Blender 3D for OS X
May 15, 2005 6:37 PM   Subscribe

I need a 3D app for OS X. Is Blender my best choice if I don't want to spend a lot of dough?

Anyone have experience with this app? How bad is the learning curve? The UI looks like a nightmare, but most mid to high end 3D apps usually are. I like to do rapid prototyping, like taking an EPS and extruding it, boolean operations, etc. but a nice renderer is important as well.
posted by gwint to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)
 
For subd modelling, try Wings3D. It's free, and, seriously, completely awesome. It will import .ai files. Its' rendering ability is pretty nonexistent, but there are about 2390239 plugins to let you export to Blender, PovRay, etc.

Blender is.. well. Kind of a nightmare. You can do amazing stuff with it. It's feature rich and extremely mature. But the interface was designed by someone from another planet. It just flies in the face of any UI I have ever used for any other reason. Once you get used to it, I'm told, it's a fast application to use.

Another possibility is to pick up a Computer Arts mag with a CD.. they usually have old versions of 3D software for free.
posted by xyzzy at 8:32 PM on May 15, 2005


For taking an EPS and extruding it, and boolean operations, you should actually be fine with blender. Those are pretty simple ops, and you don't need to even touch most of the program (which is hell) to use it effectively. Rendering with yafray will produce decent results.

Alternately, Maya Complete (which would be more than enough) is "only" $2,000. Download the Maya PLE

If this is through/for an educational program, you can see about getting the edu discount. A $2000 program goes to maybe a couple hundred, which is a hell of a discount.
posted by devilsbrigade at 8:51 PM on May 15, 2005


Try Cheetah3D. I downloaded blender, took one look, and realized that I didn't have time to learn it. Cheetah is young and fresh-faced, and while it has a few missing features, it's clean, very well organized and rock-solid. It's also a snap to learn and has decent documentation.
posted by ulotrichous at 9:28 PM on May 15, 2005


On the subject of rapid prototyping I've yet to see any app better than 3D Studio MAX (including Maya and Blender) at spitting out tons and tons of simpler (sub-5k tri) models in short order. It's very very good for slapping down thirty primitives and mesh editing them into a model (and as said above, just about any package will handle your reqs).

Two huge downsides, though: Windows-only, and it completely and utterly fucks up all boolean operations (even unions) involving two edited meshes (as opposed to complex primitives formed via boolean ops on simpler primitives). This is with closed volumes, which is pretty inexcusable, as of R6.

For your needs, Maya Complete is probably the best way to go - Blender was a UI nightmare for me, at least, but I had well-established preferences when introduced.
posted by Ryvar at 9:28 PM on May 15, 2005


SketchUp seems to be popular these days for quick model work. I fiddled a bit with the trial and it seems vaguely reminiscent of Sculpt/Animate 4D on the Amiga, if you're familiar with old school tools.

The renderer seems pretty weak, though.
posted by majick at 11:18 PM on May 15, 2005


Cinema 4D from Maxon is wonderful. I picked up the student version of the XL bundle for US $300 by taking an intro to 3D class at Eclectic Academy
posted by Scoo at 7:12 AM on May 16, 2005


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