So I’ve been an avid user of Blender for over 3 years now. I’ve followed over 100 tutorials and I know the program like the back of my hand. But I’ve come to a point of decision making. My girlfriend and I found out that you can get 3DS Max through student licensing and and I grabbed a copy. I’ve been working with it for the last couple of days, learning the interface and getting used to doing the basics I know so well in Blender. I should mention I’m only a hobbyist and I’m not looking to get a job in the professional field.
I understand that 3DS is WAY more powerful and fully featured than Blender, but I already know so much about Blender. Is it worth it to make the transition? Usually, I end up doing work with fluid, smoke, and particle simulations as well as some regularly technical modeling (interiors, small appliances, electronic, etc.). Is 3DS Max generally better at those types of things? I understand that some very powerful simulation plugins exist for Max that I can’t personally afford (e.g. RealFlow), but if there are open-source or free alternatives of these I can get my hands on, I’m all for it.
And lastly, if Max is the way to go, I was fishing for recommendations on good tutorial websites, forums, or YouTube channels to get started…
Depends on what you want to do. If you are fine staying a hobbyist, then the pull to use max over Blender isnt that great. ON the other hand, autodesk wont really give two craps if you use their software for fun (with or without a legit license). Max has way more features and tons of plug-ins one can use, knowing it can also open up job opportunities…but if you really dont care about all that, stick with Blender, its what you know. ON the flip side I do recommend learning 1 or 2 more 3d apps just so you can appreciate what blender does well while also knowing what to push for in what blender doesnt do well.
Im personally a Maya guy, but at home and for fun I prefer the non autodesk products. Relying on them isnt a ball and chain I would be happy with.
Hey!
Well if you say your not looking for a job in the field, so no one is forcing you to use specific software, i dont really see the point.
you say max is WAY more powerful than blender, and to be honest i dont see that much of a diference (i’ve been using blender 7 years and max 3 years).
You’re right max has some bad ass plugings , since max and maya are the standard in the game/animation/film industry they have alot of support, how ever such things come with an equal " high end industry" price tag.
You also said you want open-source / free alternatives, i cant think of annything better than blender on those terms.
Dont get me wrong, i think you should try max and see if it satisfies your needs. ( i had to start using it because it has an awsome rigging system)
For tutorials i would check blender cookie’s tween brother max cookie (http://cgcookie.com/max/), im sure if you serch arround youtube on specific max topics you will find what you need :).
On a serious note, I have talked to many ex-Max users, and they mostly say the same thing, freezing viewport, crashes, etc. I recall an interview with “suomi”(Stanislav Pyadishev) quite some time ago, and he switched for the same reasons. He actually said this:
4 – Why Blender and YafaRay? Have you ever worked with any other software’s?
Yes, I worked with 3dsmax and V-Ray. But switched to Blender due to high price for any version of 3dsmax and because Blender works much faster. One day I spent 3 hours modeling a wheelchair in Max, and its viewport was freezing constantly. Then I opened the same model in Blender and there was no any freezes. So I duplicated the wheelchair in the same scene and again saw no freezes. And again. After that I decided to start working completely in Blender."
Full interview: http://www.blender3darchitect.com/2011/03/interview-with-stanislav-pyadishev-about-visualization-with-blender-and-yafaray/
Granted, that was a while back, but I’ve heard the same things recently as well. Of course you will have people who have no problem with it, and crash Blender more, so do your own tests with both. I do think the statement of Max being “WAY more powerful and fully featured than Blender” doesn’t hold much water these days though(for instance, I found out recently that you needed a plugin to “select random faces” in Max), but it’s all about what you want to do with either program. Myself for instance, I’m not at all about animations, rigging or sculpting, so those features (while COOL), don’t mean much to me. Both are solid programs, keep playing with both, see which one fits YOU more.
As for tuts, there’s Max stuff all over the place, you won’t have to look very hard at all. MaxCookie as mentioned above, is a good place to start.
Well the most stable and favorite version of Max was 3ds 2009. Autodesk has a habit of making new versions worse performance wise, which makes you wonder how they can keep “forcing” their users to upgrade ($$). They have been putting more effort into Maya as of late though, and more 3ds studios are going Maya as a result. Its always important to know an autodesk suite though. Theres nothing wrong with spending money btw. Blender shouldnt be used because its free, but because its a good app.
As already stated I think it depends on what you’re working on. However personally, I find 3DS just unnecessarily complicates things. Like I could model something in 3DS and have it take me hours yet model the same thing, just as good if not better in Blender in under an hour. Max is also more resource heavy and takes more to run, I have a fairly decent computer (8 GB of RAM, 1 TB of HDD Space etc.) and it takes about a minute for 3DS to load up, whereas Blender loads practically instantly, and doesn’t lag or crash.
3DS May have slightly more options and features but overall I think you can accomplish more, easier in Blender.
Easy. Like 0ptikz said, learn both - use the one that does your current the easiest way.
The “idea” in CG is similar throughout all programs.
The more interfaces you are familiar with, the better for you. If you intend to work in the business, it’s good to be able to say, “Yeh, I can handle this tool” rather than “No problem, I can learn that tool in a week, just need to play a bit with it”
Well, I’ve been a 3ds max user for many years, but last year I made the switch to blender and I don’t regret it at all. I do mainly archviz so no need for rigging or animations (only walkthroughs). In those areas blender is far better and quicker than 3ds max. There were some gaps in blender’s tools (inset, bridge, bevel), but those are being filled quickly and the rest just works better than in max.
Simulations in max are very basic without pricy plugins and that could be said about max in general - it’s a program to host all those plugins, but without them it’s lacking. If I were you I’d learn Maya or Modo instead, because 3ds max’s development. But it’s good to know another app, that’s for sure (I remember trying maya for a while and it opened my eyes to new ways of using max
Realflow is not a plugin for 3dsmax. Realflow is a dedicated simulation package which has nothing to do with 3dsmax.
3dsmax on its own has particle flow which quite advanced but not as advanced as e.g. thinking particles, ICE or VEX. If you want to do simulation stuff as a hobbyist and don’t want to earn money with it, use Houdini’s Apprentice version which is free. For the rest I’d stay in blender because it is as feature complete as 3dsmax.
If you have the student version of Max then go ahead and learn to use it. Do note however that the student license only lasts for three years and you can’t make money with it. If you are not aiming to work with CGI as a profession then I’d say that buying 3ds Max would be pointless. In the mean time you can work with both though and figure out the strengths and weaknesses of both.
If you’re just a hobbyist and you already know Blender backwards and forwards you can do just about anything that Max can do. It doesn’t hurt to learn a new program, but it would seem to be a waste of your time to turn to something else at this point unless you plan on getting a job that requires Max knowledge.
You’d be better off learning Mudbox or ZBrush (do those have student versions?)
Familiarity with either Max or Maya - as they are the two top dogs of the industry - is always recommended. This may start off as a hobby but could mature into a career.
Saying that, I recommend you keep your familiarity with Blender, also. Its just about on the same level with other 3D suites(I have used both Max and Maya for years) and the ability to download and install such a package within 5 minutes is bloody handy.
Mudbox is free for students along with every other autodesk program. Meaning if you have a .edu email address you can pretty much AD stuff for free…but then really if you want the apps you dont need to go the “legit route”. I have talked to a few people from autodesk over the years, and quite frankly they dont mind when their software is pirated for example…it means more money in the long run from people knowing their software. Where the line is drawn is if its being used to make money, and they go after those people/businesses with a passion.
Pixologic also has a student version for Zbrush, but it costs money. Buying a student version will mean a discount when upgrading to a commercial license though.
