I want to know what each software’s main purpose is, what one can do in them, etc… Here we go…
After Effects
Illustrator
3D Studio Max
…I ask this because I was telling a friend of mine how I was really interested in getting into 3D annimation, creating web pages, etc… and they told me to look into these programs. I’ve looked around, but can’t really find what exactly they will allow me to be able to do.
If you have any information you can share with me, in layman terms, then please let me know! Any tutorials to teach and explain the basics of each would be of help also, thanks!
Adobe After Effects: adds cool expensive-looking overdubs, crossfades, animations, etc., to your digital video. Kinda like iMovie.
Adobe Illustrator: this is a* “drawing program”, i.e., a program for the generation and editing of vector graphics. Instead of trying to sketch a curved line with your wobbly mouse, you set some anchor points and stretch a “path” around or between them = elegant un-wobbly curves.
actually, saying that Illustrator is “a” drawing program is kind of like saying that Microsoft is “a” software company. That being said, many prefer Macromedia Freehand and a few like Deneba Canvas or even Corel Draw.
And since it wasn’t mentioned, 3DS Max is a full modelling and animation program.
The trouble with all three is that they’re expensive, and complicated enough to have a pretty steep learning curve. Lots of animation programs have demo versions for download, but they’re usually crippled or time-limited. You could look around for some of the British computer mags; Digit , for example, comes with a cover disc including some free previous-version 3D or other graphic software and a bunch of current demos.
FWIW, I use Illustrator at my job, and I very much prefer it over either Freehand or Corel Draw. (never tried Canvas) Now, that may be because I learned it first, but it seems that it’s much more intuitive and flexible than the others.
FWIW, I use Illustrator at my job, and I very much prefer it over either Freehand or Corel Draw. (never tried Canvas) Now, that may be because I learned it first, but it seems that it’s much more intuitive and flexible than the others.
I use all of these programs every day in my work, plus many others. I do a bit of everything related to graphics. That said, web design and 3D animation aren’t all that closely related fields, among the full set of graphics fields. You may want to narrow your focus a little bit intially, to see what areas you’re especially interested in. I’ll try not to simply duplicate what everyone else has said. . .
After Effects: Creation of all kinds of special effects for video. Everything from transitions to special lighting effects and basic 3D animation. This would be used extensively for production of commercials, short films, etc. I honestly don’t think you would use it that much in a strictly web design and 3D animation environment.
Illustrator: Already described a bit. It’s a powerful program that is used quite a bit for the design of printed pieces like brochure or magazine illustrations. Although it is a very good program to know and it has a role in both web and 3D, it’s probably not the first thing I would recommend you focus on. photopat, I greatly prefer Freehand to Illustrator. I think it mainly has to do with which program you learn first.
3ds max: Extremely powerful and complicated 3D animation and modeling software. Used quite a bit in the game development world, and for the production of films, television shows, and commercials. Also used for the creation of technical illustrations and graphics for print production.
I would strongly recommend looking into Adobe’s Photoshop. It’s basically the industry standard photo editing software. You would require some kind of photo editing and creation software for both web and 3D. Photoshop is expensive, like all the other software, but Adobe has a new light version called Photoshop Elements that is pretty cheap ($99) and has many of the features. It would at least be a good place to start learning. Also, I would recommend Adobe Premier. It’s a good basic video editing program that has many uses in 3D work. I would recommend you learn Premier before After Effects.
Check out www.adobe.com for info on all those Adobe programs. They sell bundles with several pieces of software in them as well.
Go to www.discreet.com for info on 3ds max. At one time, they had a program where you could sign up for a free limited time demo version of the software. That’s well worth doing if they are still offering it.
Let me ask this. In order to become at least “passable” in using all three of these, is it a written requirement that one must be able to draw by hand really, really, well?
I am not that great at drawing, but am very much interested in 3D creations such as logos, characters, and basic animation. Please say that there is a place for people like me, lol.
Brent, you need some artistic talent – somewhere – or the software probably won’t hold your interest long. On the other hand, if you’ve got a bit of talent, art software can make things a lot easier.
For example, if you’re learning photography, Photoshop is a godsend. (There are a lot of other cheaper programs that have many of the same basic functions.)
I just bought Poser to help me with anatomy. It allows fairly realistic figures to be posed with only couple hours learning time.
3D Studio Max is the most difficult software program I have ever learned (and I’m a software professional). It’s expensive, requires massive computing power, has a huge learning curve, and is not a very sellable job skill – unless you become very good.
Instead of Adobe Illustrator, consider Fractal Painter. Very good for people who want to do spectacular stuff nearly right away.
You might want to go to the tucows Web site, and download some of the shareware/freeware/demo programs. They’re rated by how well people like them, and how often they’re downloaded. Good way to try a lot of things quickly.
I’m a photographer, (gee, probably couldn’t guess it from the name, huh?) but I can barely draw a straight line. Fortunately, Illustrator has tools that help with creating clean artwork.
Photoshop is an excellent program too. I use it all the time.
After Effects is for making changes directly to the video images itself - it’s kind of like a specialized version of Photoshop for moving images. You can make very complex title sequences, add an alien spaceship into a video clip of a city skyline.
Premiere (or Final Cut Pro, they’re very similar) is a non-linear editing program, so you can stich together lots of video and audio clips together into a coherent movie/tv show/presentation/whatever.
You could, if you wanted to, do most of what Premiere does in AE, but it wouldn’t be particularly easy, and AE doesn’t have anywhere near as much control over audio as Premiere does. You can also do some of the stuff that AE does in Premiere (like simple titles), but you won’t have the incredible amount of control over onscreen objects that AE gives you.
It’s kind of like the relationship in print between Photoshop and Quark Xpress or other page layout programs. One is for working on the images themselves, and the other is for putting it all together into a whole end product.
Oh, and instead of 3DStudio Max (which I dislike, to put it mildly ), try looking at Maya.
They have a free download teaching version so you can start learning it without the huge outlay of cash that either program represents. http://www.aliaswavefront.com/
Since nobody else has done so, I’d just like to put in a good word for Corel Draw, which is a very good tool for drawing, creating any kind of vector graphics, logos, titles and so on. It’s packed with features, it works, and, having used it for years, I find that even a talentless non-artistic klutz like me can turn out pretty decent artwork very quickly using it. Its handling of text is exceptionally good - there’s nothing you can imagine doing to some text that Corel won’t let you do!
I agree with what others have said, that many ‘subjective’ aspects of software, such as which program is ‘most intuitive’, can have a lot to do with which you happen to learn first. Well, I learned Corel from the day it was launched, and I’m still a huge fan many years later.
I think it mainly has to do with which program you learn first.