3DSMAX V MAYA
- Thread starter JGBR
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Soldato
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The two programs are vastly different in their workings and usability - not to mention cost.
*WARNING - MASSIVE GENERALISATION*
3DS Max is generally used for video games, whereas Maya is for films, so it depends on what field you're looking to get into.
*WARNING - MASSIVE GENERALISATION*
3DS Max is generally used for video games, whereas Maya is for films, so it depends on what field you're looking to get into.
get rid of the mac's maya is available for windows just like 3ds max 
As to the difference - not a lot, they both do 3d models, it's just the way they do it that's different.
As said though 3ds max is more game orientated (max 'design' is more architecture/product visualisation though) while maya is more cg for animation/movies etc
As to the difference - not a lot, they both do 3d models, it's just the way they do it that's different.
As said though 3ds max is more game orientated (max 'design' is more architecture/product visualisation though) while maya is more cg for animation/movies etc
I've used both programmes professionally and can safely and they're very similar, end results rarely deviate based on the animation software being used. That said maya's internal programming language (MEL) is allot more user-friendly than Max's, also intergration with Python is better. Also most studios have so much proprietary software loaded into these applications that only a general knowledge of the UI/general workings is required.
I personally use Maya professionally. Ultimately they're really quite similar, though differ in key areas depending on what you actually want to achieve.
The games/movies thing is very generalized as said above. Some of the best of both work on either. Whats likely more important is which you feel you can work with the most comfortably.
I'd also recommend going for PC use if you do go with Maya anyway. It can be a bit quirky on the Mac I've found in the past, and generally feels a bit snappier on a PC.
Just pick one and run with it I'd say, theres a huge amount of information out there on both and how to get things done smartly.
The games/movies thing is very generalized as said above. Some of the best of both work on either. Whats likely more important is which you feel you can work with the most comfortably.
I'd also recommend going for PC use if you do go with Maya anyway. It can be a bit quirky on the Mac I've found in the past, and generally feels a bit snappier on a PC.
Just pick one and run with it I'd say, theres a huge amount of information out there on both and how to get things done smartly.
Isn't it strange considering you would expect all the graphics/pro stuff to shift to apple nowadays.
out of curosity, does either program need a lot of cpu/ram/graphics card grunt?
I ask as I may end up running 3dsx max in windows , virtualisesd on my mac.
out of curosity, does either program need a lot of cpu/ram/graphics card grunt?
I ask as I may end up running 3dsx max in windows , virtualisesd on my mac.
yes yes and yes, depending on what your projects are this might work ok but for most things this doesn't sound like a good idea.
You shouldn't need anything too powerful I'd say. Navigating the viewport is fast on pretty much most systems really. There are plenty of tools built into both to help them cope with large data sets, such as proxy models, particles and such and most things have toggleable quality settings to ensure things can be done in the viewport speedily.
I'd recommend 6gig of ram minimum really so you can have other things running at the same time without worrying about it. The more the merrier really. Rendering is of course the biggest resource hog, and in that case its down to CPU and possibly ram if your doing something particularly detailed. GPU power is becoming more important now, as both have viewport options that utilise your GPU for much faster viewport navigation that support using more textures and such in realtime. Also, the fastest renderers utilise the GPU. I believe 3ds max Iray renderer uses your GPU entirely and I hear it's very quick but not so feature rich. If you wanted to go particularly high end, vray would be the best option for rendering, but it's made by someone else and has a pretty steep cost.
I'd recommend 6gig of ram minimum really so you can have other things running at the same time without worrying about it. The more the merrier really. Rendering is of course the biggest resource hog, and in that case its down to CPU and possibly ram if your doing something particularly detailed. GPU power is becoming more important now, as both have viewport options that utilise your GPU for much faster viewport navigation that support using more textures and such in realtime. Also, the fastest renderers utilise the GPU. I believe 3ds max Iray renderer uses your GPU entirely and I hear it's very quick but not so feature rich. If you wanted to go particularly high end, vray would be the best option for rendering, but it's made by someone else and has a pretty steep cost.
I really don't understand why people say this. I don't believe people even think about and I'm starting to think it's just because they've heard some one else say it.
Also, 3DS Max doesn't run on OSX, it's Windows only.
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That sounds decent enough to me. You'll soon find out if you have any problems with that and if you do then it's likely the graphics if anything that'll be the problem.
I have no idea how wel it will run virtualised as this is something I've never attempted, but if you can run games and such in that way, then I wouldn't imagine it being too much of problem, as 3ds max runs using openGL and possibly directx(not 100% on directx but I have an inkling) and Maya runs just on openGL.
I have no idea how wel it will run virtualised as this is something I've never attempted, but if you can run games and such in that way, then I wouldn't imagine it being too much of problem, as 3ds max runs using openGL and possibly directx(not 100% on directx but I have an inkling) and Maya runs just on openGL.
Maya was a competing app then Autodesk bought it, same with Softimage Xsi.
It would be cool if they merged all 3 into 1 super app.
Having competing applications is becoming less of an issue these days as lots of things are easily transferrable using the Fbx file format. It's extremely unlikely they'll be merged any time soon I'd say as they all have different workflows and most people like to stick to what they're comfortable with. Typically if a particularly stand out feature comes out on one and not the other, it'll appear in one of service packs or in next years version anyway.