Blender 3D Modeling Software

3D Modeling Software
reviewed by THE STORYBOARD

is used to construct sophisticated models appropreiate for the virtual Live Set presently in use in the FCAC Public Access facility Studio C. In our opinion the single most important thing to understand about two of the most popular 3D programs is that one, LightWave from NewTek cost $795 while Blender is free . Blender is reported to be every bit as stable and well supported by the open source community. It is something you can learn in a weekend? No. To get something to work? Yes. If you are looking for sophisticated professional output, think in terms of a year. Yes. A year. Consider also that the best 3D modelers like directors of photography have one more thing that most people lack. Talent. IMHO we should consider a class in art appreciation while we are teaching ourselves to push buttons, drag and drop. Be that as it may, ...
Blender is a free 3D graphics application. It can be used for modeling, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging, water simulations, skinning, animating, rendering, particle and other simulations, non-linear editing, compositing, and creating interactive 3D applications. Blender is available for several operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, IRIX, Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, OpenBSD with unofficial ports for BeOS, SkyOS, AmigaOS, MorphOS and Pocket PC. Blender has a robust feature set similar in scope and depth to other high-end 3D software such as SoftimageXSI, Cinema 4D, 3ds Max, Lightwave and Maya. These features include advanced simulation tools such as rigid body, fluid, cloth and softbody dynamics, modifier based modeling tools, powerful character animation tools, a node based material and compositing system and Python for embedded scripting.
LightWave 3D is a high end computer graphics program developed by NewTek. The latest release of LightWave runs on Windows and Mac OS X, and has been optimized for usage on Intel Macs. LightWave's network rendering system, ScreamerNet, has also been ported to Linux platforms. LightWave was one of the first 3D packages to feature a built-in radiosity render engine, with a complex light calculation model for support of caustics. Most functions within LightWave are multi-threaded, which means that those components can simultaneously use multiple processors in the same machine when performing complex calculations. Programmers can expand LightWave's capabilities using an included SDK as well as a special scripting language called LScript, which is based on the C language. The subdivision modeling is also very similar to the 3D package Modo, thus the 2 packages have been bundled together in some purchase options

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