Help! (and Hello)

[V5Aussie]

First off: Hello, my name is V5Aussie. I'm a student at my local high school, I'm very heavily involved in my school's video production class(es), and I'd appreciate some help from the experts .

We're constantly looking to raise the quality of our productions; this quest has lead us to Adobe CS3, and all its cool little gizmos. We have a program to do everything we could ever want right now....except 3D graphics. I'm looking for a 3D graphics program, and meeting with very little success.

We need a program that is mid-range in price, and that is more powerful than average, but not insane-o George Lucas type stuff. Easy to learn is nice, but not necessary. Right now all it's really going to be used for is 3D text, but that role may expand in the future, as we get more ambitious.

Thanks way much!
-V5Aussie

[Soquili]

Hello V5Aussie,

Welcome to Talkgraphics.

There are many 3D applications and most can do 3D text easily. The range in prices and learning curves vary considerably.

A very inexpensive program designed primarily for 3D text is Xara3D and it is priced at $44.99 USD although there may be an educational discount available. http://www.xara.com/products/xara3d/

Another very inexpensive program for 3D text is Ulead's Cool 3D.
http://www.ulead.com/cool3d/runme.htm

If you want a full 3D application that can also be used for modeling 3D figures and objects with built in rendering engines; do a google search for True Space, Cinema 4D, Carrara for some mid range priced applications.

There are free 3D applications available.

The attached image was made using Xara3D.

[V5Aussie]

Thanks, that helps a lot. Can you do textured skins with Xara3D

[remi]

Hi V5Aussie,

I'm not sure, if Xara 3D or Ulead's Cool 3D are the right solutions.

You should try a more comprehensive 3D graphics editor. Perhaps Carrara Studio is a better alternative for you:

• 3D text
• 3D Glass text

Remi

[gidgit]

a nod of agreement there

[geminiguy]

Povray & Blender work really well together
But, here is a link to alot of really cool softs: Have fun

http://www.filesland.com/software/3d-software.html

One I forgot to add: this is what I'll be trying:

http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/sof...FQspFQodnnwAcw

[geminiguy]

Sorry to keep adding guys, but this is it, I promise
I found some great example of Povray in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1WljJrVJa0

[remi]

I've used Povray years ago, but only for playing. Blender is much more better, but with a own (difficult to understand) GUI.

Another YouTube video:

• Carrara WIP

Remi

[Soquili]

V5Aussie to answer your question about Xara3D. You can apply a raster graphic (also known as a bitmapped image) as a texture to the text.

Ulead's Cool3D allows for applying materials and a texture.

A full featured 3D package like Carrara, Cinema4D, Blender, etc. allows for materials, textures, and bump maps. However they also have a steeper learning curve while offering an almost unlimited ability to create according to your imagination.

For your high school class. You may find Cool3D offers most of what you may need for creating 3D text with materials, textures, animations, and effects for your videos. Cool3D offers export to digital or analog video in AVI and MOV file formats.

The attached image shows a very small selection of the materials that can be applied using Cool3D.

Cool3D also provides some tools for creating 3D objects and editing them. There is also a raster to vector feature that allows for converting a 2D image into a 3D object.

[Soquili]

Ulead also has a product called Cool3D Production Studio that offers many additional features to the basic Cool3D package.

http://www.ulead.com/c3ds/features.htm

Another Ulead product that may fit your needs is VideoGraphics Lab.

http://www.ulead.com/vgl/runme.htm

You can download the free trial version of the programs to determine which may be best for your needs.

I'm not trying to make Ulead appear to be your only choice, only an alternative that may be better suited to your needs and environment.

Most of the other programs mentioned by Remi, Geminiguy, and Gidgit offer free trial versions or are freeware as POV-Ray and Blender.