Software to create 3d animation/video

[mukeshs]

Hi

I am looking to create a 3D animation/video which I can output to MPEG2 to play or my DVD Player.
The sort of animation/video I am interested in is something like what you see at the beginning of movies( 20 second video). ie Universal, 21st century fox, Paramount etc.

Any recommendation of software packages that does this, would be appreciated.

Thanks

[guns1inger]

There are several freebie 3D programs, the most notable of which is probably Blender. Microsoft now own and are giving away Caligari TrueSpace, and a quick search through sourceforge and other sites will find more such tools. Then you have the payware tools, starting at the bottom end with Daz3D's products, and moving up (in $ and complexity) through tools such as LightWave, 3dsmax, Maya, XSI and Houdini. Some of these have resolution reduced student or learning versions available at lower cost.

3D is not something you just jump into and immediately start producing. It is complicated, and has a pretty steep learning curve. Thankfully there are tons of tutorials and resources out on the net.

If, however, you need something in a hurry, you might be better off looking at one of the dedicated titling tools, such as Bluff Titler.