Of any quality!? Well I can produce lots of inferior quality models easily.

CB Model Pro is easier to use than photoshop.

Modo was created by the original programmers of LightWave 3D.  Both have EXCELLENT modeling programs.  Intuitive interfaces, easy for novices, all the tools of the pros.

If you are more art/paint/sculpture savvy, you might also want to check out Zbrush. 

If you can get the Maya student edition at that price, it's a great deal!  It's the most widely used package right now, but not as intuitive as some of the newer products on the market.  But if you intend to work in the field, you will have to learn Maya one day. 

Speaking as a 3d professional, avoid Blender, Cinema 4d, etc. if this is something you one day intend to do as a career.  If, on the other hand, you are a hobbyist just looking to experiment, try demos of everything and see what works for you.

Good luck!

If you are a traditional artist, Zbrush is the future of 3d modeling.  My team last year designed and built the most elaborate, highest quality CGI models ever created and Zbrush was a huge part of that pipeline.

Seems very interesting....except for the price of 900 bucks, but i want try the trial version, thanks for the link kenwas

$900...$6000...$1500 for CS4. HELP!!!

I'll go with my freebies. At least they don't hurt so much.

Ohhhhhhhhh! That makes more sence

Ha yeah. Maya is complex but once you learn the basics, it's all experimenting from there....I hated it in the beginning (Today was my last day as a Freshman..SUMER 09!!!) because I was so used to Pro-E (CAD Application) but now I'm great at it!

Blender is really great. I haven't tried the other big ones but I don't know why people say it's so hard. Plus, I've found heaps of resources.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro

http://blenderartists.org/forum/index.php?s=ec35c22d7eda8f0987681d441a4fe2fa

http://matrep.parastudios.de/index.php

http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/

The issue with Blender is that it just isn't at the level of the professional tools we use in the industry. 

Have fun playing with it, sure.  But if you are a student on his way to approaching the professional market, there is only Maya (film, games) and LightWave (film, tv, games) left still standing in a meaningful way.  A few of the major companies (Pixar, ILM) use a lot of internal software, but generally that is written around the Maya or LightWave APIs. 

Everything else (3dstudio Max, Cinema 4d, SoftImage) has passed by the wayside and you can count the numbers of companies still using these packages on one hand - and none of them are major players.

But if you are just having FUN, to see if this is something you'd like to do, there are LOTS of free programs and GREAT student discounts on the pro packages. 

LightWave, for example, runs in DEMO mode if you don't own a license.  And that's more than enough to accomplish a great deal.

Good luck in your quest!

Thanks for the insight. I always thought the level of mediocrity of my models was because of my lack of skill, does this mean I get to blame it on Blender's limited features? I always thought it was nearly as good as professional apps, mainly because I never had any comparison and because of what I saw in the Blender art gallery.

I'll try LW. Here's a link to my Photobucket account; most of it is renders of my models. I never could progress beyond a very limited stage of detail, and if I did there were lots of problems with the model (hard to explain).

http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z262/Foam_Total_War/?start=20

A pretty good program from Google is SketchUp...and it's free too. They have some great video tutorials on how to use it.

I've also used Wings 3D, as others have mentioned, it is free and relatively simple to use.

This is utter nonsense.  use the program you feel would help you get familiar with 3d space easier.  Once you're used to working in 3d space, any package is easy to learn within a week.   Max is still the most widely used package out.  i don't know where he's getting his stats about maya.  XSI is becoming mor eand more popular amongst artists in the industry.   Companies that use max include, Rockstar games, Blizzard, Bioware.  and many other small startups, Companies that use Maya solely...  In gaming that hasn't been heavily modified with custom scripts to help the artists.  I can't think of any Maybe Ubisoft, but they don't use maya only.  Of course you'll get your small studios, but players like EA have heavily modified Maya.  So as an artist working for EA you'll be alearning something new anyways.  Softimage.  Players that use this include Ubisoft, Ironclad, Krysoft, Valve.

Then we go into Movie houses.  I know a lot of people in the film industry, the use everything from maya, to lightwave to Softimage, Mudbox and zbrush.  There is no one package that dominates them all.  I know for one that ILM uses Softimage a lot in their modeling departments.

Anyway, I get annoyed when I hear people talking about how maya is teh answer to all 3d needs. The truth is, it's not.  A 3d Package is only as good as an artist, and as the way things are going.  There are plenty studios out there that'll give you a choice.  If you want to get a professional level software package that is easy to learn and get used to, I'd pick suggest you get the xsi mod tool. it's free and softimage has tutorials on their website.

When it comes to modeling, it's all just points in space with polygons connecting them. How you draw them is your call, not the software package.

Maya isn't better than Max or Softimage
Softimage issn't better than max or Maya

Max isnt better than Maya or Softimage.

If you get a job in this field and you only know one package, you'll have to learn another one some day.  So just get familiar.  DOn't listen to people that just suggest one, they're talking nonsence

Now THAT is utter nonsense. 

While I agree with you that learning the BASICS of 3D space can be accomplished using any 3d package, in about a week, there are an infinite number of approaches to the given problems of A+ animation and visual effects, and the high end ones require YEARS of on hands professional knowledge in each given package.   And that's AFTER you've spent years learning it (either on your own or in a degreed program) well enough to generate a reel proficient enough to get an entry level job.  And then, it will take you another 10+ years of professional on-the-job experienced before you will be good enough to interview for someone like me. 

So, you can be "annoyed" all you want, but my credentials include every gold statue the world awards for visual effects.  Therefore, my background comes from the perspective of the major players, not one guy in their garage.  Adjust the weight you give my advice accordingly.

For example, the multimillion dollar pipeline I built just last year used Maya for the major character animation and LightWave for rendering, fx, environments, and secondary animated characters.  We used Modo, Zbrush, LightWave, Maya, and even SoftImage to model the creatures, characters, environments, and props--and this was generally by the choice of the artist as these were many of the top digital artists in the world, so they've earned a great deal of latitude, IMHO.

Regarding ILM.  They use a very customized version of SoftImage for some tasks.  And it is by no means the same as you will find "off the shelf".  Not even close.  Disney uses Maya with a host of custom API code as well as internal tools.  Digital Domain uses a Maya/LightWave pipeline and is adding another package into their mix right now.  Etc. etc.

So, hobbyist wise, yes, use whatever you enjoy, from Poser to Blender, but if you intend to do this professionally, I recommend you put your efforts into learning the tools and techniques of the trade as it is practiced today.

thanks for your input at the mo im just preparing for exams, but im messing around with java using processing's core library and I just wanted to know the easiest one to make a smallish wire-frame starship

hehe, then just grab whatever program that is free and easy for you to "get" at first blush.