Free 3d; top picks

Fairly frequently, people ask about 3d graphics programmes.

Right now, you can still pick up clayscape for nothing. This is a monumentally brilliant but memory tiny program using Open GL that makes modelling organic and post-modern technical shapes something that anyone can do (and therefore should do).

Try (url="http://"http://www.clayscape.com")www.clayscape.com(/url) or (url="http://"http://www.jarfish.com")www.jarfish.com(/url). If none of those work, ask Sherlock for Clayscape.

Also, if you trog down to (url="http://"http://www.versiontracker.com")www.versiontracker.com(/url) you can pick up PatchDance. Patchdance is a very, very high end modeller for a very, very low end price (free if you accept some limitations). It's in beta at the moment, but that won't stop some serious modelling.

POV Ray is also up for grabs, though I haven't tried it, if you don't have a rendering programme with which to work over your Clayscape or Patchdance creations.

I'm still rendering in Bryce or StrataVision. You can pick up earlier versions of those for free with magazines from time to time.

Enjoy.

Martin

------------------

M A R T I N • T U R N E R

And for you rich Sunnva Bitches...

Not very high price, high recomendation:
Raydream(both)
Infini-D(both)

Both are now Adobe, but it's unlikly they will be sold by them?

Adobe also has Carrara(both), which is likly to be revamped and resold.

For the people that have a metric ****ton of money of money:

3D Studio Max (Win). It's made by the people who make AutoCad, and intended to render autocad sceens, but who cares?

Form•Z (both). Very powerful, but isn't very easy to understand sometimes.

These are just the ones that stand out, however..

~S~

------------------
Small animal kamikaze attack on power supplies

Could I have an order of Discboard with that?

In addition, I'd like to add by noting that Infini-D, a great program I use for ship graphics, and that was used by the EV/O team themselves, is available in demo form, where the limitation is 1 second of rendering---enough to let you create your own ships. Not to mention this program is also now discontinued, meaning the possibility for free older versions may arise.

Quote

Skunko7 wrote:
**For the people that have a metric ****ton of money of money:
**

Or Lightwave. It was used for Nova (not sure what version they used; latest is 6.)

------------------
-Shade

"Scorpion petting zoo-
Innovative concepts in exposing city kids to nature."
-Gary Larson

(url="http://"http://www.theonion.com")The Onion, America's finest news source(/url)

(darn you Skunko, now I have to edit this! 🙂 )

I believe you (Berndog) are wrong (about the Infini-D Demo)...I'm pretty sure the only limitations are no saving and no rendering more than 30 frames, which CAN be more than 1 second if you use a more space-saving framerate like 15 or 10.

You can do a "preview render" which actually uses a better renderer and doesn't count as a render, so with your handy screenshot you can (tediously) make an entire plugin with the demo.

Oh yeah, you CAN save your textures in the demo. That I remember.

I use Infini-D too. I think it's the closest to perfect interface for 3D work...now if only Carrara had that interface... 8-)

I can say however that the graphics in EV and EVO aren't the greatest examples of what can be done with Infini-D, but if you're looking to blend in with either universe it's the program you want.

------------------

(This message has been edited by Weepul 884 (edited 04-15-2000).)

How much does Infini-D cost?

------------------

It costED (past tense) around $500. I don't think you can buy it anymore.

------------------

Quote

Weepul 884 wrote:
**It costED (past tense) around $500. I don't think you can buy it anymore.

**

I'm pretty sure you still can, I got my demo of infini-d from (url="http://"http://www5.metacreations.com/downloads/infini-d_mac_demos.html")http://www5.metacrea..._mac_demos.html(/url)
and you can register it by going to the bottom of the screen and clicking register. I haven't done this yet because, well, I just don't have enough cash to go to taco bell. But I know you can buy it online at (url="http://"http://www.beyond.com/search.htm?name_desc=metacreations")http://www.beyond.co...c=metacreations(/url)
It's $535 as of 11:15 EST on April 15 2000. It's a pretty good site to buy stuff at because if your looking for graphics programs that link up above lets you buy Bryce, Infini-D, and/or RayDream. If you have 500 some dollars lying around that you don't need. If you don't want the $500 you could always send it to me, I won't complain. At all. Really.

------------------
"I was under the influence of medication when I made the decision to burn the tapes."

Richard Nixon

My Webpage -- (url="http://"http://www.geocities.com/joljvik/")http://www.geocities.com/joljvik/(/url)

My Bulletin Board -- (url="http://"http://www.hotboards.com/powerforum/pwrforum.exe?who=joljvikevevo")http://www.hotboards...ho=joljvikevevo(/url)

My Email Address -- SmashMaster18@hotmail.com

My AIM Screen Name -- JolJvik

(This message has been edited by Jol'Jvik (edited 04-16-2000).)

You're probably right on those demo specifications. I've been using the program since version 2 or so, and never actually bothered with the demo--just talked to people who have. I wish <sigh> Carrara was influenced more by Infini-D than Ray Dream; I just end up ignoring it because of it's funky layout and setup. And I agree, the EV/O graphics are not the best example, better graphics are attainable.