Anybody know what software would be best for creating virtual landscapes, where I can create roads on bump-mapped terrain and place buildings imported from Google Sketchup? I'm trying to re-create the town which I live in the 1950s, virtually. I've got all the building and vehicle models I need, as well as mapping and topographic information. I just need a program that I can build it in. Sketchup doesn't seem very good for landscapes. Crysis's Sandbox Editor is okay, but is really catered for gaming, and isn't compatible with much.
You could give blender a try, it's free and you can import models from a number of other 3D applications. http://www.blender.org/
urgh blender. Get 3dsmax and the architecture model pack. Learn to model, create shaders, rig lighting scenes up and render. Be amazed.
For easy to use 3d landscape stuff, Bryce is really easy to learn and use, and relatively cheap The other serious landscape specialist software you may want to check out is Vue For the serious general 3d stuff, Blender is of course free, but in addition to 3ds, thre's Maya Personal Learning Edition is free for learning / non-commercial use ( not sure, but there may be some rendering limitations like a watermark)
not if you use the "trial" version. Hell how do they expect students to learn their software otherwise, so then they go into the industry and say "oh i know xyz does it really well" then they buy 2384854 licenses making up for that loss.
I'm not sure any company really spends $2.4bn on 3D modeling programs on the whim of a single employee but I could be wrong.
Second Bryce and/or Vue. They went through a phase of relaeasing free, unlimited versions of older editions on cover CDs so you'd want to upgrade. In any case Bryce is still only £75,-- of so. The trickier part is to import Sketchup models. Bryce will import .DFX models and SketchUp Pro will export them --but the Pro version only offers limited trial runtime in hours. My fix: use Google Sketchup for design; keep copy of Sketchup Pro only for a quick launch, open Sketchup file, export in the desired format, close.
