HA4 Task 5 - 3D Development Software
Examine the software tools
used in the production of 3D models.
For example, 3D Studio Max,
Maya, LightWave, Cinema 4D, Blender, Sketchup, ZBrush etc.
Remember that you are
trying to comprehensively explain the theory and applications of 3D with
elucidated examples and consistently using subject terminology correctly.
3D Studio Max - http://www.autodesk.co.uk/products/autodesk-3ds-max/overview
This software allows for the use of 3D modelling, animation and rendering and was developed by Autodesk media and entertainment. Some important features of this program are that it is flexible, has a customizable interface, has its own scripting language, shaders, particle systems, global illumination and radiosity. 3D studio max is used widely within the games industry, mainly being used by professional games designers, modellers and even TV studios. Skeletons for characters and morph features are also implemented within the program. As well as these features, it also has a flexible range of downloadable plugins which further extend and improve the program.
Maya - http://www.autodesk.co.uk/products/autodesk-maya/overview
Maya is a program which has the same capabilities as 3D Studio max, which are models, textures, skeletons, morphs and animation, and can be used on Windows, Linux or MAC OS. Maya was developed by Alias Systems Corporation and is now currently owned by Autodesk which also owns 3D Studio Max. Whilst Maya and 3DS max have the same features, there are some differences which make them more useful for different industries. 3DS Max has scripting capabilities and this makes it great for the games industry and creating in-game assets, whilst maya is more useful for the film industry as it is much more easier to create entire movies in it or even just special effects for those movies. Maya has been used to create films such as Finding Nemo and even AMC use it to create special effects for their popular show, The Walking Dead. However, Maya is indeed still used within the games industry as many people find the animation side to be much easier and as well as this, the program operates on 3 different programming languages which are C++, MEL and Python.
Lightwave - https://www.lightwave3d.com/
Lightwave is owned by NewTek and has been constantly developed and built upon since its release in 1988. This program is used in a mix of industries such as the Games, film, TV, architectural and product design. It can also be run on Mac and Windows. Lightwave is mostly well-known for its very fast photo-realistic renderer, therefore is known as a rapid 3D development kit and is used widely by indie developers, therefore being the low budget option for quick 3D modelling, so is great for people or companies on a tight schedule. It also includes support for many scripting languages. Lightwave however does not come with only one program, it is split into 2. The first is 'Modeller' and the second is 'Layout'.
Modeller, of course, contains all the options and tools for 3D model creation. It includes many different tools such as primitives, stretching, moving, resizing, edge manipulation, point manipulation, polygonal manipulation, splitting, bevelling and texturing. Modeller has been known to be easy to use, but hard to master which is good for companies as new comers will easily be able to pick up the software and quickly understand how it works.
Layout is usually the second part of the modelling process and contains all the tools for animation. By clicking a button near the top right of the modeller interface, users are able to quickly transport their model over to Layout and here, it can be animated. As with modeller, there are also many tools in Layout too such as rendering, adding surfaces and edit the object.
Lightwave also has plugin support and many plugins are available to download to expand the program.
Blender - http://www.blender.org/
Blender - unlike some other 3D programs - is free to download and is also opensource. It can be used for animated films, visual effects and video games. Blenders features include 3D modelling, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging, skinning, fluid and smoke simulation, sculpting, animating, particles and many more. As well as this, it stands out because it also has a built in game engine. Blender was originally share ware, but Not a Number technologies ( the company that used to own it ) went bankrupt and had to sell the program. However, people using the internet set up a fund raise and were successfully able to gain the software, then making it opensource which means anyone can take and edit the soft wares code. Another main advantage of using blender is that it is free. Other 3D softwares can cost quite alot of money, for example, Maya costs £3,300 just for a single-license digital download, which is not an amount an indie developer for example could just pull out of their pocket. Due to the fact it is owned by technically everyone as any one can download it and edit it, the program has seen rapid changes. For example, a while ago, the blender interface was said to be the hardest to learn, but now the internet community has control of it, they worked to improve it, and did in the end so it is now much easier to work with.
Cinema 4D - http://www.maxon.net/en/home.html
Cinema 4D is a 3D modelling and animating application which was created by MAXON computer GmbH. As with other softwares, it is capable of polygonal and sub division modelling as well as animating and can be used to create special effects as well as lighting and texturing. There are 4 main programs in Cinema 4D:
* Prime - This is the core program which includes many modelling tools
* Broadcast - This has additional motion-graphics features and can be used as well as advanced rendering options, library of 3D models and making video clips
* Visualise - Which is mainly used for architectural design due to its advanced tools
* Studio - This includes all modules and combines Broadcast, visual and prime.
These Cinema 4D packages individually, without the need of another and this software is mainly used in the film industry mainly due to its special effects tools and motion graphics. Iron man 3 has even been made using Cinema 4D.
ZBrush - www.pixologic.com
ZBrush was created in 1999 by a company called Pixologic and combines 3D and 2.5D modelling, texturing and painting. ZBrush however is quite different to the other soft wares above as it is more akin to sculpting. This is because the user starts with a primitive such as a sphere. They then mould the sphere into the rough shape of the object they want to create, so if they were creating an aliens face, they would make quite an unusual shape with it. Then, they would mainly from here on to the end, use the brush tool and this tool manipulates the object by adding dents, crevices, holes and lumps where ever the artist wants then to appear. What this means is that the user can actually draw a 3D model similar to how they would in 2D, but they will create an actual 3D object and would be able to change how the brush behaves, including size options, strength of the brush and many more. It is well known for being able to create high levels of detail for models. ZBrush is available on Mac and Windows OS and comes with additional features such as poly-paint which allows easier drawing by allowing the users to paint on the surface of the model.
3D Studio Max - http://www.autodesk.co.uk/products/autodesk-3ds-max/overview
This software allows for the use of 3D modelling, animation and rendering and was developed by Autodesk media and entertainment. Some important features of this program are that it is flexible, has a customizable interface, has its own scripting language, shaders, particle systems, global illumination and radiosity. 3D studio max is used widely within the games industry, mainly being used by professional games designers, modellers and even TV studios. Skeletons for characters and morph features are also implemented within the program. As well as these features, it also has a flexible range of downloadable plugins which further extend and improve the program.
Maya - http://www.autodesk.co.uk/products/autodesk-maya/overview
Maya is a program which has the same capabilities as 3D Studio max, which are models, textures, skeletons, morphs and animation, and can be used on Windows, Linux or MAC OS. Maya was developed by Alias Systems Corporation and is now currently owned by Autodesk which also owns 3D Studio Max. Whilst Maya and 3DS max have the same features, there are some differences which make them more useful for different industries. 3DS Max has scripting capabilities and this makes it great for the games industry and creating in-game assets, whilst maya is more useful for the film industry as it is much more easier to create entire movies in it or even just special effects for those movies. Maya has been used to create films such as Finding Nemo and even AMC use it to create special effects for their popular show, The Walking Dead. However, Maya is indeed still used within the games industry as many people find the animation side to be much easier and as well as this, the program operates on 3 different programming languages which are C++, MEL and Python.
Lightwave - https://www.lightwave3d.com/
Lightwave is owned by NewTek and has been constantly developed and built upon since its release in 1988. This program is used in a mix of industries such as the Games, film, TV, architectural and product design. It can also be run on Mac and Windows. Lightwave is mostly well-known for its very fast photo-realistic renderer, therefore is known as a rapid 3D development kit and is used widely by indie developers, therefore being the low budget option for quick 3D modelling, so is great for people or companies on a tight schedule. It also includes support for many scripting languages. Lightwave however does not come with only one program, it is split into 2. The first is 'Modeller' and the second is 'Layout'.
Modeller, of course, contains all the options and tools for 3D model creation. It includes many different tools such as primitives, stretching, moving, resizing, edge manipulation, point manipulation, polygonal manipulation, splitting, bevelling and texturing. Modeller has been known to be easy to use, but hard to master which is good for companies as new comers will easily be able to pick up the software and quickly understand how it works.
Layout is usually the second part of the modelling process and contains all the tools for animation. By clicking a button near the top right of the modeller interface, users are able to quickly transport their model over to Layout and here, it can be animated. As with modeller, there are also many tools in Layout too such as rendering, adding surfaces and edit the object.
Lightwave also has plugin support and many plugins are available to download to expand the program.
Blender - http://www.blender.org/
Blender - unlike some other 3D programs - is free to download and is also opensource. It can be used for animated films, visual effects and video games. Blenders features include 3D modelling, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging, skinning, fluid and smoke simulation, sculpting, animating, particles and many more. As well as this, it stands out because it also has a built in game engine. Blender was originally share ware, but Not a Number technologies ( the company that used to own it ) went bankrupt and had to sell the program. However, people using the internet set up a fund raise and were successfully able to gain the software, then making it opensource which means anyone can take and edit the soft wares code. Another main advantage of using blender is that it is free. Other 3D softwares can cost quite alot of money, for example, Maya costs £3,300 just for a single-license digital download, which is not an amount an indie developer for example could just pull out of their pocket. Due to the fact it is owned by technically everyone as any one can download it and edit it, the program has seen rapid changes. For example, a while ago, the blender interface was said to be the hardest to learn, but now the internet community has control of it, they worked to improve it, and did in the end so it is now much easier to work with.
Cinema 4D - http://www.maxon.net/en/home.html
Cinema 4D is a 3D modelling and animating application which was created by MAXON computer GmbH. As with other softwares, it is capable of polygonal and sub division modelling as well as animating and can be used to create special effects as well as lighting and texturing. There are 4 main programs in Cinema 4D:
* Prime - This is the core program which includes many modelling tools
* Broadcast - This has additional motion-graphics features and can be used as well as advanced rendering options, library of 3D models and making video clips
* Visualise - Which is mainly used for architectural design due to its advanced tools
* Studio - This includes all modules and combines Broadcast, visual and prime.
These Cinema 4D packages individually, without the need of another and this software is mainly used in the film industry mainly due to its special effects tools and motion graphics. Iron man 3 has even been made using Cinema 4D.
ZBrush - www.pixologic.com
ZBrush was created in 1999 by a company called Pixologic and combines 3D and 2.5D modelling, texturing and painting. ZBrush however is quite different to the other soft wares above as it is more akin to sculpting. This is because the user starts with a primitive such as a sphere. They then mould the sphere into the rough shape of the object they want to create, so if they were creating an aliens face, they would make quite an unusual shape with it. Then, they would mainly from here on to the end, use the brush tool and this tool manipulates the object by adding dents, crevices, holes and lumps where ever the artist wants then to appear. What this means is that the user can actually draw a 3D model similar to how they would in 2D, but they will create an actual 3D object and would be able to change how the brush behaves, including size options, strength of the brush and many more. It is well known for being able to create high levels of detail for models. ZBrush is available on Mac and Windows OS and comes with additional features such as poly-paint which allows easier drawing by allowing the users to paint on the surface of the model.
Sketchup - http://www.sketchup.com/
This is another sculpting program which is specifically designed to work with the architectural, civil, mechanical and video game design industries. It was created in 2000 and was previously owned by Google, but is now owned by Trimble Navigation. There is a free version of sketchup and a paid one which is called sketchup pro. The best thing about this program is that it is easy to use and many assets such as buildings or walls are available to download. It allows drawing layout functionality, surface rendering and supports 3rd part plugins. Sketchup was planned for use with Google earth. Google wanted people to expand the Google earth program by creating real life structures and placing them into Google Earth, that way, cities could come to life by allowing people to view cities of the world close up, instead of looking at top down images.
File Formats
Each of the 3D applications above allow the user to save whatever work they have produced, whether it be animations, models or textures into file formats.
A proprietary format is a file format that is the intellectual property of an individual or organisation that has created it. A free format is one which is not recognised as IP or has had its previous owners release claim of it. These proprietary formats can be open if published, or closed, if they are part of trade secrets. Free formats however cannot be closed.
Examples of proprietary formats include:
- AutoCAD - .dxf
- 3D Studio Max - .3ds
- Maya - .mb
- Lightwave - .iwo
Examples of open/free formats:
- .obj
- .dae
- .png
- .WebM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprietary_format
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