3D - 2

What 3d modeling program is easiest to learn?

Do you think maya, lightwave or blender would be easiest to learn. I am new to the 3d modeling enviroment, however rather than just saying blender because its free or what not. I tried blender and got books on it and actually found it to be quite bad at teaching. Am i missing something? Are the others easier to learn? Are there other programs that are better or easier? Please tell

Public Comments

1. Blender may be the easiest but if you want to get a job, learn Maya. And it's not easy so good luck.
2. No modeling system is "easy to learn" I've been studying for 5 years and am still learning. Understand the fundamentals of modeling and then all systems will start to become much easier. (they all typically share the fundamentals) I love and stick by 3d studio max. 7's kinda slow on my comp, but 5 works great. 7's got a great rendering system called Vray With 5 I run brazil rendering system You should look into mudbox v1.0 if you really want to focus on strictly modeling. Its remarkable. http://www.mudbox3d.com/ Oh and http://www.3dtotal.com for all the tutorials you need. .....
3. here are some links
4. I don't know about easiest, but Maya has a "personal" version you can download and use for as long as you want. It won't allow you to save things without a watermark all over your object, but at least it's free and you can take your time learning. It's actually not too bad. Follow the various tutorials available and you'll be modeling in no time.
5. Try Google Sketch Up. Dont know if that is what you're looking for, but it is a 3-d model program. And its free...
6. Most deffinately sketch-up sketchup.com if you are looking to do geometric shapes, more organic textures, maya. sketch up is now owned by google an there s a free version.
7. I've always liked Cinema 4D by Maxon. I'm not a pro by any means, but I found it easy to use and fun to play with. I've also gotten some very nice results with it, even with my limited knowledge.
8. Of all the 3d apps, Maxon Cinema4D is one of the easiest to get into. I've taught students in Lightwave, 3ds Max and Cinema4D, and generally students who were learning Cinema4D were able to do things in one or two days that 3ds Max students were doing after a week of tutoring. But then again, after some time the difference isn't really noticeable anymore. Yet, I know some people who tried just about all the other 3d packages, and found themselves comfortable using Cinema4d only. Speaking for myself, I've worked with most main stream (and somewhat obscure) 3d applications; Maya & Houdini are not very user friendly, though Maya is of course widely used in the industry. Blender is growing up and becoming a real contender to commercial offerings; it has a very good workflow, however, starting out may prove frustrating. 3ds Max's core and UI is antiquated, and should be updated in the future. I myself have left 3ds Max, mainly because of cost... Other solutions like Softimage XSI, Cinema4d and Lighwave are just much more inexpensive. For the price of Max, you could buy all of these, and then some. All the 3d apps are tremendously powerful these days... Download the trials, do some basic tutorials and see which one 'clicks' with you. CHeers!
9. Maya is definitly the best. Its confusing at first but its worth it since most emloyers either want 3DS max or Maya