[Elowan]

My faves:

2D:

• PaintShop Pro - most bang for the buck. Layers; color substitution; alpha channels; batch processing; great effects built in (Sculpture for example).
• MediaCenter - cataloging graphics (and audio and movies)
  

3D:

• Lightwave 7.n - splitting modeler/viewer was a good move. Comes with some great plug-ins. Dongle is a PITA however.
• Rhino - easiest to learn. Imports most formats. Most intuitive interface.
• Animation Master - best animator bar none. A little buggy but company very responsive to user input and fixes are implemented quickly. Needs lots of RAM. For figure modeling and IK - nothing can touch it.
  

I have all the rest (my company humors me) but use the above the most.
PovRay, Moray and Doga are not worth the effort - in my view - even if they are 'free' (see below).

Maya is a pain-in-the-a**. Frankly, I think it's over-rated.

gMax is an app that never seems to do right by me. Why doesn't it import Max files? Textures often get 'lost' on importing. Some have had good luck with it and it's free. Much better than Doga et al in my opinion.

3DS Max is a good all-around application but pricey ($3,195.00). I wouldn't let the company buy it - got an older Version off E-bay instead.

Deep Exploration is over-priced but is one-helluva multi-format viewer.

[ November 14, 2002, 17:16: Message edited by: Elowan ]