Well its not like you lose out on their interest forever if you dont get it done by a certain time. We cant argue that sooner is better, but I dont think theres a magical time limit on it. Granted, there are opportunities opening up right now (steam being one of them) that shouldnt be overlooked, but if the BF does, while they might lose out on a huge boost or opportunity, it also wont be the end of the world in regards to professional appeal.
Being new to 3D modeling I found blender WAY to hard to learn. Sure it’s more efficient, fast for blender users to use but I’d rather pay $400 a year for Maya LT for Unity development. Time is money and if you can shorten your overall learning path it’s worth it.
curious how different people have different experiences, i found Maya to be clumsy and awkward to model with whereas blender is a doddle to use in all aspects. but perhaps thats more to do with the quality of training available for blender, who can say?
Maya is notorious for having tons of quality training material, in part due to it being the main 3d application they teach at schools and universities. Blender does not have more or of better quality, training materials compared to Maya.
HOWEVER, with CG Cookie and say Blender Guru, you do get training material thats presented in a more “fun” way, which is what might make it more appealing.
As for Maya being clumsy and or awkward… its definitely neither. But I think that impression or sentiment is felt due to the nature of how each application approaches modeling. Maya is direct, no modifiers or any of that. Just the most necessary modeling tools and a history stack. Its power lays in that kind of simplicity, that when mixed with the best snapping tools in the industry and the ability to convert nurb data to polygons, gives the user one of the most solid modeling packages. Of course, for a modeler who needs more, you would then use any of the many plug-ins available for Maya to enhance the modeling process…but the basics are there and solid. Blender on the other hand takes a more 3ds Max approach. Its a bit more simplistic and streamlined as far as modifiers go, but its about tweaks and non-destructive workflow to get results. As an artist you have to be a bit more involved with Blender, as opposed to Maya where you can just focus on pushing verts, edges and faces.
If you are used to using a 3ds max or maya approach, naturally it will feel different…almost like you are gimped or given some rough handicap. All it takes is a change in thinking. That said, Blender does have some of the most robust modeling tools I have seen, it just lacks polish and standardization.
