Is this a good place to start for 3D applications or just general stuff?
I like to keep my focus on open-source /free software.
>>51263422
If you like to keep your focus there then it's pretty much your only choice.
>>51263422
Is not open source obviously, but Maya(and a lot of auto desk applications) is(are) free for 2 years if you're a student. You'd have to fudge a .edu email of not to get it for free.
>>51263422
pirate Cinema 4d
its 1000x more user friendly than any other 3d package
>>51263626
I don't care about user friendliness, I can work with the interface. Does Cinema offer as many features or have the community like Blender?
Protip: If you learn the basics about everything involved in creating 3D artwork you can adapt do any modeling program.
The basics are the same, fucking everywhere.
The approach of each software may be different but again, if you understand the basics, you will be able to jump from one software to another.
The "hurr if you learn modeling package X you won't ever be able to switch to Y" is fucking overrated and only parroted by people who spend more time talking about the "right" software than actually being creative and getting shit done.
>>51263641
lmao
yes
its arguably used on as many films maya
python built in since r12 IIRC
fucking nigger loads of plugins
even works with acouple of free "renderman" based packages, and direct support for maxwel render engine
>I don't care about user friendliness, I can work with the interface.
its not the interface its how it handles models
in maya/max if you go to apply "nurbs" to something, you perminatly create a multi million poly object.
c4d uses a "tree style" modifier system, which can easily be toggled,
basically the difference between smart filters and just rastering the image in photoshop.
which is a billion times eaiser to wrap your head around when you start learning 3d software.
plus you can re-arrange the elements in the tree on the fly unlike in maya/max, that smoother fucked up the symmetry? change it up so it clones before smoothing and now it works.
rather than in maya/max you're fucked, save a backup?
It's actually pretty good now. Just has a weird UI. I still use it alongside commercial programs. Most of the commercial programs just have quicker workflow, quality and features blender does pretty well. The autodesk programs need lots of expensive plugins for various features as well.
>>51263686
>Most of the commercial programs just have quicker workflow
Depends.
There are areas where Blender is probably slower but many more advanced users are amazed how quickly you can get a model out of Blender.
I know a lot of artists that get the base model done in Blender and then switch over to their commercial software.
>>51263422
I've only tried blender out of curiosity a long time ago when it was still new. The taste it left was so foul that I still look at it with contempt, even though it's said to have gotten better now.
I'm most comfy with Max since it's basically Photoshop 3D, but Maya proficiency will probably get you more work, either way they're the industry's bread and butter.
As of several years ago, using just a single package alone won't get you far tho, you really need to use a painting/sculpting application in tandem, like ZBrush or Mudbox to do high-level 3D work.
>>51263422
>I like to keep my focus on open-source /free software.
You should keep your focus on getting shit done.
>>51263684
here
>>51263656
this this is
but blender, maya, lightwave, and C4d all behave seriously different out of the box.
when i was 14 trying to 3d, i literally tried any 3d package i could download, cinema4d was the best, pic related when i eventually got good at it.
blender is 10x eaiser to use, after you've already dealt with the 3d environment.
But it works a little ass backwards out of the box (or at least used to)
Cinema4d will teach you all about how everything in the 3d space works while holding your hand, it also has physics, global illumination and a bunch of other shit built in.
not sure if you can do this in maya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfM4qUPsskE
that video is called "no keyframe" for a reason, its all dynamic, nothing was hand animated
>>51263722
>I've only tried blender out of curiosity a long time ago when it was still new. The taste it left was so foul that I still look at it with contempt
Pre v2.50 Blender was plain HORRIBLE to me. I fucking hated it with all my guts.
I came back to see if it got better when v 2.52 came out and am hooked since.
My advice is... Don't just try to fuck around on your own AT FIRST.
Go through 3 short basic beginner tutorials on Youtube and then go from there. This will prevent you from getting totally unnecessarily frustrated and you will have more fun learning it.
Once you know the basics, go wild and just fuck around in it.
Gimp may be a huge let down but Blender definitely is not one same as Krita, which is also surprisingly awesome.
Go for blender it's a good start. After all, all the programs do the same. Once you are firm with the overall concept of 3D modelling you can switch to what ever software you like. I use blender and 3ds max professionally and often prefer the lightness of blender, especially for organic modelling, uving and retopo. Also it doesn't crash as often as 3ds max...fucking autodesk...pic related, modeled and rendered in blender!
>>51263906
wrong img
>>51263422
OP are you a professional or hobbyist? If you plan on being a professional, do not start with blender, they give their own names for everything and have backwards workflows for everything. Plus, documentation is pretty limited to only youtube videos with kids talking about stuff they don't really know.
If you are a professional and want to start off, figure out what field you want to enter.
3D modeling texturing rendering and animation - maya
3D archviz and landscape rendering- 3dsmax
3D sculpting - zbrush
3D motion graphics, rendering, and 3D previs - c4d
>>51263422
I swear to fuck the UI in this is the biggest pile of shit ever invented
I've learned maya, 3ds max, unity without any difficulties, this thing is fucking impossible to use I just alt f4 15 minutes after I give it another chance
>>51263684
>this anon is a hobbyist and has no idea what he's talking about
C4D is typically the software used to make title and end title sequences. It's not used for "film work" like Maya is, and does not currently have a Renderman plug in.
While it does have a very intuitive and friendly toolset, C4D does not teach you proper modeling techniques and instead has you just fudge it because everything is so easy. The tree-style modifier system he's talking about is literally Maya's outliner with a huge stack of tags, which are supposed to be the equivalent of nodes in any node-based software.
>>51263656
As a professional, you don't ever spend time learning a new software unless it does everything your old software does and more. If you're working on a legitimate project, you use the tools given to you by your company and have to propose using an additional tool to the higher-ups. If it's personal though, go ham.
Blender is notorious for doing things completely different than Maya, C4D, or Max. Navigation isn't even remotely similar in blender and the tools that are shared between the other packages are renamed for no reason.
>>51263422
Start by going to the right board
>>>/3/248019
