Personally, I use 3D Studio (and other 3d software) to create models for games. Such as Half-Life, Quake 3 Arena... etc. And I have never ran across anything that handles quite as well. The program is simply a pleasure to use. Many other program I have seen have a very bad default interface, I usually had to change the interface to suit my needs. But 3D Studio's default setup is smooth and easy to use.

3D Studio MAX R3 also has a lot of powerful tools, and is very customizable. You can change pretty much anything: the location of toolbars, the window setup, button placement... etc.

The learning curve for 3D Studio is pretty good too. Some other programs needed months just to learn and get used to it's interface (trueSpace, Milkshape 3D), but 3D Studio's interface I learned in a matter of minutes, and I was fairly used to it after an hour's use.

The only negative I can think of for this product is the price. It is definitely not for regular users, as it can cost into the thousands. The educational version is very good if you want to learn 3d modelling/animation, but if you want to use it for any commercial purpose, it would be costly. Nevertheless, it one of the least expensive professional animation packages there are.



Recommended: Yes