Computer Animation - Where do I start?

[UltraDelum]

Hi. I like movie making and I want to really get into this as a hobby. So before I make my first film, I would like to know where to start when it comes to special effects.

For editing, I have Premiere Pro.

For composition/motion graphics, I have Discreet Combustion and Adobe After Effects.

I would consider myself an intermediate on the programs above, except Combustion. I have only skimmed the surface. But as for 3D and animation, I don't know where to start.

There's 4 names I keep hearing:

1. Maya
2. Lightwave 3D
3. 3D Studio Max
4. Blender 3D

Blender 3D is tough to figure out, although free. The other three I haven't tried yet. So my question to the experts here on this forum whose knowledge exceeds mine, which program should I use for 3D modeling/animation/effects?

I'm looking for something with a nice interface, something understandable, something easy to learn, and yet it still can pump out realistic effects.

Thanks for your help.

[montezumas_revenge]

its really preference, in my opinion the best bang for the buck right now is softimage xsi www.softimage.com, you can get the advanced version for 295$ if your a student, and it alos comes with a 100,000 character crowd simulator, look in the massive armies thread and i go more into detail.
But heres a basic rundown.

3ds max- Dominant in the gaming community right now, interface is very icon based, comes with character studio
particle engine is good but many people prefer buying expensive plugins to do effects quickly.

Maya- the most expensive maya is used alot in the film industry and has by far the best particles and dynamics, also has powerful NURBS modeling,
maya has everything you need so you dont need to buy plugins to use it.

Softimage XSI- My favorite , has very powerful modeling tools, softimage was used to create half-life 2, comes with a built in compositor, crowd simulator 100,000 characters. Particles are not as good as mayas but still able to achieve top notch effects. Mental ray is used as renderer.

Lightwave- Well lightwave is still used alot in small studios, it still has one of the best renderers of all the apps, but its core has become outdated, its been used on such things as star trek nemesis, and titanic. Least expensive, if you cant get a student discount on any of the others.

[Epsilon]

It seems fair that you should include examples for each product, not neccesarily just the ones to favor.

[LucII]

It is all up to you're self when it comes to choosing software.. get the trial version of each program, and see which one works best for you.. I use LightWave myself..

[Sharpe]

At the moment i use a program called Anim8or, www.anim8or.com.
Its free and the site has some good tutorials, I myself am cr** at animating, so it may well be that this program isn't all that good, but it seems a good place to start at.

[Almondo99]

the learning edition of Maya is pretty cheap (20$ i think)
that would work if you just want to learn how although all rendered and nonrendered images and movies have watermarks.

[justsomeguy]

the learning edition is free, its like a demo kind of thing. at least it was a year or so ago when i used it, acutally probably more than that but anyway i use 3ds max and its easy to learn and it does everything i want it to but it all depends on what your doing so yeah you should just download the trials and see what is easiest for you and does what you need.

[Almondo99]

learning edition doesnt do cloth or fur though
whatever works, is easiest and does what you need!

[UltraDelum]

I'm leaning more for the learning curve. I don't plan on going into CG animation, but just want ot be able to produce stuff for my films, which is a hobby for me. Based on your personal opinion,

1. Which program has th ebetter interface? Reasonable and easy to follow. (For example, I can sit down and learn the program myself without investing in learning books. I tried out Blender 3D and there is no way I would have figured that out for myself since everything is in abbreviations).

2. Which has the largest community?

[Epsilon]

1. All the interfaces are very similar from I'm discovering. Although they look different, the features all do the same things and are relatively in the same places. Easy interfaces are usually harder to learn in the long run, because it means it will be harder to figure out the more advanced you are. If you figured out a more optioned, experienced interface first, it might take you a little longer, but you will go much faster in the long run. Trivially easy programs will never be able to create something really good. If you get stuck... that's why they made tutorials.

2. It all depends what field you go into. They are all used in filmmaking, some are stronger than others in certain fields. Do a little research and find out what's good for you. They all have extraordinarly large communities. Except you might want to go with 3ds Max or Lightwave if you want public support, those are the more well spread companies. Maya and SoftImage are more professionally-based and not commonly seen in public. In other words, if you are stuck there is less guidance available.

[montezumas_revenge]

I'm leaning more for the learning curve. I don't plan on going into CG animation, but just want ot be able to produce stuff for my films, which is a hobby for me. Based on your personal opinion,

1. Which program has th ebetter interface? Reasonable and easy to follow. (For example, I can sit down and learn the program myself without investing in learning books. I tried out Blender 3D and there is no way I would have figured that out for myself since everything is in abbreviations).

2. Which has the largest community?

1. no interface is better, its all preference, myself i dont like the maya or 3ds max interfaces, the icons confuse me, I like interfaces that are mostly text like lightwave a xsi.

2. community, well 3ds max and lightwave have the largest, xsi is starting to grow seeing as its becoming the standard for making hl2 mods.

[jcdenton]

Just my 2c:

None of them is easy to learn. Each of them is a huge profession. You can easily lose a dozen of years in "learning 3D". It's not one of those "Now I learn 3D" things. Think about it twice, it may be better to hire a specialist if you are working on a serious project.

I did some realtime rendering design for a couple of years (used in games), and all I can tell you is: it's one of the hardest jobs in the film industry, probably only stuntman is harder.

If you really want to become good in 3D, you need to learn at least for a couple of months, probably(likely) years. Just don't underestimate it.

[UltraDelum]

Is any geared more towards CG animation? I'm not trying to create a game or 3D picture, but effects more like in Smallville and CSI.

Yeah, I know I'm going to at least put in a minimum of 1 year of training into 3D animation. But I don't mind. I'm not creating anything for anybody and I got plenty of time to learn the tutorials. Filmmaking is a hobby of mine, but I also want to combine that with Ch animation.

[montezumas_revenge]

maya has the best particles, and dynamics that seems to be what your hinting at,

[Almondo99]

cloth works well in Maya too

[jcdenton]

It really depends on the amount of money you want to spend. If money isn't a problem, use Maya or 3DS Max. Kind of Budget Solution may be XSI. A NoBudget Way is Blender.
There are big lots of tutorials, just browse some webpages. You can learn the basic skills from free tutorials. Although the latest pro skills are oftenly protected by the industry.

[windog]

3d is hard for me becuse i cannot draw well on paper never mind a PC!

[Epsilon]

Kudos.

[Almondo99]

I'd use it in a movie if I had enough money to buy a real one. Only have the demo..

[Radiate]

Yeah, thats all I have too.