garageCube

Hello!

I have been doing video mapping for the past couple of years with Madmapper. I've been using only 2D animation (After Effects, Flash) or fake 3D with gradient but I finally feel that I'm ready to get into 3D.

Which program do you use? What do you recommend? I would love to hear what you think. Thanks a bunch in advance!

AgentD

I use Cinema 4D, from what I've been told, it is one of the easiest programs to pick up for 3D. With tight integration now with After Effects it's a great well rounded 3D render software. I've built everything I've done with MM in Cinema.
I help run a group www.chicagoc4d.com. Good resource, and also www.greyscalegorilla.com Is another one.

Thank you for your reply. I have been told only good things about Cinema4D, but at the same time many told me that Maya is the industry standard and I need to learn Maya before any other 3D programs.But what we call "industry standard" always changes and seeing how tedious and time consuming Maya can be I have been hesitating to get into it...

I think I'm going for Cinema4D. Thanks again for your confident opinion!

AgentD

I honestly can't say anything about Maya, but from what I know it's more for Sculpting and organic modeling. C4D has started doing this, but not nearly up to them that has been doing for many years before... Also don't forget you get Cinema 4D Lite with a purchase of the newest After Effects. So motion graphics and 3D all rolled into one purchase not to bad, even if it's a Lite version.

Maya -> film (industry standard)
3dsmax -> video games
softimage -> TV + games
lightwave -> TV
houdini -> procedural, destruction, particles
c4d -> newcomers, artists
blender -> open source enthusiasts
modo -> organic, nurbs
autocad -> architecture
zbrush -> organic high precision modelling
sketchup -> beginners

I personnally use 3dsmax + autocad for mapping.
If I were to learn a new app, I'd go for softimage + houdini

Nice overview of 3D packages Franz.

AgentD, I think Cinema is the best choice for image mapping not only for it's (relative) ease of entry, but also for it's killer MoGraph system. It makes very complex motion graphics work super quick and easy once you get the hang of Deformers. And the tight integration with After Effects makes it practically a no brainer.

Cinema 4D is a pricy package, but well worth the professional cost. The free lite version that comes with After Effects CC doesn't include the full MoGraph features, but it is a good way to try it out before you plunk down the big bucks.