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Geek Culture / 3D animation software for less than $500?

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Jeku
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Joined: 4th Jul 2003
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Posted: 8th Dec 2004 10:21 Edited at: 8th Dec 2004 10:22
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Hey all,

I thought I'd post this here instead of the artists forum because I'd like a wide range of opinion.

My father is working on a 3D movie, and he's never used 3D animation software before. We were looking on the web for a cheap animation package, and have found a seemingly robust and powerful package called Animation:Master from Hash. http://www.hash.com/

It goes for $299 and judging by the videos, it looks pretty powerful. Anyone know of any other packages around this price? Anyone have any experience with Animation:Master? Please don't answer recommending Maya for $12,000 We're only interested in purchasing one for under $500.

In the movie the most difficult thing will be to have a character walking around the screen. Other than that we'll be animating protein molecules, DNA, etc. and will be using just basic shapes.

Thanks for your ideas!


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BearCDPOLD
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Location: AZ,USA
Posted: 8th Dec 2004 10:28
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trueSpace6 is $595, but then trueSpace5 (which is still pretty darn good) is $395.

Carrara 4 is $579 for Pro and $279 for Standard.

Crazy Donut Productions, Current Project: Project Starbuks
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walaber
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Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posted: 8th Dec 2004 10:56
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I used Animation: Master back before it wasl called that (it was called Playmation)... it was a bit buggy, but from what I understand the new versions are much better.

the only drawback is the export options are very limited... but if you'll be keeping your models in Master, it shouldn't be a problem.

Go Go Gadget DBPRO!

Athlon XP 2400+ || DDR-SDRAM 1GB || Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti4200 AGP 8x 128MB
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indi
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Location: Earth, Brisbane, Australia
Posted: 8th Dec 2004 12:42
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maya 6 can be as low as $1999.
maya unlimited tho. is around $6999
lightwave is prolly cheaper

depends on the quality of the final product is what determines your budget.

If no-one gives your an answer to a question you have asked, consider:- Is your question clear.- Did you ask nicely.- Are you showing any effort to solve the problem yourself
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The Wendigo
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Location: A hole near the base of a tree in the US
Posted: 8th Dec 2004 14:20
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For a while you could get TrueSpace 4.3 for FREE! But Caligari has since finished giving it away. I got my TS4.3 for around $100 on a special a few years back. I love it! It isn't exactly the greatest package around, but it sure beats Maya as far a ease of use goes (I know, I'm taking a class in Maya now, and I hate the program... too many menus).


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indi
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Posted: 8th Dec 2004 20:58
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maya goes hand in hand with shake so ill be learning it more.

If no-one gives your an answer to a question you have asked, consider:- Is your question clear.- Did you ask nicely.- Are you showing any effort to solve the problem yourself
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Van B
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Posted: 8th Dec 2004 21:00
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There's also Cinema4D - looks fairly powerful and I think it's in your price range.

http://www.maxon.net/index_e.html


Van-B


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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 9th Dec 2004 02:40
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It depends on what options he wants.

3D Studio Max 7 is available as a Non-Commercial Student License for $480, but you would have to purchase it for your dad.
Other companies have similar deals for thier software.

currently the industry standard for CGI work is quickly becomming Softimage|XSI due to thier push for the movie industry to take it up as thier standard animation tool.

Softimage|XSI Foundation is under $1000, but not sure how much under. The problem is while, alot of the software will be at $500-$1000, your not going to find many solutions for under that without making some hard choices.

Wings3D is Free, you can then purchase Animation:Master for $120 for Animation needs, Blender 2.4.x is free which you can use to setup the scenes for the free YAFRAY (yet another free raytracer) which produces good results.
Editing up you could use Microsoft Movie Maker 2.1 (comes with Windows XP), or for better control Jasac do some good tools.

The problem with these solutions though, is they require alot more skill on the part of the artist.. and a better understanding of what goes into the development. Not to mention awekardly slow pipelines as you have to transfer everything.

So as I said, alot of tough decisions have to be made for budgets.
3D Studio Max, would be my best advice though for your price range.


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Jeku
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Posted: 10th Dec 2004 05:17
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Cool, thanks everyone for the good suggestions. He is going to stick with Animation:Master as it's the best bang for the buck. The project will be commercial and the software needs to be run on a PC, not a Mac.


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MikeS
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Posted: 10th Dec 2004 11:15
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Truespace 6.6 is a pretty good deal, and it's $249 right now. I use it, and love it, but it definitly has a learning curve for someone new to modeling, animation, etc.(Like I was)

I definitly recommend A:M though, from what I've seen. Haven't used it personally, but know some people who do. Definitly the best option for what your dad needs.



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Shadow Robert
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Posted: 18th Dec 2004 15:02
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http://www.softimage.com/products/

Softimage|XSI Foundation Edition $495 probably too late now but awesome price!


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