Maya or 3D Studio Max?

[disillusioned]

Maya or 3D Studio Max? for beginner looking to start some modeling, skinning etc.
Many people say that 3D Studio Max is better but why??

 

[Czar]

3dsmax without a doubt


alias the creators of maya were bought out few weeks ago by autodesk, the creators of max

 

[wkinney]

you can afford maya??

 

[disillusioned]

who said anything about buying???

 

[KoolDrew]

I prefer 3DS Max.

 

[AdamSnow]

Originally posted by: disillusioned
who said anything about buying???

Piracy is not permited on the boards...

 

[thecrecarc]

Originally posted by: AdamSnow

Originally posted by: disillusioned
who said anything about buying???

Piracy is not permited on the boards...

yup. BAN

 

[mundane]

Originally posted by: disillusioned
who said anything about buying???

IIRC, Maya has a free Personal Learning Edition. It watermarks the resulting renders, but other than that it has full functionality.

There are other, free 3d modeling tools. They don't have all the capabilities of the afore-mentioned applications, but they are decent for beginners.

 

[rbV5]

As of October 6, 2005, Autodesk will no longer offer Gmax® software as a stand-alone product.

Link

Looks like gMax is dead, which is too bad since it offered a decent introduction into 3DSMax tools.

If you want to play with Source or Unreal, Softimage XSI mod tool is nice, and you get to use the full XSI toolset Link

 

[sandorski]

Depends on what you want to do. Are you wanting to make content for Games or Movies?

For Games, 3dsMax is preffered, though Maya works very well. Add in that the company that makes 3dsMax just bought out the company that makes Maya and are planning to make Maya more Movie orientated and 3dsMax Game orientated should probably weigh heavily into what you ultimately choose.

For making Movies Maya is clearly superior, though 3dsMax has some capapbility(not sure how extensive) as well.

For the last 1.5 years I have been learning Maya using the PLE for making content in UT2k4. Mainly because Maya 5 PLE was included with the game and not due to superiority. I like Maya, a lot, but only because I know my way around it.

As rbV5 mentions, Softimage XSI is also very good and has a much more affordable basic version(if you are a student Maya has a $400ish version and Max a $600ish version) of $600ish.

 

[disillusioned]

thanks everyone

 

[Czar]

autodesk hasnt anounced any plans regarding what they will do with maya.. still just speculations

what makes this kinda scary for maya users is that the new version of 3dsmax will be anounced in the next few months, all new code and all new name and stuffffff.... after that we will see what will happen to maya

 

[rbV5]

what makes this kinda scary for maya users is that the new version of 3dsmax will be anounced in the next few months

Another new one!, yikes I just now got my v8.0 demo this week from Autodesk!

 

[swamyg1]

From my experience 3D is much easier to learn than Maya... I love Max.

 

[paperfist]

Originally posted by: sandorski
Depends on what you want to do. Are you wanting to make content for Games or Movies?

For Games, 3dsMax is preffered, though Maya works very well. Add in that the company that makes 3dsMax just bought out the company that makes Maya and are planning to make Maya more Movie orientated and 3dsMax Game orientated should probably weigh heavily into what you ultimately choose.

For making Movies Maya is clearly superior, though 3dsMax has some capapbility(not sure how extensive) as well.

For the last 1.5 years I have been learning Maya using the PLE for making content in UT2k4. Mainly because Maya 5 PLE was included with the game and not due to superiority. I like Maya, a lot, but only because I know my way around it.

As rbV5 mentions, Softimage XSI is also very good and has a much more affordable basic version(if you are a student Maya has a $400ish version and Max a $600ish version) of $600ish.

Does Softimage XSI allow for level design in games like UT'04? I've seen some people do a static mesh as a level with Maya so I was wondering if the same is possible with XSI.

I was just about to go looking for some starter books for Maya, but the buy out news is kind of throwing a wrench into that idea. Though I'm sure if you learn one program the other one should be easier to pickup and learn as long as you figure out the command set.

 

[aswedc]

Learn the skills...you'll be able to pick up any package.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: paperfist

Originally posted by: sandorski
Depends on what you want to do. Are you wanting to make content for Games or Movies?

For Games, 3dsMax is preffered, though Maya works very well. Add in that the company that makes 3dsMax just bought out the company that makes Maya and are planning to make Maya more Movie orientated and 3dsMax Game orientated should probably weigh heavily into what you ultimately choose.

For making Movies Maya is clearly superior, though 3dsMax has some capapbility(not sure how extensive) as well.

For the last 1.5 years I have been learning Maya using the PLE for making content in UT2k4. Mainly because Maya 5 PLE was included with the game and not due to superiority. I like Maya, a lot, but only because I know my way around it.

As rbV5 mentions, Softimage XSI is also very good and has a much more affordable basic version(if you are a student Maya has a $400ish version and Max a $600ish version) of $600ish.

Does Softimage XSI allow for level design in games like UT'04? I've seen some people do a static mesh as a level with Maya so I was wondering if the same is possible with XSI.

I was just about to go looking for some starter books for Maya, but the buy out news is kind of throwing a wrench into that idea. Though I'm sure if you learn one program the other one should be easier to pickup and learn as long as you figure out the command set.

Yes, for 4.0 and 4.2 there are ActorX plugins here.. There *might* be a way to do it without the plugin, but it would be a good idea to make sure before depending on that. The XSI Modtool, the free version of XSI, has a plugin too, if you want to try out XSI prior to deciding.

Most of the different apps do much of the same, but vary quite a bit in layout and conrols. Learning those differencees though isn't too hard. Each has certain Pros/Cons over the others as far as features and how well they work. If you were willing to get Maya though, you should probably get 3DSMax as it's about the same price as Maya and will likely be kept for Polygonal and Game content making.

 

[paperfist]

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: paperfist

Originally posted by: sandorski
Depends on what you want to do. Are you wanting to make content for Games or Movies?

For Games, 3dsMax is preffered, though Maya works very well. Add in that the company that makes 3dsMax just bought out the company that makes Maya and are planning to make Maya more Movie orientated and 3dsMax Game orientated should probably weigh heavily into what you ultimately choose.

For making Movies Maya is clearly superior, though 3dsMax has some capapbility(not sure how extensive) as well.

For the last 1.5 years I have been learning Maya using the PLE for making content in UT2k4. Mainly because Maya 5 PLE was included with the game and not due to superiority. I like Maya, a lot, but only because I know my way around it.

As rbV5 mentions, Softimage XSI is also very good and has a much more affordable basic version(if you are a student Maya has a $400ish version and Max a $600ish version) of $600ish.

Does Softimage XSI allow for level design in games like UT'04? I've seen some people do a static mesh as a level with Maya so I was wondering if the same is possible with XSI.

I was just about to go looking for some starter books for Maya, but the buy out news is kind of throwing a wrench into that idea. Though I'm sure if you learn one program the other one should be easier to pickup and learn as long as you figure out the command set.

Yes, for 4.0 and 4.2 there are ActorX plugins here.. There *might* be a way to do it without the plugin, but it would be a good idea to make sure before depending on that. The XSI Modtool, the free version of XSI, has a plugin too, if you want to try out XSI prior to deciding.

Most of the different apps do much of the same, but vary quite a bit in layout and conrols. Learning those differencees though isn't too hard. Each has certain Pros/Cons over the others as far as features and how well they work. If you were willing to get Maya though, you should probably get 3DSMax as it's about the same price as Maya and will likely be kept for Polygonal and Game content making.

Thanks for the advice sandorski

Are you still using Maya for your UT'04 work or have you switched to 3DSMax?

I also have the DVD version of UT which has all the Maya videos so learning that would be slightly easier. Though if 3DSMax is better suited for UT then I'd rather invest my time into that.

 

[Powermoloch]

Originally posted by: thecrecarc

Originally posted by: AdamSnow

Originally posted by: disillusioned
who said anything about buying???

Piracy is not permited on the boards...

yup. BAN

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: paperfist

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: paperfist

Originally posted by: sandorski
Depends on what you want to do. Are you wanting to make content for Games or Movies?

For Games, 3dsMax is preffered, though Maya works very well. Add in that the company that makes 3dsMax just bought out the company that makes Maya and are planning to make Maya more Movie orientated and 3dsMax Game orientated should probably weigh heavily into what you ultimately choose.

For making Movies Maya is clearly superior, though 3dsMax has some capapbility(not sure how extensive) as well.

For the last 1.5 years I have been learning Maya using the PLE for making content in UT2k4. Mainly because Maya 5 PLE was included with the game and not due to superiority. I like Maya, a lot, but only because I know my way around it.

As rbV5 mentions, Softimage XSI is also very good and has a much more affordable basic version(if you are a student Maya has a $400ish version and Max a $600ish version) of $600ish.

Does Softimage XSI allow for level design in games like UT'04? I've seen some people do a static mesh as a level with Maya so I was wondering if the same is possible with XSI.

I was just about to go looking for some starter books for Maya, but the buy out news is kind of throwing a wrench into that idea. Though I'm sure if you learn one program the other one should be easier to pickup and learn as long as you figure out the command set.

Yes, for 4.0 and 4.2 there are ActorX plugins here.. There *might* be a way to do it without the plugin, but it would be a good idea to make sure before depending on that. The XSI Modtool, the free version of XSI, has a plugin too, if you want to try out XSI prior to deciding.

Most of the different apps do much of the same, but vary quite a bit in layout and conrols. Learning those differencees though isn't too hard. Each has certain Pros/Cons over the others as far as features and how well they work. If you were willing to get Maya though, you should probably get 3DSMax as it's about the same price as Maya and will likely be kept for Polygonal and Game content making.

Thanks for the advice sandorski

Are you still using Maya for your UT'04 work or have you switched to 3DSMax?

I also have the DVD version of UT which has all the Maya videos so learning that would be slightly easier. Though if 3DSMax is better suited for UT then I'd rather invest my time into that.

Still using Maya PLE, can't afford anything.