If you're a Mac user, 3DSmax is out of the questions - it's PC only. As far as what's available to us Mac users, I've found Cinema 4d to be the overall best choice. Here's what I've found (and these are only my opinions
):
Lightwave -
Newtek: When I explored LW as a possible 3D tool, it was at version 7.5. I tried the Discovery Edition Demo and found the whole interface to be counterintuitive and also didn't like the modelor and layout being separate applications. After more research, I found many Mac user disgruntled w/ Newtek's lack of support for the platform. There were, at the time, some features available to the PC crowd that were not in the Mac version. The renderer was also very slow on my TiBook 667 (which yes, I know, is a POS by todays performance standards). Nice thing though, is if you buy it, the CD works for both Mac or PC as does the dongle that it comes with. Newtek is also very nice about selling it or tranfering the license.
Maya -
Alias: I tried version 5.0 PLE on Mac and also 5.0 Unlimited on PC. I could tell right away, that this program had a lot of potential. It's probably the most popular 3d app used for movie effects. It's also got a learning curve that's a b!tch and is very expensive. Also, if you were to buy Maya, you could not ever sell or transfer the license - your stuck with it (unless you sell you business and it transfers as a business asset). Also, support on the Mac side is pretty good except for the fact that the Unlimited version is not yet available. But if your intent is to do movies, this is your best choice.
Cinema 4D -
Maxon: I got hooked on this program when 3D World magazine gave out the CE (XL6) for free. Even with this old version I was using, I found the interface to be very intuitive, it was very stable (still have never had it crash) and it renders the fastest out of everything I tested. Now that version 9 is out w/ n-gon support, cloth (which is freakin' awesome) and sub poly displacement (not too sure what this is), it's supposed to be on it's way to being one of the elite 3D tools. Maxon is very supportive of the Mac community and has consistently kept the stability and features up to par w/ the PC side. I know that C4D is used in a ton of motion graphics studios and is used by tons of studios to complement other 3D apps like Maya, 3DSMax, or XSI. With the release of version 9, I've heard of a lot of Lightwave users thinking of jumping over to C4D. Also, version 9 is now optimized for the G5 processor - sweet
.
Animation Master -
Hash: I started 3D with this program about 3 years ago and am not looking back. I don't know how it is now, but a few years ago it was the most unstable POS I ever worked w/. If it crashed on me only 3 times an hour, that would have been a good day. The fact that it uses patches instead of polygons also limits it's compatablity with other programs. And the renderer is pretty darn slow too. Only good thing I can think is it's really good for character animation. Some would say its ablity to rig and animate a character is unmatched.
Really, the best thing to do is to try the demo version of all these programs. As a student, you can buy an academic version of all of these programs except Animation Master, which is so cheap, the full version costs as much or less than most academic versions of the other programs. I'm very partial to Cinema 4D and think that if one were to guess which app has the largest Mac user base, I would guess Cinema 4D.
//flamesuit = on
