Need 3D modeler recomendation.

I am learning game design in Unity. I am making 3D models in Blender ,... because it is free. and there are tutorials on Lynda.com. Is there another 3D modeling package that I need to learn that would work better? Looking for something under $500. ... BTW I am taking the Unity certification class at Klamath Community College in Oregon (USA).

 

Have you ran into something you really want to do, but that you simply can't do in Blender due to it being the tool? Note that I'm referring to being beyond the tool, not being beyond your knowledge of the tool. In my(and many others') opinion, Blender is more than capable enough for the needs for the creation of art for 3d games. The most common reason I personally have seen that people don't like Blender is the interface and/or the learning curve. If you already know Blender somewhat, you may as well just keep using it and learning it.

 

Thanks... I am a couple of courses into Blender on Lynda.com... I have basic modeling down. ... My back ground is that I worked 35yrs as a AutoCAD drafter... did a LOT of 3D technical stuff.... I am finding that organic mesh modeling to be a different concept.. I miss not being able to draw a complex closed line and being able to extrude or rotate it. But I guess I will stick with blender.

 

You CAN draw a complex closed line and extrude or rotate it. You could do it either directly in Blender with curves or the relatively new feature to create geometry from the grease pen. Or you could create the curve using freehand pen in something like Illustrator or Inkscape and then import that into Blender.

The only catch to that specific case is that depending on how you do it, you may end up with too much geometry, and it may not be very good geometry. Of course if it is for a static model it doesn't matter much, but for something organic that will be animating you may need cleaner geometry. It is all part of the learning curve though.

 

Coming from autocad you would probably feel more comfortable in 3D Max because it has a lot of similar tools cad uses in the spline tools, and has a bunch of inner-operability from cad to Max.
With that said - Max isn't cheap nor free, and if you can create in a free app what you could create in a paid for app - I'd also stick with the free app.

You will probably find a similar feeling with organic modeling in most all other 3D modeling packages, simply because it's just a different thought process and workflow than what you are used to coming from cad.

However - you might want to consider sculptris (free) or mudbox ($10/month subscription) for organic modeling.
These are sculpting packages that allow for an even more 'different' workflow than probably what you are used to - it's more like sculpting with clay - without the need to worry about polygon count - check out a couple videos and see if that is a process you might like to investigate.
(simplified workflow description) A lot of artists start out in a sculpting package, create an organic shape then run a reduction tool to reduce the polygons to be use in 3D or game engine. Port the model into 3D for rigging/animating then port into game engine.

 

Blender is excellent tool, not only for it's price but overall. I hear it lacks a bit in animation and rigging methods and I believe that might be true, but everything can be done with Blender.

I think it has excellent UI and lately every update has made it so much better. It's funny when I think that "Blender could use this and that feature" and boom, in the next update they all have been added! Even FBX exporting works great now, it used to be kinda wonky before.