Best begginers 3d software for prop building?

dannylopuz

Sr Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
I want to learn to use a program to 3d model some props, which is the best one, being intuitive, light and easy to use and print? What kinda software do you use?
 
Check out Rhino or Form Z free. People dig sketch-up. I just learned Form Z first, partial to systems a bit more like it. Any program you start with, you'll find 95% will carry over to other platforms.
 
No software is cheap, intuitive, easy, and powerful. In 3d software, the most powerful trade-off seems to be between price and WTF-ness of the interface (as in, the less you pay, the more time you will spend scratching your head trying to figure out what the heck the thing is supposed to be doing).

Also, there are sort of two different streams when you are talking modeling for fabrication; the "organic model" stream which ends in 3d prints, and the "CAD" stream which ends in CNC milling -- with 2d and 2d+ CNC like laser cutting being somewhere on the distant edge of that camp, out where Illustrator lives.

So would help a lot to know what kinds of shapes and what kinds of fabrication processes you are thinking.
 
I think Autodesk still does the 1 year free for Hobby & startups for Inventor or Inventor Fusion 360. I just did the deal autodesk had for Fusion 360 Ultimate for 300/year on auto-renew that they had through 12/13/14. Otherwise Sketchup or Blender if you want the free route.
 
I started learning using Milkshape, then I switched to G-max, now I mainly use 3DS Max. I have tried Lightwave, Maya, Softimage etc. They all seemed counter intuitive to me. Just find the one that "makes sense" to you.
 
Thank you so much!

Thanks! Is it the software you use for your work? I'm a fan! How long did it take for you to get that good?



Well thanks. :)

Honestly, I've been constantly playing with Blender for a couple months. It seems the more you do, the better you get at it. There's also a nice tutorial library on youtube, starting in order from the basic functions.

So far, it's the only 3d modeling software I'm using.
 
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