Best 3D Software

I ran a search for this and didn't find anything.
What is the best 3D software on the market for 3D rendering?
What has the easiest learning curve?
What are the advantages/disadvantages for each?
What has the most documentation as far as learning the software?
What is the cheapest?

ok from what I can tell it appears that 3DSMax is the best for beginners followed by Maya, Lightwave, then Bryce. Anyone agree/disagree?

I disagree. I wouldn't consider Bryce a professional level product. I would consider it the easiest to learn. The others you mentioned, however, I would consider equal in their level of functionality, learning curve. For cost, Lightwave would be the winner.

best 3d app on the market?

- depends what you want to do exactly. movies, games, comercials, web, print, etc they all have different features and are all designed for different purposes. so theres no one that is "best". The best one is one that most suits your needs.

easiest learning curve?

- i have used pretty much all of them out there, i found lightwave to be the easiest to use and learn.

advantages/disadvantages of each?

- like i said depends on what you want to do, its not really advantages/disadvantages its more what each program was designed to do.

documentation

- you will find most of the major apps have good documentation and the web has a world of information, tutorials and resources available.

cheapest

- there are some free ones around like blender. but if you want a really good app you will have to pay good money for them.

in terms of which one is best, really depents on the person using it. i have seen great works from artists using all the different apps and even people producing better work on the cheap apps compared to the highend stuff. so it all depends on the artis and how they make use of the software.

the ones i would suggest as entry level or mid level are these:

lightwave (recommended)
3d max
cinema4d

these 3 are well priced, have great support and will allow you to produce just about anything you want.

have a look at their websites and judge for yourself.

i choose lightwave for its ease of use, great rendering and modelling and i think its the designers 3d app. the others a slightly more technically orientated. (and i started using it on the amiga )

Personally, I prefer Maya

Okay sadly this is going to be an extremely cut post since i'm very tired, but i'll hopefully have some time 2morrow if you check back to edit it up and add some more information such as the websites for each of these programs, as well as there learning curve and price. Untill then good luck with googling all the names .


3D Studio Max
SoftimageXSI
Houdini
Mirai
Lightwave
Maya
Poser
Bryce
Animation Maker
Cinema 4D
Strata 3D
Gimp
Shade
Inferno
Metasequia
GMax
Caligary Truespace
Blender 3D
Milkshape 3D

No specific order, last three can be obtained for free, if thats what your looking for though Milkshpae is only for low polygon renders. I'll add some more info later in either another post or an edit, hope that at least put some of the hundreds of choices out there in one place for you.

and now Good night.