Louis Hazard, For a very limited time you can get Curvy at 75% off here:
https://secure.shareit.com/shareit/checkout.html?PRODUCT[300602656]=1&COUPON1=CURVY-BONUS-75

The discount coupon is included in the link:
CURVY-BONUS-75

Aartform, Something garbled the link... you can go here:
http://www.curvy3d.com/order.html

And use coupon for 75% off:
CURVY-BONUS-75

Enjoy!

Aartform, THANK YOU!!!!! A wonderful discount!!!

L. Cleveland Major, Hi, yes you should be creating your own 3D models in the first hour. Especially if you have prior 3D experience.
I recommend having a quick look at the gallery pages - several of these pictures were made by users in their first hours with Curvy:
http://www.curvy3d.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=35

Aartform, Hello. My apologies, but I received your response too late. By the time it reached my inbox the GOTD time limit had expired. I did go and have a look at some of the stuff done with Curvy 3D, and must say I'm impressed. One thing I never learned about it is this: Can models made in Curvy 3D be exported and used in other applications? Does Curvy 3D use vertex modeling methods? What formats can be exported, if any?

L. Cleveland Major, I think the GOTD contest runs for several days (not sure why you would see it as expired). In any case, Curvy exports to OBJ, which is widely imported by other software.

Curvy modelling usually takes 2 stages: First is curve based primitives, these are easy to draw and edit. Next is sculpting and merging - this stage drops the curves in favor of a vertex mesh, with the added benefit of automatically remeshing the model as you sculpt to add detail where needed. Now, while this uses a vertex model it is much more like clay sculpting - you don't really edit the model vertex by vertex.

Aartform, Thank you for your response. I actually prefer the Vertex Modeling style, as most sculpting applications tend to add far more polygons in areas where detailed geometry is added. the sculpting process creates polygons as the geometry is painted on. The is why I uninstalled the free Sculptris application. The Poly Count gets too high very quickly, and having to go back through the area to remove as much geometry as can be removed without compromising the desired shape becomes an exercise in tedium. With vertex modeling I can control the amount of polygons, far more easily. I do not model many soft body style meshes, as my models are things like tools, vehicles, furniture, and accessories for use in other applications such as Poser and DAZ Studio. Indeed high polygon counts make for some excellent looking figure type models, but I am not really into making those types of models.

Again, I thank you for your response, but at this time I won't be needing this modeler.

L. Cleveland Major, I usually work with a vertex model alongside a sculpt model, using normal maps to put the sculpted detail onto the low-poly mesh eg:
http://www.curvy3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=2957

You are right - for hard edge shapes like tools/vehicles other techniques are best - vertices, subdivision surfaces, nurbs and so on. Curvy is good at organic shapes and you can mix and match other techniques with different software where needed.

Aartform,

"Curvy is good at organic shapes and you can mix and match other techniques with different software where needed."

With sincere apologies for butting in on the conversation, I thought it *might* be useful for others reading this if I added that software using a sculpting approach like Curvy works for some creatives, making model creation easier -- I'd even go so far as saying for some it makes it possible.

Everyone's brain works a bit differently -- it's not a matter of intelligence -- and some people frankly cannot master the more common types of 3D software to create models. It's not unheard of to have a sculptor create physical models that are scanned using special 3D rigs.

So regardless Any technical benefit you might get from using more common modeling software, for an awful lot of creative people, something like Curvy is the Only sort of app or tool that they can really use.

mike, Thanks for that comment - a good number of Curvy users had become frustrated with traditional engineering style modelling programs, and happily found in Curvy they could focus on having fun creating for the first time.

Over the years several other programs have arisen that offer a variety of sketch and sculpting paradigms as alternative to the more geometric/technical style modelling. It is a great time to start in 3D!

Ari, you can use the full version of Curvy for commercial work, with the same license as normal customers. The ful license can be found here:
http://www.curvy3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=2917