What's a good 3D modelling (graphics) program?

Question

I'm a photographer and photo-editor, a novice at 3D graphics. I want to make photo-real space art and stuff like that. What do you think would be a good buy?

Answer 1

I suggest that you download Blender, which is the best free 3D software available, and learn to use that: http://www.blender.org You will find good tutorials both on the official website and on many others.

It's just fine for a learning novice and if you find that you enjoy working with it and get to an advanced level, then consider upgrading to one of the commercial products. It's not really worth it until that point, as they are VERY expensive so I really wouldn't recommend going for those first if you are new at it. There are a number of good ones, but the most popular industry standard software is Autodesk 3DS Max and Maya.

Answer 2

The high end standard seems to be Maya. Buying the professional version is very expensive, but a classmate of mine is supposedly using a free version (that places a watermark in the corner of your images).

Answer 3

I use sketchUp and Cinema 4D.

Use sketchup to make a scale model of the objects (or download models from the 3D warehouse, then export as a 3d object to Cinema 3D.  

Cinema allows you to throw on textures (which you can also get for free on the net, or you can make your own, using 3 dif jpeg files... colour, bump, and something else.  Anyways, read about it, it is well worth your time.

Also look on flickr for some good 3D renderings done in Cinema.

Answer 4

Autodesk 3Ds Max is one of the best along with Maya & Cinema 4D. All are expensive (unless your a student) and do the job right.