Maya vs 3DS Max

I'd recommend startingof with Blender It's cross platform and has verry powerfull tools including that you can create your own tools.
I currently dont have access to my main computer, so i can't give you any decent learning material eaither.

Why start with this? Is it easy to transfer what I learn in Blender i Maya/3DS later?

Also, even if I start using another program, I'd still like your opinion on what I should go for (Maya or 3DS) when I am ready for one of them.

Hello!

Tried to search for a similar topic, didn't find one (that wasn't outdated).

So anyway, I basically want to begin learning animation, just to see if it's something for me. I understand that the most used programs are 3DS Max and Maya, but which one should I go with? I aim primarily for animation related to the video game industry, which I understand 3DS Max used to be the best program for, but that might very well have changed. Any tips here?

You are welcome to ask your question to a bunch of programmers, but personally I would recommend you visit The Creative Side; in particular the forum Visual Arts [http://www.gamedev.net/forum/18-visual-arts/]

Depends too much on the job. You will generally not get a job just for knowing the right program however, and it will certainly not make you stand out over other candidates. Animation is a highly technical and creative skill, and I recommend reading up on it as well as getting your feet wet with a few projects. Program specialization comes later. Way later.

Choose what you are comfortable with and the rest, as they say, will attend to itself

Blender is a good recommendation because it's free while the other two programs start at 4 grand.

I put together a list of the major 3D apps, including download links where applicable. Blender is a decent choice and has full featured animation tools, but the UI is a bit on the byzantine side of things. It is getting better but it will fight you at times. However, one of my biggest issues with Blender when I first used it is, I was already used to the 3D studio way of things, which made the Blender interface just horrid. Had I started with Blender it would not have been near as bad. Now Blender is getting a giant facelift and it is helping, although it causes some tutorials to break completely.

As to actually getting a job, the program you learn wont matter for the most part, it will be all about your demo reel/portfolio.

Being able to demonstrate that you know what you are doing and can work quickly and effectively in a set of software tools is good and all. However being able to show that you can create high quality art to specification is far more valuable.

Learn the basics on free or low cost tools, and upgrade only if and when you find your tools lacking features that impact your productivity.

Blender is a good recommendation because it's free while the other two programs start at 4 grand.

I put together a list of the major 3D apps, including download links where applicable. Blender is a decent choice and has full featured animation tools, but the UI is a bit on the byzantine side of things. It is getting better but it will fight you at times. However, one of my biggest issues with Blender when I first used it is, I was already used to the 3D studio way of things, which made the Blender interface just horrid. Had I started with Blender it would not have been near as bad. Now Blender is getting a giant facelift and it is helping, although it causes some tutorials to break completely.

As to actually getting a job, the program you learn wont matter for the most part, it will be all about your demo reel/portfolio.

I've worked with Both 3DS, Maya and Blender. Of all these 3 i've allways like Blender more with it's way to handel the UI.
The new version blender is also really awesome but as you said the old tutorials/books are a pain since you need to look around on where some of the functionaloty has moved.

I still recommend Blender first, because once you know blender it's really easy to transition to maya and 3ds.

Actually I took a look at 3D Studio recently after not using it for a couple versions and noticed just how cluttered things are getting. I used 3D Studio from day one ( moved to it from DOS 3DS ) and much of the interface and tools are still there from the original release! Therefore a lot of the modifiers and modeling tools are simply outdated and have been replaced completely with better alternatives, but the option is still there. This clutter does not help the usability in the slightest! Max really needs to prune some of the old crap out and update their ways instead of just piling new features on, our they are going to sink under the weight of their own features.

Thanks for alot of great responses, I think I will download Blender and get started soon.

Any tutorial recommendations?

http://gryllus.net/Blender/3D.html

I've done a couple tutorials under the "Blender PDF Tutorials" category (submarine and castle modelling) and they are extremely helpful.

Thanks for alot of great responses, I think I will download Blender and get started soon.

Any tutorial recommendations?

keep in mind people may praise blender for being free but one of the most common complaints against it is its interface. The consensus among people who use all the major packages seems to be that blender is the most difficult to learn being geared more to programmers than artists.

Thanks for alot of great responses, I think I will download Blender and get started soon.

Any tutorial recommendations?

Good choise. Just remember that the interface might be a little taunting in the beginning. But once you get it, you'll understand why it's better than any of the major 3D modeling/animation softwares out there.

... That's taking it a bit far.

... That's taking it a bit far.

Sry didn't specify enough. I meant why it's better in terms of interface and accessibility. It's not superior in other ares compared to Maya and 3ds.

[quote name='Serapth' timestamp='1312763930' post='4845977']
... That's taking it a bit far.

Sry didn't specify enough. I meant why it's better in terms of interface and accessibility. It's not superior in other ares compared to Maya and 3ds.
[/quote]


I don't even know if I would say that. If you are a Mouse'r, Maya is where it's at for most things, and if you are a keyboard junky, Softimage is pretty hard to beat. Plus when it comes to UV tools, well basically every program on the market is superior to Blender. Finally, don't even try to use Blender on a laptop without a numberpad, it's near to useless. ( Yes, I know about laptop mode ).


Blender has it's strengths, and once you get to know it, its UI isn't that bad, but I wouldn't call it the best by any stretch. It is getting vastly improved though, while IMHO, the others are getting too cluttered.

First of all, Max, Maya or Softimage is free if you're a student. So OP is asking to know what to spend time on 3 or 4 years down the line until graduation, probably.

Blender earliest GUI is not meant for programmers (I know it just a joke), but for in-house animators. While its useful for fast workflow, now that its free, its hard to bring in newbie from other software, or new users. But looking at the key list, it really designed to help you a lot if you use a combination of mouse and keyboard.

What?

Is Max/Maya free for students? I am just about to start my second year of high school, does that mean I can get the full versions for free..?

I must be totally misunderstanding you here.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=14185424

Free-ish. It's a non commercial license, in other words, you can't make any money. If thats ok with you, its a great deal.

I'd recommend startingof with Blender It's cross platform and has verry powerfull tools including that you can create your own tools.
I currently dont have access to my main computer, so i can't give you any decent learning material eaither.

I have to second blender even with autodesk's availability to students. 3D Max vs Maya isn't really a huge issue anymore as they are both owned by Autodesk and they are probably going to get folded into a single product or have their uses more specialized by the time you get out of school. Most likely some other product will come along from a company that doesn't have 3 products competing within the organization and outshine them all.

Blender gets generally looked down on because it is free, but it's actually fairly powerful. For a novice it's easily comparable to Maya or Max.

edit: blender also seems to me to move a fair bit quicker than other applications. It tends to hit all the major market trends quickly, where major products might do the trends best initially but miss out on other products trends for a while because they have more bureaucracy to deal with.