Legit Reviews

Out of curiousity anyone on this forum good with 3d modeling programs like maya or 3dmax.. or others..

Basically I am looking for a simple human and simple bird model capable of animating..
..its for a direct x project im doing for uni..

My skill set is more in the product development using 3D CAD systems like Catia, UGNX, SolidWorks and the like.

Animation software is GPU labor intensive. Pixar and Disney have a boat load of systems. The cost isn't something we as individuals can afford. However, there are other wares without the heavy bells and whisltes that do a good job...

look here ...
http://animation.about.com/od/softwarer ... eviews.htm

and here .... iClone-2 3D animation software.
http://www.reallusion.com
(create 3d animation and talking images for web sites and presentations. Free download)

Here is a design unitily to create 3D objects to put into other animation packages. It's only $10.
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/softwa ... efault.asp

Maya and 3Dmax are both AutoDesk products. autodesk owns AutoCAD as well.

Well i just really need simple models to import to direct x but they need to have a bone structure so they can be animated.. i.e. different parts to an arm with the ability to rotate each part rather then a single big model that you can't do that with...

the actual animation sequencing i'm hoping to code in direct x...

or at least that is my understanding of things..

would do it myself but i lack the artistic skill (want something that looks more human then some cylinders and spheres).. hence why i am doing the programming side of things..

Well I used to play around with a program called gmax which was basically a dumbed down, free version of 3dsmax for making custom in-game models in games like CFS3. It was pretty easy to use and made decent animations but Ive not messed with for awhile, might have to pull it back out There are lots of models on TurboSquid but not all are free (though the program is). Oh and yes, it does support bones and the tutorials have a decent humanoid figure (with bones) included in the files.

http://www.turbosquid.com/gmax