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3D Model Software
- Thread starter .fred
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iTim314
macrumors 6502
For what purpose?
I use Google SketchUp often, and it's very easy to use.
http://sketchup.google.com
I use Google SketchUp often, and it's very easy to use.
http://sketchup.google.com
snickelfritz
macrumors 65816
Strata makes a suite of powerful 3D plugins and full applications that integrate with the 3D capabilities of PhotoshopCS3 Extended.
It's very impressive, and easy to use.
ie: you can directly edit and manipulate 3D objects within a Photoshop document.
There's a demo available.
http://www.strata.com/
It's very impressive, and easy to use.
ie: you can directly edit and manipulate 3D objects within a Photoshop document.
There's a demo available.
http://www.strata.com/
As others said, really need to know what your usage is for this in order to give you the best answer.
Are you going to use this as a professional (ie, your daily job...) or is this for ocassional hobbyist use? This answer will likely determine how much you might want to spend on this...
What do you want to model? Buildings, spaceships, creatures, trees, cars, etc??? Depending upon your answer, I would change my recommendation...
Hope you see my points...so, give us some more info and I think you'll get much better input....
😉
SketchUp gets my recommendation too. I use it for theatre set designs - these can be simple concept models or detailed constructions. It's simple to start using, but has many more complex features to learn. And better still the normal and fully functional non-professional version is free!
My only problem with the free version is that I cannot mirror things with it. Through a combination of copying and scaling I can make a mirror image of something, which lets me only do 1 half of a detailed thing.
There are two ways to create a mirror of an object in SketchUp - either using Flip or Scale.
1. Select an object and right click the mouse. From the drop down list choose Flip and select either the object's red, green or blue axis to mirror the object along.
2. Alternatively, select Tools and Scale from the menu bar. The object box will then appear with draggable handles around it. Select a handle and drag it in the direction you wish to rotate, before releasing the mouse button type -1 (for a 2D object) or -1,1 (for a 3D object) and the object will be mirrored.
You are right though, if you want to add a mirrored copy to an existing object then you need to copy it first and mirror the copy. I don't find this too big an inconvenience, and the same functionality exists (or doesn't exist) in the pro version too.
A good source of information on using SketchUp is available in Bonnie Roskes paper or downloadable books (www.f1help.biz).
Hope this helps.
1. Select an object and right click the mouse. From the drop down list choose Flip and select either the object's red, green or blue axis to mirror the object along.
2. Alternatively, select Tools and Scale from the menu bar. The object box will then appear with draggable handles around it. Select a handle and drag it in the direction you wish to rotate, before releasing the mouse button type -1 (for a 2D object) or -1,1 (for a 3D object) and the object will be mirrored.
You are right though, if you want to add a mirrored copy to an existing object then you need to copy it first and mirror the copy. I don't find this too big an inconvenience, and the same functionality exists (or doesn't exist) in the pro version too.
A good source of information on using SketchUp is available in Bonnie Roskes paper or downloadable books (www.f1help.biz).
Hope this helps.
Cromulent
macrumors 604
I second the recommendation for Blender. It has features which put it in competition with programs like Maya and 3D Studio Max which cost thousands of dollars, yet it is free and open source. Give it a go.