low-cost 3D software (alternatives to Blender?)

[Hirazi Blue]

A long time ago, way before Softimage introduced us to their idea of "3Democracy", slashing the price of XSI 4 Foundation to a very affordable one (even for hobbyists) there seems to have been a thriving market of low-cost 3D packages that has dried up in the following years. Now it seems as if Blender is the only contender for people on a budget (hobbyists?). Recently I was asked by a friend what software I could recommend to him as an entry-level package. I couldn't think of any other than Blender. So now my question to you all is: what low-cost software (other than Blender) would you recommend for someone starting out in the wonderful world of 3D CG?

[Rork]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there are any low-cost 3D apps out there anymore. Not if you want more than just some basic modeling and rendering.
And most of the commercial apps switched to subscriptions and alike, so not really interesting for hobbyists.
I guess it depends on what you want to do, but a combo of Blender and e.g. Unity/Unreal will get you quite far.

But no matter what you pick up as a 3D app, there will be a learning curve.

rob

[myara]

Modo is affordable, but not cheap.
Lightwave is more affordable. Around US$1K I think
Maya LT is relatively cheap but rental only. It could be a good introduction to Maya with all its pros and cons.
Metasequoia is free or really cheap (commercial) but it’s only for modeling.

[luceric]

The UI of blender may not be great, but the UI of these 99$-500$ products isn't so great nowadays either, plus the rendering is obsolete.
I'm always surprised by how many software Daz3D managed to buy and bury. I had my hopes on Carrara.

Anyway, your question I think is unanswerable, because I think there are different types of users. There are different kinds of artists who want to use 3D to create a 2D content, there are people who want to create games or manufacturable objects, and there are hobbyists who want to be training for a career in 3D studios or dream of film and effects. The answers to all of these are different.

A lot of things 20 years ago that a casual user might use FormZ to do, one might do directly in AfterFX. Using VUE or Zbrush for that they are made for is the better option.
I think you may be suggesting that Softimage's 500$ Foundation may have contributed to the decline of the low cost 3D apps. My apologies if that wasn't the case, but on my side I think the market had already proven it did not really exist years before that, and the various products/companies failed on their own to find that maket. It just takes a few years before the products actually stop after they fail.
Worse yet, nowadays we expect a lot more from 3D than we used to get back then, and producing that content might be impossible for a casual user or hobbyist.

[xsisoft]

houdini-free
https://www.sidefx.com/buy/#houdini-free

HOUDINI APPRENTICE
Houdini Apprentice is a free version of Houdini FX which can be used by students, artists and hobbyists to create personal non-commercial projects. With Houdini Apprentice, you have access to virtually all of the features of the award-winning Houdini FX to develop your skills and work on personal projects. Apprentice lets you save to disk and render out with a word mark.





https://www.sidefx.com/buy/#houdini-indie
HOUDINI INDIE

Houdini Indie makes all of Houdini’s animation and VFX tools available under an indie license to animators and game makers who want to use Houdini during the incubation stage of their business.



2 YEAR RENTAL
NODE LOCKED
$399 USD

[Hirazi Blue]

I was afraid of that...
Personally I think neither Blender nor Houdini Apprentice/Indie is a good option for an absolute beginner.
But lacking any good affordable alternative...

Thanks for your replies!


@luceric - I indeed didn't want to imply Foundation was the reason for the demise of those cheaper packages,
I just stopped looking at them, once I found Foundation
and when Foundation was dropped a couple of years later, they were gone...

Worse yet, nowadays we expect a lot more from 3D than we used to get back then, and producing that content might be impossible for a casual user or hobbyist.

As a side-note: I agree that 3D has evolved and certain content can't be created by hobbyists (or even small shops),
but there will always be hobbyists trying their best to achieve "greatness" against all odds...

[luceric]

read this wikipage on the history of Carrara.. it's scary how metacreation ended up screwing the consumer 3D.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrara_(software)
An ex employee also bought Mirai from its parent, and that ended up not going anywhere.
Also interesting, Electric image
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_ ... ion_System

[Mathaeus]

By the way, Hash Animation Master seems to be still alive , now on subscription hehehe. There are even posts on their forum from last month. Less than ten users who just don't want to admit the defeat, that part could be a nightmare for developer....
While yeah, all these old fashion no-path-tracing renderers are completely obsolete, I can't imagine how to explain to novice, things like primary - secondary GI, final gathering, shadow map, even three point lighting. Long time ago, XSI Foundation was exception, I believed it will stop with XSI 4 or something. In same time it was a huuuge difference between Blender and anything else, I remember I had to search the internet for Blender shortcuts, gathered by people by trial-error method. Times are different today...

[Hirazi Blue]

Realsoft 3d seems to be alive still as well, version 8 of the software having been released recently...

[FXDude]

... it's scary how metacreation ended up screwing the consumer 3D.

Perhaps, but I don't think its metacreation who wins the medal in that regard.

[Rork]

... it's scary how metacreation ended up screwing the consumer 3D.

Perhaps, but I don't think its metacreation who wins the medal in that regard.

Savage!

[xsisoft]

Free modeler -Wings3d
http://www.wings3d.com/
and
cool software for animators (a lot of prepared expressions) and raytracing render -Messiah http://www.projectmessiah.com/x6/index.html

http://www.projectmessiah.com/x6/shop.html
Special - Only $65 for the year !!!!!!!!!!! (Less than what others charge for a month)

Regularly $399
http://www.projectmessiah.com/x6/gallery.html

work examples
Real big deal WIP

[Mathaeus]

cool software for animators (a lot of prepared expressions) and raytracing render -Messiah http://www.projectmessiah.com/x6/index.html

http://www.projectmessiah.com/x6/shop.html
Special - Only $65 for the year !!!!!!!!!!! (Less than what others charge for a month)

According to wikipedia and my small knowledge as well, ''Messiah seems no longer maintained since 2013 (abandoned)''. Anyway I was one of idiots who gave them some small money in 2013 for some nostalgic reasons, so they are still able to advertise that crap,around...
For those who want to dive in into animation, there's Maya LT, around 300 euros yearly here. Bad point is that external plugin are not allowed, so no cool third party rigs like Gear, Advanced Skeleton or dozens of others for full Maya. In return, has let's say ten times faster deformation playback than anything else on planet, plus few features like Time Editor or motion re-targeting, on level that belongs to science fiction in Hash, PMG Messiah and Blender.

[Mathaeus]

cool software for animators (a lot of prepared expressions) and raytracing render -Messiah http://www.projectmessiah.com/x6/index.html

http://www.projectmessiah.com/x6/shop.html
Special - Only $65 for the year !!!!!!!!!!! (Less than what others charge for a month)

According to wikipedia and my small knowledge as well, ''Messiah seems no longer maintained since 2013 (abandoned)''. Anyway I was one of idiots who gave them some small money in 2013 for some nostalgic reasons, so they are still able to advertise that crap, around...
For those who want to dive in into animation, there's Maya LT, around 300 euros yearly here. Bad point is that external plugin are not allowed, so no cool third party rigs like Gear, Advanced Skeleton or dozens of others for full Maya. In return, has let's say ten times faster deformation playback than anything else on planet, plus few features like Time Editor or motion re-targeting, on level that belongs to science fiction in Hash, PMG Messiah and Blender.

[xsisoft]

"For those who want to dive in into animation, there's" ....SOFTIMAGE !

& trial period

[wireframex]

"For those who want to dive in into animation, there's" ....SOFTIMAGE !
& trial period