what's the difference between 3D Studio Max and Maya? honestly!

MizugoriMizugori NYC
edited August 2004 in Science & Tech
Aside from the huge price differences, what are the real differences between 3D Studio Max and Maya ? Does either lend itself better to game graphics production? Also, does anyone have a particular book or pdf file or tutorial or some sort of guide that they reccomend for either program?

thanks!

Comments

  • NomadNomad A Small Piece of Hell Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    Okay... The price difference really isn't that astronomical, Maya|Unlimited costs $7,000 and Maya|Complete costs $2,000 check the Alias|Wavefront website for the differences between the two. 3DSMAX 6 currently costs about $3,000. Note that these prices are for commercial versions of each program, which grants you the rights to sell your models and renders (With an education license it is illegal to sell anything)

    First of all your main choice will be between what you are looking to go into. One of 3DSMAXs strongpoints is its game development, it's been used to make a lot of games such as Call of Duty, Doom3, Half-Life, Half-Life 2, and many others. 3DSMAX in recent years have made attempts to integrate Character Studio with 3DSMAX and in 3DSMAX 7 (Upcoming release) it will become fully integrated. Character Studio is their attempt at getting into film production and larger CG projects which Maya currently controls basically. Another aspect 3DSMAX is good for is architectural visualization, which is what I currently do. 3DS MAX also has amazing plugin support, but some of the plugins can be pricey.

    Maya is more geared towards heavy CG, film projects such as Final Fantasy, Toy Story, Monsters Inc., and others were created with Maya due to it's main piece of character animation. The products that come from Maya basically speak for the program itself. It has been said to be the more 'artistic' tool, but I'd disagree. Maya is used a lot more in film industry, and it's a requirement that you have knowledge of the program a lot of the places you would try to get a job at.

    In short: 3ds Max is good for mechanical modeling, architectural visualization, and game development. Maya is good for organic modeling, character animation, and film industry like things.

    Other programs you may want to consider looking into: Rhino, Softimage|XSI and Houdini.
  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    Softimage is pretty nice from what I saw at the AViD convention I attended, they used it in development of Half Life 2 to help speed up the process despite the many delays, but with the integration of Alien Brain it really is cool :D I am wanting to see baout buying it myself.
  • NomadNomad A Small Piece of Hell Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    Softimage|XSI is nice, it's 3DS MAX's competition basically, and with a start price of like $500 it's hard to argue with it.
Sign In or Register to comment.