Sculptris

[Moridin]

For those who don't want to read:
Sculptris is a really intuitive, easy to use 3D model editor/maker. It uses a really simple but powerful interface to give awesome results. Definitely a recommendation from me.

For those who don't mind reading a bit:

Sculptris is a 3D Modeling software that is:
1) Free
2) Easy to use
3) Somewhat powerful (not as powerful as retail products like 3DS Max, Maya or Zbrush though)

It uses a dynamic tessellation of the model's vertices to give you easy smooth surfaces. It also has a very simple interface which (Imo) is more attuned to organic shapes and models.

Sculptris Trailer:

[youtube]6DNRg6pdNeE[/youtube]

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To get an idea of how easy it is to use, I will use the example of myself. I have no modeling experience or official certification. All I have is a slightly artistic inclination.

Here's something I came up with in around 2 and a half hours of fiddling with the program:

[youtube]oOH_TMdyJQk[/youtube]

Here's a download link to Sculptris!
Official Forums

I highly recommend trying it out .

 

[Lyerae]

Whoa, that's awesome.

 

[Jindo]

I will have to try this out sometime, very nice find!

 

[Moridin]

I should also say that sculptris is a 5mb file . (which is tiny compared to other retail modeling tools).

It also takes a lot of processing because of the dynamic tesselation of the mesh. Thankfully it has a periodic autosave and recovery system, but be prepared for crashes if you go crazy with the details .

Edit: Crashes of sculptris, not your comp .

 

[thewrongvine]

Cool.

~Hai-Bye-Vine~

 

[Rhymer]

Looks awesome

Can it do simple animations, like say the wheels on a car or a helicopters rotors?

Cheers;
//Rhymer

 

[Moridin]

Nope, no animating. The guy who made it (Dr. Petter) meant for it to only sculpt models.

One thing you can do however, is export the models and import them in a program like Blender or Maya/3dsMax and animate them from there. I find that very easy to do actually .
Edit: Also, if you look at the forums there are other programs made by the members to be used as supplements. There's one to help make new materials and one to overlay reference images before you sculpt.