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3DStudio MAX vs Maya - what's the difference?


tzframpton

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Anybody here know the difference between 3DStudio MAX vs Maya? They both seem to be the same types of software, do they not? I mean, AutoCAD vs Revit are two totally different platforms but what about the NURBS modeling suites?

 

Just curious is all since I've been doing some thinking. Autodesk has these new "Building Suites" and the ultimate version comes with all types of software that I can utilize, and 3DSMax is one. If I was to get my hands on that piece of software I would love to do some camera motion renderings of my designs. But it seems Maya does lots of things too.

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I went to college for computer animation, and was trained on Maya Unlimited. It's the single best tool I've every used (FWIW) for modeling (NURBS & Polygons), texturing, lighting, key-framing, rigging, animating, and rendering.

 

Edit:

 

As a generalization, Maya is the production standard for the Entertainment industries (TV, Movies, Gaming, etc.), whereas 3DSMAX is typically the go-to application for anything pretaining to engineering modeling, because of the built-in tools for reading DWG, etc. Web animations are a mesh between Maya (+3DSMAX?), Fireworks, Dreamweaver, and obviously Flash. Also worthy of note in favor of Maya, is that the Physics engine that is built-in is fantastic. The ease with which you can incorporate / emit sprites, or particles from any surface and apply both static and dynamic forces & fields to the model components is simply amazing (i.e., rain, flowing water, gas, smoke, etc.).

 

Again... that is just a generalization; no holy war being started here.

 

One real-world example of my point, can also be noted by the usage of Maya + MojoWorld by NASA to model the telemetry gathered from sateltites in orbit around Mars some years ago... they didn't use 3DSMAX. LoL

 

Here's a list I quickly found of movies made using Maya (FWIW, not sure how current this list is!?).

 

What I find interesting is seeing many of the 3D components of Maya being ripped and incorporated into other Autodesk apps like Civil 3D since the acquisition of Alias | Wavefront in the mid-2000's. For example - the view cube, the internal database concept (as opposed to land Desktop), etc.. Sadly, I'm still waiting for the HotBox to make an appearance. :sigh:

 

HTH

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Thanks for the description, RenderMan. What I'm trying to accomplish is some animations by doing some detailed camera walkthroughs. I don't have any actual moving parts in my designs but creating still images in AutoCAD is a pain, not to mention trying to make a walkthrough render. I figured since my company might upgrade me to the Autodesk Building Design Suite Ultimate, I also get 3dsMax.

 

I would be importing in my designs from AutoCAD, obviously. So are you saying that 3dsMax would be the better option? I'm not wanting to make movie quality animations, just some good camera walkthroughs is all. Thanks again. ;)

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The software isn't really that important. It's what you can do with it. You can create awesome renders with Blender or even Sketchup if you know what you're doing. So for the question of Max or Maya, it really just comes down to personal preference. Which program feels better to you? I tried several programs before I decided to go with Max because it just felt right. I liked the interface and the way the tools worked and I was able to get up and running really fast. With the other programs I struggled a lot. So I would recommend downloading the trial versions and just play around with them and see for yourself.

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Yeah, that's what I'll probably wind up doing. So Rob, have you ever ventured into creating animations at all? Any advice you can give me by chance? I know there's a timeline tool that exist in Max.

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Thanks for the description, RenderMan. What I'm trying to accomplish is some animations by doing some detailed camera walkthroughs. I don't have any actual moving parts in my designs but creating still images in AutoCAD is a pain, not to mention trying to make a walkthrough render. I figured since my company might upgrade me to the Autodesk Building Design Suite Ultimate, I also get 3dsMax.

 

I would be importing in my designs from AutoCAD, obviously. So are you saying that 3dsMax would be the better option? I'm not wanting to make movie quality animations, just some good camera walkthroughs is all. Thanks again. ;)

 

You're welcome.

 

Most of the Engineering animations / scene renders I've come across are created using 3DSMAX, and not Maya.

 

Cad64 gives an excellent suggestion, in that you should see which trial (if multiple) best suites your needs, and comfort level.

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have you ever ventured into creating animations at all? Any advice you can give me by chance? I know there's a timeline tool that exist in Max.

 

I've done simple flythrough animations. It's pretty easy to do, and there are lots of free tutorials available online. I think Max has more free tutorials available than any other software.

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Maya was simply the competition to Max from way back when it was owned by Alias. It was bought by AutoDesk several years ago as it seemed Alias was about to go under. I honestly think and believe that AutoDesk bought Alias for Studio Tools and Maya was simply "icing on the cake". There are a few things one can do better than the other (Max vs. Maya) but they are pretty similar except in user interface. AutoDesk also bought their other general 3D app SoftImage (Avid) a few years ago as well as to bring all 3 under one roof.

It would seem that Max has a larger user base, more tutorials and more user scripts and customizations. IMHO

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodesk_Maya

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StudioTools

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodesk_Softimage

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Admittedly I am biased in favor of Maya's capabilities as an animation platform. However, I do not feel those strengths are applicable to Tannar's requirements per-se, and I have nothing "bad" to say about Max either.

 

Having used Maya pre-Autodesk I can tell you that it (Maya) is a lot more than just icing on the cake in terms of present day Autodesk products. Several interface features have been pulled from Maya into other products like Civil 3D for example, which Maya (again pre-Autodesk) had back in the early 2000's. A lot of hydrology calculations, etc. also come from the fluid dynamics which were enhanced greatly from Maya's physics engine. A lot more has been done in the background than you realize my friend.

 

I agree with you that Max is older, and has more users, again that is the result of the industries in which each application is dominant. By definition the Engineering world is vastly larger than that of "Hollywood."

 

I think Max will be the tool of choice for Tannar's needs (appropriately), especially given the software suite mentioned earlier.

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Oh I am not saying that "icing" is not important but Alias Studio is/was a big dog in automotive and product design and they (AutoDesk) jumped on this! I am also not saying that things were not "borrowed" from Alias products (not just Maya) and incorporated into AutoDesk products. Don't get me wrong ;)

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