Jesse Brady

Scratch that! Where has MODO been all my life! Looks amazing at half the cost of Maya! I cant believe it's only $1500 after looking at the tool set. Will definitely give that a try!! haha

Thank you to those that mentioned it here!

mantragora
For illustrations and printing in a publishing company Houdini would be my last choice. There is a reason why concept guys and other artists doesn't use it. In your case my advice is to look into Modo + Zbrush. They will serve you better.

Haha, thanks Mantragora…I'm getting that vibe from some of the responses. I think my next move will be to try to get them to spring for Maya. I already know and love Maya, so I hope they go for it.

You guys have been great. If I ever get into Houdini, it's nice to know that there's a good group backing it.

Wow, thank you guys for all the insight…that's actually super helpful! Right now, we use a program called Strata Design CX 7 at work…and it's pretty painful. The code is archaic and buggy, and Strata hasn't even gotten around to adding basic features that free programs have had for years (the rendering is pretty good though) I used Maya before this, and liked it…the new versions look even better…

One of the things that I really need is good modelling tools…Strata has no modelling helps…like mirroring symmetry or smoothing/bulging brushes, and everything takes so long to create… so I think I'll jump into the Houdini demo and check it out. I hope I like the nodes!