What 3-d animation program to get?

A place to discuss non-Moho software for use in animation. Video editors, audio editors, 3D modelers, etc.

Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger

Post Reply
User avatar
jhbmw007
Posts: 382
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2007 5:41 am

What 3-d animation program to get?

Post by jhbmw007 »

What's the best program as someone who's familar with AS, for me to start dabbling in some 3-d character animation? Something that supports lip sync and a timeline somewhat similar to AS?....
human
Posts: 688
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 7:53 pm

Re: What 3-d animation program to get?

Post by human »

jhbmw007 wrote:What's the best program as someone who's familar with AS, for me to start dabbling in some 3-d character animation? Something that supports lip sync and a timeline somewhat similar to AS?....
http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/MSDB/HomePageServlet

Powerful, easy to use, free... what more could you ask?
Heck, don't answer that question... just get the proggie.
rplate
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 13, 2006 3:58 pm
Location: Minnesota USA

Re: What 3-d animation program to get?

Post by rplate »

jhbmw007 wrote:What's the best program as someone who's familar with AS, for me to start dabbling in some 3-d character animation? Something that supports lip sync and a timeline somewhat similar to AS?....
Check this site.

Daz3D is also free!

I like Poser.
.
.
.
User avatar
slowtiger
Posts: 6067
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 6:53 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany
Contact:

Post by slowtiger »

Blender.

Free, powerful, though not for the faint of heart.
User avatar
jhbmw007
Posts: 382
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2007 5:41 am

Re: What 3-d animation program to get?

Post by jhbmw007 »

rplate wrote:
jhbmw007 wrote:What's the best program as someone who's familar with AS, for me to start dabbling in some 3-d character animation? Something that supports lip sync and a timeline somewhat similar to AS?....
Check this site.

Daz3D is also free!

I like Poser.
.
.
.
Can you create original characters in Daz3d? Or only modify existing ones? I was hoping to create characters from scratch- or at least have the option to down the road (once I've learned).
User avatar
dueyftw
Posts: 2174
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2006 10:32 am
Location: kingston NY
Contact:

Post by dueyftw »

For the free 3d Programs, Blender or Art of Illusion. Both require manual reading.

Daz Studio has come a long way. But is no Poser. If you are out to skip the modeling and rigging steps in 3D then Poser to Vue or Carrara is the best for low price 3D.

I like wings for 3d modeling. It's free and fairly easy to work with. Wings will import into Blender.


Dale
rplate
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 13, 2006 3:58 pm
Location: Minnesota USA

Re: What 3-d animation program to get?

Post by rplate »

jhbmw007 wrote:
rplate wrote:
jhbmw007 wrote:What's the best program as someone who's familar with AS, for me to start dabbling in some 3-d character animation? Something that supports lip sync and a timeline somewhat similar to AS?....
Check this site.

Daz3D is also free!

I like Poser.
.
.
.
Can you create original characters in Daz3d? Or only modify existing ones? I was hoping to create characters from scratch- or at least have the option to down the road (once I've learned).
How about this then..................... Hexagon is a modeling program also. It's not free but there is a thirty day trial.

Here's the trail site

http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Graphics/Hexagon.shtml
Bones3D
Posts: 217
Joined: Tue Jun 13, 2006 3:19 pm
Contact:

Post by Bones3D »

Depending on your level of experience and what you want to create will ultimately be the determining factors in deciding which app to get.

Personally, I've found Carrara Studio to have the best balance of flexibility, ease of use and price for most purposes. (However, I cannot speak for versions beyond Carrara Studio 5, since I discontinued using the app after it was sold to DAZ.)

Carrara Studio supports modeling, animation and rendering tools all from within the same application, and offers plenty of advanced animation tools such as inverse kinematics and morph targeting. The modeler in Carrara Studio 5 and later is based heavily on Hexagon (an external modeling app created by Carrara Studio's developers that functions much like Silo or Modo). The rendering engine can do everything from photorealism to artistic styling to cel shading.

In addition, Carrara Studio has strong support from 3rd party developers (such as the Digital Carvers Guild) for added features through plug-ins.

Of course, if money is a problem, you could always try Blender. Keep in mind though, there is a steep learning curve to the app, as the interface is geared more toward professionals. There are, however, a few books on it that can clear up some of the confusing elements. (Introducing Character Animation with Blender is a good place to start...)
8==8 Bones 8==8
User avatar
heyvern
Posts: 7035
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2005 4:49 am

Post by heyvern »

I use a program called Animation:Master (http://www.hash.com/2007web/). It is VERY much like AS. A lot of the shortcut keys are the same which freaked me out when I bought Moho (AS). The bones are very similar as well although A:M has more constraints.

It uses a different type of 3D construction called "Hash Splines" that were invented by the software creator Martin Hash. These are NOT anything like polygons. A:M does have some polygon import/export plugins but just like importing AI or EPS into Anime Studio, you lose some of the benefits of creating in the application.

Hash splines are very similar to AS vectors. They are also more like Adobe Illustrator "lines" in that they have bias handles for more control over a 3D shape. They were designed to animate well. They aren't like polygons at all. You "draw" 3D shapes by stitching together splines like a "chicken wire mesh". Very much like "sculpting" in 3D.

A:M has every feature you can think of. Many features you would pay extra for with other packages. It has physics, hair/fur, subsurface scattering (SS), global illumination, pixel level displacement, normal mapping... really cool stuff if you know what it is. ;) The current version in beta will have fluid effects. It has support for HDRI (EXR format) images and export.

It also has its own NLE compositor built in. You don't really need another application to put together rendered sequences.

I am pitching this because they just recently changed there purchase process. They now have two ways to buy:

Current version CD - $299 - You get the current version plus a year of updates (they update constantly). The CD version never "expires" but you have to update it each year to get the newest version.

Web Activation - $49 - This is like a "subscription". You get a years use (from date of purchase) of the current version. After the year is up the program stops working and you need to pay $49 again. This is a pretty good deal. The old subscription was $99 (but you got to keep the last version).

So for about 50 bucks you can use A:M for a whole year. Trust me this is a bargain.

Here are just two samples of some work I did over the years (I came in 3rd on the monthly image contest with these!):

http://www.lowrestv.com/misc_images/dandy_dna.jpg
http://www.lowrestv.com/lowres/portfoli ... final2.jpg

EDIT: These samples are not actually... good examples of the true power of A:M's character animation. It is specifically designed for organic modeling. Mechanical modeling like the above samples is a bit harder but still fun.

-vern
dazza101
Posts: 124
Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:59 pm

Post by dazza101 »

I use Poser and Carrara Pro 6 for most of my work and would strongly recommend Carrara as a good value for money option. There is currently a sale for C6 Pro that is very good value. In fact cheaper than I bought the program for...

I have also used Daz Studio and it has many useful functions for a freeby, but have to agree it doesn't have the power of Poser 7, or some of the problems that P7 still suffers from.

Another program that I haven't tried is MakeHuman, a freeware human modeller which looks intriguing and appears to have a lot of promise.

Hope this is helpful.
User avatar
patricia3d
Posts: 726
Joined: Thu May 31, 2007 4:38 am
Location: India
Contact:

Post by patricia3d »

I am using Blender . Its free and very powerfull.
My Blender Works
http://www.youtube.com/kkrawal7
Image

Some of my Blender Work
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff226/kkrawal
Post Reply