I am looking to start teaching myself to use a 3D rendering package,
mainly as a hobby, and was hoping someon could give me some advice on
which software would be best to start with.
i know that Blender is a free open source modeller and render package and
Maya have a teaching edition (PLE?) so these would appeal as they would be
free to use for getting to grips with the concepts (and getting a copy
legally). However, I was wondering what the difference is between these
and wether Blender is worth persevering with when it doesn't seem to be
used very much. I know 3DStudioMax is a very widely used software
package but am not aware of the differences of using this as opposed to
something like Maya, Lightwave or Poser.....so any info would be
appreciated.
While I am newish to the 3D art, I have been experimenting with digital
painting using photoshop and also have experience with using technical
visualisation packages such as AMIRA and AVS through work, and I have also
had a play with Lightwave a long time ago, so I do not feel I am coming in
totally blind but just want some clarification.
Thanks
