3D software

I'm occasionally (usually?) go off on unproductive tangents, and this may be one of them, but I've recently gotten increasingly interested art, in particular in fantasy and sci/fi art. It seems there's a lot of powerful software out there for those interested in creating 3D models on the computer.

I first got interested with the video game Spore that lets you create your own animated creatures or design buildings or spaceships. It got me at least interested enough to see what real artists use to create some similar type scenes.

Anyhow, there's a free program out the call DAZ 3D that is one of these programs, and part of the user agreement is that I tell 2 people about it - so since I don't really have any friends into art, this is my effort to satisfy that agreement.

some other software that might be worth investigating. I've downloaded alot of free versions, but don't know much about using them yet.

General 3D
Blender - open source free 3D app
Carrerra - not free, but integrates with DAZ
Hexagon - integrates with DAZ, the sample video here is very similar to building creatures in Spore - but gives the user considerably more control of the minute shaping of the creature.


3D Landscapes
Bryce - Not free, but it integrates with Daz3D and I'm probably going to buy it and play around with it over the holidays.
Terragen - I've played around with the free classic version, but the newer version is alot more powerful. I
Mojoworld
Vue Pioneer - looks pretty powerful and there is a free version with limitations. For only $49 though it has some versions with more functions and has alot of plants, something that seems lacking in some of the 3D landscaping tools.