I got some Christmas money and thought I would spring for a commercial 3D modeller to compliment (but not replace) Wings3D.

I've tried Blender and it confuses the hell out of me. I also have Truespace 4.3 (computer art's mag
cover cd) and I don't feel comfortable with it's interface as well.... I also have Cinema4D ver 6 CE but the models always mess up when I import them into Vue 5.... Plus it's textures awlays get lost  when exported as an OBJ... I know about the Riptide plugin but that only works with higher versions of Cinema4D...

So I'm leaning towards Hexagon 2 or Silo 1.4. I've heard many good things about both from Wings3D users...

It is my understanding from reading reviews of these two apps that Silo has the easier interface but Hexagon has more features and better texturing/UV mapping tools.

I've also heard Silo is much more stable then Hexagon....

Am I correct on my comments above?

Any other comments would be much appreciated...

Thanks kindly and happy new year...!!!!!!

Ken

Well .. I have SILO AND HEX .. i think Hex is a damn fine program ..but not finished...
And all the things that bugged me are still in there and no sight of a update to fix em..
SILO i got because of the major problems in Hex .. and its A good Modeler .. but its more difficult to get grip due to lack of manual ..and loads of key combi's .. 
But when you get SILO 1.4 now you GET 2.0 for free !! "check site if this is still on"
And the things i see people make with S2 beta are damn fine...
I got to SILO because one of my favo modelrs use's it ..and that made me get it
AND the price is Good .....

"ps but if someone like to donate me $ i get 3D max in a flash :} "

Chris

Try the demos.

Get Silo.  It is better supported than Hexagon.

Does either one come with a printed manual? Which one has the better support as far as tutorials or books? Which one has the better texturing tools?

Thanks kindly...

Kenmo

Just look at silo3d.com and nevercenter.com

It is very personal. I have tried Blender and Shade and a bunch of other modellers but it finally clicked with Silo, which works the way I think. Maybe you think differently.

I'm trying both demos.... I think I would prefer Hexagon over Silo as Silo doesn't offer any tools that Wings3D doesn't  already have, except for the lathe tool...

However Hexagon doesn't appear to have a lathe tool...but does have an extrude line which really doesn't interest me...

If Hex had a lathe tool I think I would purchase it...

I would go for Silo. Support will be there in the long term. Hes is a godo idea and if were still in tehhands of Eovia it would be a godo choice but it is not. I think Hex has  afew to many keystrokes and bugs in it to interest me anymore. I have both also. (well only a demo of silo) P{ersonally I still like wings better for some reason than either.  Better edge handling and better odd tools . I like hex's renderer a lot I think it is one of the better looking modelers out there as far as screenshots go but that is not what gets work done. Basically hex coudl be good but all the people who wrote the software are fired and noone is working on it now.

 I have AC3D which is cool for some things has a few odd tools that none of the others have and it is cheaper than either. has a nice path extrude and lathe tool plus greeble and hair plug ins available. AC3D can handle a lot more polygons than wings does.

Just took a peek at AC3D. How well does the texture co-ordinator & UV Mapper work?

UV mapper is pretty crude but you can do some simple shapes prettty quick but I would not use it to map say a human figure no unfolding options. Texture coordinatior you can use liek Wings make colors and then in your renderer you can apply different mats to your colors.  Soem cool tools in it. Like the mirror tool not as good as wings for organic things but say you are makign a car you can mirror the tires and they will show up at the right spot on the other side of the car. Try the demo see if you like it. No displacment painting though.

I have both Hex2 and Silo 1.42 and would choose Silo.  Browse through the public Beta 2  WIP thread at:

http://www.silo3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6806

and check out what some really good modelers are doing with Silo.

As mentioned, version 2 is free if you purchase 1.4 now  (plus you can participate in the beta if you want.).

I've re-discovered  Cinema4D ver 6CE that has been included free on a few magazine cover cd-roms. After evaluating demos of Hex and Silo, I'm of the opinion neither of these apps would give me any thing C4D does not have... Other then maybe some better uv mapping/texturing tools...

It also has been suggested Blender for uv mapping would be a nice compliment to Cinema4D and Wings3D. No interest in using Blender for modelling though....

Thanks you all for your kind responses...