.6
#declare I = 0;
#while (I < 1)
#declare Pos = <-2+rand(r1)*4, 0, -2+rand(r1)*4>;
#if (inside(LogoFun,Pos))
sphere {Pos, 0.08, 1}
#end
#declare I = I+0.0002;
#end
}

#declare Black_Chocolate =
texture {
pigment {color rgb <0.24, 0.10, 0.03>}
normal {wrinkles 0.2}
finish {specular 0.3}
}
#declare Milk_Chocolate =
texture {
pigment {color rgb <0.48, 0.26, 0.13>}
normal {wrinkles 0.2}
finish {specular 0.2}
}
#declare White_Chocolate =
texture {
pigment {color rgb <0.96, 0.95, 0.75>}
normal {wrinkles 0.2}
finish {ambient 0.3 specular 0.01}
}

#declare Icing = texture {
pigment {rgbf <0.95, 0.95, 1.00, 0.1>*1.2}
normal {bumps 0.1}
}

#declare Biscuit_1 =
union {
object {Base_Biscuit}
object {Chocolate translate y0.5 texture {Black_Chocolate}}
disc {
<0,0.101,0>, y, 3.6
translate y
0.5
texture {Black_Chocolate} normal {bumps 0.3 scale 0.05}
}
object {ProjLogo scale 1.5 rotate y*-90 translate <-0.4,0.6,0.5> texture {Icing}}
translate y0.5
}
#declare Biscuit_2 =
union {
object {Base_Biscuit}
object {Chocolate translate y
0.5 texture {Milk_Chocolate}}
disc {
<0,0.101,0>, y, 3.6
translate y0.5
texture {Milk_Chocolate} normal {bumps 0.3 scale 0.05}
}
object {ProjLogo scale 1.5 rotate y
-90 translate <-0.4,0.6,0.5> texture {White_Chocolate}}
translate y0.5
}
#declare Biscuit_3 =
union {
object {Base_Biscuit}
object {Chocolate translate y
0.5 texture {White_Chocolate}}
disc {
<0,0.101,0>, y, 3.6
translate y0.5
texture {White_Chocolate} normal {bumps 0.3 scale 0.05}
}
object {ProjLogo scale 1.5 rotate y
-90 translate <-0.4,0.6,0.5> texture {Milk_Chocolate}}
translate y*0.5
}

object {Biscuit_2 rotate y*-80 translate <-3.5,0,2>}
object {Biscuit_1 rotate y*-120 translate <3.5,0,-4>}
object {Biscuit_3 rotate x*-4 translate <8.5,0.9,0>}

#macro SevenBiscuits (Bisc,Num)
union {
#declare I = 0;
#while (I < Num)
object {Bisc translate x9 rotate y60*I}
#declare I = I+1;
#end
object {Bisc}
}
#end

//----------------------- CRUMBS
#declare Fun_Sphere = function {xx + yy +z*z}

#declare Crumb =
isosurface {
function {Fun_Sphere(x,y,z) + f_noise3d(x2,y2,z*2)*1}
threshold 1
max_gradient 3.9
//max_gradient 15
accuracy 0.01
contained_by {box {-1,1}}
scale 0.5
}

#declare r1 = seed(0);

#declare I = 0;
#while (I < 1)
object {
Crumb
rotate rand(r1)*360
scale 0.2+rand(r1)*0.3
translate <rand(r1)*10,0,rand(r1)*10>
texture {Tex_Biscuit}
}
object {
Crumb
rotate rand(r1)*360
scale 0.1+rand(r1)*0.15
translate <rand(r1)*10,0,rand(r1)*10>
texture {Tex_Biscuit}
}
#declare I = I+0.03;
#end

//----------------------- METAL BOX
#declare Pig3 =
pigment {
gradient y
color_map {
[0, rgb <0.1, 0.5, 0.7>]
[1, rgb <0.7, 0.6, 0.4>]
}
scale 0.5
}

#declare Pig4 =
pigment {
crackle
color_map {
[0, rgb <1.0, 0.5, 0.6>]
[1, rgb <0.0, 0.0, 0.0>]
}
scale 0.2
}

#declare MetalBoxPig =
pigment {
radial frequency 60
pigment_map {
[0.0, Pig3]
[0.5, Pig3]
[0.5, Pig4]
[1.0, Pig4]
}
}

#declare BiscuitBox =
union {
difference {
cylinder {<0,0,0>, <0,5,0>, 14}
cylinder {<0,0.1,0>, <0,5.1,0>, 13.9}
}
torus {14, 0.1 translate y5}
torus {14, 0.1 translate y
0.1}
torus {14, 0.1 scale <1,2,1> translate y*4}
cylinder {
<0,0.3,0>,<0,3.5,0>, 14.01 open
pigment {MetalBoxPig}
finish {phong 0.8 reflection {0.01, 0.15}}
}
pigment {Gray60}
finish {phong 0.8 metallic reflection {0.5, 0.7}}
}

union {
object {BiscuitBox}
object {SevenBiscuits (Biscuit_1,6)}
object {SevenBiscuits (Biscuit_3,6) rotate y30 translate y1}
object {SevenBiscuits (Biscuit_2,5) rotate y0 translate y2}
rotate y*-75 translate <-18,0,-12>
}

//-----------------------CUP OF TEA
#declare TeaCup =
union {
difference {
cylinder {<0,1.2,0>, <0,6,0>, 4.2}
cylinder {<0,1,0>, <0,6.2,0>, 3.8}
}

:smiley: you did, really!?

zerebrom, is that up to date poetry? or is ther a barbarian soft with that sort of workflow?..

Hi Ze
Crumb ? Robert I guess :smiley:
Pilou

Diana, that was my first 3d prog as well…and was very impressive and especially at the price. I would still use it more if I were able to get some of my zmodels imported into it…Micrografx Simply 3d3 was simply the easiest and most powerful thing I had for the longest til I discovered Z. It was great for website designs too…that was the main reason I first got it…that and the kewl chrome man on the cover of the box…I havent used it in probably 2 years…I might try using some of what I learned in Z in it… :+1: :+1: :+1: