Chapter 8

Hardware and Software Tools of the Trade

The hardware and software choices of a 3D animator can be difficult to understand because of the large number of options given to a user. These options provide the user many ways to work and to learn. Power, speed, and storage are advancing to a point that techniques thought impossible a few years ago can now be competed on a normal, everyday desktop computer. So how does a person wanting to get into 3D animation know what tools and techniques to use? It comes from constantly learning. Schools and online learning opportunities are popping up every day. But first, there are a few basics you can learn to get started and to help you dig through all the information out there.

This chapter presents the types of computers that may best fit you as a 3D artist. You’ll learn what to look for in a computer and related hardware devices, and what software you may want to use.

• Choosing a computer
• Using monitors/displays
• Working with graphics tablets
• Using 3D scanners
• Setting up render farms
• Finding data storage solutions
• Choosing software

Choosing a Computer

What computer do you need? Do you really need the computer you want? There is no single correct answer. You need to consider many factors when preparing to buy a computer, including these:

• What operating system is best for you?
• How fast does the computer need to be?
• What types of input and output ports does it need?
• What software are you planning to run?
• What type of graphics card do you need?
• Do you need massive rendering capabilities?
• How do you ensure that your system won’t be outdated in a month?

All of these matters are covered in the following pages.

You could easily spend $20,000 or more on a 3D animation–capable computer with added software, software plug-ins, and accessories. However, you’re unlikely to use all $20,000 of the computer goodness in that new massive machine! So you as a user need to look at your everyday needs for a computer and at your budget, and then go from there. For example, if you are a character animator and will rarely if ever need advanced lighting and rendering capabilities, buying a monster computer would be overkill—because most 3D animation software can run with no problem in real time on a basic computer, so you will not need all that power. But if you are going to be a visual effects artist who will need to simulate complex cloth simulations or heavy particle simulations, you may need a beefier computer to help you quickly finish the simulations. Also, if you are employed at an animation studio or enrolled in an animation school, your organization likely will provide a computer for you to work on.

Choosing a Computer Type

There are three primary types of computers you can buy for 3D animation purposes—workstation, desktop, and laptop, shown in Figure 8-1. Each has its pros and cons. Do you need a super fast and powerful computer, a standard everyday computer, or a computer you can take with you everywhere?

Workstation A workstation computer is usually the most expensive but will have the most options in upgrades down the line, as well as the most raw computer power and overall speed. The workstation historically was designed for technical or scientific applications but ties in nicely with 3D animation software because of its better options for advanced graphics cards and overall CPU functions. A workstation is typically just a physically larger computer than the other types, and therefore has more power needs than a desktop or laptop computer. But if you are looking for a workhorse computer, a workstation is likely the type you need. Many computer vendors today offer a workstation class of computer, but the options for a workstation are not always on the front page of standard computer consumer websites. You may need to ask a sales representative if they offer one or do a search for workstation on the website.

Desktop The desktop computer is the most common type of computer sold today, and you will have many options available to you when you purchase one. A desktop usually will not be, but can be, nearly as powerful as a workstation. Because graphics cards are handling many of the more complex graphics computing options, today’s desktops are more powerful than the workstations of just a few years ago. The desktop in general is more affordable than the workstation, and the various computer manufacturing companies have various configurations that can make for a good overall 3D animation computer. The physical size of a standard desktop computer is smaller than a workstation, but not portable like a laptop.

Laptop A laptop is a fully portable, self-contained computer that can have varying degrees of power and speed. The biggest plus to a laptop is that it is portable and allows you to work anywhere. A laptop is typically more expensive than a desktop computer or even a workstation because of the small size of the components needed to run it. The research and development is more expensive on laptop parts because of the lack of size and airflow to cool the parts within it. But if you need to be able to have the portability of a laptop, you will be willing to pay a little more for it. Laptops can be just as fast as a really good desktop and some workstations.

Understanding Operating Systems

Operating systems (OSs) are found on any device that contains a computer—including video game consoles, cell phones, smart phones, tablet computers, and servers. Your computer would be a large paperweight without its operating system. An operating system is software that controls and manages the computer’s hardware, input/output (I/O) capabilities (see Figure 8-2), and memory allocation. The OS helps other software running on the computer. Without the operating system, a user could not run any other type of software or access any of the hardware. Operating systems you are most accustomed to seeing today have a graphical user interface (GUI) to enable you to see and interface with your computer by using a mouse and a keyboard.

Each operating system is slightly different from the next in the way that the software code is written. Therefore, a problem can arise in the use of multiple operating systems: your software package of choice might work on only one type of OS, so you could be stuck within that OS. This compatibility problem has become more manageable over the past few years as software companies are writing their software for more operating systems. The best thing you can do as a user is to research the types of projects you are going to work on and try to find an OS that accommodates the software you’ll need to use.

The operating system you choose will dictate the hardware you can choose as well, because one of the primary goals of the OS is to run the hardware and allocate memory. So there could be a chance that the new hot graphics card you really want might not be available for the OS you are running.

There are a few mainstream operating systems to choose from, and most users are avid and loyal fans of one OS and will rarely switch to a different OS. Among the most popular OSs on the market today are Microsoft Windows, Apple’s Mac OS, and Linux.

Windows Windows is the most widely used OS in the world. Over the years, the Windows OS has had many versions and upgrades. The most recent version at the time of this writing is Windows 7, shown in Figure 8-3.

Because the Windows OS has the largest user base of all operating systems on the market today, it enjoys the largest choice of compatible hardware options. That fosters stiff competition in the market between different companies that will lead to better prices when you buy a computer and when you may need extra parts.

Another bonus to working with the most widely used OS in the world is that more software has been written for Windows, so your choices of software and plug-ins is vast.

One downside to the Windows operating system is that it is vulnerable to computer viruses. Because Windows has so many options for compatible hardware and software, the potential for computer viruses is greater. A computer virus can be devastating to your system, and you may not know how to purge the virus. Computer viruses come in many forms and can attack different areas of the operating system and hardware, and can over time slow your system or even erase information from the hard drive. So as a Windows user, you must have antivirus software and other protection to safeguard your computer system.

Mac OS Mac OS X, shown in Figure 8-4, is the latest version of Apple’s operating system and is the second-largest operating system used in the world today. Mac OS X is a Unix-based operating system. As with Windows, Mac OS X has had many versions and upgrades.

Mac users are some of the most devoted computer users in the world, and that loyalty is the reason that this OS has survived through the years and now thrives. One of the biggest differences in the Mac OS is that it can run on only Mac computers, which allows Apple to know exactly the type of performance and graphic output of each computer it sells. This means that all of the components in a Mac computer will work together and are easy to fix even for the most basic computer user. The flip side to this is that Mac components tend to be more expensive, and you do not have many options of where to buy the computers and parts.

The Mac OS and Apple computer, originally created as a system that anyone could easily use, has a creative style and design to it. This OS appeals to creative people, including artists and designers, who want to work outside the box. Apple worked with these creative types, making its graphics the better visual option in the computer world.

Many of today’s 3D animation software options can run on a Mac OS and do so very well. But not all third-party plug-ins for that software are available. An alternative with the newer Intel-based Mac computers is that you can dual-boot the machine to run Windows OS on an Apple computer. So with a little extra work, you can have the best of both worlds on one computer.

Linux Linux is a Unix-based operating system that can be run on a large gamut of hardware. Linux is the leading server operating system in the world. It is also a free open source, which means people from anywhere can create upgrades and push the future development of this operating system. Linux is working its way to the consumer market through many mobile devices. Because the Linux operating system is based on open source code, you as a consumer will see it distributed under names such as Debian, Fedora, Red Hat, and Novell. Each of these operating systems uses the Linux code but is adapted to work in certain industries. Linux is not yet an everyday name in OS choices but is becoming more popular with large studios and businesses each year.

Selecting the Components

This is where buying a computer can get confusing. With all of the component options available to upgrade the computer, which do you really need? Unless you are going to build your own computer from scratch, you will most likely be given a set number of options to add or take away from your computer, depending on the vendor. The typical options you should be most concerned with are the processors, memory/RAM, hard drive, graphics card, and I/O. Each of these components, in conjunction with the others, determine a computer’s speed.

Processor (CPU) The processor, or central processing unit (CPU), shown in Figure 8-5, is the brain of the computer. It carries out instructions from software in a sequential order. The speed of loading images, downloading data, and the general overall speed of the computer are based on the speed of the processor. Today we have many options when choosing a processor for a computer.

The first option to consider when comparing processors is the clock rate, or clock speed, of the processor. Measured in hertz, this is the rate at which the processor can process data from the hard drive or RAM.

The second consideration is the number of cores in a processor. A processor core is a channel that the sequential information is run through to complete a task. On single-core processors, you cannot easily run multiple applications at once, because the computer cannot channel multiple inputs through a single core. Today we have up to 10-core processors, but a typical computer has a dual-core (two-core) to six-core processor. Also these processors can provide multithreading, in which the software splits the sequential processes among the processors—for example, enabling virtually 12 processors on a 6-processor core chip. Another way to boost processing is that most computers can have dual processors that both allow multithreading—so, for example, a computer that has dual 6-core processors with multithreading would house 12 physical processor cores, but up to 24 virtual processor cores. The simple rule of thumb is that the more cores you have, the more applications you can run at once.

But certain factors can slow a fast processor—for instance, if the software you are running is not written to allow for multithreading. In the end, the physical speed of the processor working in conjunction with the multiple cores and the software written to take advantage of the processors is what will truly determine the end speed of the processor. Therefore, you should get the fastest multi-core processor you can afford, and if possible, multiple processors. However, do not fret about not being able to buy the best one offered by a vendor. Even a mid-level processor is going to be fast enough for the 3D general user.

Memory/RAM Memory, or random access memory (RAM) stores the computer’s temporary data that the processor will need to access quickly. The RAM has a much faster read and write speed and will allow the processors much faster access to the data than from the hard drive. The more RAM you have, the more applications and processes you can easily run at one time. With 64-bit operating systems, we are now allowed to access more RAM per application than the old 3GB of RAM maximum on a 32-bit computer. Again, the rule of thumb is that the more RAM you have, the better. RAM is also the cheapest and easiest way to upgrade your computer. Adding RAM to a system will not make it suddenly 10 times faster, but will add some speed and overall functionality to the system. RAM comes in a stick format, as shown in Figure 8-6, and attaches via posts on the motherboard.

Hard Drive The hard drive, or hard disk drive, is the component that stores all the data of the computer. There are a few types of hard drives and different configurations for them in today’s computers. The most common are Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA), Serial ATA (SATA), Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), and Solid-State Drive (SSD). Most of these names indicate the way the drive is connected to the computer.

SATA and SSD are the two most popular types of hard drives you can purchase today. The SATA is a standard electromechanical hard drive that has a spinning spindle with flat disks called platters that hold the data. A read/write head attached to an actuator arm enables the head to access different areas of the platters to read and write data. Figure 8-7 shows a SATA hard drive. The rate that the platters spin and the input and output speed of the connection determines the speed of the drive. You should see a Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) setting for most SATA drives of around 5,400 to 7,200 rpm, and they can reach as high as 15,000 rpm as of today.

The other type of hard drive, SSD, has no moving parts and is still very new to the consumer computer market. These drives are silent and have very fast read and write speeds. The biggest drawbacks to them right now are a much higher cost and smaller amount of total data space as compared to other hard drives. We have yet to see what this technology will do after long-term use, but many computer vendors are making these drives available to the public today.

One other option related to hard drives is the configuration of the drive or drives. Most hard drives are single drives that hold all the data of the computer, but you can set up multiple drives into a RAID to add data reliability and I/O speeds. RAID stands for redundant array of independent disks and is achieved by combining multiple hard drives together to work as one. The benefits of a RAID system are that the total data stored is distributed over multiple drives, and the read/write speeds are typically faster than a single drive. There are different “levels” of RAID, such as RAID 0, RAID 4, and so on, each pertaining to different levels of data protection and read/write speed to the drives (typically referred to as striping and mirroring drives).

There are various ways to set up a RAID configuration of hard drives. Software-based RAIDS allow an operating system to create and recognize a RAID setup. These software-based RAIDS are easy to set up but can be slower than other methods. Hardware-based RAIDS are created by attaching the hard drives to a controller that will control the RAID performance. This option is more difficult to manage than the other configurations.

A third configuration uses a network-attached storage (NAS) device, a self-contained device with hard drives inside that will allow for different RAID levels and functions. These devices are easy to use, set up, and maintain, but can have slower data transfer depending on the I/O used between the NAS and computer.

Graphics Cards A graphics card is used to significantly aid in rendering or to actually render images on your screen. Most graphics cards also allow users to output to multiple monitors, allow for a TV tuner to be attached to the computer, and accelerate 3D and 2D rendering. Graphics cards over the past few years have been adding RAM and other memory to help the CPU with advanced graphic capabilities. And today’s graphics cards are also boasting a graphics processing unit (GPU) enhancement to graphics today. Many software companies are now looking to rewrite some of their software’s rendering capabilities and visual graphic workloads to better take advantage of a graphics card GPU to allow for faster rendering and real-time applications.

I/O The speed at which all of the aforementioned components can handle data is dictated by the I/O of the whole system. As noted earlier, I/O stands for input/output, and the term applies to the Internet connection you are using (Ethernet or Wi-Fi), the type of hard drive connection, the RPM of the hard drive, and the type of data ports (FireWire, USB, and so on) for input and output of data to other devices.

Imagine that you have a lot of water to move. If you have only a small hose to spray it with, dispensing the water will take longer than if you had a fire hose. That metaphor applies to the concept of I/O. Let’s say you have a hard drive that can read and write at one speed, but the data is being input from the Internet at a slower speed. The faster hard drive will be hobbled by the slower speed of the Internet connection. Or if you are trying to edit video on an external hard drive that is RAID configured with 15,000 rpm SAS drives, but you are using a USB 2.0 port to connect your external hard drives, you are at the mercy of the slower USB port speed. As long as you are aware of this one factor, you will be better equipped to evaluate the components you are about to buy.

Using Monitors/Displays

The monitor, or display, is how most people visually interact with a computer system. The monitor is the unit that displays all of the graphics from your computer, enabling you to interact with the software and other applications through the operating system’s GUI.

There are two primary types of monitors on the market today: the liquid crystal display (LCD) and cathode ray tube (CRT). Each has its pros and cons in terms of what can be displayed and how they look.

Two newer options have been released but are not yet a consumer staple: the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and 3D without glasses or other viewing devices, called autostereoscopy. These two types of monitors are still very new and very expensive. You can also use most modern high-definition (HD) televisions as a display, because the newer graphics cards in computers and HD televisions have input and outputs that are compatible, usually a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) or Video graphics Array (VGA).

For a typical user, a good-quality monitor with a decent resolution is all you will ever need. If you become someone in charge of color correcting or proofing digital images for print, you will need a high-quality monitor with color-calibration equipment. Let’s take a look at the two primary types of monitors used today, LCD and CRT, shown in Figure 8-8.

LCD An LCD is a thin, flat display that uses light-modulating liquid crystals to show an image. LCD monitors are the mainstay of many devices and applications, such as computer monitors, televisions, cell phones, MP3 players, and many other handheld devices. They are lightweight, small, have a low energy consumption and have good viewing properties. LCD screens come in many sizes and resolutions and are much less expensive than other technologies.

CRT CRTs were the main type of monitors until about the early 2000s. The dropping price of LCD monitors and the sheer size and weight of a CRT monitor has hurt the sales of these types of displays. But the broadcasting, photo, and film markets still use CRT monitors because of their greater color fidelity, contrast levels, and viewing angles.

Working with Graphics Tablets

A graphics tablet is an input device—the user draws on it, and the marks show on the computer screen. Graphics tablets are used in many places and for many reasons, such as signing your name for a credit card receipt or digital contract, drawing or copying artwork or line drawings, digital sculpting, and other tasks involving a hand-drawn line.

The tablet is composed of a flat surface and a penlike device called a stylus that is used to draw on the surface. The position of the stylus on the tablet moves the computer cursor, and there are options for right-click and left-click functionality. There are also tablet-like LCD monitors that enable you to draw directly on a screen with the stylus. Figure 8-9 shows a tablet-style monitor and a more standard tablet.

Tablets are a great way for an artist to have a more organic and natural feel in creating lines and sculpture on a computer. Before the tablet was available, you would have to use a mouse to create lines and painting, which can feel very unnatural. Early tablets were limiting at first because of their size and lack of pressure sensitivity that many of the modern tablets now have. A tablet is a mainstay in almost any digital artist’s toolbox.

Using 3D Scanners

A laser scanner is a device that can translate real-world objects into digital data to be used for various applications. The medical, film, and video game industries use this type of technology, as do companies looking to ensure quality control of manufacturing, to perform product prototyping, or to conduct reverse engineering. These 3D scanners can provide an accurate base geometry mesh to begin from if your 3D animated object must perfectly match a real-world object. Figure 8-10 shows the raw geometry data from a NextEngine desktop laser scanner in Autodesk Maya that can allow digital artist to quickly obtain a person’s likeness.

There are three types of 3D scanning devices and technologies—contact, noncontact active, and noncontact passive. Each has advantages and disadvantages:

Contact Contact scanners explore a subject with physical touch. They are typically attached to an arm with a base that does not move. This base gives the scanner a solid position to locate the XYZ 0 position. The arm moves, and the sensor touches the object at various points. Then the arm’s rotations are calculated to create a three-dimensional point in space at each touch point. A three-dimensional dataset is created from the many points. Contact scanners can be very accurate but are slow to operate and actually have to touch the object. Very old or extremely fragile objects could not withstand the contact-scanning process.

Noncontact active Noncontact active scanners emit light, ultrasound, or x-rays that are deflected back to the device to measure the object dimensions. There are a few types of noncontact active type scanners:

Time-of-flight uses a laser to search the object, and measures the round-trip time between the laser (traveling at the speed of light) and the object to create the three-dimensional form. These types of scanners usually have to create multiple scans of an object to generate the entire 3D form.

Triangulation uses a laser camera and triangulates the laser point from the field of view of that camera, and then calculates the distance between the laser and camera to determine a 3D coordinate. Again, many scans are needed to create a full 3D scan of an object.

Handheld is a triangulation laser scanner that is in a handheld form, allowing a user to walk around an object to create a total scan of an object in a single session.

Volumetric is a way to create a 3D scan from many 2D images. A CT scanner at a hospital is an example of this type of scan. A CT scanner takes many 2D scans of a body part in tiny increments apart from each other, and with the help of software can piece them back together to create a 3D form.

Noncontact passive Noncontact passive scanners do not emit any form of light or radiation but rather look at imagery from different cameras or at many different images to decipher 3D form. There are two types of noncontact passive scanners:

Stereoscopic scanners use two cameras slightly apart from one another, and by looking at the differences between the cameras can define a form.

Image-based modeling uses images of the same object from many different angles, and with the assistance of a user can create key marker points on that object and then analyze the photos to create a 3D form.

Setting Up Render Farms

Render farms are groups of computers that work in tandem to minimize the time it takes to complete a rendering task. If a render takes 10 minutes per frame, and you have 500 frames to complete, a single machine will take 83 hours to render those frames if there are no dropped frames or errors. If you were able to split the 500 frames among five computers, so each machine handled 100 frames, rendering would take only 16 hours to complete. That is less than one day, as compared to almost four days on the single machine. As this example illustrates, render farms are important in terms of saving time and money for a studio of any size.

At a minimum, two computers are needed to create a render farm. However, the smaller the render farm, the less available the machines are for other tasks. To spread the rendering burden as much as possible, you might choose to make every computer in a studio a render machine. Alternatively, you can use a render rack, which is a series of rack-mounted computers that do nothing but render frames. These rack systems are efficient but costly to buy and maintain. But the biggest bonus is that no artist loses their day-to-day work machine during rendering (unlike with the nonrack render farms).

You have various options for the setup and maintenance of a render farm. One low-cost option is to have a user go to each computer individually and set up the render job manually to render x frames per computer. This is an easy and inexpensive way to create a render farm but can be very labor intensive because of the wait times on login applications, start times, and scene loading. Also, this method makes it harder to ensure that all rendering settings are correct over the different systems.

A second setup option is a network rendering solution that uses a software application to send jobs to the different computers, establishing x frames per render job. A person called a render wrangler sends render jobs from the studio’s artists into a render queue that then distributes each job to an open computer, as shown in Figure 8-11. The render wrangler can watch the progress of each job and push and pull the lineup of jobs, based on the needs of the studio. This is an efficient way to distribute the rendering, and it is the solution many studios use to maximize rendering efforts.

A third option is cloud computing, which entails sending the render jobs to an offsite render facility to have the frames rendered for the project. You pay by job or by frame and typically use a network or Internet submission system. After a scene is ready for rendering, the artist logs in, uploads the scene file to the online server, and then receives an email when the render is completed. This is not a great everyday solution because a lag time occurs between the submission and acceptance of frames, and the service is expensive. But in a crunch time and with limited onsite computers, this option can help a studio render all frames in time.

Finding Data Storage Solutions

Data storage is an important topic in any computer-based industry, and even more so in 3D animation. The files that 3D animators deal with are typically very large and take up a lot of space. So how do you store that data efficiently, safely, accessibly, and securely? As a single user of 3D animation, it is relatively easy to back up all of your files with a local system of internal and external storage devices. But in a small to large studio setting, storage is much more complicated. There are multiple users needing to pull from files, input and output speeds to consider, security measures that must be taken, and backup needs to be automated for overall convenience. This automation of data backups is crucial to aid in the reliability of the total storage space, because there is very little reason to have a large mass of data storage if there is no reliability in that storage. There are four storage solutions you can look into, or even mix all of them if needed:

• Local
• Local networked
• Offsite
• Cloud/Internet

Local

Local storage is nothing more than an internal hard drive that holds all of your files. You might add a second internal hard drive in the computer to allow for more storage and a little bit of insurance against data corruption. If the primary hard drive were to become corrupted or the operating system were to get a virus, you would have to wipe the drive and start over. The process of wiping the drive would erase the data stored on it. But if the files were on a secondary drive with no OS installed, that drive would just be a data storage device and therefore could be used in a different computer or once the primary drive was restored. This is not a very high-tech solution and requires the user to manually move files to the drive. In addition, the secondary drive remains susceptible to corruption and failure. So another local option would be to have an external drive set up to back up the files automatically via software. Most OSs have an automated backup system built into them for this very reason.

Local Networked

In a studio setting, multiple artists need access to files, so local networked data storage can be a good solution. As Figure 8-12 shows, a single hard drive or computer is set up as the network storage device that the other computers can access. The artist works from this network drive and saves back to it.

The biggest consideration with a network shared drive is the input and output speed of the network. The network needs to be able to move files quickly to cut down on waiting time for file loading and downloading. Most advanced network speeds today allow for real-time video editing of very large files over the network.

The other major consideration is backup. Network storage can be backed up to a separate location, and the backup can also be automated for consistency and convenience. The drawback is that this setup requires double or triple the amount of storage, because everyone is storing to a single location rather than to their own work computers—and this single location needs to be backed up as well.

Offsite

Maintaining a network often entails having more employees to administer the network and keep things running, which can be cost prohibitive for small and medium studios. So these studios contract out the storage space to an offsite company that maintains the storage and security of the data. The only thing these studios need to access their files is a high-speed Internet or network connection.

Cloud/Internet

Cloud or Internet storage is an online, offsite solution that a studio can use. However, this type of storage is more geared toward an individual user than a studio. This type of storage is not always as fast as it needs to be for the real-time video editing and large-file retrieval required by a studio setup, but it can work well for very small studios or individual users. More and more of these types of services are becoming available every day, including Dropbox, Carbonite, and Mozy. These services allow you to access your files from any computer at any time. The amount of storage is not as large as on an offsite network setup, but this option can provide great flexibility and access to files.

Choosing Software

Software tools are the ones you will have to become most in tune with over time. There are many types of software that perform many types of tasks, and you will have to learn how to use numerous software packages in your career. But if you can learn and truly understand one of the software packages early on, you should be able to jump into other 3D applications fairly easily, because all of the software packages have the same basic principles and options. Let’s take a look at some of the consumer-level software available today.

Comprehensive 3D Animation Packages

Several comprehensive 3D animation software packages are used for modeling, animation, simulation, visual effects, and rendering. All of these packages are used in a wide range of industries: television, games, advertising, architectural rendering, medical simulation, publishing, and graphic design. These are the most popular:

Autodesk 3ds Max Used primarily for video game creation and architectural renderings, this software can be and is used in many other fields as well. 3ds Max has the largest user group of all software geared toward the 3D entertainment industry.

3ds Max has its own proprietary rendering system, and mental ray is included. (See Chapter 7, “Exploring Lighting, Rendering, and Visual Effects,” for more on rendering systems.). 3ds Max can be run on Windows-only operating systems.

Autodesk Maya Used primarily in visual effects and film, Maya is also employed in many other industries. It has its own proprietary rendering system, and mental ray is included. Maya can be run on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.

Autodesk Softimage Unlike Maya and 3ds Max, Softimage is not used primarily in one industry. Softimage can be run on Windows and Linux. Softimage has its own proprietary rendering system, and mental ray is included.

Blender This free, open source 3D application is used more overseas than in the United States and can be used in any industry. Blender can be run on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.

Luxology Modo Known for its use in the product visualization and architecture rendering industries, modo can be run on Windows and Mac operating systems.

Maxon Cinema 4D This software is primarily used for graphic design, and many of the tools and plug-ins are geared for this market. Cinema 4D can be run on Windows and Mac operating systems.

NewTek LightWave This program is used in games and film but not as much as the Autodesk software packages. LightWave can be run on Windows and Mac operating systems.

Side Effects Houdini Known in the industry for very good visual-effects simulations, this program can be run on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.

CAD

Computer-aided design (CAD) software packages are used to create 2D designs that can be converted into a 3D form. This type of software is used extensively in architecture, automotive design, and product design. The following are some of the popular CAD choices:

Autodesk AutoCAD This is one of the largest 2D and 3D CAD programs in the world. AutoCAD is used primarily to design architecture and products. AutoCAD can be run on Windows and Mac OS.

Autodesk Inventor This 3D CAD software is used for mechanical design, simulation, and tooling creation. Inventor is for prototyping and testing mechanical devices before they are built. It can be run on Windows only.

Robert McNeel & Associates Rhino This NURBS-based modeling software is used in industrial design, jewelry design, rapid prototyping, and graphics design. Rhino can be run on Windows only.

Dassault Systemes SoildWorks This 3D mechanical CAD software is used worldwide. SolidWorks uses a parametric-based approach to create assembles and models. SoildWorks can be run on Windows only.

Compositing

Compositing software packages are used for layering moving images together to create a final image. These layers of moving images can come from video, animation, and user-created motion graphics. All of the following compositing software packages are used in almost every industry of 3D animation:

Adobe After Effects This layer-based compositing and motion-graphics software can create professional graphics and effects. After Effects is used in many industries, including television, film, and advertising. Not only can you composite film and 3D animation, but you can color-correct footage, change the timing of footage, rotoscope, mix 2D and 3D effects together, add camera shake, and many other image manipulation effects. After Effects is available on Windows and Mac operating systems.

Eyeon Fusion Formerly known as Digital Fusion, this node-based compositing software is used in the film and television industry. Fusion is available on Windows and Linux operating systems.

The Foundry’s Nuke This node-based compositing software was originally designed as an in-house compositing package for Digital Domain. Nuke, an industry standard for the commercial and film industry, is available on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.

Digital Imaging

Digital imaging software packages are used for creating or modifying digital images. An artist may paint images completely in the software package or take digital images and change them within the software. All of these packages are used in all 3D animation industries:

Adobe Illustrator Illustrator is the industry standard in vector image creation. It is primarily used in design but is starting to be used more often in 2D animation asset creation. Illustrator can be run on Windows and Mac OS.

Adobe Photoshop The industry-standard software for graphics editing, image manipulation, and digital painting, Photoshop is used by many industries for various reasons. As a 3D artist, you will use Photoshop for texture painting, render layer compositing, final image tweaking, storyboard creation, character design, set design, color-chart creation, and many more jobs. Photoshop can be run on Windows and Mac OS.

Autodesk SketchBook This is an easy-to-use application for digital drawing and painting. Sketchbook is typically used to create quick sketches that you can then take to other software to finish. SketchBook can be run on Windows and Mac OS.

Corel Painter This image-manipulation software provides the appearance and behavior of traditional art media. The traditional media includes pencils, color pencils, charcoal, oil paint, and watercolor. Painter can be run on Windows and Mac OS.

3D Specialty

3D specialty animation software packages are used for modeling, animation, simulation, visual effects, and rendering. All have a specific, rather than comprehensive, function in 3D animation. All of the 3D animation fields use this specialty software, but each package is used in a specific range of industries:

Autodesk MotionBuilder This real-time animation production software enables animators to quickly animate characters by using animation layers and to layer animation from different sources onto a character. MotionBuilder also allows motion capture data to be imported and applied to characters. MotionBuilder is available on Windows operating systems only.

Autodesk Mudbox A digital sculpting and texture-painting software application, Mudbox enables artists to create 3D models without the many technical hurdles found in standard modeling programs. It allows artists to sculpt into virtual clay and to paint color and texture directly onto the model. It also has an automatic pipeline into other Autodesk software such as Maya and 3ds Max. Mudbox can be run on Windows and Mac OS.

E-on Vue This 3D animation software can create advanced and dense natural environments. Vue uses procedural models to create complex natural shapes such as trees, plants, shrubs, and other foliage. Vue can be used as a stand-alone software package with photorealistic rendering capabilities and can also plug in to Maya, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, LightWave, and Softimage for animation and rendering. Vue can be run on Windows and Mac OS.

Maxon BodyPaint A 3D texture painting software application, BodyPaint enables artists to paint directly onto a 3D model in separate layers and map in real time. It will also export the texture maps to then be applied to models in other 3D applications for animation and rendering. BodyPaint can be run on Windows and Mac OS.

Next Limit RealFlow This dynamic simulation software can create realistic fluid effects and rigid-body dynamic simulations. RealFlow is extremely powerful and fast in the computations of fluid effects that are typically very slow to simulate. RealFlow also has a plug-in for integration into Maya, 3ds Max, LightWave, Softimage, and Houdini. RealFlow is an industry standard for 3D fluidlike effects. RealFlow is available on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.

Pixelogic ZBrush ZBrush is a digital sculpting and texture-painting 3D software application. This software enables artists to sculpt instead of model their characters or objects, add texture to a 3D object, and quickly sketch out ideas in 3D form. ZBrush can be run on Windows and Mac OS.