Warez is the last vestige of the internet that remains completely non-commercial. Exceptine, quite obviously, har-core pornography, warez is the enemy of the evil international capitalist structure that is completely screwing two-thirds of the world for only minor benefits to a handful, and no tangible benefits at all to a majority. Consumerism is bad, 'mmkay?
OK, so I don't really care about any of that, I just want free stuff. Still.
Ray Dream is my native program, and the one I am fairly godly at. If you know the ins and outs, it can do stuff few other programs can, and considering how old it is its render effects are impressive (better than MAX or Carrara, in some respects). It's not flashy and doesn't contain a whole lot of goodies only available in it, but it's got the same advantages that, say, FreeSpace has over EOC- it uses what it has stunningly well, and I only rarely feel the need to use anything else. I've never actually learned to use a good portion of the program (the little documentation I have is terrible), and I still get better results than with MAX. That dual modeling system really takes the cake.
When I do use something else, I use 3DS Max 4, which is, I suppose, better in many respects. It takes a little getting used to, and some of the controls are awkward (really, really awkward, in the case of detailed nonprimitives modeling), but it has a very nice setup, a good interface (even if it won't bloody stay configured), and, best of all, is much, much faster on the modeling screen. Infinitely faster. As in, I can move the camera, and see the models as I move it. WOAH!:D
Actually, best of all is that its files are a fairly universal standard. I can port from anywhere, to anywhere, and it comes out more or less fine.
Lightwave- feh. I suppose I'm missing something, but its modeling prog is the most contrary piece of crap I have ever seen, including TrueSpace's. It makes an excellent renderer, and its volumetrics really are second to none, but I'd rather have my eyeballs gnawed out by small children than use the modeler.
In Carrara, I know I'm not missing anything. Nothing I've seen quite comes close to the lighting effects it has (lookit the pretty lens flare it gave me on my page for an example), and the abundance of very nice special tools (including a cusomizable particle generator, volumetric fog approaching Lightwave's, and a built-in terrain generator) make it fantastic for render work. Unfortunately, its modeler is simply pathetic. Which came as twice a dissapointment, considering that it's the descendant of Ray Dream, which is, in my opinion, roughly equal to 3DS MAX in modeling excellence, unless you really need beveling tools. Carrara has only one thing that it really stands out in, though. And that's procedural textures. Dozens of 'em, and all of them are delicious, provided you use them the right way.
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