3D MODELLING AND RENDERING

Solid Works

More information at the website http://www.solidworks.com

This is a very powerful and precise modelling tool, used for high tech works.

This software allows you to build anything you want, from a small screw to a huge spaceship. It is different from other ones because of its precision: it means that you can build a V8 engine, for instance, feeling sure that if this works on the computer it willl probably work in the reality but, sometimes, it is not useful for creating "natural" models (a human body, or a tree for instance)

It includes powerful calculation tools (for the physics properties like resistances, torques, etc.), the possibility of building the blueprints of your 3D models and many more!

It also has its own renderer: Photoworks, which offers high quality rendering, very close to the photorealism, and in the lastest versions there is the possibility to create very dinamic and photorealistic animations (an engine working, for instance)

Finally, you can save your work in many different types of files (iges, wrl, parasolid, etc.)

Rhinoceros

More information at the website http://www.rhino3d.com

This software is more flexible than the Solid Works, but it is still very precise. It is alsovery useful un the industry (actually, there is a car design school in Mexico in which Rhino is the main software.

Because it is more flexible than Solid Works, you can build anything you want with this software... really!... anything!, from a single screw to a very complex and leafy tree. It is very useful to build the bodywork of a vehicle while the Solid Works is very useful for building the engines, for instance.

Rhino has its own renderer as well: Flamingo, which offers a better photorealistic quality than the Photoworks. But, it is not possible to create in Rhino a dinamic animation, and the blueprint tool is not as powerful as the Solid Works'.

Finally, you can also save your work in many different types of files.

3D Max
More information at the website http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=5659302&siteID=123112
This is one of the most powerful softwares in the 3D modelling and rendering matters (well, from the software I know) Though it is not as precise as Solid Works, for instance, 3D Max offers your the possibility of creating anything, as it happens with Rhinoceros.

Is has the most powerful renderering plug-ins (VRay, LightTracer, Mental Ray, etc.) with the potential of creating ultra photorealistic and terrific images... and it goes beyond, because you can create sofisticated animations (think of designing your own vehicle, and puting it into a city... everything is possible!)

This software is also used for creating videogames (of course you need more software for creating a videogame, but 3DMax lets you build all the settings, characters and objetcs)

3DMax does not have its own blueprint maker, but you can save your work in many differente types of files as well, and then you can import it into Solid Works, for example for creating the blueprints.

Poser

More information at the website http://www.e-frontier.com/

This software is very useful for creating digital personages for contextualizing your work, from a single human to a powerful robot or animal.

Besides that, you can modify the preset characters in order to create full customized figures; you can also create and modify textures, animate your figures and render them! In addition, you are able to manage human persons in different sizes, genres, etc.

As other CAD softwares, Poser lets you save your work in different kind of files, so you can put your Poser character into a 3DSMax scene, and then, render all the complete environment in one single file; besides this, you can animate your figure and then you can send all the entire animation (with all the keyframes set) to 3DSMax as well, in order to make the digital personage interact with his/her/its environment.

Though Poser has its own renderer it does not offer a perfect photorealistic quality; it would be better to render it in a different software, with another renderer. However, Poser does offer different types of visualization modes (lines, faceted, etc.), and it has an amazing Sketch style rendering mode, in which you can make four figure look like if it were made by hand!

Blender

More information at the website http://www.blender.org
First of all: it it for free!! You can download the latest version from its website.

This software is alike to 3DSMax, in the way of working and in the possibilities it offers: you can model anything you want, it doesn't matter if it is something artificial or natural.

Besides this, it has its own renderer which offers a high quality final work (you can see the gallery in the website)

Though it is not as powerful as others, Blender is an excellent option if you do not have enough money to buy an original version of the most powerful ones... and who knows?... maybe you get accustomed to it and you will never need to buy any CAD software. It is worthy to try.

Do you think that another software should be included in this list?

Write to me about it, and the information will be published soon here (Remember to include your contact info for your credits)