Blender?

[Calvin]

I was wondering, does anyone here use belnder?

[UrsaMNet]

Team 1540 Does, although not for animation entries...
...matter of fact, I don't know quite what we use it for, other than fun.

For those who don't know about blender, check it out at: http://www.blender3d.org
(http://www.blender3d.org)

[Calvin]

It's pretty much a free "open-source" 3D program. Many that I spoke with say that it's easier to use and better then 3D Max. Never used 3D Max, so I'm not sure. :rolleyes:

[Cody Carey]

I tried using it and I personally don't like it... It really doesn't have anything going for it that that 3-d Studio Max doesn't, except that it is free. Also, I'd actually say that the UI is also ALOT harder to get familiar with than max's.

[Calvin]

I would recommand Blender to beginners who cannot afford Maya or other expensive 3D software. I have created a walking gingerbread man (link below) in less then 3 hours having ZERO knowledge of 3D.

The GingerBread Man (http://snowshoe.f2o.org/GingerBread.mov)

There are many extensive tutorials all over the internet.

How do I make my own GingerBread Man?
1) Download (http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Blender.31.0.html) a copy of Blender
2) Go HERE (http://download.blender.org/documentation/htmlI/c640.html) (Online Book)
3) Read Chapter: Understanding the interface (http://download.blender.org/documentation/htmlI/c640.html)
4) Jump to: Your first animation in 30 + 30 minutes (http://download.blender.org/documentation/htmlI/c1208.html)

Enjoy! :)