Guys buy MAYA it’s 100 times better than Cinema 4D and you get way more bang for your buck. MAYA is the industry standard for 3d CG, and with the semi recent price drop that Alias Wavefront has had I believe that it’s now even cheaper than Cinema 4D. The only thing with MAYA is your going to need at least a dual pentium prosessor with a minimum (trust me)of 512MB of ram and a 128MB graphics card. On the good side I have been talking with BOXX Tech and it seems that the new GEFORCE card may work quite nicely with MAYA, as opposed to buying a more pricer ATI Fire GL or Wildcat card or cards respectively. Oh and buy the way A/W offers a free learning edition of MAYA(150MB download) if you just want to see how slow if at all your computer runs it.
Call 911 I saw the prices… The ebook business better pick up before I’ll look there again… although it does look cool.
Do let me know Mentat if you are to be a judge in any 3D Graphics contests, so I know not to take part. If he only gets a, quite good, WOW!!! there are going to be a high percentage of losers. 
My love of old sailing ships puts that at the top the list for me, but I have to agree with WingedOne, ‘The Junkyard’ and ‘The Lab’ are great, the incredible detail just keeps you looking. But then I look at ‘The Crown’ and think how fantastic that is, I would hate to have to make a choice on one, because it’s all such skilful work. As Stonecutter says he is very methodical, which is unfortunately something I’m not.
I have had the free magazine version of Cinema 4D for some time, but because I found it difficult to get the hang of I put it to one side. You have made me think Adman; perhaps I should make a bit more effort with it, as you say the results make a good argument for it.
Thanks guys, for those other links, there is some great stuff there well worth studying.
You certainly need to keep looking around all the time to see what’s about, even if some of the goals seem unreachable to me. I know I’m always quoting a sculptor of miniature figurines who was considered one of the best in his line in the UK. He taught me a lot about conventional sculpting, I was a bit in awe of him, not his fault though, he wasn’t arrogant, that was mine. He would say to me, “Never swagger with your work and think at any time you are the best, because one day you will pick up a magazine or see something on TV and you will find somebody better than you”. He would add “You will never reach the best you can be in a lifetime, you can always learn more”. I can say he followed his own rules. So when the ego starts taking over and I’m feeling really clever, I have to give it a damn good kicking to bring myself down to earth.
Dave
Lol Dave! Actually I am going to be a judge in a 3D contest soon. I wasn’t implying that his work wasn’t outstanding or just plain WOW when I said he was quite good. 
I just tend to temper things down a bit. I know I wish I could do that kind of work but alas I do not work in any other 3D apps other than Bryce. That is going to change in the near future as soon as I save up my pennies. There are a great number of artists that I admire for their realistic and not so realistic imagery. You are right when you say there is always someone better. So I try to keep that in mind now when I make remarks like “That’s the greatest I have ever seen” etc etc. I know I need to learn a great deal more before I can reach the levels of achievement that I aspire to. If I were to rate my own work I would give it an “It’s OK” How’s that? 
I tend to approach something that blows me away when I see it,as I did at the begining of the thread, the most outstanding I have seen to date. It’s almost certain that at a later date, I will see something that will blow me even further across the room, probably requiring me to be scraped off the wall. The usefullness of seeing something that really excites, is that it fires off the goal system again, which at times can become lacklustre. So I’m always pleased to see great skill, it keeps me going.
Dave
The Vulcan way of saying it would be:
“I find his performance satisfactory.”
This guy is my hero.
Steven Stahlberg
Steven Stahlberg is what I can only HOPE to become as a CG artist.
EVERY time I look at his stuff, I hunger and strive for more skill.
The guy is my 3D GOD.
I have Maya PLE on my P3 750 Mhz 784RAM CPU. Runs great. No lag, responsive. Crunch time comes when I’m rendering hardcore.
I’m still completely in love with SoftImage XSI - 3D.
C4D intrigues me. But, I’ll probably drop the dime on SoftImage this year.
By the way I am fascinated by Maya, Lightwave, Cinema4D etc and their ability to extrude a 3D object from a vector drawing. ZBrush can do this too to some small extent. Below is an image done exactly like that using a secret technique I can’t talk about :rolleyes: …yet…sigh. The gate is a 3D object.
I find this facinating and a little worrying, why? Here we are looking forward to the release of OUR favorite software and some of us are speaking of getting other software. The guy who did those images is very good. but so is Pix and mentat and SC and Aurick and jaundel and winged one and Kathy and ron and a host of other members who are members of this forum. In the right hands just about any software worth anything can be used to produce outstanding images.
I for one will stick with the software that has changed my life. I will look at good art and desplayed talent any where. But the program does not the artist make, I do not care how expensive or cheap it is, it is what is inside and the hours of practice required to hone one’s skills.
No flames please this is just my opinion.
DeeVee
Joe
Another fabulous artist is Francois Rimasson.
http://membres.lycos.fr/rimasson/3d/3d.html
This work here:
http://membres.lycos.fr/rimasson/3d/concret.html
takes my breath away. WOW!
And of course Eric Hanson
http://www.visuraimaging.com/index2.html
If you go to the movies, you’ve seen his handy work. Such precision. Wow, again!
I respect your view Deevee, but Z can’t do everthing well in my opinion. Relying on one program changed last year when I was having major problems with 1.13 on illegal operations that had not occured in the same features in 1.03. In fact did not happen in 1.23 and 1.23b. Chris Senn was gone, so support disappeared practically and I was left with a pretty duff program for three months. I went out and got other program’s, loyalty is a two way thing.
Dave
DeeVee, softwares are tools and there is no tool than can do everything. ZBrush is very different from the other applications and that’s what makes it so good. But just because you get some other tools doesn’t mean you like ZBrush less.
I agree with what you all say. I also get frustrated with Zbrush at times and hoped it had the options available to do a lot of things. The folks at Pixologic and I have had our tiffs on several occasions in my year on this forum, I just think that this is the wrong time to be pointing out what Z can and cannot do… There was a wish list for months asking members to indicate things they wished to be incorporated in future versions of Zbrush, Although only one wish was allowed many members entered several. How many of these wishes were incorporated in the new version? I cannot tell as I have not seen it as yet, and this is the worrying part, some of the members are amongst those singing the virtues of these competing products. It leaves me to wonder if these programs are so much more advanced and capable than 1.5 is, why bother at all.
When you live on an island you rely a lot on what you read, especially if you have a certain respect for the person making the statement. You do not have the option of going into a software store and getting hands on information. Most demos are a waste of time, so although available to all regardless to geographical location leaves a lot to be desired.
I agree that loyalty is a two way street and I can vouch for the fact that for awhile, when you got an answer to a question asked, the situation was no longer relevant. I must admit that since Aurick joined the staff things have improved significantly.
All this comes back to the question. Why now?
Interesting views all around.
I have to agree with all of you depending on the angle viewed.
Let’s take it back to what the post’s original intent was:
Admiring the work of an artist who doesn’t use ZBrush. NOT because he doesn’t use it, but because his work is glorious!
Hence my additions.
Judgement was not passed BECAUSE of the software chosen, but because the work was worthy.
Why now? Why not? If ZBrush is so awesome in it’s own right, then, admiring someone’s work in C4D shouldn’t be seen as a threat.
Besides, Highend 3D packages and ZBrush are apples and oranges. You really can’t compare them. Or maybe I should say, you shouldn’t compare them.
If we REALLY wanted to get down and dirty, the ultimate question would be…
If you could only keep 2 artistic software packages out of the current ones you own…which would you keep?
AhHA!! Now that’s a show stopper.
BUT, again, complexity rules the day.
There are reasons to own software like Z, Max, XSI etc.
They are divided by intents. SO intents would rule the choices made.
ZBrush 1.5 is a baby yet. NOT a beta. A Baby in versioning. Still young. Lots of room to grow.
Just my 4 cents and nothing more.
I’m looking forward to 1.5…
the better question is will I be looking forward to 1.5+…
(don’t flame me, I ask the same question about all my softs)
Interesting views all around…
Me? I’m just amazed by this guys work, the rest doesn’t mean doodely to me…
I have said in the past, I removed MAYA Unlimited, and 3D Studio from my computer, when I started using ZBrush…Because ZBrush took little boxes, complex math, and computer-in-your-face out of the equation for me. I love something about ALL applications.
But I’m a Libran gemcutter who deals with such things as dispersion, Refractive Indices, and Pleochroism in his work, and I want to get my hands in there and move that ‘Magic Clay’…I’m lazy! And ZBrush means I don’t sit there and fill out boxes like an accountant, I work like the artist I am…
The point? Who cares what software you use…
The work matters, and this guys’ work inspires me to do better…He’s methodical, (We Librans LOVE that), and he has a Rembrandt-like eye for light…That’s enough to impress me… 
Great topic, DAVE… 
(And if you think you liked ZBrush before, just wait another week or so…!)
A little off-topic but when reading your post, Stonecutter, I could of sworn that you wrote that you were a Librarian Gemcutter (“What’s a Librarian Gemcutter?”, I thought) and then I realized you said Libran. My eyes are going. D’oh. :rolleyes:
I DO have a Luxurious Libran Library in my studio, W/O!
Some great links Kathy and input from everbody. I’ve decided to give all this electronic art stuff up, rent a cave up near Aughtmanely and do some primitive cave painting.
Dave
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> All this comes back to the question. Why now? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
DeeVee, a lot companies in the computer graphics business made annoucements about their upcoming products at the SIGGRAPH expo this week. So that may be the answer
For me, ZBrush is a revelation and it allows me to do stuff I never thought I could do before. With the features announced for 1.5 (especially the ZSpheres), it seems that this is going to happen again. So I’m sure that ZBrush is going to be my favorite app for a long time.
Thanks guys, all questions logically answered to the satisfaction of this old man, not that you had to, but you chose to, and that in itself is gratifying.
You have to excuse me, but I get a little defensive sometimes, it comes with age, milage or whatever.
I can now go back to dreaming of fabulous images created using Version 1.5 proudly stating “All Z”.
DeeVee,
Joe