So, here I am, just got out of highschool and plan to further my studies in video game design. . . in light of the matter, I downloaded a trial of 3D Studio Max (since thats pretty much the standard in video gaming) and after a few hours of learning the new controls and following the AWESOME tutorials included. . . I found. . . that I really really really really miss my blender =( I don’t know how I’m going to do it. . . I miss the hotkeys already, I miss the “creative” feel the blender interface has. . . I miss it all -_- I can’t stand Max. . .I honestly don’t know why it’s worth 5000 dollars or whatever it is now. -sighs- [/rant]
To sum it up. . . Its gonna be a long couple of years if I can’t adjust to the Max interface
I made it through 3ds Max class by learning just enough of Max to have a good working knowledge and then doing all my homework in Blender, exporting it and fixing little things in Max
I don’t necessarily intend to be an artist in the industry however, but having it on a resume’ ought to look good.
You are smart to get a head start on Max though, just stick with it and you’ll be fine
Thanks Thinking back on it, I was the same way with Blender when I first stared in 2006 . . . so I think I ‘could’ adjust if I have to :ba: I’m just really gonna miss this program
Another thing I’m not liking with Max is it kills my Vista. . . it doesn’t like Areo. . .so I have to have ugly display settings just to run it. . .and theres no GE. . . alright, so I’m not much of a programmer, but even I could make a simple walk-around game that I love doing with my scenes. . .
lol. Sounds like me in my Maya class. I had to do a physics sim in maya, and I about died. Limited lab time, no personal copy of maya, and slow workflow. If I made one small change in the physics, I would literally have to sit for 10-20 minutes to see what effect it had. Blender and Bullet FTW! :ba:
Just stick with it. Actually knowing / thinking in 3D will help you. Many of your classmates may not have any experience in 3D. Eventually you will get the hang of it. You could always use Blender as a crutch until you are comfortable enough to work entirely in Max.
Ouch. . .not having your own copy would royally suck.
Blender just strikes me as a more ‘artistic’ program. . . like with Max, its all grids and numbers. . . Sure, blender had that too, but it didn’t shove it in your face like Max is doing for me. -_- Plus the hotkeys are really annoying me too. Oh well, I’ll take your advice and give it my best :spin:
it won’t be so bad in a few weeks, take it from someone who knows. i first learnt Maya, then Max (and picked up a little XSI just 'cuz). didn’t pick up Blender till this year (actually right before 2.46 came out), but i’m already quite well versed in it, and i would say better with it than Max. but once you have learned 3D once, learning a new program is like driving a new car. you may eject your CD when you wanna turn on your AC for the first few weeks, but you already no how to drive. all the rest is fluff. and i find that Max is actually a lot like Blender (more than Maya, at any rate) with the modifiers, etc. don’t let this hiccup in productivity give you trouble. just keep sloggin through it, and soon you’ll work just as well in Max as you ever did in Blender, cause deep down, they are all really about the same (i’d still do UVs in Blender… just a word to the wise )
Thanks for the advice I hope you are right. You wouldn’t happen to know of anyway to keep the Windows Vista theme going while using Max, would you? Its not that it really matters much, just wondering :eyebrowlift2:
I’ve gone the reverse path - starting in Max, (then Maya) now Blender. Each have their pros and cons. One of my lecturers was a Max man who was stuck teaching Maya - go figure. He described Maya as ‘being capable of producing anything you can imagine, but it’s an unyeilding beast to work with’.
Bit of a laugh - I finally installed my term license of Max a couple of months back (which shipped in once my studies were completed anyway) and all I’ve used it for so far is to convert a few files to open in Blender. Not that I’m holding a grudge, just haven’t felt enough of a need to play with it. The advice I keep hearing is learn one package and learn it well - jobs will probably require you to change packages here and there, but the skills and concepts are the most important as they usually translate pretty easily from one to the other.
Once you relearn the hotkeys - naturally.
(p.s - the pretty Vista gear chews memory as I’m sure you know. Memory that could be well spent making prettier 3D art… learn to love the uglier OS to make more use of your computer for 3D.)
I started with Max too. Actually with 3D studio 3.0 and worked my way to Blender…
I turned my back on Max for 2 reasons:
my company develops in Blender
once my Max licence expired i wanted to buy a new one. Well i am from europe. Max was then 3900USD in the states and 4600 Euro in Europe, which is about. 6850USD. I wanted to get the US version, first i dont like non english software, second the price. after mailing with autodesk HQ, Swizz, Germany and GB the conclusion was:
Its illegal to own a max licence from another country than the one you use and work with MAX in.
There is no plausible explaination why the european version costs almost twice as much as in the states. (possible a extreme-swimming athlet crosses the atlantic with 1 copy each month)
There was no accomodation from autodesks side, just hard-bitten mail-center-agent, generated generic email contact.
Well, frack Autodesk. All Hails Blender Foundation.
And now i buy all the Stuff in Blendershop, All the books and donate here and there now and then, havent even paid a 10th … well maybe… of 3d Studios costs and got a nice proggy doing all my stuff… now and then i miss a feature or some functionality, but hey… Blender is growing and growing and growing… unless Max, which gets a new splashscreen and a new colorscheme on every version every half year for 1000USD upgrade costs.
Still, Ben´s right every proggy has its advantages and disatvantages, max got its strenghts, then again blender lacks some features… well i`ve chosen the lesser evil ;D
I agree that Max’s price tag is a shear ripp-off, based on what the makers think is the most they can squeeze out of the users, rather than good old supply and demand laws. That strategy does not encourage any loyalty, such as with Blender. There certainly is no love lost between me and the greedy bunch at Autodesk.
However, learning to use Max could only be advantageous to you. It really is a very powerfull app, and you can flame me for this, but it is far more powerfull than Blender.
Thanks guys I’ve been using Max for about. . . 15 hours. . . just going through the tutorial help files. . .they are VERY helpful. . .I finally got a feel for the hotkeys, but I must admit, I do find myself hitting “.” (To lock the view on the selected object, vert or face) “B” (for selecting) and using SHIFT a lot instead of CTRL to add stuff some of the time. . .but either way, I’m getting there. . .slowly.
But…you have video tutorials, and a help popup thingy, and a neat little view changer, and now you have that little turntable thing for pan/zoom. AND A TEAPOT.
Are you saying that Max costs thousands…per year? Like, what happens after a year? The software just…won’t start?
I think Max has a one year student licence for a couple hundred bucks that expires. But they also do updates every year or so, and the upgrade for the commercial version is pretty expensive.
Actually, the tutorials are one of Max’s best features, they are well organized and progressive. To do loop cuts in Max, select edges or verts and connect them (took two of us days to find that one.)
-nods- They are VERY VERY helpful. . . I’m currently working my way through the polygon tutorials and its very progressive, no rushing, nice and slow Which is perfect for me.
I started in Max and still use it. I have used more 3d applications than I can think of, but the biggest thing is that there really is no “best”. Max fails in the creativity department and teasing a good render out of it is a nightmare… BUT, I can create a head in under an hour and some of the topology tools (including subobject mode) is very easy.
My advice… look at companies you want to work for… look at their job postings… what do THEY want you to know. Max and Maya are game industry standards and Blender won’t be for …well maybe ever. Why? Because the license issues. ID, Valve, Silicone Knights, and all those other companies don’t want to release their source code (well… source engine is open but you know what I mean). When you look at the UT engine or the Half-life engine and how much companies pay to lease those, the question really is put to rest.
As far as the tools… my only gripe about blender is that it doesn’t stay in a particular mode… if I am moving something, I’m probably going to do it for more than just one operation.
Reno:You should google a Vista tweaking tutorial. Vista really is terrible for any 3d or other visual work. There are a number of operations ran by the OS that are using your processor/RAM for what Microsoft thinks is best…
Just remember, all software packages are tools. Yes, some may be stupid rusty poorly designed tools, but don’t get into the mindset that it will change your creativity.
Thinking back on it, I was the same way with Blender when I first stared in 2006 . . . so I think I ‘could’ adjust if I have to :ba: I’m just really gonna miss this program
Which is perfect for me.