Best BEGINNER 3D program.

I'm thinking of getting into 3D stuff. Basically just modeling, nothing too advanced, just some cars, tables, vases, etc.

So what's the best program to start on? I'm thinking mainly ease of use and getting used to.

So far I've seen:
3ds max 4 and 5.1
Poser
Lightwave 3D 6.5
Maya

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

You're forgetting Cinema 4D.

It all depends on how much you want to pay. Wings 3D is a great free 3D app that does all the basics

Yah, cinema 4d is cool. 3dmax has a huge community. Maya is supposed to be one of the most powerful ones out there. and i'm not sure about the others. Have you ever heard of swift3d? Its a 3d program, made specificlly for flash, but its pretty easy to learn, though you can't do very complex stuff with it. Also there is a free one called blender, but I hear its hard to learn.

yeah cybling is right, maya and 3dsm are rather pricey... but i dont think c4d is very much. :P

yay for cinema 4d!! (that's what I use to make my abstract 3d thangs.)

Swift3d is useless unless you're gonna use flash. you cant do the things you can do with C4D and 3dsmax. And it's a bitch getting a gif from it. You ahve to snapshot. it only exports in swf files.

From what I hear, maya is the most complex and powerful one. It's the one that companies like dreamworks use.

Yeah all the big boys use Maya in some way or another...but a lot have their own software, which often are huge plugins for Maya (because Maya is so damn scriptable). Golem was completely modelled in Maya, rendered in Renderman. But it would take 2 years or so to master...ive been using Maya for around 6 months now and it still boggles me. Softimage is being used more and more big big production companies...Digital Domain, The Mill, Blur etc..

I'm downloading the Cinema4D demo right.

If any of you don't mind: can you show something that you've made with Cinema4D? I'd like to see what it can do.

i'll put in my usual plug for the 3d toolkit from DVgarage, right now its only $99 and you won't find a better price on a set of tools and some awesome tutorials

if you're just starting out something like maya or soft|xsi is likely to be a bit overwhelming, check out some basics in programs like wings3d and the 3d toolkit and then see what you want to do from there...

chris

Well, here is an abstract thing i made with cinema4d and a bit of Photoshop.

http://24.222.236.202/images/geckopix.png

Just look at cybling's astounding portfolio. You'll see what you can do.

As for being a beginner, AIM me (supahsekzy is my sn) and i'll show you some stuff. (sorry, i cant upload to the free host because of file size)

They're all random thangs, i think they turned out nice though.
nowhere near cybling's work, but it's what you can do after like half an hour of screwing around int he 3d prog :D