Which program for animated movies?

[Ashlen]

I wish to get into the animation field, for now I want to try making some animation shorts/movies out of ideas I've wanted to express, but had no outlet that suited me. I am curious though what would be the best programs to use for this? I know there is no real "best" and that I should try out the trials for myself, but it would be nice to be pointed in the right direction.

I would like to get one of the big name programs, so should I eventually look into making a career in the field I will be on the right track. I know they cost a ton, but if I like the trial it'll most likely be worth the investment I would think.

If anyone could help I would be greatful.

[greedo]

try a few the most popular are 3dmax, maya for 3d. i have tried both i personally prefer 3dmax. if you want to do 2d maybe flash or after effects

[pecenipicek]

i've heard that SoftImage XSI is the best animation software, but i might be wrong... havent used it yet...

[deconspirator]

3DMAX RULZ!!!!!!!!! :dance: :halo:

[deconspirator]

3dmx rulz!!!Good luck!

[Titan3]

yeah, definitly try 3dsmax it's so easy to use once you've done all tutorials that your work won't seem like work at all, plus it's a great career plan...you can make good money with enough 3d knoledge

[Covenant]

ehhh 3ds max Sucks! Better start to learn MAYA 6.0 People from Industrial Light & Magic use it. Score of their work you can see in movies like:
-Star Wars
-Harry Potter
-Mummy Returns
-Alien vs. Predator

[Titan3]

true true...but i think 3dsmax is much easyer to learn...

[shikav4]

I`ve tried 3ds max, maya, Houdini, xsi and cinema 4d
maya is mostly used in special effects in movies(used in matrix)
houdini was used inthe matrix
cinema 4d and xsi are good
but if ou ask me 3ds max is the easiest one with a great interference
maybe the others have more opions for sfx they are realy hard
3ds max works well and is the best

[pecenipicek]

3dsmax is overhyped nowadays. its very unstable, and very complicated if you dont know whatcha doin.

xsi, houdini an others, i mostly havent tried...
Blender is a pain in the arse, and C4D is probably the most stable, and the most easiest to learn. then there is Truespace... well, i cant and wont say its good cause it actually isnt good as much, you cant create great effects like lasers, engine glows and stuff(the main reason i quit it), is rather unstable and its very resource draining, and the meax poly's before it starts coughing a bit is aroun 125k...

[Jalal]

Hello
people!!! the guy is asking about a program to start (START) animating with, not if 3ds max or Maya "sucks". and beside that, when someone want to critic 3ds max or maya (or my English), he/she dosn't say "sucks", she/he says this is good because of 1, 2, 3 ...etc. am giving you an advice here, because just to say sucks ..... this sounds like "street talk" not a professional, beside ..... 3ds max has charater studio, which seems that no one in this threat knows about it or what it is used for! but anyway, to creat animation or effects (which again seems that no one knows about it in this threat) the big studios use Maya or 3DS Max not because this is good or this is bad, its a business thing (who get the contract first) this is one, second most of these studios they use there own programs to do the job, and more to say here but I really dont care, in our case (little individual "artists!" who like to say that things "sucks" :) ) I would say for animations you must try 3ds max or maya (in case if you want to be a real professional one day) both are good, and dont listen to people that say this is good and that is bad because most of these people they really dont know how does these software work, I would say try yourself, and remember that the work is done by you not by the software, you are the artist, the software is just a tool, if you look at what people did with Pov Ray you will never believe your eyes, and this is a software way too far from Maya or 3ds Max, take a look here povray.com . "there is a difference between to look at things and to see things, and the day you can see things without looking at them, then you can declare yourself an artist, Jalal A. H. Sela 2004"

Have a nice day.

[Puckducker]

Really, if you're just starting, any of the main 3 animation packages will do...either Max, Maya or XSI....until you really start getting into it, the strengths and weaknesses of each package won't really come into play.

Personally, I'm a hardcore Maya user. I used 3D Max for about 5 years, then switched into Maya because of an animation course I was taking.....and I haven't looked back since. Maya is has a very easy to understand interface, and it's animation tools are the best in the buisness.

[Rinne]

Yep,

Personally I would not use 3dsmax for animation, as it reaches it's limits quite fast (talking about charachter studio, it's simply made for charachter animation, and that's it, although I don't know the features of the new CS)
A pro 3dsm would be reactor I guess, as it's got a quite good physics engine...

I'd count C4D as a good package to start with for the following reasons:
-it's cheap (compared to max/maya etc)
-it keeps most of the functions, or even more than most of the other packages, you can of course get plugins for other packages, but they usually cost around 1000€ each..
-it has very good special effects
-intelligent particle systems
-it is very stable
-BodyPaint
-fast and good quality render (important for anim's I guess)
-C4D does currently seem to have it's breakthrough, more and more studios of all kinds (animation, architecture, etc...) use C4D very for their business, you'll have similar chances to get a job when learning C4D now, compared to if you'd learn another package

But if you're looking for a package for effect creation I can't recommend any of them, for a simple reason:

Most effects are still created in 2D and then composited with the rendered video...

[agony]

if u don't want to go anywhere with 3d start learning 3dmax, u will learn it quick but it will do no use for u, i advise to work on maya, it is wider better more Proficinal, 3dmax is for the biggeners

[insect]

It's a dilema: 3dsmax is easier to learn as a newbie, yet maya is the animation industrie's standard (very few studios use max).

3dsmax has a very easy learning curve and tons of free resources on the net. You will be able to learn basic 3d concepts way faster. Yet your headaches will start once the time comes to switch to Maya, or, if you decide not to, when you need to find a job in the animation industry. Max is the standard for architectural visualization and games.

On the other hand, maya is harder to learn and the fact that there's not much resources on the net doesn't help. However, if you manage to learn it, you will have much more chances of finding a job in the animation industry. Progressing your skills further will be easier, since you won't have any habits left from the 3dsmax days (this seems to be a problem for me personaly), you'll save money too.

Don't have much information about XSI. I did hear it's very good, yet haven't seen many studios using it. When I tried it, it appeared to be hard to learn.

[Puckducker]

If you're going to be using Maya, do yourself a favour, and pick up "The Art of Maya" along with it. This an official Alias published book, that is pretty much the bible of Maya....it really aught to come packaged with the software itself since it's so helpful. It's not really a tutorial book, but it basically details pretty much every single function in Maya. I often find myself turning to it when I'm using a slightly foriegn function I've never used before.

It's perfect for beginners since, rather than following a specific tutorial, you can start to do something you want and right from the beginning when you ask "how can I do that?", you can find the answer in the book somewhere, and keep going from there.

[Fall0ut]

The first 3D i have ever done was in 3dsmax. The latest 3D i have done is in 3dsmax. ;)

( I assumbed by animation you meant modeling, texturing, animating )

If you actually meant what you said (which was animation) I would tell you to look into endorphine