Welcome to 3D 4 Free

I've been a Mac based 3dcg artist for 17 years. In that time I've seen my favorite tools disappear into the oblivion of free market competition. Swivel3D. Infini-D. MacroModel. Extreme 3D. Ray Dream Designer. Carrara (not dead yet but thrice orphaned). Hexagon (not dead yet, but twice orphaned).
You'll notice that most of these are low end tools, this is because most of my work is done for print. High end animation studio tools like SoftImage, 3D Studio Max, Houdini and Maya are overkill (and over-budget) for my modest needs. But the high end isn't really a guarantee of staying power. Alias aquired Wavefront and created Maya. But Discreet (makers of 3D Studio Max) bought Alias to aquire Maya. Maya and 3DS Max are in general competing in the same market space. How long do you think Maya will last? SoftImage was bought by Microsoft in the mid '90s and then spun off again. Mirai who's long lineage goes back to Symbolics in the 1980's is in development limbo at Izware.
So, I finally wised up in 1992. A programmer friend, Mike Boeh, suggested I look at Wings 3D a free open source 3D modeler inspired by Nichiman Graphics Nendo (now from Izware). Wings 3d is a polygon modeler that allows for subdivision surface smoothing.
I fell in love with Wings 3D. This love led me to explore what was to me the frontiers of open source development. It was at this time that Blender from NaN was opensourced after NaN closed it's doors. The original developer, Ton Roosendal, stuck with the software and created the Blender Foundation. Blender today is now one of the most advanced and actively developed 3D tools available. And since it is open source it is availabe for almost every computer platform imaginable.
Since 2004 Blender has been my 3D tool of choice. I will on occassion use other tools as needed, but in general Blender does it all for me. So much of what you will see posted here will be my work in Blender and news and info about Blender and other open source tools.
I have no illusion of becoming hub of information for this topic. There are many people far more passionate about open source software and Blender in particular. Be sure to check out Blendernation for daily up to date news on Blender.