Major players in animation industry. There are others, these few
are the popular ones.
Then again, it depends on user himself.
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Macromedia Flash
In just a few short years, Macromedia Flash has become the de facto
standard for producing animation for the web. With vector-based
content and streaming data, Flash movies are perfect for the web
due to their (usually) quick download time. Macromedia has turned
Flash into a fairly robust, intensively interactive application
environment -- allowing developers to build entire e-commerce
applications entirely in Flash. And with most current browsers
shipping with the Flash Player, the majority of web users can
access Flash content without having to download a plug-in.
Homepage: http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/
Trial download available? YES
Alias/Wavefront (Maya)
Maya is a powerful and complex 3D graphics program that challenges
the skills of even veteran computer animation professionals --
covering everything from modeling and texturing, to animation,
character animation, rendering, and paint effects. Maya has been
used for numerous film, video, and videogame projects, including
Spider-Man, the Lord of the Rings, Star Wars: Episode I, and Gran
Turismo 3. While Maya is a phenomenal tool, it's almost
overwhelming to an individual user -- it's really geared towards
production houses.
Homepage: http://www.aliaswavefront.com/en/products/maya/
Trial download available? YES
3D Studio Max (3ds max)
Powerful controls for realistic lighting, shading and dynamics, as
well as texturing and scene management tools, have made 3D Studio
Max a popular choice for next-generation video game development
(XBox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, etc.). Though it's showing up more
and more in film production, 3ds max is often used for game
development, and was used for such games as Grand Theft Auto 3,
Halo, Metal Gear Solid 2, and many more.
Homepage: http://www.discreet.com/products/3dsmax/
Trial download available? NO
SoftImage|XSI
SoftImage|XSI is an industry-renowned 3-D nonlinear production
environment that also has a large following in the film,
commercial, and videogame markets. It boasts such features as an
interactive crowd simulation pipeline to automate the creation of
complex and heavy crowd scenes, hair and fur simulation tools, and
direct support for Playstation2 and XBox development. No wonder it
was used in films like Star Wars: Episode II and Moulin Rouge, as
well as numerous video games.
Homepage: http://www.softimage.com/products/xsi/
Trial download available? YES (see ExperienceCD section)
LightWave 3D
LightWave 3D is smaller and more robust than its competitors -- and
often praised for being more intuitive and easier to use. It's also
used in everything from print, film, and web to industrial design,
architecture and medical imaging. (A quick look at LightWave's
gallery shows its wide use in various industries.) It also includes
a number of tools -- soft-body dynamics, particles, hair and fur,
unlimited render nodes -- that other packages require you to buy
separately.
Homepage: http://www.lightwave3d.com/product/
Trial download available? NO
