Originally posted by BrUtUs:
erm wats with adobe n macromedia s/w? can do animations ma....
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
Nevermind me. I'm just goofing.