Looking at other 3D programs

[CoasterSim.Fan]

I have been considering looking at other 3D modeling programs since I figured it would be nice to have a program that I can make modals in from start to finish with out switching, and since I have been doing modeling for about a year so I think it would be a nice investment since I doubt I will be losing interest any time soon.

So I decided to see using the ability of a student discount (yes believe it or not I am only in high school) what the prices of light wave, 3DS max and Maya go for (witch are the 3 major programs I have always herd about).

3Ds max goes for about 600 (which is a lot more then I want to spend)

Maya goes for about 400 but is the student version so I would assume its limited (and is still a bit price)

Light wave though for the full version 9 (the latest version) is 200 which I feel is affordable.

So what I am wondering has any one here used light wave and what do you think about it also do you think it would be capable of making modals for RCT3 with out switching programs.

[Belgabor]

I'd go for Blender, which is free ;)

[MaxInfinity]

I used to use lightwave a few years ago and its a very capable prog. back then it lacked the advanced features of 3d studio and maya, but its on version 9 now I believe, so i'm sure its caught up, besides that, 90% of 3ds and maya and probably lightwave now, will have no relevance to rct3 cs, so go for it, its a very good prog, or at least it was when I used it(v2 or 3 if I remember correctly).

I cant believe the student version of maya is cheaper than 3ds as the full version of maya is almost twice the price of 3ds, so that makes maya student a very good buy. I personally use 3ds, just because I've used it for so long now and maya is very confusing to me. at £200 lightwave is very good value and as I said its a very capable prog, so let your wallet decide.

[sterredag]

Are there any good manuals for 3d studio's ??? I figured out a lot of programs all by myself, but with 3d studio's I just can't seem to find my way around.

I am able to use 3dstudioMax. I don't wanna by any as long as I'm not sure I would be able to work with it.

Or has anybody good suggestions how to learn? Where to start?

[-Nuclear Fish-]

Does Maya work with RCT3? Cause in the college course I'm doing we're learning 3D modelling using it, and it's the only modelling program I can use (the others just seem weird to me after using Maya). Obviously the problem is te cost, and I'm pretty sure the student version doesn't allow you to do a lot of stuff (can't remember what though, think it might be exporting the files or something).

[reillysix]

I use Anim8or.

[CoasterSim.Fan]

I used to use lightwave a few years ago and its a very capable prog. back then it lacked the advanced features of 3d studio and maya, but its on version 9 now I believe, so i'm sure its caught up, besides that, 90% of 3ds and maya and probably lightwave now, will have no relevance to rct3 cs, so go for it, its a very good prog, or at least it was when I used it(v2 or 3 if I remember correctly).

I cant believe the student version of maya is cheaper than 3ds as the full version of maya is almost twice the price of 3ds, so that makes maya student a very good buy. I personally use 3ds, just because I've used it for so long now and maya is very confusing to me. at £200 lightwave is very good value and as I said its a very capable prog, so let your wallet decide.


Glad to hear you liked it. Yes the current version is 9. I was also surprised that Maya was cheaper then 3DS max but I have the felling it has limitations on it.

Does any one know of ware you can get a Demo of light wave. I know for version 9 its not out yet but I would be interested in trying out an older version since I am sure it will stile give you a feel of what the program is like.

[Belgabor]

Please don't assume I stubbornly try to be right =)
I'd be interested why you want to buy a program that badly? What do you expect?

[CoasterSim.Fan]

Well I am not buying it right away, even if I do decided I want it chances are I wont buy if for at least a month or two. I am just in the mode to see what out there and what people view of the program is.

And about looking for a new program I would like to know what’s out there cause I have always been interested in trying out a full blown program and try to learn it inside and out. I would like to progress my skills beyond custom scenery and learn how to do full animated seen renderings.

And at the end of the day I might find out that light wave isn’t what I want and won’t buy it but I would like to at least do some research on it since its seams to be the most affordable program that’s at the professional level.

[Guybrush_47]

I use 3ds7, and have used 3ds since version 4 was out. I used to use gmax before i got my first version of 3ds, so i'm a little biased. 3DS is used for most games, and you'll find a pluggin is always available to mod any games. It's also extremely easy for RCT3. So imo, it is the most expensive, but you'll get the most out of it and you'll find it far better in the long run.

[MaxInfinity]

When I first started with custom scenery, there was a thread somewhere that listed the tools frontier used for creating rct3, It stated that 3ds was used for the graphics, however reading a post from chris sawyer on another website, it turns out that the modeling was done with lightwave and maya, not 3ds, so I would imagine lightwave or maya would be perfect for modeling rct3 objects, although I would also imagine frontier created a plugin for those programs, which the community will not be able to get there hands on, unless someone from atari/frontier has a overwhelming attack of common sense and releases it to the public and theres more chance of shergar winning the grand national than that happening.

Your 3d modeling preference should be down to what prog your used to using, as I dont think there's any 3d prog that can't be used for rct3 models, so I would say, if you have experience with a modeling prog, stick with that one, as the learning curves are very steep. If your starting fresh with no modeling experience, use one that has the best tutorials for the project your undertaking, and remember your don't need 99% of the features of top 3d progs like 3ds, maya, lightwave etc for modeling rct3 objects, which is why cheap and free progs like milkshape, blender etc will do the job just aswell.

[Belgabor]

Well, my point is that Blender IS a full-blown 3D program. I'm no pro in that area, but I would guess if you set the features of Maya/3DS to 100%, Blender is at about 50% while most other programs around here used are below 10% or even 5%. Probably about 1% is needed for RCT3 custom scenery (maybe 2% or more when we figure out animation :p ).
I really recommend watching Elephants Dream to see what Blender is capable of :D

[-Nuclear Fish-]

I downloaded Blender and found it very similar to Maya. I didn't like the camera or the interface much though, probably because I've gotten used to Maya's.

[Usf geek]

nevermind