Vertex?

Whilst learning to animate is the primary focus of this whole exercise, I’d also like to be able to build things. A demo reel filled with nothing but Norman rigs would start to look a little like an Animation Mentor student showcase (The bitter snipe is only because I can’t bloody afford to join in myself). I’ve never really got NURBS, but polygon modeling was something that always made sense. Maya is good at both and I’ve developed a love for the damn package, despite the occasional beach balling lockup.

Glen pointed out Silo; a brilliant sub-d modeler for which he’s created a huge amount of tutorial content. The pro version does UV’s and has a topology tool, but the core version has everything I need and is only $79 USD.

It looked good, so gave the free trial a shot. There are some adjustments to be made on a Mac around navigation, but the keyboard and mouse can be completely remapped. In all, it’s a great little package and because the workflow and shortcuts are the same it doesn’t feel like I have to learn a whole new program.