RE: 3D Modeling (Was: Are you innovative?)

["Johan Hiemstra" <webmaster -at- techexams -dot- net>]

"several good 3D products, that are quite easy to learn for a
'beginner." I could sure use them

I noticed someone else url-ing (<--?) to several products, so I figured
it would be ok for me to do as well. I'm not affiliated with any of the
following products nor benefit from mentioning them. 

Let's start by a couple of free ones:
www.wings3d.com This is a subdivision modeler, which is the most common
type today. The actually modeling technique is called box-modeling, as
you often start with a box, and extrude polygons. (I actually start more
often with a cylinder, i.e. check out one of my tutorials here:
www.3dnuts.com/tutorials/mod_chessp.shtml
(that's not how you would usually create chess pawn quickly, merely to
demonstrate the techniques / 3D studio max features).

www.anim8or.com/main/index.html
I know of it, never used it myself.

The following is a commercial, but relatively very affordable product
that is extremely suitable for creating diagrams (or elements for
diagram), icons, logos, etc. etc.
Carrara (standard edition will do for most people)
http://www.eovia.com/products/carrara_standard/carrara_standard.asp

I reviewed an older version once, and the spline modeler in it (spline
modelers are available in most 3d packages though) is really innovative
and allows you to create great objects in literally seconds, by drawing
the sections/slices on two planes. It offers other modeling techniques
also. Very easy to animate stuff too, because of their storyboard-like
animation tool. 

If you are interested in a more professional, mid or high-end 3D
package, you'll end up making a choice between 3D Studio Max, Maya,
SoftImage XSI, Cinema 4D and several others that basically allow you to
create anything, you'll be limited only by your own imagination. These
packages range from $999 to $4000 and more and are huge overkill for the
purposes for which most people on this list would use it. 

Another product that may be of interest is Poser
http://www.curiouslabs.com/go/products/poser
Apart from it being an excuse for boys to play with dolls, it can
actually be a very useful product for a tech writer. IKEA should use it
to spice up their instructions. It's not a modeler, it basically allows
you to pose people, animals, etc. It comes with several male and female
characters by default. You can add clothes and other props (which you
can download free or buy online and import), and by using simple
controls you can pose those characters. I.e. swimming, running, sitting,
diving, jumping, but face expressions are also controllable. 

The following is my own site (non-commercial, I'm not selling) and has
literally one of the largest link directories of its kind:
www.3dvalley.com 
You can find a lot of software, but also free models, tutorials etc. 

There are thousands of quality and royalty free models ("objects",
"meshes") available on the web, as well as several commercial websites
that offer a huge categorized collection of models. Assigning your own
color/textures and rendering them from a particular angle allows you to
make them unique for your purposes.

Not my most organized post so far, but I hope it is useful.
Feel free to send me questions if you have any.

Johan


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT - EDIT AND REVIEW, REDEFINED
Accelerate the document lifecycle with full online discussions and unique feedback-management capabilities. Unlimited, efficient reviews for Word
and FrameMaker authors. Live, online demo:
http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.