[Josephus Holt]

DONT USE MAX or you will regret it. The main problem with max is Autodesk who are the software equivilant to enron. They will fleece you for every penny in your pocket, provide no free support and expect you to continuosly pay for meaningless upgrades which are not backward compatible. The software hasnt be properly upgraded for about 10 years and is plagued with instability and unacceptable issues with basic functionality.If youre about to learn a new package you are priviledged and have the pick of the crop, although please under no circumstances use Autodesks products wherever possible.....consider that a friendly warning!

Deflix...I've not used MAX, but am 100% on board as far as your issue(s) with Autodesk. I've used FormZ and recently switched to Cinema4D, for for the money (very low price for base package) is very powerful and stable. One thing I like to keep in mind is that you can not recoup your $ investment in MAX or any Autodesk product....they do not allow you to resell, whereas I was able to recoup well over half my investment when I sold my two FormZ licenses.

Cinema4D is my choice for the time being...it works a little differently but I like it very much once I got used to it. One of the easier to 3D programs to learn and will be able to do all Burnum wants to do...it is also a very stable program and a GREAT user forum where you can get (so far) all your questions answered very quickly. The Maxwell plugin for C4D works very well and is easy to use....great UVW controls in C4D. The basic program also includes Bodypaint which allows you to tweak UV's more and make modifications to your texture maps.

[-Adrian]

Oops what I'm modeling would be important to know.

I expect to be modeling more mechanical things than organic. And I don't expect to be doing complex animation, jut still virtual photography of product design ideas and stuff for marketing imagery etc.

Light fixtures and stuff, and some architectural environments to contain them at times.

I'd say Rhino then. Poly modeling can be a real hassle for mechanical parts, once you get demanding about fillets and other details.

[deflix]

I have an old friend who has been doing 3d since the late 80's and having used imagine for so many years was keen to find a decent 3d app to replace. He chose Cinema which is praise indeed - I cant comment as havent used it myself.

As for Max I have just been institutionalised having used it since it was started by Yost and then kinetix after being taken on by Autodesk as a money printing device - i.e I know it too well to move on.

Unfortunately this horrific company will not stop and has already bought Maya and more recently Realviz, both hotbeds of software innovation now destined to the same sad devolution.

[ingo]

Oops what I'm modeling would be important to know.

I expect to be modeling more mechanical things than organic. And I don't expect to be doing complex animation, jut still virtual photography of product design ideas and stuff for marketing imagery etc.

Light fixtures and stuff, and some architectural environments to contain them at times.

Than i would choose a solid modeller like FormZ or SolidWorks, or if you need better animation tools even C4D.

[Burnum]

I'm primarily a Mac user, so for now I plan on only considering tools that currently run well on my hardware. I started learning 3D in the mid 80s as well.

As far as Max goes, i've had a bit of experience with them in the past, not the most positive memories... Nor are they on a Mac yet, to my knowledge.

C4D looks cool for animation, but I don't think from what i've seen that the modeling is at all what I'm looking for. Maybe great for organic sculptors, but not for mechanical stuff. Just adding a chamfer to the edge of a cube seems painful to consider, if you even can.

Solidworks is one to consider, the people I work with use vectorworks for 2D right now. FormZ, I used in the past and loved it but don't have access to it for now. Their bonzai3d looks very promising.

Rhino is a maybe as well, they are running a Mac Beta, but can it do UV mapping?

[zak]

I'm in a small group doing Bridges and Industrial Design. FormZ is a must ! It cover almost every aspect of 3d modelling you can dream of, including animation etc.
The best part is that is precise, not as many of the other programs which has a more sculptural approach !

[Fernando Tella]

I have my eyes on Modo and Bonzai3D.

[Burnum]

At this moment, so do I.

and I'm messing with Blender for now as a possible UV solution to SketchUp.
Not the most intuitive app in the world!

[RonB]

My choice for a modeler...if he's paying for it...would be XSI. That package does everything and is very user friendly. No wonder it's refered to as the Holy Grail of 3D programs.

Cheers,
Ron

[Rochr]

C4D looks cool for animation, but I don't think from what i've seen that the modeling is at all what I'm looking for. Maybe great for organic sculptors, but not for mechanical stuff. Just adding a chamfer to the edge of a cube seems painful to consider, if you even can.

A check box in object properties when making it editable will do the trick.
Then there are always chamfer shaders which will save you some polys. "Chamfer maker" i believe it´s called.

Another vote for C4D here. Easy to learn, one of the most solid programs you can find, and perfect for mechanical/architectural stuff.

[naikku]

"It Sounds Like Modo"

Yes it does. Hear it yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCrmkP_HJEQ

[MS]

My vote for Cinema. Give it a try.

[Burnum]

Any good tutorials on for modeling mechanical and architectural things in C4D? I want precision.
I have a trial of V10 and V11 to play with should I choose to.

Isn't XSI is Windows only?

[Rochr]

Any good tutorials on for modeling mechanical and architectural things in C4D? I want precision.
I have a trial of V10 and V11 to play with should I choose to.

Isn't XSI is Windows only?

I think you should check out c4dcafe.com. It´s probably one of the best resources as far as C4D tutorials are concerned.

[Josephus Holt]

I'll "second" that...C4DCafe.com is great....very quick responses

BTW...the beveling function is super easy to use.