3Dmodelling packages to consider?Is there a market for this?

[alelanza]

Hello guys and gals,

At the moment I'm strongly considering getting into the business of modeling 3d objects, not necessarily car/racing related, even though that would be optimal as it would lie closer to my heart.

- As I know a lot of you work in related areas, do you think there's a market for this? models generated in country A sold to company from country B?
- I've been out of the loop on 3D packages since i dropped out of architecture school a few years back. From what i see it would seem the industry likes catia, solidworks or inventor? Back then i knew a decent amount of autocad and had nearly mastered a not so well known program called Rhino 3D

I do realize this is a bit difficult to answer, especially question #1 as i can imagine there would be different certifications/standards to comply to. But at least if you could chime in on what software packages are more used industry wide, whether you're talking about the automotive industry or any other field that uses these models. Evidently software cost is important, but I would factor that in myself at a later stage of my project.
I guess the concept I'm going for is a modern 'Digital Artisan' of sorts
Thanks in advance!

[Jersey Tom]

There's some limited market for pure 3d modeling. Depends what you're doing. If you don't have an engineering degree nor license and won't be doing actual mechanical design I'd stay away from Solidworks, Inventor, CATIA, etc.

If you're doing pure artwork, Maya or something similar would likely be the way to go.

[gridwalker]

On a similar note, I'm also interested in trying out some 3D modeling software ...

My problem is that I use Linux, so my options are a bit limited.

A lot of forums have recommended Blender (which I gather is a more "artistic" package) and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with it?

Would anyone be able to suggest any other Linux modeling software?

[tommylommykins]

3D modelling software (blender, 3ds max, maya etc. etc. etc.) is very different to CAD software (i don't know examples): they serve two different ends of the spectrum:

You might want to check up on the difference between the two and try heading off to relevent specialist forums for what you want. Members there will have the most experience and knowlege.

[alelanza]

Thanks for the replies guys. Yes what i have in mind was purely 3D work, w/o an engineering degree to go along with it, at least for now.
Cheers!

[Carlos]

Car Design News often recommends Blender freeware for the modelling newbier http://www.cardesignnews.com/site/home/ Wikipedia Blender article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blender_(software) Car Design News also offers some tutorials.

[alelanza]

Thanks Carlos, I just logged back into this site as I have been busy learning Solidworks, it's just amazing what it can do, or maybe I just haven't done 3d modeling in a long time but whatever the case may be i'm having a blast at the moment. I'll definitely give Blender a look, I remember it back from when i used 3dmax, truespace, rhino and autocad; it always sounded interesting but i never had the time to give it a serious look.
Cheers!

[Carlos]

Your welcome alelanza. It's interesting that you mention Truespace, you probably heard that Microsoft bought the company last year and has been offering the program, including the manual and video tutorials as freeware. Anyone interested should download it soon because Microsoft has begun to shut down support as of May 22 and the download may not be available very much longer. The whole story is at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrueSpace

It may not be the cutting edge for 3D modelling but many designers started with it and a lot of people say it's easier than most programs to learn and has a good feature set ... plus it's free. Shame to see it disappear from the landscape. I'm not a 3D designer but I hate seeing good code disappear.

Downloads and more at: http://www.caligari.com/

[Carlos]

Would PhotoToMesh have any application that would be useful in CAD/CAM programs translating F1 pictures of parts or aero bits, that would be helpful to F1T? I just found it today and it looks interesting, but I don't use CAD software.
http://www.ransen.com/PhotoToMesh/Default.htm