General Category > General Anim8or Forum

Blenderize me, but why?

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jwalt:
I keep getting shoves, from people I respect, toward Blender. Admittedly, I'm still new to Anim8or, having given up sPatch not all that long ago and with more than a little hesitation, but they seem to feel Anim8or will fall short, somewhere, somehow. I'm not seeing where, or how? Anyone clue me in? I know the renderer is limited, but Steve is actively working on the program (yeah, I know, he's in Italy at the moment), and there are other renderers that I can use. Bones are bones (or armatures), and IK would be lovely, but what makes Blender superior? Every single time I've tried to do a tutorial or a project in Blender, I've made absolutely no progress. And that includes a very simple snowman, which I couldn't do in Blender, 'cause it made no sense, but pulled out of Anim8or in no time, without any problem. I do note that a lot of the senior Forum members seem to use multiple tools, probably for a reason. Model me confused.

Water Music:
Blender used to be an awful mess, imho, but they've cleaned it up quite a bit. I still don't care for the design, though.  Anim8or has a great layout and it is easy to quickly find what you are looking for, but it is still missing a few pieces of what I would call essential functionality - which has to be replicated manually or simply can't be done at all.  IK, exporting sequences, etc.

I think the modelling tools are just fine, since I end up manually placing each vertex anyway, but the animation tools could still use some more work.  It's coming along though. I get so little time for 3d adventuring that Anim8or suits me fine most of the time.  Sooner or later you will find that you need a feature that isn't in Anim8or and Blender can be useful for that.  Blender is very feature rich and can do some very nice things.  I just generally find it irritating.

Overall, I'd say that Anim8or is a fantastic place to start to get the fundamental concepts of 3d down.  That may be all you need, depending on what you are using it for, but if you are spending a lot of time animating and want something more robust I'd say to wait till LightWave goes on sale.  Everyone has their own preference, and you can do trials of all the professional grade programs out there, so maybe use Anim8or till you know how to get from point A to point B and then test the others out to see what you like.

ENSONIQ5:
I find it odd that Anim8or and Blender are compared to each other so often, when aside from the fundamental 'point' of both, being the creation of 3D models, rendered stills and animations, there is really no similarity at all.  Anim8or is one person's attempt to create a 3D animation system because it was something he was interested in doing.  Blender is (or at least was) an open-source development with the aim of developing a free system that can bring it to the big $ systems, or at least that's how I understand it.

I have both, as well as other non-free systems, and use them for different purposes.  Personally, I don't like Blender much.  While these days it can be considered 'professional' or 'industry standard', I am not a fan of the interface and find it hideously complicated, unintuitive and slow to work with.  The only reason I use it at all is so I can work with models created in Blender by co-collaborators, and I usually pull them out and work in Carrara or Anim8or anyway.  On the other hand, while I do 99% of my modelling in Anim8or, it is not able to provide the standard of work I require for my current projects which include physics, particle effects, animated textures and full 1080HD 24fps animations, often running over 300-400 frames per animation with 15-20 such animations per project.

My advice to you jwalt, would be to consider what you want from a system now, and what your future plans are.  If Anim8or provides the tools you need to bring your imaginings to life through 3D modelling and animation, then there's no need to overcomplicate matters.  Not that Anim8or is as limited as you might have been led to believe; it has more than enough functionality to challenge all but the most demanding of CGI artists (you could argue that Anim8or would actually be more challenging, since it has fewer out-of-the-box shortcuts and requires some actual artistry to get the best out of it).  On the other hand, if you intend to continue down the CGI path, aiming perhaps at doing it professionally or even as part of a collaborative project, it might be a good idea to persist with Blender as the things this will teach you could turn out to be invaluable... and it's free to download.

Ultimately, neither system will suffice on their own IMO and spending $ on LightWave, Maya, 3DSMax or even Carrara is probably worthwhile, but both are useful tools in your CGI arsenal.

captaindrewi:
I have explored many 3d progs in the attempt to find the easiest best production tools.
I have dipped into blender over time and agree it is has become easier to navigate.
There are so many tutorials by various authors out there for Blender.
I like to choose an area of investigation and follow a tutorial pausing and reviewing it as i go
whilst simultaneously using Blender to copy what they do.
Though rarely completing the tutorials, each time i pick up a little more info and skill.
Recently followed one one on facial rigging with controls.
the modeling section is getting easier too and i recently found proportional editing.
Also you can import pre boned IK character rigs from makehuman.
I think if you can master both anim8or and blender it has got to be good.
The younger the mind the better the chance of that...
 

lppena:
In many ways the differences between simple and complicated accurately describe Anim8or verses Blender. It also depends on your modeling needs. Anim8or, was designed to be user friendly and for the general masses. Blender, though a very advanced modeler requires a major learning curve even with recent changes to try to make it more user friendly, but it has a long ways to go in terms of wide spread use by many people that attempt to use it and spend far to much time just learning it's odd UI.

My recommendation would be to use it in conjunction with Anim8or rather then a replacement of it. Anim8or rocks! Blender well meh? Leroy.

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