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Maya vs 3D studio max for games?
Author
Hey im a cs student in Australia and want to start doing 3D games, and have to choose the best 3D program to get on my student discount (journeyed.com).
Im thinking Maya because its strong API,cross platform, and cheaper(with the student discount). When you read postmortems on gamasutra.com they almost always say they used 3D studio max, is it really better for games?
Love some advice!
thanks.
Both work very well (you might also want to consider Lightwave though). I personally use 3dMax, but looked into Maya when I was getting started. I imagine that both become equally easy (or hard) after you have gotten some experience with them. And I imagine their abilities are very similar. One thing is that Max has lots of plug-ins to achieve things that, I think, Maya can already do. Also you may want to check the limitations that come with the student copies of each. Usually they'll give you something like so many days to use the program or certain files you can save as, etc...
Basically, just do some research and figure out which one is a more practical choice for you. And like I mentioned earlier, you may want to look into Lightwave as well. Its commonly used in Japan for 3d work.
Charles Galyon
Edited by - CGalyon on December 28, 2001 8:19:11 AM
Basically, just do some research and figure out which one is a more practical choice for you. And like I mentioned earlier, you may want to look into Lightwave as well. Its commonly used in Japan for 3d work.
Charles Galyon
Edited by - CGalyon on December 28, 2001 8:19:11 AM
Maya is a great program, but 3D studio Max is the program of choice for most video game companies. Just go to company websites and check the requirements for 3D artists/animators. Most will say experience in 3D Max.
Lou
http://www.louisferina.com
Lou
http://www.louisferina.com
Yep, maya is cool, but is far expensive. In another side, 3dsmax is very complete, and the 3dsmax-communities is special for videogames, you can find many tutorials, mesh and plugins for 3dsmax.
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"Cuando se es peon, la unica salida es la revolución"
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"Cuando se es peon, la unica salida es la revolución"
Author
I thought the price was too good to be true, but on journeyed.com it says its full software, you just need to qualify, and for 3D apps you need to be doing CS or similar.
Prices are $899 for 3D max, which includes charecter studio,and recator.
$495 for Maya 4 Complete.
Im more of a programmer than an artist, and Maya''s API looks great,for example Polyphony intergrated it with there ps2 engine.
Also im not really looking for a job as a designer, i just want to make games.
Why is 3D max better than Maya?
Prices are $899 for 3D max, which includes charecter studio,and recator.
$495 for Maya 4 Complete.
Im more of a programmer than an artist, and Maya''s API looks great,for example Polyphony intergrated it with there ps2 engine.
Also im not really looking for a job as a designer, i just want to make games.
Why is 3D max better than Maya?
I can''t really tell you which is better for games, but I can tell you that I checked into that Maya deal for students. It is a great price, BUT....in the fine print you will find that it will only work for a year.
Author
I can''t belive that i missed the fine print!
At least 3D max doesn''t have a 1 year time limt.
If you were actually a student that wants to get a job using Maya, 1 year would be enough to learn it, and put on on your cv, but i just want to use it.
At least 3D max doesn''t have a 1 year time limt.
If you were actually a student that wants to get a job using Maya, 1 year would be enough to learn it, and put on on your cv, but i just want to use it.
Maya Complete is a reduced copy of Maya.... It's missing a few of the modules that come with Maya Unlimited, which is the $16,000 version someone mentioned.
Max is used so much in the game Industry because it's cheaper. So when you're fitting out a whole studio you can afford more copies.
But if you pay real careful attention you will notice that those that can afford it prefer Maya (Epic & ID for example).
When I was in your situation I went for Lightwave (version 5) and really regretted the decision. Lightwave is cool and great, I'm not bagging it. It's just that at the time I bought it it was lacking a lot of features that were industry standard at the time. I still keep an eye on it, but Newtek seems really behind the ball when compared to the rest of the industry.
If I was in your position now, I would go for max because of the points already mentioned: wide user base/community, lots of tutes, lots of free plugins. Just bear in mind that anything you produce with it can't be used commercially in any way.
Or you could just go with Milkshape and save your money for a full version of Visual Studio... that's probably a better option for a CS major...
Just my $0.02
EDIT - you could always try this:
http://www.aliaswavefront.com/en/Community/Special/ple_announce/index.html
My revised opinion is that that would be the best way to go.
Edited by - CatalystJones on January 7, 2002 12:43:31 AM
Max is used so much in the game Industry because it's cheaper. So when you're fitting out a whole studio you can afford more copies.
But if you pay real careful attention you will notice that those that can afford it prefer Maya (Epic & ID for example).
When I was in your situation I went for Lightwave (version 5) and really regretted the decision. Lightwave is cool and great, I'm not bagging it. It's just that at the time I bought it it was lacking a lot of features that were industry standard at the time. I still keep an eye on it, but Newtek seems really behind the ball when compared to the rest of the industry.
If I was in your position now, I would go for max because of the points already mentioned: wide user base/community, lots of tutes, lots of free plugins. Just bear in mind that anything you produce with it can't be used commercially in any way.
Or you could just go with Milkshape and save your money for a full version of Visual Studio... that's probably a better option for a CS major...
Just my $0.02
EDIT - you could always try this:
http://www.aliaswavefront.com/en/Community/Special/ple_announce/index.html
My revised opinion is that that would be the best way to go.
Edited by - CatalystJones on January 7, 2002 12:43:31 AM
In February there is a free version of Maya coming out (I assume that is what that last link there was).
There is also a free version of 3ds Max: 3ds Gmax.
What you are missing in GMax though is rendering, some of the advanced material stuff, saving to known formats (except as "Game packs" come out, you can save to game formats - I can save in .md3 format). www.discreet.com - it is somewhere there.
The free maya can actually render, just it has a watermark. It also savse to a propietry format and isn''t compatible with industry standard plug-ins.
If you can wait a month (I know I could when these things are so expensive), then I''d try both and see which one you like more.
Trying is the first step towards failure.
There is also a free version of 3ds Max: 3ds Gmax.
What you are missing in GMax though is rendering, some of the advanced material stuff, saving to known formats (except as "Game packs" come out, you can save to game formats - I can save in .md3 format). www.discreet.com - it is somewhere there.
The free maya can actually render, just it has a watermark. It also savse to a propietry format and isn''t compatible with industry standard plug-ins.
If you can wait a month (I know I could when these things are so expensive), then I''d try both and see which one you like more.
Trying is the first step towards failure.
This topic is closed to new replies.
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