Maya or 3DS MAX?

[Billzz]

Hi all,

I know this question has been asked over and over but I wouldn't mind some opinions before I take the plunge with one or the other!

As part of a new years resolution I am determined to learn one of these programs to add to my arsenal. I'm currently a designer/artworker and a high end user of Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign/Premiere/After Effects but really want to add 3D to my skills. I am a Mac user but I also have a high end Windows machine should that be the way to go. I am well aware (and slightly intimidated!) of the huge learning curve ahead of me ...

About 8 years ago when Lightwave first got ported to the Mac I used it and got quite good with it, no problem creating models and doing animations etc (at least at a beginner/intermediate level). But it was very unstable on the Mac back in the system 8 days and it really put me off. I'm leaning more towards Maya or MAX as they seem to be more 'industry standard' than Lightwave and as I'm starting from scratch I guess this doesn't really matter.

The modelling/texturing/material side of things is more important to me than animation at this stage.

So what are peoples opinions about which is better from the following points of view:

* Ease of learning. From the research that I have done MAX seems to be slightly easier to get to grips with, as Maya seems to have a slightly unconventional interface.
* Power and flexibility. They are both extremely powerful, but once again from my research it seems that Maya has more flexibility/better renderer etc. The materials editor in particular in Maya seems extremely flexible.
* Stability. I have read of people having problems with stability problems with MAX - not sure how true this is but I have read of no such problems with Maya.

From what I've seen, i'm leaning towards Maya as the modelling tools seem a bit more straightforward, MAX's look powerful but slightly unconventional and limiting in certain ways - am I way off the mark here?

Are there any recommended courses/training DVDs that would help get me started with one package or the other?

Thanks all for any replies/opinions.

 

[Slogan]

I'm no expert but we did use Maya on a course that I did and we had to make several different models and some animations with the program.

I haven't used 3dstudiomax so I won't be able to compare the two very well, if at all, but I can try and have a stab at what you're asking.

Personally I found Maya very easy to pick up, a lot of it at the start didn't make much sense when it came to learning all the different term types and all that (which is just normal for learning any language or program). After a few days I was experimenting with different types of models and sort of just 'playing around' with it - I'm sure you'll get to that stage before going onto the more heavy pro stuff.

We used Maya on Dell machines and I don't think we ever had a problem with it - if it crashed it was minimal and I can't really recall ever having an issue, like we did with several other programs. I used Maya on my MacBook Pro and once again, never had any problems on it either.

Ease of learning will come down to content that's out there. With 3dstudiomax, there seems to be a bucket more content as it's the more popular choice - however, with this popularity you're likely to get all types of content to learn from, from good to horrible. Maya will of course have some horrible content as well, but if you can find a dedicated site on it with good content (which I'm sure some people will recommend) then you could be on your feet quicker, than perhaps with 3dstudiomax.

Maya made me use 3d modelling a lot easier/better than I thought it would have done when I started beginning to use it, so having used it I would say it's my choice.

Have fun with whatever one you choose, especially with the models that go 'all wrong'.

 

[Jono]

www.3dbuzz.com

Buy their Mastering Maya:The Fundamentals or the 3ds max one - I have both. They're awesome...

Check youtube to see what you should end up with if you do all the stuff on the DVDs.. I think they're $99 each now, so £100 for both sets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvyL3Mc77uk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alQot_uAiFY
(You've missed the courses, but that's the kind of thing they do in MM:TF

That's about 150+ hours of training, and it's all completely awesome stuff too. It's entertaining to watch and they explain how and why to do things, usually multiple ways. Very easy-paced.

 

[unknowndomain]

There is one overriding factor, if your on a mac you have to use Maya, I use 3ds on mac and its a real pain, it means booting windows up every time and awwww just don't go there.

 

[NokkonWud]

I use 3D Studio Max, I think it's by a million miles the best of the 3 major applications inferfaces (the others being Maya and SoftImage XSI). I've used all 3, but 3DSM is the one I continually go back to.

The theory behind 3D work is pretty much the same in both, both use the same things, they just tend to be in different places and called different things which is why a lot of companies will hire you on theory and teach you the application over 2-4 weeks in the games industry.

It's very hit and miss anyway, some companies want you to use 3D Studio Max, others want you to use Maya, so you can't really win unless you use both, but either will do anything you want it to.

As I said, I think 3DSM is the best for learning in though (and SoftImage the worst). I've not fully read your post so I may be chastised here, but I would say:

• 3D Studio Max offers all the features, a great interface and average rendering system.
• Maya offers all the features, a horrible interface and a great render system.
• SoftImage offers excellent features, the worst interface ever and a superb animation system.

Both will do the job so well above any standard you achieve, it's just a case of making a choice.

 

[Jono]

It seems that the film industry mostly uses Maya, whereas the games industry mostly wants 3dsmax.

With bits of XSI or Lightwave here and there. (do i mean lightwave)?
Houdini's getting a bit of a following too.

Maya has the PLE (personal learning edition) which is free to use, but is limited to render output size - and watermarks all of its images with HUGE writing... It also has other limitations, but for learning it's unlikely you'd ever need or want to make use of them anyway (Hair, Cloth, Fluids etc, but you can still use particles with PLE - i think).

Houdini has its apprentice version, but I know very little about that. Blender is free, very strange interface, which I never got on with...

Max has a 15 day trial, but as for free learning edition - don't think so.

Not sure about the others.
Personally I LOVE Maya's interface.

Look, a crap earth and alien ship thing I made following the 3dbuzz maya thing (need to finish it)...

 

[Billzz]

Thanks very much guys for the input. I'll definately check out the 3dbuzz site and probably invest in the DVDs. This forum never ceases to amaze me with the amount of knowledge available!

 

[NokkonWud]

I would spend some money picking up a 3D Studio Max foundation book, they are brilliant. Buy whichever version related to the version you're using though. I.e. Foundations 6 for Max 6.