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Maya or 3DS Max? decision for college program.

Started by zaff12 Aug 26, 2010 at 12:21 AM 8 replies 2.9k views
Original Post
zaff12
zaff12
Hello, I am wondering which software is better, I know this question is asked a lot and i can't really get the answer i want. The college program is called "Digital Animation" from Capilano University. (http://www.capilanou.ca/programs/animation/animation-programs/digital-animation-program.html)
I have a pretty good drawing background but i never used any of the software before. You get to choose which side you want to focuse more in this program (Modeling or animation). But what sets questioning it is called an animation program and i want to do 3d modeling which means 3DS Max would be better, but i never animated before and i know maya is better for animating. So im stuck at a piller of which to go with 3DS Max or Maya. Do i need to know animation more if im trying to do in a modeling area or 3ds max. I is just one of these courses that you have to have past knowledge of this stuff to join. So i don't want to be lacking any of it. My plan is after high school to focues on one of these 3d software and get to know it make some good art and go in to this program. Also to beef up my drawing skills and do some sculpting. So what should I do, my head is really fuzzed up on what software to learn. Thank you for reading I hope this is not a stupid question that people are going to get mad about me asking. Thanks,
Stephen
AverageMidget
AverageMidget
While they do mention modeling and texturing, I get the impression (based on their description) they're going to spend much more time on animation.

I can't comment on 3D Studio Max, seeing as how I've only ever used version 2.5 (a long damn time ago!). Maya, on the other hand, has some wonderful modeling/animation tools.

As far as the skill of modeling and animation, my personal opinion is that it doesn't matter which software package you use, the skill, itself, is transferable; once you have the skill, it's a matter of learning where the tools are.

From what I know, Maya and 3D Studio Max are pretty comparable to each other. I don't think you could go wrong with either one. I would probably pick one based on how prevalent the tutorials are. Or, contact the teacher and see what software they use.
zer0wolf
zer0wolf
I have to side with AverageMidget here. Both packages are incredibly powerful, feature rich, and will allow you to do pretty much anything you can do in one in the other. Based on my experiences, I'd have to venture to say that 3DS Max is a bit more common in the gaming industry than Maya, but it is also not particularly popular in the film industry - whereas Maya is.

Pick one and develop mad skills with it. Mad skills are mad skills, and a company is going to hire you based off of your mad skills, not which package you have more familiarity with.
slynk
slynk
In general 3dsmax is used in the gaming industry more from what I've heard but sometimes studios have both. Once you've learned one, it's pretty easy to switch to the other. The basic modeling concepts are all the same it's just a matter of finding what the equivalent tool is called in the other software.

As far as ease goes, Maya has a tendency to be easier to pick up. (I've tried learning both, Maya sunk in easier.) Maya is better for animation but 3dsMax is easier to rig a character with (that means once you make the character model, you give it a skeleton and joints so that things bend and move properly.)

They are (now) both owned by the same company so they'll probably start to blend into very similar software anyway.
Daaark
Daaark
Find out which one your class is using, and use that.

In the end it doesn't really matter. Modeling skills are the same regardless of package. They produce the same results under slightly different tools.

Also note that your options aren't limited to Max or Maya. There's Lightwave, Blender, SoftImage, Houdini, Cinema 4D, and tons of specialized tools that focus on certain functionality only(modeling, animating, rigging, uv mapping, sculpting, baking, etc).

Experienced 3D artists tend to use a bunch of different programs to get their work done.
mysty
mysty
As others have mentioned, neither one is "better" than the other, and while the general rule of thumb is that Max is used more frequently at game studios while Maya is used more frequently at animation (film) studios, there are plenty of exceptions to the rule. Personally, I would recommend you learn both. As a student, you can get the Autodesk Education Suite for Entertainment Creation 2011 (wow that's a mouthful) which contains BOTH programs (and a few other goodies) for $350, and once you understand how to use one it's not that difficult to pick up the other. With a couple of years of experience with Maya, I was able to work in Max after just a few hours of familiarizing myself with where the tools were and how the modifier stack works; it's a slightly different workflow, but the general concepts are the same.
geolycosa
geolycosa
Maya. 3DS Max has a rich feature set, but is ultimately a hold over from an earlier time.
Will Miller | Game Designer | Big Huge Games
GninjaGnome
GninjaGnome
Short answer is Maya, but last time I checked Autodesk was selling them together. My guess is that they're going to combine the two packages soon anyway.

If all you're looking to do is model, keep in mind there are plenty of free apps out there that do it just fine.
Nypyren
Nypyren
Quote:
Original post by GninjaGnome
Short answer is Maya, but last time I checked Autodesk was selling them together. My guess is that they're going to combine the two packages soon anyway.


Now that they also own XSI, I wonder what kind of FrankenApp they're going to create from the parts.

That said, we've used all 3 where I work. Since we only ever work on engines that already exist, we don't get to choose our tool - the exporters and plugins that are already written do for us.

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