Maya vs. 3D Studio MAX

[ProNoob]

i want to know your opinion about this which of these two programs is the best Maya or 3ds max.I guess the programs have their good and bad sides but i want to know them so i can choose one.I currently use 3ds max but i want to know more about Maya so i will be happy if u compare them.

[fatalerror]

Gnomon teaches maya in the collage . why well according to them most employers
figger if u know maya u can learn any 3d program is a reasonable amount of time.
some of the bigger studios like pixar use in house programs (ones u cant buys, written buy them).
i personly like maya .
dont get me wrong theres nothing wrong with 3dmax.
i know that maya USED to be better for movies and 3d max was better for games
but i dont know if this is still the case (they both have fillout there weaknesses abit in resent years ).

[aseryen]

as i have found, max is more for your modeling of characters, sculpts, and basic low poly models. it is also fairly better at adding textures, and using UV's is also easier in my eyes.

maya i like because it is quick to take your low poly model from max and easily smooth to a level of realism and then add further detail from there. ( this is the general idea Zbrush uses, model low polly in other program then import into Zbrush). maya also works best with renders and pixels versus max.

it comes down to what you want to do. but also what i've heard and can agree with is that maya is for animating and max is for modeling. e.g. try and get both max and maya so you can learn both and profit from both.

i took a class at DMA 2 years ago for max, and I'm using maya at my high school right now.

( also download the 30 day trial of maya and test it out, the tutorials they have are very helpful if you want to download those too.)

[JokerFrown]

I prefer 3ds because the interface is more uniform than maya
so it's easy for me to get to things. Maya has menus everywhere and repeatedly, there's too much clutter

I started with maya and loved it but once you 3ds you never go back...ish

I do think Maya excells at modeling with nurbs though

[joshua]

you can never compare 3ds max to maya , maya is the best stand alone software, but 3ds max requires plugins to match the power of maya , maya makes it simple to work in polygons then convert to nurbs and its more simple than in max , the only down side maybe of maya which is still an advantage is in the "TEXT" max makes it easy to make text but thats just it Maya makes ur text easy to make effects with.

[bobbyrog]

I'm a long time Max user that is now beggining to learn Maya. I'm leaving Max because it makes sense to leave. First off, I want to use XSI's Face Robot and that is fully compatible with Maya not Max. I can't wait for Max to get up to speed.

Also the Max plugin situation is frustrating. If you use Afterburn or FumeFX it does not render in Max's MentalRay. So you have to purchase, say Brazil. However, if you use GroundWiz or the Vue 8 XStream plugin for Max neither of these work with Brazil so you have to purchase VRay. Let's just say you have to puchase VRay with Max and you still don't get FaceRobot. There are many plugins available for Max- Morph-O-Matic etc, but if you send work to an outside studio, they have to have all the plugins that you have in order to be compatible with your file.

I could go on but the logistics here are frustrating.

For example, Maya has a muscle system built in, Max has three muscle system plugins: Hercules, ACT, and SkinFX- well, which one do you want to choose and still be compatible with any other Max user you may work with in the future. It's a guessing game. Maya has it all under one roof. So, reluctantly, I have to learn Maya.

In Max's defense, the UI is easy to master. I can't imagine anyone not opening the box and understaning everything in one week. Maya is a bit more complicated. Character Studio and biped are gems. In Max you can edit mocap files in the Motion Mixer easier than editing audio tapes and combine mocap files to different parts of the body. Editing key frames is also better in Max than Maya.

Max has it's good points but while Max is being "redesigned" is seems like Maya is moving ahead with the "n" dynamics and of course, compatibility with the magnificant FaceRobot.

Autodesk should add CharacterStudio to Maya and Max can become a powerful modeling software with the graphite modeler and architectural modeler with the door, windows and stairs instant modeler they have added to Max.

So I'm learning Maya for animation of characters, and full compatibility with other Maya users in the world. I hope I can be as good with Maya as I was with Max. But it would be nice for Autodesk to develop one brand of software for animation and put all their resourses into developing that instead of competing against themselves because Maya has become the big boy and Max is looking more like the confused little brother.

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by joshua

you can never compare 3ds max to maya , maya is the best stand alone software, but 3ds max requires plugins to match the power of maya , maya makes it simple to work in polygons then convert to nurbs and its more simple than in max , the only down side maybe of maya which is still an advantage is in the "TEXT" max makes it easy to make text but thats just it Maya makes ur text easy to make effects with.

Pretty much true.

Originally Posted by JokerFrown

I prefer 3ds because the interface is more uniform than maya
so it's easy for me to get to things. Maya has menus everywhere and repeatedly, there's too much clutter

I started with maya and loved it but once you 3ds you never go back...ish

I do think Maya excells at modeling with nurbs though

Are you serious,I started in max then moved to Maya because Max seemed cluttered to me,Maya does have a bunch of menus,but the diiferent shelf make it more intuitive. For instance the Modelling tools are under Modelling,Animation under animation ect.... also for animation Maya feels so natural,where as Max seems you have to fight with the software.

[sheaspina]

Originally Posted by joshua

you can never compare 3ds max to maya , maya is the best stand alone software, but 3ds max requires plugins to match the power of maya , maya makes it simple to work in polygons then convert to nurbs and its more simple than in max , the only down side maybe of maya which is still an advantage is in the "TEXT" max makes it easy to make text but thats just it Maya makes ur text easy to make effects with.

Did you suffer a recent head injury? They're both great app's & both have their advantages & disadvantages when compared side by side. But your argument is the most bass ackwards I've ever seen.

& text? Because of how easy/hard it is to make text.........seriously?

Anyway, there's a reason there's a massive number of scripts floating around out there for maya in comparison to max. Think about it for a minute, and you'll realize why your post makes you look like you haven't a clue what you're talking about.

Anyway, their both very robust. Just focus on learning whichever might be more prevalent in the specific field you want to go into. If you've learned 1, it's not difficult to pick up the other, either way you want to go about it.

[IIIXAaronXIII]

There was a point when we made a move to a higher end package at work. Going from Strata 3D to Max or Maya (we had to try both and make the choice). This was back in Maya 4.5 days when it first hit Mac. I tried both programs for a good month. Started with Max doing tutorials and reading a lot. Then I got the Maya personal learning addition. It came with some REALLY great tutorials that helped you get to know the very basics of how Maya worked. For me Maya was by Far the easier to learn program.

JokerFrown said "I prefer 3ds because the interface is more uniform than maya
so it's easy for me to get to things. Maya has menus everywhere and repeatedly, there's too much clutter"

This I don't agree with but then again he is speaking about what is easy for him which i totally understand because when learning Max I felt this way. To me the Maya UI is extremely simple to move around in. There is also the contextual menus when hitting the space bar that is just a short cut to the Upper menus already in the UI.

Maya also now comes with everything you will ever need to produce almost anything (Like the pug-in issue stated before) It now also ships with Maya, Toxic (A VERY powerful Compositing Package) And MatchMover for Camera tracking (Very easy to use BTW) so you are getting 3 powerful programs.

So after my rant, I would have to say Maya is the way to go though if I where you I would try both and decide from there. Both really are great programs but for me Maya was the clear choice after using both.

[jbot]

Hi guys, I'm real new to Maya but I can say, as a noob, that Maya's ui is pretty friendly in terms of how tools are organized and just workflow imo. I mention this because I'm trying to teach myself Max as I go as well and I can see the difference firsthand and between the two I like Maya a lot.

My question is what is used more in the industry? Ultimately, I would like to become a character modeler in the video game and / or movie industry. My school only uses Maya; yet I read that the video game industry primarily uses Max, which is a little discouraging since I'm being formally trained on Maya. Should I be concerned with this, should I focus on learning one over the other?