Since most people are still using maya/max, I need to know if blender files can be well exported to that softwares. or vice versa.
Recently I tried to open a Sketchup model. I don’t know about Sketchup, it seems to have two major export file types maybe, and I couldn’t open one, and another one was messed up mesh when opened in Blender.
The guy who made the model didn’t know how to export it as obj or fbx, so I just gave up.
How about Maya/Max with Blender? I think most model files are exported as obj. or fbx. Can people who use maya/max read Blender obj., fbx. without problems?
Modo seems fine with basic meshes from blender.
p.s. I’ve just praised how cheap and useful blender is couple of days ago, and today I realized that I can’t find much commercial contract work with blender, I feel a bit stupid.
I’m OP, I just downloaded 3ds max trial and tested import/export now,
Well, I was an idiot. I didn’t know I can’t simply import/export things between softwares. Even if I bake everything, it would be still mess or imperfect between blender/max.
That’s why people said Blender can’t be used professionally or commercially…
I didn’t know that many professional works need exchanging original scens/files(even for freelancing/outsourcing work which is independently sole project), you know, clients might want editing something themselves, or want entire modeling file.
I thought artists only sell final image/videos, but it was not…I should have learned about how productions work before learning 3d apps.
well…
I’ve learned concept of 3d from blender, so I don’t regret learning it.
But I gotta buy lightwave or rhino…since autodesk is too expensive.
You can still export bare models. Just don’t expect textures to go with them. Having said that, the same is true between commercial packages (e.g. .obj to C4D will take the model, but not textures). As has been said, none are seamless.
EDIT: As an example, I’ve exported some of my scenes originally created in C4D before I got fed up of paying through the nose for a hobby, as .obj and .lwf, and brought them in to Blender. Re-worked the textures from scratch, and gotten very satisfactory results.
Of course textures won’t even be imported/exported between several softwares, but so many companies/clients already have Max/Maya/Lightwave/C4d, so, they don’t need import/export things. They can read original formats. That’s what blender can’t do.
FBX seems to be the best right now, though to get a camera animation into Lightwave I use the .chan script export. I’m really looking forward to alembic
I think Blender and cycles are great as a software, but problem is, while productions can read max/maya/lightwave formats immediately, they won’t want blender artists at all.
Max and Maya being industry leaders means that studios tend to prefer a user-base which utilizes all the same application. That’s why you tend to see requirements for either often stated in AAA positions. This is purely from a marketing and standardized point of view. People often question whether Max is better than Blender and vice versa, however Max has many more tutorials, plug-ins and resources which is why it seems that way. However on a purely technical level, neither application betters each-other. In some respects Blender is faster at poly-modelling, while Max is better with productivity and so on and so on…
The point is with all applications it depends on the user and how they utilize it, you can have a fast car but if the driver ain’t good…
Right, so from a newcomers perspective Blender often appears noobish because of-course it’s Open Source and therefore attracts many people entering the VFX/3D realm. This often turns people off, however Blender is in some respects one of the most well rounded applications available.
Can it be used in industry work…? Yes for sure, it’s perfectly capable and it’s being incorporated into many indie studios as we speak.
As far as cross-compatibility Blender supports pretty much every major file-type and also has the ability of exporting smoothing groups, object groups, materials and loads more… So yes, you can use it in conjunction with pretty much any 3D application available.
I didn’t say max is better, why do you wanna make this ‘which is better’ discussion?
I said, many clients and companies already have max, they can read original max file right away, why would they want to import blender files? Even if I can bake materials perfectly, clients still should adjust something to import things from blender. What if clients don’t know how to use the software, only have it to open files?
Even small productions use commercial softwares, they won’t want blender artists when there are a lot of max/maya/lightwave users.
Please don’t try to twist the point, no one said blender is not capable producing results, I said import/export is the problem.
Yes Blender can export obj file, but it doesn’t guarantee it would actually work in all the other softwares.
Clients want to just click open things at once, they don’t want adjust things while importing.
I know a few gfx studios and game dev studios who are using Blender professionally.
Also if you do freelance work noone cares in which package you do you work as long as you can produce fbx, obj or png files. That’s the power of GIMP, Inkscape and Blender.
Have you actually worked with professional companies/clients? Have you accomplished perfect importing/exporting fbx,obj files between autodesk/blender/etc,.software? I need some answers from real experiences.
I’ve worked part time with photoshop/illustrator for shortly, you don’t just produce final image and sell it, client wants entire original files. 2d softwares are very compatible each other, but 3d seems not.
p.s. Didn’t meant to be aggressive. It just seems everyone is trying to make blender look good, no one is answering the question at all. Some companies use blender, but it seems most companies don’t.
I worked in a pure Blender studio. The stuff is up in the App store, Play store and Steam. Gfx was done exclusively in Blender.
Currently I’m doing my own thing, purely with FLOSS software (linux + Blender + GIMP) as a personal goal.
As an exit route I have several real job offers lined up! Eg: if I call them next morning I can start the gig next day. And I told everyone I’m only interested in doing my work in open source softwares.
Again, didn’t meant to be aggressive, I apologies, I was getting a bit angry. No one is giving direct answers, just protecting blender.
You are using purely open source system but most designers/companies don’t. I think still 80-90% clients in the world use windows based commercial softwares, except indie game developers.
Yes I thought about developing indie game graphic/animation, but started to want to do contract jobs, and…can’t find any with blender.
Asking these questions on a public forum won’t help you, everyone has different opinions. You should do your own home work.
Pick up the phone and ask you clients in what format do they want there shit to be delivered and take it from there.
Inquire about studios you want to apply for work what software they use and so on.
I already know they want commercial softwares formats. I think blender is mostly used only in indie or app game development.
So I asked if blender can work with other major softwares.
Well, yeah. 20 years ago it was Wavefront on IRIX and Lightwave on Amiga. DTP was on Mac OS. Nowdays it’s mostly win, Autodesk and Adobe buying up everything.
I think currently everything is changing. Billions of indian and indonesian dudes picking up the trade and pushing down the wages. So if we don’t take advantage of Ton and Linus basically giving away millions worth of work for free then I think companies are stupid.
But whatever something that works for me might not work for other guys.
I don’t know, one of my friend has been working as designer in a big company, she said MAC is best for design. Designers usually think IBM PC is not so good.
Then, what would they think about Linux? Once I asked a designer’s community if I can build linux design machine, they laughed at me, some even got angry, saying it’s ridiculous.
But I like Blender, it just looks…not so convenient to work with ‘others’.
It’s not tho if we are talking about desktop publishing. But it’s an uphill battle hehe. There’s Inkscape which is like Coreldraw or Illustrator. It takes some getting used to and CMYK support is rudimentary. Now if we are talking about doing whole pamphlets then things get hairy. Scribus has a long way ahead to be a default choice for designers.
If we are talking about computer aided design then yes there’s no Autocad on linux. Freecad and Librecad is only good for education purposes.
The format acceptance will vary with the output options selected. Take OBJ for example, which is fine for static textured meshes. Open one with a text editor. Compare it to one from your target application. Where differences exist your problems lay.
