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As a person who has 2-3 weeks experience with Ultrafractal, and that's it, what 3D software would you consider a good place to start?  Thanks,

The Rev

I guess the question to ask is whether you're looking at a 3D app to import meshes exported by UF (does it do this?  I've not monkeyed with it enough, I don't think, to get to that point) or to create 3D scenes from scratch.  I am going to assume you're using a derivation of Win32 (XP, Vista, 7), since you're using UF5...although, you could be like me and are running UF5 through WINE on linux...

I second the mention of PovRAY.  It's what I started with and is still a very good app, in fact, its ray tracing is still one of the tops in the industry, unless you shell out for VRay for 3DSMax...  The only downside is the modelers that are out there for it, which are useful if you want to monkey with your meshes prior to rendering or change the camera angle(s) -- I prefer MORay, which is now available free in conjunction with povray.org.  Other than MORay, I haven't really found any modelers that do what I want.  I used to use POV-Sb, but it's been out of "print," as it were, for almost a decade... 

I know people who swear by Blender, but I tend to swear *at* it.  It's the interface, which has a bit of a learning curve, for me that makes it a little cumbersome, but it's kind of personal preference.  It's got good output, but I don't know how it handles importing meshes. 

Another option is Caligari's TruSpace, which is now available for free from their website.  The support isn't really there, since it's basically an orphaned project (and therefore lacking some of the newer gee-whiz features), but I've used it for years and it does handle mesh imports pretty well.  It's the first commercial product I used, and produced some pretty large projects with it, so it's not a bad one to start with, either, as it combines a modeler and renderer in one interface, like Blender.

Hope this helps.  If there are other programs you want to know about or have any other questions, just holler.

Phil

And, actually, that is the holy grail of 3D rendering.  It's very cool that it's got that, now.  May have to go get over my interfacaphobia... 

You can *kind of* do this in POV, but I haven't had appreciably good results.  I remember having to "fudge" this in LightWave with particles.  It was at that point 3DSMax became worth the money.  Something on the free side with this...that's a huge step and well worth checking out. 

Thanks for that info! 

I don't care if nobody else likes it...

I STILL swear by Carrara!

Best deal on Commercial 3D Software out there.  It's a couple hundred, but is often on sale.  And I found it incredibly easy to learn.

And I think it compares favorably with Maya, and only falls short of 3D Max in a few areas.

It's from the same people who make Bryce, and Bryce's free version is limited.  To get the most from Bryce you need to pay.

While I LOVE Bryce's render engine, it is painfully slow compared to all others on the market.

I still want somebody to post an obj file of a Mandelbulb from Visions of Chaos so I can decide if it's worth the money or not!  And Xenodream exports nice obj files, even if slightly high poly...

I never liked the quality of the obj output of any of Terry Gintz's software.  Granted, it may just be my lack of expertise with it.  Again - Somebody please post an obj file of a Mandelbulb to prove me wrong  

If filesize is an issue, I have a forum for hosting such files.  No size limits!  Interested parties can find the Carrararama forums (sadly, quite inactive!)  (too many other Carrara forums I guess)  (but none with unlimited file hosting!) at http://www.sockrateaze.com.

I've been too busy to do much with the site, but still plan on making it into something special one day!