Which 3D modeller for Mac?

AJUK

AJUK

AJUK

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I am wanting to get into a little bit of 3D modelling work, just for a hobby. I am a very experienced CAD user (Vectorworks) but I am considering a pure modeller/animation package. I was wondering if any of you guys have any experience with such software and which one to recommend, as it is a hobby I don't want to spend much money so I have narrowed it down to several options but I can't to make up my mind, they all seem to do the business:

Cheetah3D
Shade 8
Silo
and of course, Blender

Any recommendations out of that lot or any other relatively inexpensive software suggestions welcome. It will be used mainly for buildings, and lifeform models and perhaps some landscape.
 
If I had to use mac only software and had a low budget Id probably go for Silo + Blender combo.

Cheetah 3d is ment to be good for the price becuase it covers modelling and animation but I've never used it.

Or another combo could be Hexagon 2 and Blender, only reason I would buy a seperate modeller is becuase I didnt like modelling in Blender but some people are fine with it so Blender might do everything you need if you can get used to the UI.
 
I had a look at Blender and the UI is somewhat daunting to say the least but it is probably the overall best option. If I can get used to it and you can't argue with the price.
:)
 
There is also Wings3D which I think is free. Haven't used it myself so can't comment on how good it is.

I'm considering putting in some effort with Blender soon to try and break through the UI barrier which has always put me off before.
 
Another I am going to try is ac3d, that and Cheetah look favourite at the moment. Having another look at Blender frightened the life out of me! :p

I did look at Wings3D but as you say it is limited.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, I was going to go with ac3d but it requres the POVray rendering plug in that crashes on Intel Macs for some strange reason. Therefore, Cheetah3D or Blender is the way forward. :)
 
unknowndomain said:
3DS Max in Parallels isnt slow
if you have enough memory
Click to expand...
I am certainly not going to spend a couple of grand on Winblows software and then run it under Parallels on my Mac. :)

Maya might be worth a shot though.
 
I saw that you used Vector works on Mac. atm I'm a PC user of AutoCAD but have been thinking about buying a Macbook when Leopard comes out.

Have you ever used AutoCAD before, and if so is Vectorworks easy to learn?
 
I have used Autocad when I used to work on Windows platform, however, I could never really get on with it because I originally trained on Microstation so found the way AutoCAD did things as awkward.

Autocad is over rated if you ask me, depending on the work you are doing the only real advantage it has is the numeorus plug in applications available.

Vectorworks is a far more intelligent system but as an AC user you will find it extremely strange to use with a steep learning curve, mind you aren't all cad programs like that! It costs quite a lot of money as well, about £700 although compared to AC it is a bargain. If you are doing 2D only work there are many CAD programs available for the Mac platform, such as High Design, Macdraft, Turbocad, PowerCADD or even QCad, all of which are plenty powerful enough and much cheaper.

Check out these links for info on VW:

http://www.nemetschek.net/index.php
http://www.nemetschek.net/3dpowerpack/index.php

and this one for general CAD software:

http://www.eskimo.com/~pristine/cad.html

What sort of work do you do?
 
I'm an architectural assistant, so I use AutoCAD, Sketchup and PS daily. Thanks for those links, Vecotrworks looks gd. Whats it like for 3D modelling ..etc.
 
For 3D architectural modelling it is absolutely fantastic, see some of the demo movies on the Architect version page and the galleries for examples. I am a structural engineer so most of the advanced features are rarely used but for architectural work VW is the daddy, almost all architects on the Mac platform will use VW or Archicad (but that is way more expensive). It works with Sketch Up as well.

VW works differently from AC, you can work in a hybrid 2D/3D environment where the 2D working drawings are produced simultaneously with a 3D model. One different concept with VW that varies quite considerably with AC is the way drawings are put together. In AC you have a model space and paper space and in model space you have layers. VW has sheet files where the drawing is printed but it also has layers which can be given virtual levels, for example, a first floor layer can be set 3m above the ground floor layer. That relates back to how the hybrid system works. Drawing elements are classified by classes which are like 'layers' in AC with different element contained on classes that have different attributes. Just to confuse matters further you can create viewports for details etc. The one great advantage is with drawing standards such as dimension styles etc. as VW will work all that out for you as you draw, change the scale of layer or a viewport and the correct dimension size is always maintained. It is a steep learning curve but worth it.

Clear as mud. :)
 
Thanks for the info! To complicate things a bit further I can obtain a copy of Student ArchiCAD 10 as I'm back at uni in Sept. What are your thoughts on ArchiCAD, if any?

VW does sound very good, like you say ,the niggling things with AC are setting up dimension for each scale you want to print at, amongst other things. Also the 3D aspect of it sounds gd, I know that AC2007 has 3D functions too but havent got round to learning that yet :P

Well if I ever switch to Mac, I'll definitely have a good look at VW, cheers again.
 
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