I'm thinking of getting another program under my belt so I can get more of this ££££ currently I use autoCAD, sketchup/layout/podium plug-in basic knowledge of adobe suite.

There appear to be lots and lots of programs from 3D studio max, rhino, solid works, maya, form Z etc etc etc. which would you recommend I try to learn I'm edging towards solidworks as there appears to be no industry standard as there is with photo editing.

I have spent a small amount of time using studio max which was not so fun, but if that gets the money in i'm willing to have a look.

Over to you.

Based on here (Aerospace), if you can get skilled on Unigrapics (UG/NX) then you'll be raking the money in as a contractor

My wife is an a bafta winning and oscar nominated 3d rigger, lighter and team supervisor, she uses maya as does pretty much everybody else at that level. If you can't use Maya, you'll struggle to get work at any serious level at all.

Also using NX here. Not exactly cheap, or available in torrent form as far as I know. Presumably though it depends if you want it for making pretty pictures or creating engineering parts for analysis?

But obviously, if you're not looking at working in film or tv, the answer may be completely different.

When I was at PlayStation about 8 years ago, Maya was used for the games made at our studio (F1 being the biggest)

Sorry I forgot to explain my background is furniture and I have since worked in exhibition design and architecture. I'm not a aerospace or F1 engineer and if I were to move into animation I would probably use whatever pixar use (rendeman??)

I've worked in film, tv and now games for the last ten years. I'm fluent in 3ds max, maya and zbrush. As mentioned above mayas were it's at for tv and film work (also use it currently on ps3 and xbox360 development)

I'd pick either max or maya to learn, as there are a million tutorials on the web, they produce good results, and almost all post production houses and games companys use one or the other. Also copies are readily available on torrent

Depends ENTIRELY on the industry you want to work in, and then which area.

Take engineering.

Big car companies & aerospace tend to use Pro/E, CATIA, Unigraphics.

Small and medium sized companies tend to use SolidWorks or Inventor, some use Pro/E.

But again, this isn't hard and fast by any means, as it depends if you want to concentrate on surface modelling (i.e. complex surface shapes) or solid modelling (i.e. what most machine shops might create).

Airy fairy graphics-only people will use completely different software aimed at making 3d representations rendered on a 2D screen…

Pixar use their proprietary marionette software for modelling, as renderman although superb isn't actually a modelling package, it's purely for rendering finished models.

Depends what you want to do with it. If its animation and film work then this is pretty different to 3D modelling for say architecture, which is again pretty different to detailed engineering 3D drawings.

Do you use 3D modelling as just a tool to design with (i.e. you're a 3D designer) or are you more of a 3D CAD jockey?

Maya here. Computer games development.

Cinema 4D is getting fairly common and is way cheaper to buy than 3D Max. I know a couple of 'really good' freelance Cinema designers charging daily rates in excess of £400 and they are always busy.

Strata 3D CX is a good design tool, pretty cheap to buy although not as popular, polished or as versatile in the long run as Cinema or 3D Max.

Whichever, its going to take you a while to get really good at it and you'll certainly have to put the hours in.

Do you use 3D modelling as just a tool to design with (i.e. you're a 3D designer) or are you more of a 3D CAD jockey?

Well, whilst I am a designer, my role is fast being dictated by salesmen so lets say jockey for the case of argument.

99% sure I want to work in furniture, but will happily work in interior/architecture for the right company. Don't want or have the ability to engineer anything more complicated than a chair, so no airbus suspension please.

The games studio I work at switched from Max to Maya a few years ago – the artists still grumble about it on occasion, but the animators prefer it by far.

Okay seem like maya is the one so I'll have a look, is it windows only or Macintosh compatible? Available on torrent? My friends are in thailand at the mo so could possibly get me something there as they have more fake software than pirate bay. How much is it to buy proper copy. thanks for the advice.

Do you need to create engineering drawings?

I use ironcad for engineering type drawings. One of the companies I worked for wanted to step up to from 2D autocad 3D modelling and asked me to sort the software. Did a bit of research and found that Ironcad is one of the few companies that offer a free 1 month trial. Had a play with it then threw myself in at the deep end and once through the learning curve found it really easy to use. Its also a lot cheaper than Inventor etc. Loads of online demo's on youtube to have a look at as well.

Do you need to create engineering drawings?

Not currently but I have done in the past up to a point where I hand over/discuss with a maker the finer construction details.

We use our own software to build models and translate to anything needed. For presenting these models I generally use Blender. Great price!
[img]http://www.offsetservices.co.uk/images/stories/pages/projects/seria-4.jpg[/img]

SolidAir, blender looks great and great price but I have never seen it on job adverts which is really the important bit. You design tanks? 😀

I use Rhino – easy to learn and use – if you use a mac – there's a full featured free download. I use it to design jewellery and then have it cast from the 3d models.

I know a couple of 'really good' freelance Cinema designers charging daily rates in excess of £400 and they are always busy.

Jesus, just done the math that's a great deal of money. Where do I sign up? I thought cinema 4D was more of a lighting program or has it been expanded?

Are there any 3D modeling forums worth asking? Yeah I have used rhino a bit and it was nice enough to use. Great materials.

Autodesk forums can be good for…well autodesk software ! but a lot of opinions on other packages too so may be worth a shout.

Also have a looky at this Autodesk Labs site
http://labs.autodesk.com/

They are moving into a lot of 'cloud'(?) type apps where you just work in a web browser.

I still don't fully understand what you're looking for, maybe there's something there that fits the bill.

Has anyone moved into illustation from an engineering background?

I am working as an engineer at the moment using solidworks.

Is it an easy enough transition or is it more arty?

Hi,

I've been a 3d modelling/rendering specialist in the architectural industry for 6 years now.

Contrary to what you say, and it may not be obvious, there are in effect some industry standards.

Architectural Visualisation = 3ds Max.
Games + Film = Maya.
Engineering = AutoCAD 3D (although there are many very specialised 3d packages for the various engineering industries.)

You do get companies using other programs, or say, using Maya within Architecture, but as a rule stick to the above.

Traditionally 3ds Max has tended towards the more technical and maya towards the organic, and most companies still hold with that, although in reality both programs perform perfectly well.

You can download the latest versions of Max and Maya as a trial copy from the Autodesk website, if you like either enough then obviously I would have to recomend buying it properly! (ahem, if however you can't afford the 3 million pounds these packages now cost they can be downloaded from most good torrent sites!)

Try them out and get a feel for which you prefer, they are all great and it's a great job if you can find work. GO FOR IT!

Oh in Inventor now you just pick 'illustration' under 'render settings' and it does it for you 😉

Dunno though, I assume you're arty enough? Do you want to do 2D or 3D illustration?

All these games designers here … WOW.

Get and rewrite Sensible Soccer (SWOS) with online play.

NOW… 😉

edit: and a bloody good mtb singletrack racing game, like those star wars speed bikes on endor.

p.s. if you want to get a feel for CG work in general have a look at

http://www.cgsociety.org

If your interested in CG for Architecture specifically then have a look at

http://www.cgarchitect.com

That should get you started.

I still don't fully understand what you're looking for, maybe there's something there that fits the bill.

Thats why I'm asking, if i wanted to edit photos I'd instantly head to Ps or say I wanted to layout a page then In would be the tool, but there does not appear to be an industry standard 3D modeling tool. I shall look at maya and solid works more closely.

Has anyone moved into illustation from an engineering background?

I am working as an engineer at the moment using solidworks.

Is it an easy enough transition or is it more arty?

Well with software you can be taught anything given time and repetition. Arriving at concepts can be a great deal harder in some ways, when I was studying everyone in my class f**ked at least one brief through either mental block or ill conceived concept. Saying that there is nothing to say you can't be good at it, give it a try this weekend set yourself a small brief.

For engineering I'd probably go for SolidWorks as it's a bit cheaper and more widely used than ProE. It will allow you to create drawings fairly easily and is a lot simpler to get to grips with. AutoCad Inventor looks nice, but I don't think it's as widespread as the others.

This forum has some pretty good information on product design, they mostly seem to recommend Rhino or Solidworks.

Thanks by the way, very good response I'm surprised by the amount of people doing this type of thing.

We use Inventor. Very easy to use, even for a luddite like me. You'd probably struggle to design the curves on a car with it though, (well I would anyway). I reckon I could probably design a pretty good Flinstones car. 🙂
I think its more for mechanical/electrical Engineering design as it integrates with FEA/CFD packages quite well, Catia, Solid-Works, ProE pretty much the same thing.

As said, if you want big-bucks the car mfrs packages are the ones to go for…IdeaS, etc. If your an arty type go for rendering stuff for media/tv/films etc. Got to be way more interesting than modelling bits for nuclear power stations. 🙂

Delcam Power Solution?

I see what you mean now tails but there is no standard 3D software for all industries. There are standard packages within each industry though.

Yes if you want the big cash go for car design software.
Of my 2 mates who studied Catia & Alias, one is travelling round S America after a year unemployed, and the other just jacked in contracting for a while to do a season in Morzine. Absolute **** **** ing ***stewards!

Got to be way more interesting than modelling bits for nuclear power stations.

saw an ad for an engineer at warrington, no good then?

So, could I pay you to 3D model my house then I could change the colours of the walls and floor coverings, and see what they look like?

I use CATIA which you could prob get as a torrent. If you get all the plug ins it is pretty powerful and can do any number of things. A lot of car companies use it but UG is also a popular choice. The difference between them isnt too huge though and if you can understand the prinicples of working in and thinking in 3D then you can prob pick them up quite quick.