Apparently if someone wants to do rendering, they need some really expensive software to do it. It costs hundreds of dollars! How can someone learn if they can't even start? Anyone have an idea of how I can get a cheaper copy somewhere?
Does someone else feel the need to inform anti-piracy authorities in South Dakota that one Nicholas Brosz has made ILLEGAL COPIES of CADKEY 99? xento/nbrosz, thank you for walking us through the steps you took to become a pirater of software. It was an entertaining, if somewhat predictable and boring, read.
I wasn't going to use an illegal copy, Jar. I was curious about cheaper options. I believe Ferret wanted to learn how to render. I mainly posted this for him and whoever else was wondering which program to pick.
When you say "rendering" you mean like in "rendering them lifeless" or is this just some computer stuff.
No, I do believe xento means rendering fat. As in - to make soap. And damn, xento, it's about time too. Do me a favor and use some of that soap once you're done making it. You need it badly. If you run out of fat to render, I do believe the good Sheriff has plenty he could spare for you to make more, just be sure to put some kind of strong flowery or fruity essence in there, to overpower the Sheriff's pungent stench.
First rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club. Second rule of Fight Club is YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB!
CadKey is more of a mechanical design app than a straight 3d renderer. Good for engineers, but not the greatest for the kind of modeling and rendering you'd do for video games or movies. If you really want to get started in 3d modeling (I'm just starting out, too, btw), there's two completely free and, more importantly, LEGAL ways to do it. You can go the freeware route and grab Wings3d. This is a pretty good straight ahead modeling program. Much of the code was ripped from an old modeler than went out of business, so even though it's a freebie, it's not a "cheap" program. Some professionals out there with $15,000 3d software use Wings3d for modeling. I don't think it has a good renderer. It probably has a very rudimentary one, if that. For a free renderer, you could use POV Ray or 3Delight. These are both very good renderers. 3Delight is Renderman compliant, meaning it's about as powerful as the renderer the big guys use (Pixar, etc). Not sure about POV Ray, but it's also a very good, if complicated, ray tracer. For 3d animation, you can check out Anim8or. This is one can model, animate and render. I can't say much else about it, because like the software I listed above, I've never used it. I've heard it's ok, though, and considering the price (free), it's totally worth it. That's if you want to go the Freeware route. What I'd suggest is going with a professional 3d package. Both Maya and Houdini offer awesome personal learning editions of their top shelf 3d packages. The main limitations are that they watermark the final renders and they save in non-standard formats to keep you from using them commercially. Fair enough, I say. If you're good enough to be working in the industry, you're good enough to buy the software. Alias|Wavefront Maya Personal Learning Edition. What can be said? It's basically the full $7000 software with a few limitations. Maya is an industry standard. There's a ton of learning resources out there on the web and in print. The only downside with this is that the watermark is really super fucking obnoxious. It's literally ALL OVER your renders. It's nothing that would stop you from learning the software and techniques, but it's more obnoxious than it has to be. Side Effects Houdini Apprentice Program. Another barely crippled version of an UBER EXPENSIVE ($10,000+, I think) 3d modeling, animating, and rendering package. This one's watermark isn't nearly as bad as the Maya Personal Learning Edition. The catch is that it's not as easy to find learning resources for this software. I'd say the two I listed above are the ideal way (short of warez, and I don't mean CadKey) to get started in 3d. Also, be sure to check out www.3dbuzz.com . If you register there (for free), you get access to their forums and their complete series of Video Training Magazines. If you have broadband, you can download all of them that you want. They have them for all the major 3d software (3ds MAX, Softimage|XSI, Maya, Houdini), to ones on Photoshop and PHP/MySQL scripting, to Quake3 and UT2K3 game design. Really excellent resource. If you don't have broadband, they'll mail them to you FOR FREE. I really respect the dude that runs that site for what he's doing, with respects to helping out people interested in 3d. Oh, btw, right now at 3dbuzz.com, Houdini is sponsoring a completely free online training course for their software. This free course, together with the free VTMs and the Side Effects Houdini Apprentice Program make that an ideal choice right now. And if you decide to try Maya later on, no sweat. It's all free. Have fun, man.
THANKS A MILLION, MILO!!! :grin: I would have been stuck with CadKey not knowning what to do! I will check them out! BTW, when I said "rendering" I meant a kind of 3D graphics making that was used to create that avatars here at HoL.
