I have used Anim8or, and I found it very simple and easy to use. The only problem might be that it may not have some features that would be helpful. I haven't done a lot of 3D work, I have used it mainly for small animations just to make myself laugh. (such as a stickman fight) but I found it very simple and easy to use.
Hope this helps,
Svenjamin

Visual Studio really is the way to go if one wants to get into 3D programming. I would also recommend going with C#. Why? Because it is the bastard child of C++, Java, and Visual Basic, taking all the good points and throwing away all the bad. It really is that good and with the mono project, it is cross platform as well. Download the Visual Studio C# Express Editon for free (a damn good IDE and compiler) and download the DirectX SDK and start peering through the tutorials. It is a bit daunting, but there are a gazillion tutorials out now to get you on the right track.

Also, Microsoft is working on putting out the XNA framework, which has an "extensive set of class libraries, specific to game development exercises, to promote maximal code reuse across target platforms". The beta builds are very promising. One very cool thing about XNA is that it'll allow artists to stick with working in MotionBuilder and not messing with stupid formats like .x, because XNA can work directly with the MotionBuilder files. Click here for more info on XNA.

Quote: Original post by Salsa
You want ridiculously simple? Check out Silo 3D.

If you can save up $800 or so and go buy yourself Modo 201.

hrmm can't seem to select more than one vertex(maybe the tool to do it is hidden?)

So far I've found anim8or to be the easiest to model in but when it comes to animating and rendering I'm certain there's other packages that do it better.

Here's hoping anim8or 1.0 fixes a lot of the outstanding issues with the program.

Quote: OK guys I'm in a similar situation as polyfrag but with the situation reversed. I want to learn how to do some very fundamental 3D Programming. I'm not looking to be the next Carmack, but just be able to do some skeletal animation and normal mapping to test my art.
What is the easiest language? C++ or C# or Java or DarkBasic or something else? Also what's the best program? Visual Studio is way too confusing. It also needs to be free!

polyfrag do you have any suggestions on what to do?

The easiest language I know that supports OpenGL is BASIC. I looked at some tutorials on http://nehe.gamedev.net/ and they also show the code for REALbasic and Power Basic. If you learn to do it in these languages, it will be easy to redo the same thing in C/C++ if you decide to learn it later on. If you're ever having trouble you can always ask people on the forum what's wrong with your code.

I hope that helps.

OK well the meaning of my post seems to have been lost a bit (rarely do I need to tone UP the sarcasm), but the result worked I guess.
My point is, there is no easy solution to your question. What I asked was pretty much the programming equivalent to what you asked. 3D, however you cut it, is a very complicated beast. Just as it'd be absurd for me to jump into programming, not having any background in it, and expect to do skeletal animation and normal mapping off the bat, how can you expect to do animation and make models? There is no easy solution for either of us. Interfaces you call cluttered are not for veterans, because all of the interface serves a purpose. I want to learn C++, what the hell are all these classes for? I don't need them all! But of course they're needed. And if I wanted a language that was very basic and fundamental and therefore easy, how could I expect to do anything with it?
However because of the ease of acquiring, legally or illegally, 3D software, people think they are automatically qualified for models or that there are some shortcuts. The only shortcut I know of to getting 3D art is a credit card and turbosquid.
Instead, get a program, spend a couple DAYS learning it, instead of spending two days looking for an easy solution and complaining about a tool's complication. 3D art is art however you cut it, but with extremely technical and complicated tools. So, please, do not jump on a forum and expect an easy answer or solution; NOTHING can replace studying and practice and learning and more practice. There is no magic program with a magic program that translates whats in your mind to whats on the screen, and there is no magic program that adds just a couple steps between them. You're going to need to learn your tools, and the more powerful the tool the longer it takes to learn. No way around this, just something you have to accept and meet that challenge.

You're welcome.

I use blender for the most part. The interface is complex, but it has many features and isn't really all that difficult if you just try it out and check the videos.

Hi, everyone

I see you are quite well informed about these things and I would appreciate if you coud spare some time to answer me some questions about this XSI mod tool.
Is this tool capable of creating models for "serious" games such as ES4-Oblivion, how do I insert that object into something written in openGL, does openGL have some king of support for XSI file type or do I have to parse it myself somehow...

Quote: Original post by butthead
Is this tool capable of creating models for "serious" games such as ES4-Oblivion?

Almost any package is capable, but XSI has a long track record, so yes.

Quote: how do I insert that object into something written in openGL, does openGL have some king of support for XSI file type or do I have to parse it myself somehow...

Nope, you can either parse it your self or use XSI's library (can't remember the name), but either way you will still have to renderer it your self.

Being in the same situation (I'm a coder) and having about 6 years of experiences with my own project I will give you this advice:
Start with blender !

As a programmer you finally need to export the data to your (custom) format and this will be quite a difficult and time consuming task (I've written a custom max exporter including skeletal animation witch was quite 'fun' ).

So, stick with blender and take a look at collada (http://www.khronos.org/collada/). Collada is a free modelling exchange format. There're free support libaries (DOM[document object model] support) which will provide you with enough functionality to write your own model-importer or model-converter.
At last collada exporters are developed for the most common modelling tools including blender, max and many more. So, changing your modeling tool later will not hurt so much.