3D Max

# 1 10-06-2003 , 08:29 AM

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Alot of people here are from 3DS Max backgrounds and have migrated over to Maya. I have only dabbled a little in 3DS Max it didn't look too bad, my background is Animation Master. So why do people prefer Maya to Max, I know a lot of games companies are shifting to Maya. Is it because of it's stability, workflow, mel script, animation tools, modeling tools, or is it just trendy?

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# 2 10-06-2003 , 09:23 AM

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If I had to choose only one word I'd say: Flexibility.

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# 3 10-06-2003 , 09:59 AM

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My background is from a variety of programs. Most of my recent experience is in Max (about 7 years now). I made the switch to Maya mostly because of my work and my teaching. If not for those, I probably would still be using Max on a regular basis.

But, to answer your question, I prefer Maya over Max because of its workflow. I like the way things work in Maya. It's not necessarily better or worse than Max -- it just feels right to me. Frankly, I can use any 3D program you throw at me. They all do basically the same thing. However, my preference is Maya.

Danny Ngan
Animator | Amaze Entertainment
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# 4 10-06-2003 , 10:00 AM

Kevin

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gazz,

I recently tried max to try and get a few freebies done for the 3dmax site... and although this sounds utterly outragous

...I found max somewhat "childish"

Maya seemed so polished, so professional, and so damn good.

But I have seen work done by max guys that is totally awesome!

Its not what you have....its how you use it!

And to answer you question in why... well, I just dont know user added image

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# 5 10-06-2003 , 10:06 AM

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Originally posted by Kevin
Its not what you have....its how you use it!

Originally Posted by

that is so true in many......many cases... user added image

-Emo

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# 6 10-06-2003 , 04:28 PM

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Same as Danny.

Only, my only quibble with Maya vs. Max is when it comes to particles.

More importantly, the openness of Maya over Max's gui-based usability.

I happen to love the fact that in Max I don't have to be a programming guru to do SIMPLE things like instanced rotation, arrays etc.

On the other hand, from what I understand, and Danny feel free to correct me here, but Maya is WAY more open for this reason, and thus, even though there is no "child-like" gui to do every task, Maya allows you to make you own user added image

...so, going purely from my background, (and the fact that I'm lazy as hell), I LOVE the gui of Max's particle interface, BUT, I also LOVE the openess of Maya's dynamics system as well...

So, my point is, I guess I am a hippocrit when it comes to this issue, so feel free to just ignore me user added image

hehe..

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

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# 7 10-06-2003 , 05:01 PM

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Is there a big differences between Max and Maya or do they work the same way. user added image

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# 8 10-06-2003 , 05:18 PM

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most 3D progies work about the same way. However I did use one once that was programing only. YOu had to program in everyaspect of what you wanted to design. No 3D display at all. Its like trying to make an entire scene with only the channel box and MEL. OUCH!

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# 9 10-06-2003 , 06:04 PM

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Originally posted by R-Tillery
Is there a big differences between Max and Maya or do they work the same way.

Originally Posted by

Under the hood the biggest difference is that Max is modifier stack based and Maya is Node based. Node based is more open but at the same time it might seem to be more complex too...

Kari
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# 10 10-06-2003 , 09:51 PM

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I agree with Izzy. Maya's architecture feels a lot more open than Max's. Because the entire program is basically one gigantic MEL interpreter, it's very easy to go in a modify how things work. There's probably more to it, but from an artist's standpoint, that's how it seems.

Kari also brings up a good point. Maya's node-based architecture is very complex at first, but with that complexity comes a great deal of flexibility and power. Fundamentally, Max and Maya work the same way (at the code level), but, from a non-programmer's point of view, you get more access to what's under the hood in Maya's UI. in particular, I'm thinking of HyperGraph and HyperShade. Having the ability to modify the flow of connections within a graph or network is essential to getting the exact results that you desire. It is much more flexible and powerful than simply piling on modifier after modifier.

However, beyond the underlying architecture of each program, I think the biggest difference between Max and Maya is the workflow and methodology of the UI (did I even use the right word? :p). Without going too much into the nitpicky details, I would say that Maya feels more fluid, which is a very personal and subjective point of view. Even though I haven't used Maya nearly as much as Max, I feel like, even though I can do the same things in both programs, I can stuff done a lot faster and smoother in Maya.

Naturally, Maya is far from perfect. One thing I like in Max better is the ability to easily customize the entire UI. For instance, in Max, I can make custom toolbars as easily as I can create shelf buttons in Maya. However, in Max, these toolbars can dock on any side of the window or they can be tabbed bars (basically a shelf) or they can be floating palettes. You can also mix and match icon and text buttons in a single toolbar. I would love that flexibility in Maya. There are probably a few more things I like better in Max, but I can't seem to think of them right now. user added image

Anyway, bottom line is to use whatever works for you. Neither program is better or worse than the other. As has been said, what counts is how you use it.

Danny Ngan
Animator | Amaze Entertainment
my website | my blog | my job

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