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Okay, Usually I would do tons of research and spend all day on google trying to figure out what's best but... I figure alot of people on this site probably know so I'll just save the time and ask.

What would be the A, cheapest and B, Simple, C Highest Quality 3d modeling software out there?

I need something free, no pricetag, and I also need efficient animating capabilities, I want to animate movies, not just make models. I've heard blender is great but also that it is not very easy to animate with . 3d Studio Max is what I'm looking at right now, I'm confused though, is it free? I really would like if someone could just say: "this is what you want" instead of me having to find it, the hard, notfun, way...

Thx in advance!

Animating is never going to be easy. When I start animating, I will start with Blender probably, I have have haerd nothing about the difficulty of animation in blender.

3DS Max is not free. I am not going to promote piracy, but from what I can tell most of the people I know that use it did not pay for it.

I know you can animate and make movies in XSI. So maybe get one of the free versions.

There is also K-3D I have no idea how easy it is to use as I only tried a little modeling with it before I found blender.

CalvaryCptMike wrote:...
I need something free, no pricetag, and I also need efficient animating capabilities, I want to animate movies, not just make models...
...

There is no "best" software, there is only what you prefer to use that gets the job done.
You get out of software what you put into it and just because you may use 3ds Max doesn't mean you're instantly skilled enough to work in a game studio etc, but no matter what software you use you'll still have to learn it. Softimage Mod Tool is powerful software and easy to use with high quality modeling and animation toolsets and is also completely free with community support right on this forum!

@acemastermind, wow, I thought XSI was really hard, it's simple honestly but texturing is so diffucult, or maybe I'm just really bad at it. Anyways thank you for the advice guys...

LucasFilms uses Maya 3D, but I don't really know much about it.

Marth8880 wrote:LucasFilms uses Maya 3D, but I don't really know much about it.

Its not free, and is not easy to use.

I downloaded the free trial for that a long time ago... let's just say, wulf's right, it's thousands of dollars, and VERY professional, I don't think I need something THAT powerful.

Just to add my two cents, although most has been stated, I would definately reccomend Blender wholeheartedly as the best overall option. I haven't used it extensivly, but it is my favorite 3D modeling program, and any trouble I have had was easilly solved either here or in the bulk of tutorials online. I've never used Softimage Mod Tool, 'cuz i always had trouble installing it, but a friend said it worked well. Also, if you're lucky, you can obtain free copies of 3DS Max and Maya perfectly legally. If your school offers it, or if you're involved with FIRST, you can download fully-functional student versions of their software.

Knightfire2201 wrote:I would definately reccomend Blender wholeheartedly as the best overall option. I haven't used it extensivly, but it is my favorite 3D modeling program,

Heh, sounds just like me. The man speaks the truth!

I really recommend Blender (It's what I've been using). Getting any specific software doesn't give you the ability to model like a professional instantly. It takes time. Look up tutorials, they are all over the internet. And look at http://students.autodesk.com/

I've been using a 3 year trial of Maya, Mudbox, and (recently) 3Ds Max through this program, but you'll need to be enrolled in a college to qualify just for everyone who is reading this post.