1. http://www.steves-digicams.com/knowledge-center/how-tos/video-software/6-industries-that-
use-3d-modeling-software.html
Contemporary technology has made great strides, and our culture is marked by many
advances. One of them that is becoming more and more useful (and less and less
noticeable) is 3D modeling software. This growing field is also becoming more lucrative,
too, with more jobs becoming available in the field. Here are 6 industries that use 3D
modeling software:
1. Entertainment
One of the most common places you will find the use of 3D modelling is in the entertainment
field, many films that come out of Hollywood use 3D modelling, It is very useful in the making
of special effects for example creating environments and even whole worlds, it is not
uncommon too have shots where you might not even realise they are artificial. 3D graphic
artists using CGI (computer graphic imaging) can also remove things from scenes, for
example removing palm tree's from a shot that is set in England.
2. Gaming
3. Another area that clearly uses 3D modelling software is the area of gaming, video
games are becoming more and more realistic, whether it's fighting aliens or driving cars, the
scenes, props and even the characters are starting too look more and more like actual
scenes props and people.
There are now an increasing number of universities and colleges offering courses in 3D
modelling for gaming.
3. Architecture
4. For years, renderers would 'flesh out' plans and blueprints into drawings that would
usually look somewhat realistic, buy now, these renderings can be done on the computer,
you can also add motion and depth so clients can see a 'fly through' that illustrates all angles
of vision, birds eye, ground perspective view etc.
Also the views can go inside the structure too show clients exactly what too expect on their
new project.
4. Publishing
Publishers of textbooks and other illustrated books are making use of 3D modeling more and
more. It allows them to show pictures that otherwise they might not be able to get, for
various reasons, including access and copyright issues. Sometimes, the illustrations may be
fantastical, and they can help show an artist’s version of something that mankind has never
seen, like historic events or visions of the future.
5. Advertising and Marketing
6.
7. 3D modelling can help advertisers and maketers depict theit products in a finished
state, it allows companies too render new products, new packaging and prototypes of drastic
savings. If the model needs too be changed they can easiely change it by merely changing
the computer model, additionally, once they have developed the right rendering, they can
use that to sell the item before they have to invest capital in production.
6. Geology and Science
Geologists and scientists can use 3D modelling to create models that simulate earthquakes
and landforms, such as ocean trenches, that let them see the affects of stresses.

2. Additionally, they can simulate motion, like flight patterns, including various factors that affect
them.
Displaying 3d models
To display a model on a computer screen outside of the modeling environment,
it is necessary to store that model in one of the file formats listed below, and
then use or write a program capable of loading from that format. The two main
methods of displaying 3d polygon models are OpenGL and Direct3D. Both of
these methods can be used with or without a 3d accelerated graphics card.
Geometric Theory -
3D Studio Max
http://tideart.com/?id=4e26f595
Price: $3,495
3DS MAX is perhaps the most well known 3D modeling software out there. Made
by Autodesk, it's become the standard in the professional world. Many studios
use it, and it has a long history behind it, making it one of the most full-featured
and complete package you could want.
The modeling features are quite complete, with support for polygon, NURBS, and
surface modeling. It has full animation support, an extensive texturing editor, a
physics engine, scripting called MAXScript, and more. Also, on top of the default
Scanline rendering, there are lots of popular rendering plugins for 3DS MAX like
VRay, Mental Ray, RenderMan, FinalRender, and more. Finally, because it's such
a popular program, there are many plugins out there for it.
Maya: http://tideart.com/?id=4e26f595
Price: $3,495
Maya is like the brother or cousin of 3DS MAX. It's very similar in many ways,
down to the actual price. The interface is slightly different, so the workflow that
one must learn is also different, but otherwise the features are fairly close. In
Maya you can do modeling, animation, texturing, and so on.
While many studios use 3DS MAX for modeling, Maya tends to be used more for
animation. Which package you learn, assuming you want to go for an Autodesk
solution, therefore depends on whether you want to concentrate mostly on
modeling or on animation.

3. Blender: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/25-free-3d-modelling-applications-you-should-
not-miss/
Price: Free
Blender is a free and open source 3D modeling and animation application which can be used
for modeling, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging, water simulations, skinning, animating,
rendering, particle and other simulations, non-linear editing, compositing, and creating inter-
active 3D applications.
Lightwave 3D
Price: $ 895
Lightwave 3D is NewTek's high-end 3D animation and rendering program. Available for
both Mac and PC, Lightwave has long been a leader in it's field and is actually two prod-
ucts bundled into one. One part, 'Modeller', is responsible for building the elements of
the job and the second, 'Layout', is where the animation project takes place. This is not
as complex as it may sound for the beginner and in many ways is a very logical ap-
proach. Additionally, integration between the two programs is very smooth.
On the negative side, Lightwave has often been criticised for it's user interface - Mac us-
ers in particular might cringe it unix-like menu structure. Additionally, users have to be
extremely careful about file locations - project directories have to be explicitly defined,
or the program gets confused. Lightwave's strong-points include the richness of it's ren-
dering. Although, it's animation may not be up to Maya's standards.
Cinema 4D:
Price: $959 / $3,695
Cinema 4D by Maxon comes as a main program with a number of add-on modules. First
developed for the Amiga platform, Cinema 4D now comes for both Mac and PC. Its
strong-point is certainly its interface, with customised and pre-set layouts, as well as
quick switching between modeling, animation and painting layouts.
Cinema 4D has excellent modeling tools, but some users have complained that its
rendering can look shiny and 'artificial'. However, it is famous for having exceptionally
fast rendering - even at a high quality - a feature that many users are happy to pay for.
Cinema 4D comes in several bundled version, ranging from fairly cheap to very
expensive. It's worth researching these well.
Google Sketch Up: http://tideart.com/?id=4e26f595
Price: Free / $495
If Hexagon is easy to learn, Sketchup is trivial. This software is a breeze to learn and use. It uses
a different workflow than a traditional modeling program, which makes it very intuitive and easy to
model things. Also, it comes with a free version that allows you to access all the features of the
software except for export functions, with the Pro version adding those features.
However it is much more limited than the previous options. It's only for modeling, and has no ren-
derer, although there are commercial plugins out there for Sketchup. Also it's mostly made for ar-
chitecture modeling, and it would be hard to do organic modeling.

4. Softimage: http://tideart.com/?id=4e26f595
Softimage is also one of the original 3D heavyweights, although it has much ground to
Maya in recent years. Nowadays owned by high end broadcast company Avid (after brief
ownership by Microsoft), Softimage|XSI has continued where it left off with a solid mod-
eling and rendering system. As with many of the other high-end 3D systems, Soft-
image|XSI comes in several different levels of complexity, with numerous add-ons and
plug-ins for specific functions.