Good 3D Animation/Rendering program?

[Anthony675]

Hey all,

Our company is currently looking into finding a program that can render, currently using Hypershot, and animate, currently using SketchUp, in one instead of using the two.

We are mainly using it for very simple purposes like marine equipment and switchboards. The main purpose of the animation is to show a quick walkthrough of the electronics, maybe the doors opening to the switchboards and the lights turning on an off. However we also want this to be a rendered animation, unlike those in SketchUp.

I have only browsed quickly but the first two that have popped up so far are Spine3D and EIAS (electronic image animation system). These animations are fairly simple along with the renderings. We just want a realistic looking animation that can get the job done without needing 20 people to work on the file like in Maya.

Any suggestions or help would be much appreciated, thanks!

Anthony

Edit: Sorry for double post, comp froze on me

 

[atomic tofu]

do you know about blender?
blender.org - Home
Blender & - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Anthony675]

Yeah, i am actually checking that out now. Seems to be a little more confusing, interface wise to the newer user, but gonna give it a while to see if I can't pick up some of the shortcuts. Haven't tried any renderings or animations yet, but it looks like it is simple enough just from the tutorials. Any other suggestions?

 

[KSoD]

The only thing i know of is AutoCAD and i dont even know if that will do what you want...

 

[zedman3d]

The only thing i know of is AutoCAD and i dont even know if that will do what you want...

Nup, it wont. Go with Blender....