Any software that just blows your minds for creativity and WOW ?

kyoto kid · January 2017

nelsonsmith said:

timmins.william said:

nelsonsmith: It's to avoid some form of gaslighting, where everyone says how wonderful and awesome it is and you sit there wanting to scream and punch your computer and wonder what's wrong with you.

Or for people not to understand what the actual cost of Blender is, which is extensive training and effort to learn how it works.

That's understandable, but what 3d software doesn't require extensive training and effort? Even the programs people tout as being the "professional standard" require a ton of effort, which is why you don't see a lot of great animation out there from non pros using Maya, or Max or any of them. Just because something is free doesn't mean it's going to be easy (probably the less likely), but just because something costs a fortune, doesn't mean it's going to necessarily be easy either.

...the difference is many of those programmes still use a point and click based UI as the default with keyboard shortcuts as the advanced tools. Blender tends to approach it from the opposite direction.

kyoto kid · January 2017

timmins.william said:

nelsonsmith said:

That's understandable, but what 3d software doesn't require extensive training and effort? Even the programs people tout as being the "professional standard" require a ton of effort, which is why you don't see a lot of great animation out there from non pros using Maya, or Max or any of them. Just because something is free doesn't mean it's going to be easy (probably the less likely), but just because something costs a fortune, doesn't mean it's going to necessarily be easy either.

And just because something is free doesn't mean it's not going to cost you.

That said, I heartily encourage people to poke at it when they have time/inclination, because why not. Personally, I'm downloading Blender because all those much easier low cost products are also not upgraded often/ever (Hexagon, Carrara) and have all sorts of stupid bugs.

...I've been able to get around most of the bugs in Hexagon, but yes, it would be nice to see an updated version that was 64 bit and had improved UV mapping.

Cris Palomino · January 2017

Miss Bad Wolf said:

daveso said:

McGyver said:

daveso said:

Miss Bad Wolf said:

There is Blender which blows my mind. It is under a hundred dollars and has a lot of untapped potential. It should work work with Linux which will be the only computer I have access to until sometime in February or March or April or whenever I can get a windows machine again.

Honestly, if you want a good modeler under a hundred I would say Blender. It has a learning curve, but I do not know of any 3d software that is better for that price.

hmm.. Blender was always free. you have to buy it now?

No, I think that was a metaphor... It's still free!...

oh ..great

It is free like ubuntu Linux but I paid for an ubuntu sub stick. I know it is free but I bought a stick that someone already put ubuntu on it. I guess one could buy a usb stick with blender on it if they need to due to poor internet connection or limited bandwidth but it is still free.

Kulay, don't let someone sell you something just because it's on a stick. You don't have to be on the internet or use any bandwidth to use Blender.

alexhcowley · January 2017

kyoto kid said:

timmins.william said:

nelsonsmith: It's to avoid some form of gaslighting, where everyone says how wonderful and awesome it is and you sit there wanting to scream and punch your computer and wonder what's wrong with you.

Or for people not to understand what the actual cost of Blender is, which is extensive training and effort to learn how it works.

...which is why I gave up on it, The UI alone has it's own fairly steep learning curve.

I liked Blender so much that I'm about to spend $360 on Marvelous Designer. I downloaded MD6 for a 30 day trial and managed to achieve far more in a few days than I did with Blender in months. MD is a specialist tool but for what I want to do (elaborate fantasy gowns) it's worth the $360.

Cheers,

Alex.

Mendoman · January 2017

There's this one citybuilder ( SceneCity is the name. I don't know if we are allowed to link to other sites, but Google should find it ) addon for Blender. I've been drooling after it for quite some time now, and I have still managed to resist, but I don't know for how long I can do that. If somebody here has bought it, I'd love to know what you think. Same developer also has SceneTerrain addon, and to be honest, I'm not quite sure which one I want more. Both look really exciting to me.

willowmoon3d · January 2017

I'm on the Affinity Photo love train too!

For those worried about not being able to import your .abr brushes - you can!

In AP, open up your brush palette (right hand side tools) . Click your Brushes tab. Look for the Drop down “burger” ( little 4 horizontal lines - looks like a burger to me) and you can create a category for your new brushes.

On that same drop down burger, there’s an option to “Import Brushes” which if you navigate to your favourite .abr brushes, you can import them into your newly created folder.

There’s a whole vimeo tutorial channel https://vimeo.com/macaffinity and the guys are very helpful on social media (fb/twitter) and their forums are a great source of info.

I love them!

Soto · January 2017

DAZ Studio: rendering awesomeness

Clip Studio Paint: illustration, animation, inking... it`s like having everything in one place

Sculptris: Free and great for organic modeling

Rebelle: natural media. the watercolor behaviour (especially in a display graphic tablet) is SO real it`s scary

ZBrush: Core at $150 seems like a good deal

Nik Collection: Free stand alone or PS plug in photo filters

Filter Forge: texturing, bump maps and image retouching, I don`t use it often, but when I do, it`s a blessing

Hexagon: modeling and I love it for morphs creation

RenPy: Adictive Visual Novel game engine. Because we all have an otaku fangirl inside

Trnio: mobile app 3D scanner, pretty impressive and fun.

Toonces · January 2017

alexhcowley said:

kyoto kid said:

timmins.william said:

nelsonsmith: It's to avoid some form of gaslighting, where everyone says how wonderful and awesome it is and you sit there wanting to scream and punch your computer and wonder what's wrong with you.

Or for people not to understand what the actual cost of Blender is, which is extensive training and effort to learn how it works.

...which is why I gave up on it, The UI alone has it's own fairly steep learning curve.

I liked Blender so much that I'm about to spend $360 on Marvelous Designer. I downloaded MD6 for a 30 day trial and managed to achieve far more in a few days than I did with Blender in months. MD is a specialist tool but for what I want to do (elaborate fantasy gowns) it's worth the $360.

Cheers,

Alex.

Other than a lower starting price, does the $360 annual subscription have any benefits over the $550 perpetual? Seems like after the first year, the annual would be more expensive...

LeatherGryphon · January 2017

Lee337 said:

I still use Particle Illusion 3 and Mojoworld 3. They are no longer available, but both are amazing and work well with Windows 10! If you can find a copy on e-bay for cheap, pick one up. You'll have fun.

Interesting that you should mention MojoWorld. Probably one of the first fractal world building applications. I believe that Bryce evolved from it or 'tother way 'round, or was at least created by the same designer, Ken Musgrave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Musgrave.

I still have the original full version of MojoWorld and the upgrade to version two. I also have the version 2 Generator demo and Transporter (Viewer) as well as the version 3 viewer but not the V3 design engine ("Generator"). I last tried them in Windows7 and I believe they worked. Nice to hear that at least the version three works in Win10. Very powerful tool but it always seemed clumsy to adjust all the various parameters to get exactly what you wanted, but it was a twiddlers heaven. Push buttons see what happens!!!

I also believe that the designer of MojoWorld created the planet sweeping creation scene in one of the early Star Trek movies where the "Genesis Machine" created life on a barren planet.

Update: YES, MojoWorld 1.2 does work on Windows7. I just dug out my copy of MojoWorld and the manual says version 1.0 but the CD is version 1.2. However it didn't install properly the first time and the Microsoft installer suggested that I try again by pressing "OK" to use parameters compatible with Win7. And it installed, activated with the key and ran. Yea!

MojoWorld has a beautiful professionally written manual. 256 pages, heavy semi-gloss paper, stiff, translucent blue plastic front & back covers, CD carrier. Lots of information about fractals and the mathematics to tweak them with equations in addition to the user interface adjustments. Cool!

I created the images below just moments ago: Same spot 1) from orbit 2) from airplane. Pretty good for an app created about 1996.

Stonemason · January 2017

daveso said:

I've seen some Mandala creation stuff that is pretty cool, but vastly overpriced.

did you find any of those for PC?..there's a cool one for Ipad but I can't seem to find anything that does really nice mandala type radial symmetry...something like this:

Daywalker Designs · January 2017

kyoto kid said:

mrinal said:

kyoto kid said:

...I have to agree about Gimp. It is versatile, as well as able to handle .abr files which makes many of Deviney's brushes much more accessible without resorting to subscription ware. It is a bit tricky at first but I find it very easy to use.

PSP can be pretty useful as well, particularly for combining text and images as well as making adjustments/additions to and even creating new textures (though it is only available as a download).

Sadly two that gave me a true "WOW" factor are defintiely not under 100$: the full blown Modo, and Marvelous Designer (don't have the former as it's now over 1,500$ but do have a personal licence for a slightly older version of the latter).

Both Mod and Mari have Indie versions at Steams which are available with pretty cheap subscription plans of less than $5 (converted price) per month which should cover upgrades. I would avoid buying perpetual licenses of any software at Steam as most publishers do not accomodate upgrades at Steam. However referring to upgrades to full version of Modo and Mari, they said:

"What we do is take whatever amount you spent on the perpetual license of indie off of the regular cost of the full version of the software."

...not into software by subscription.

Nor am I usually, but when it's less than the cost of a good dinner out, or the equivalent cost to an unhealthy habit, I feel it's money better spent. This is why I got the Substance Live subscription and am contemplating doing the same for Photoshop. I can, however, understand the position of those on a fixed income regarding such expenses.

SPACECHIMP · January 2017

Hi there I was reading your replys and had a look at Infinity Designer .Does anyone know is it a vector software similar to adobe illustrator and corel draw. sorry if this is a stupid question as i did not really understand the info on the website

Panzer Emerald · January 2017

havsm said:

alexhcowley said:

kyoto kid said:

timmins.william said:

nelsonsmith: It's to avoid some form of gaslighting, where everyone says how wonderful and awesome it is and you sit there wanting to scream and punch your computer and wonder what's wrong with you.

Or for people not to understand what the actual cost of Blender is, which is extensive training and effort to learn how it works.

...which is why I gave up on it, The UI alone has it's own fairly steep learning curve.

I liked Blender so much that I'm about to spend $360 on Marvelous Designer. I downloaded MD6 for a 30 day trial and managed to achieve far more in a few days than I did with Blender in months. MD is a specialist tool but for what I want to do (elaborate fantasy gowns) it's worth the $360.

Cheers,

Alex.

Other than a lower starting price, does the $360 annual subscription have any benefits over the $550 perpetual? Seems like after the first year, the annual would be more expensive...

From my understanding, the subscription gives you better access to big upgrades (i.e. 5 to 6) free of charge, whereas you have to pay an upgrade fee if you have the perpetual license. Minor updates are free of charge, though.

AllenArt · January 2017

Mendoman said:

There's this one citybuilder ( SceneCity is the name. I don't know if we are allowed to link to other sites, but Google should find it ) addon for Blender. I've been drooling after it for quite some time now, and I have still managed to resist, but I don't know for how long I can do that. If somebody here has bought it, I'd love to know what you think. Same developer also has SceneTerrain addon, and to be honest, I'm not quite sure which one I want more. Both look really exciting to me.

The Grove and Boxcutter and HardOps for Blender look quite awesome as well ;).

Laurie

TabascoJack · January 2017

daywalker03 said:

kyoto kid said:

mrinal said:

kyoto kid said:

...I have to agree about Gimp. It is versatile, as well as able to handle .abr files which makes many of Deviney's brushes much more accessible without resorting to subscription ware. It is a bit tricky at first but I find it very easy to use.

PSP can be pretty useful as well, particularly for combining text and images as well as making adjustments/additions to and even creating new textures (though it is only available as a download).

Sadly two that gave me a true "WOW" factor are defintiely not under 100$: the full blown Modo, and Marvelous Designer (don't have the former as it's now over 1,500$ but do have a personal licence for a slightly older version of the latter).

Both Mod and Mari have Indie versions at Steams which are available with pretty cheap subscription plans of less than $5 (converted price) per month which should cover upgrades. I would avoid buying perpetual licenses of any software at Steam as most publishers do not accomodate upgrades at Steam. However referring to upgrades to full version of Modo and Mari, they said:

"What we do is take whatever amount you spent on the perpetual license of indie off of the regular cost of the full version of the software."

...not into software by subscription.

Nor am I usually, but when it's less than the cost of a good dinner out, or the equivalent cost to an unhealthy habit, I feel it's money better spent. This is why I got the Substance Live subscription and am contemplating doing the same for Photoshop. I can, however, understand the position of those on a fixed income regarding such expenses.

And Substance Live has a rent-to-own component - the monthly payments accrue and when they reach the cost of the program, you get the perpetual license.

nicstt · January 2017

Blender blows my mind on a regular basis; it has a learning curve, which they all do. It will either suite you or not, and the time no matter what you try you can't get back, but at least you pay no cash

daveso · January 2017

Stonemason said:

daveso said:

I've seen some Mandala creation stuff that is pretty cool, but vastly overpriced.

did you find any of those for PC?..there's a cool one for Ipad but I can't seem to find anything that does really nice mandala type radial symmetry...something like this:

I am on PC ..if you do a search for Mandala creation software, they will pop up. There are quite few free ones, but the ones I found to be the best you had to buy. makes sense, but I felt a bit too expensive for just doing one task.

daveso · January 2017

LeatherGryphon said:

Lee337 said:

I still use Particle Illusion 3 and Mojoworld 3. They are no longer available, but both are amazing and work well with Windows 10! If you can find a copy on e-bay for cheap, pick one up. You'll have fun.

Interesting that you should mention MojoWorld. Probably one of the first fractal world building applications. I believe that Bryce evolved from it or 'tother way 'round, or was at least created by the same designer, Ken Musgrave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Musgrave.

I still have the original full version of MojoWorld and the upgrade to version two. I also have the version 2 Generator demo and Transporter (Viewer) as well as the version 3 viewer but not the V3 design engine ("Generator"). I last tried them in Windows7 and I believe they worked. Nice to hear that at least the version three works in Win10. Very powerful tool but it always seemed clumsy to adjust all the various parameters to get exactly what you wanted, but it was a twiddlers heaven. Push buttons see what happens!!!

I also believe that the designer of MojoWorld created the planet sweeping creation scene in one of the early Star Trek movies where the "Genesis Machine" created life on a barren planet.

I started with Vista Pro ... upgraded to its final version 4.xx. in there somewhere, Bryce was created, but it was originally for Mac. I bought the first version of Bryce that came out for PC and upgraded to every version. Mojoworld, which I had at the beginning, came out later. I used it a bit until it was $99 or something and it was beyond my price range at the time. Then Vue came along somewhere in there. I just bought Vue Studio 2015 not long ago, it was upgraded to 2016 in December. I have yet to even install the 2016 version. I like Vue a lot, but right now it isn't tweaking my desire to use it. There are or were a couple of other world builders, i think one of them is actually called World Builder.

Limba · January 2017

I just got ZBrushCore and it feels easy to use compared to blender. Now testing to do few clothes with it.

I have used Substance Painter to create new materials for existing clothes.

Best experience was Shader Forge for Unity.

daveso · January 2017

Affinity Photo

Can you put brushes in separate named folders for ease of finding and use?

For instance, I use PAint Shop Pro ... when you import Photoshop brushes, they get placed into one huge pile of brushes..usually all in order of one package, but you have to scroll through them all to find them. I may be missing how to organize by folder. The entire file structure of PSP is a real mess.

Samanthie · January 2017

I found Flame Painter 3 pro, affordable and very fun. It has lots of cool effects which can be put onto layers and then you can add them to your renders. There are tutorials on the website. I am also trying to decide whether to purchase Rebelle mentioned in this thread. It also looks like a program that will make you go Wow! :) http://www.escapemotions.com/products/flamepainter/

daveso · January 2017

Samanthie said:

I found Flame Painter 3 pro, affordable and very fun. It has lots of cool effects which can be put onto layers and then you can add them to your renders. There are tutorials on the website. I am also trying to decide whether to purchase Rebelle mentioned in this thread. It also looks like a program that will make you go Wow! :) http://www.escapemotions.com/products/flamepainter/

For me $90 is too much for painting flames. I had looked at those ...the standard version I would be ok with pricing. I like amber light too..other than I could not figure out if it were possbile to change colors in a single work... there are multiple areas that you can do, but they are al the same color. Layering would be good though.

Stinger · January 2017

LeatherGryphon said:

Lee337 said:

I still use Particle Illusion 3 and Mojoworld 3. They are no longer available, but both are amazing and work well with Windows 10! If you can find a copy on e-bay for cheap, pick one up. You'll have fun.

Interesting that you should mention MojoWorld. Probably one of the first fractal world building applications. I believe that Bryce evolved from it or 'tother way 'round, or was at least created by the same designer, Ken Musgrave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Musgrave.

I still have the original full version of MojoWorld and the upgrade to version two. I also have the version 2 Generator demo and Transporter (Viewer) as well as the version 3 viewer but not the V3 design engine ("Generator"). I last tried them in Windows7 and I believe they worked. Nice to hear that at least the version three works in Win10. Very powerful tool but it always seemed clumsy to adjust all the various parameters to get exactly what you wanted, but it was a twiddlers heaven. Push buttons see what happens!!!

I also believe that the designer of MojoWorld created the planet sweeping creation scene in one of the early Star Trek movies where the "Genesis Machine" created life on a barren planet.

Update: YES, MojoWorld 1.2 does work on Windows7. I just dug out my copy of MojoWorld and the manual says version 1.0 but the CD is version 1.2. However it didn't install properly the first time and the Microsoft installer suggested that I try again by pressing "OK" to use parameters compatible with Win7. And it installed, activated with the key and ran. Yea!

MojoWorld has a beautiful professionally written manual. 256 pages, heavy semi-gloss paper, stiff, translucent blue plastic front & back covers, CD carrier. Lots of information about fractals and the mathematics to tweak them with equations in addition to the user interface adjustments. Cool!

I created the images below just moments ago: Same spot 1) from orbit 2) from airplane. Pretty good for an app created about 1996.

Glad to hear it's working for you LeatherGryphon ! I also have the wire-bound manual and the V3 paperback. These are invaluable now that the Pandromeda website is defunct and tutorials are scarce. The UI is a bit fiddly and takes some getting used to, but the renders are impressive and the rendering is relatively fast ! The test image below was created and rendered in pro version 3.1.1 with the Daz dragon imported. Who needs TerraDome3 ?

Sensual Art · January 2017

Stonemason said:

daveso said:

I've seen some Mandala creation stuff that is pretty cool, but vastly overpriced.

did you find any of those for PC?..there's a cool one for Ipad but I can't seem to find anything that does really nice mandala type radial symmetry...something like this:

Photoshop:

Illustrator:

Zbrush:

WendyLuvsCatz · January 2017

I am not really sure what a mandala what one entails is but any kaleidoscopic render technique should be able to do it to my unaware eye.

DAZ studio even could with some of the PA poducts or a camera and two mirror surfaces.

Taoz · January 2017

SPACECHIMP said:

Hi there I was reading your replys and had a look at Infinity Designer .Does anyone know is it a vector software similar to adobe illustrator and corel draw. sorry if this is a stupid question as i did not really understand the info on the website

It's a vector tool yes.

James_H · January 2017

For those interested Marvellous Designer is on sale in Steam, for a week, I think.

RobotHeadArt · January 2017

jash147 said:

For those interested Marvellous Designer is on sale in Steam, for a week, I think.

And for anyone using Marvelous Designer I would also recommend looking at Pattern Maker Pro which is a subscription service that automates drafting patterns for MD. It includes measurements for the basic DAZ Figures so it's pretty easy to use it to quickly create MD patterns plus it comes with a very extensive eBook on how to use MD.

Daywalker Designs · January 2017

TabascoJack said:

And Substance Live has a rent-to-own component - the monthly payments accrue and when they reach the cost of the program, you get the perpetual license.

Exactly my reason for getting it.

Taoz · January 2017

jash147 said:

For those interested Marvellous Designer is on sale in Steam, for a week, I think.

Aren't there some restrictions when you purchase from Steam?

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Any software that just blows your minds for creativity and WOW ?

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