I like AutoCAD and SolidWorks. But, both are pricey. AutoCAD probably has the shortest learning curve.
Corel makes a poor-man's product (name escapes me -- Dream3D?) that might be suitable for your needs as it is targeted to the types of folks who would use PhotoPaint (Corel's version of PhotoShop).
MetaCreations (Kai) makes Bryce which is a bit too weird for my tastes :-/
You can also look into trueSpace but the user interface is very un-intuitive.
Solidworks, Catia, SolidEdge, Autocad, etc are "industrial standards". These packages do way more than just 3d modelling but also generally some type of rendering and/or simulation.
If you plan on spend a lot of time in this area you might "invest" in one of those packages.
There's Wings 3D. Supports several import and export formats in addition to its native format. Free, so it's worth a try. The "native" 3D part models in the EDA package KiCad are all done with Wings 3D, which is where I ran across it.
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Google also has one (hands up, whoever is surprised). I've played with it a little.
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And there is (supposed to be) a free version of Alibre Design. As noted
Alibre doesn't make a lot of noise about this being available but AFAIK it is still there.
And in addition to these, most modern 2D CAD programs will support more or less 3D rendering. Look for the ability to handle ACIS solids or, at a minimum, extruded and rotated faces. Most of the Intellicad family should have this capability, AutoCad (presumably ;-), Bricscad, etc.
"Industry standard" together with "as simple as possible" is impossible :-) I use ViaCAD for mechanical parts. It is very easy to use and powerful. An example I created with it:
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For sculpting I use Blender (
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)
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Blender is more difficult to use, but you it is possible to do animations and water simulation with it:
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