Magena Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 The other night I found out that Everquest is done with Maya (at least someone that I know who works on that is using Maya), but I also keep seeing 3d Studio being reqested... and there is another program that I can't think of... so what programs are actually being used the most? and are they all being used pretty much across the market? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgoth Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 Feargus already stated a little time ago that Obsidian itself is using 3ds max for all modeling and animation stuff. Maya is also very popular in the gaming industry (and even cheaper), but if you're looking around, most devs apparently prefer 3ds max. But don't ask me why.... Rain makes everything better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magena Posted April 18, 2004 Author Share Posted April 18, 2004 I have an instructor that says 3ds is easier than Maya. - granted, I'm still trying to figure out the menu's, though I think I have them down, at least to an extent. Part of the reason I'm asking is that I'm thinking of purchasing an education version (much cheaper) and from what I can tell 3ds is being used more, but I wanted to make sure before I put more time and money into the programs. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorth Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 I have an instructor that says 3ds is easier than Maya. - granted, I'm still trying to figure out the menu's, though I think I have them down, at least to an extent. Part of the reason I'm asking is that I'm thinking of purchasing an education version (much cheaper) and from what I can tell 3ds is being used more, but I wanted to make sure before I put more time and money into the programs. :D I know you can download pretty mucn the full Maya package from their website. Doesn't really come cheaper than that B) How much is the educational version of Max ? “He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” - Albert Einstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgoth Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 Yup, there's also a Personal Learning Edition of Maya, Discreet offers only an 30 days (?) Version of Max. I'm currently learning myself Maya, and I'm over with the Basics. BTW I really can recommend Maya FUNDAMENTALS from Jim Lammers, there is a huge bunch of Video-Tutorials on CD, and that was really the way to learn that stuff about the marking menus, hotbox, short-cuts etc. So yes, the learning curve is steeper with Maya than Max (also did some stuff with it, but switched then to Maya), but if you're working more and more with it, it's actually a very logical und easy using GUI and overall design. So Maya is my personal recommendation, and it's cheaper, either. About the price: I think that's also different from region to region, but you should find the answers on www.alias.com. Rain makes everything better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magena Posted April 18, 2004 Author Share Posted April 18, 2004 I think Lightwave is the other program that I have seen requested, but haven't even seen on the shelves, or talked to anyone who used it. I don't remember the price, I think I was told that I can get it for 199, but I don't see it on their website. so it might be a case of I have to go in and order it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorth Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 I haven't checked them myself, but I know that Renderosity has forums for most major 3D applications (and most obescure 3D applications too) www.renderosity.com They might be able to answer all your questions, asked and unasked for “He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” - Albert Einstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schazzwozzer Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 Discreet (3d Studio Max) indeed has released a free lite version of Max, called Gmax. It has many of the same features as Max and is supposedly specifically geared towards art creation for games. I would say that someone proficient in Gmax probably knows most of what they would need to know to do professional game art in 3d Studio Max, aside from the omission of some stuff like Character Studio. For Gmax to actually be compatible with a game however, it needs a package of export scripts and other stuff generally designed by the game developers themselves. For instance, a package was released for Quake 3 compatibility with Gmax, but I don't think you could get models from Gmax into Unreal Tournament (I could be wrong though). I don't know if it's really caught on as much as Discreet would have liked though. Softimage also recently released a lite version of their 3d software compatible specifically with Half Life 2. You can check it out here. I downloaded it just to toy around in the program, but my damn cheapass monitor can't support the program's resolution requirement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishiraver Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 As a complete noob who has only messed around with 3dsmax and maya intermittently and for short periods of time, I can safely say that the user interface for maya is less confusing, more intuitive, and offers a much better workflow. But that's just personal opinion :3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jones Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 Just pick one and learn it. Whichever is easiest for you to obtain. It really doesn't matter. If you become proficient in one, you should be able to learn another pretty easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigranes Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 Sounds like certain programming languages. Let's Play: Icewind Dale Ironman (Complete) Let's Play: Icewind Dale II Ironman (Complete) Let's Play: Divinity II (Complete) Let's Play: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Ironman - BG1 (Complete) Let's Play: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Ironman - BG2 (In Progress) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magena Posted April 24, 2004 Author Share Posted April 24, 2004 ^sounds like the advice I have received for most programming languages. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorth Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 But true none the less. When I was young and green and went to the university, we started out learning a fairly structured language (Modula2) first, simply to have a starting point. And it was really just that, a common ground for students to learn what was much more important, the underlying mechanisms of programming. Things like syntax, semanthics, parsers, specification and verification of algorithms. Later in A&D, it was pretty much the same. Learn a methology for problem solving and you can use it to solve a multitude of problems. Once you understand the basic theory in general, learning any new language/platform or analysing any given situation was trivial. Same thing probably applis to many other professions, once you get a "feel" for and an intuitive understanding of your work, changing tools is just that, new tools. Oh, and my nostalgic rambling sidetracked me, same thing probably applies to 3D applications as well. Once you know the basics, Nurbs, UV space, the math, an understanding of the physics of light and surfaces, materials etc. The application becomes a simple tool to express your thoughts. “He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” - Albert Einstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oerwinde Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 Just pick one and learn it. Whichever is easiest for you to obtain. It really doesn't matter. If you become proficient in one, you should be able to learn another pretty easily. I know Softimage XSI, and I went and tried to use 3dmax, and it took me like 3 times as long to do the same thing. It was hilarious. The area between the balls and the butt is a hotbed of terrorist activity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jones Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 Just pick one and learn it. Whichever is easiest for you to obtain. It really doesn't matter. If you become proficient in one, you should be able to learn another pretty easily. I know Softimage XSI, and I went and tried to use 3dmax, and it took me like 3 times as long to do the same thing. It was hilarious. Different programs have their strengths and weaknesses. Some things are easier/more efficient to do in max, some in Lightwave, some in Maya, etc. People tend to pick the one they know the best and/or learned first and complain about all the others. The best artists I know understand the strengths and weaknesses of each package and can easily switch back and forth among them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oerwinde Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 Just pick one and learn it. The area between the balls and the butt is a hotbed of terrorist activity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSippel Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 Well, it comes for a reason that Softimage makes heavy inroads in the gaming biz... ;-) No, really, XSI is the most powerful 3D package I've ever used, especially for game development and NLA - can't wait for 4.0. The poly and SubD tools are by far the best in the industry, and the ability to easily drop in any display engine you want makes it really great for games - XSI 4.0 will also include OpenDE for dynamics, with the ability to replace OpenDE with Havok or anything else you want to use. BTW, Softimage also offers a free edition of XSI, called XSI EXP. It's far more full featured compared to Maya PLE (it also includes Mental Ray, Hair, Compositing etc.). The student license is available for about $ 300, and it's said to be the full XSI 4.0 Advanced Edition - with additional features like Syflex cloth (similar to Maya cloth, but many times faster; developed by Square for Final Fantasy - The Movie), OpenGL accellerated Mental Ray, raster- and vector paint etc. The commercial Advanced Edition is pretty expensive, about $ 9000... See: http://www.softimage.com/exp/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.jpg.ce846aae50e732dc4985eb712252381f.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now