For: "Which 3D software should I get?"

General Forums Blender and CG Discussions
#1

Here’s a must-read article:

http://www.zaon.com/company/articles/3d_rendering.php

Since this is a Blender forum, you are not likely to find many constructive replies to “which 3D software should I get?” or “3DS Max -vs- Maya” or even worse “Cinema 4D -vs- Blender”. Nor will you get much help from more professional gatherings, such as CGTalk. The article posted above is probably the most comprehensive and objective essay on this subject you are likely to find on the web.

(PS: I did a search, but didn’t find a thread discussing this topic specifically.)

#2

while a good article [and probably mentioned here before] it neglects to mention that many studios have customized versions of a particular app [customized to the point you wouldn’t notice it as the original app] that add new features and workflow methods, kind of giving you [the artist] not much of a choice on which app to use

I don’t think the artist would usually have a choice at many studios, because of the effort required to integrate another app into their pipeline.

as an artist, it is important to know features apps offer and how they are relavant to the artist [so as to make the best of what you have avalible]

[freelance artists do get to choose their app, but unless they have some money to throw around they don’t get to choose very often, so similar things apply]

actually, as I skimmed over it real quick, it is likely I lost something

#3

I think the target audience is artists who are trying to step into the industry as a freelancer/independent.

Otherwise, “what 3D software should I get?” is not a question to be asked (for getting hired into studios, a more appropriate question would be “what software do I NEED to use?”).

It’s the very question that I’m pondering at the moment. Which is why I happened to find that article, and thinking that it is a good read, decided to post it here.

#4

Great article!

#5

With many years experience as a computer programmer, it took me a long time to understand why a company might keep licensing a particular FORTRAN compiler from IBM, just to support a particular application. (Or, to quote the most extreme example, why a University would keep an ancient IBM machine … with real core memory (little doughnuts of magnetic material on a tiny metallic grid) … just because it could run even more ancient software under “AutoCoder emulation.”)

But companies do that, and do it routinely, and not because they are clueless, averse to change, or anything of that sort. They’re keenly aware of what they’re doing and why. And what is that? Because the application is far more valuable than the hardware and software needed to produce it. Not only the existing investment in manpower (salaries…) needed to produce it in the first place, but the risk of the software not being in service. Graphics companies feel no differently about their huge investment in animation material.

So when you go into any shop, expect to be thrust into a situation where you have to adapt to a new tool (even an old one!), less-than-ideal hardware, and so-on … and to get “up to speed” and producing saleable output… (a) without grousing :wink: and (b) in a very short period of time. The people making those decisions are not “clueless” even if sometimes they appear to be.

#6

for freelance, it’s definately XSI foundation at 500$
for others, u don’t choose your app when working in a studio

if your student, learn maya, it’s the standard right now, but xsi is comming nicely and max is a good app but bloated, big, outdated interface…