Hi, i just got a quick question.
Does blender compare with 3d Studio Max, and or Maya.
What are the pro’s and con’s of each program?
Blender, 3d Studio Max, Maya
From these 3 programs i will choose one, help me to decide before i do!
Thanks,
Vista
I can tell you this:
price:
Blender >> FREE
3D Studio Max >> more than £1000 (i think)
Maya >> Even more
As far as i know, theyr all kinda the same…start with blender and if you need anything thats not there…get LightWave, for example hair and cloth…blender does support it but its not that easy to use
Well Blender is constantly updated with new features about every couple of months and it’s free. Maya has more powerful materials and raytracing (I think). And as far as I know people pretty much just use 3DMax for base meshes for their ZBrush models and games (that’s sorta sad). From what I’ve heard Blender is tougher to learn, but pretty flexible and seems to get along with others. Once your start rollin’ you’ll quickly get momentum and gain speed. So the battle is really between Maya and Blender, but I would start with Blender for now if I were you, it turns out proffessional work if you know how to do 3D graphics 
“Blender is no slouch,” and I’m not just saying this because this is a Blender forum.
If you are learning 3D graphics, or if you want to do professional quality still-image or video work, then (absent any other considerations such as a client with big-bucks who’s using a different tool) you can very easily start and end with Blender. You will find all of the important concepts, features, and tools of the trade very well-represented in this one astonishingly complete, astonishingly powerful, astonishingly free, product. (And if you don’t find some feature, then wait a month or two … or chip in, write it yourself, and contribute it to the Blender community!)
If you find that you’re bidding for work where 3DS or Maya or (whatever) is an established contender, then at some point you should obtain the learning-edition or retail edition of one of those tools … any company that has already standardized on Tool-X also has millions of dollars’ worth of employee experience and finished work-product built with that tool, with an overwhelming business-need not only to stick with that tool, but to stick with a particular version of that tool. You’d be wasting your time trying to persuade them to “switch” to anything else: the economics will not allow it.
With Blender, that “‘at some point’ point” that I spoke of in the last paragraph may be a long time from now, because you can start and finish a very solid self-education in 3D graphics using no other tool except this one. You can also do professional-quality work and get paid for it, with no other tool except this one.
I read somewhere recently, that blender is the fastest developing 3d application in the world, and I’d believe that. I’d say that if your starting at 3d work, then start with blender, as there is a great comunity of help and tutorials out there, blender will only get better than other programs at the rate its developing and what you learn in blender wont take too much to convert over to maya or 3ds.
I started in cinema 4d, then went to 3ds and now am mucking around in blender, and I would have to say that they all have adventages and disadvantages. However, if I were to choose 2 programs to learn off by heart, I’d say it would be blender and maya (though I haven’t done any maya yet, I hope to soon). The reason for this is that blender is awesome for modelling texturing etc, where as maya (from what Ive been told) may be best for rigging characters, animation and rendering etc.
Your situation will also inpact on your decision. Are you looking into starting your own company? If so, learn what you want. Are you looking in starting work with another company, if so ask them what they want you to learn. I think you will find that not many major production companies out there use blender YET. Again though, being a free tool, if you get good at blender as well as one other program they use (eg. maya) maybe they wouldn’t mind you using blender as long as it ends up in a maya format.
Putting all this into one sentence: I advise you learn blender first, then decide what program you need to specialise in.
Michael
Well thanks, that was very informative…
Sincerely,
Vista
Thanks,
You know you can try the free Personal Learning Edition version of Maya, as well as a trial version of 3dsmax, if you want to compare those with Blender. I’ve tried Maya, and to me it’s infinitely more complex than Blender. I’ve personally never used 3ds max but have heard that it’s more intuitive than Maya. So it won’t cost you anything just to try out the different softwares and see which you prefer.
Here’s Maya PLE: http://www.alias.com/glb/eng/products-services/product_details.jsp?productId=1900003
And free trial of 3ds max: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=5708192
1.) There are several formats that Blender can import/export, such as .obj, .3ds, .lwo, .xsi, .bvh, .dxf, etc. so yeah, you can transfer models in between the programs. Maybe not things such as particles, armatures, or animations, though.
2.) Yes, via .obj, .3ds, .bvh, .dxf files
3.)same as #2
4.) Yes, see the gallery on Blender.org http://blender.org/cms/Movies.160.0.html
and Orange, the feature film being done in Blender
http://orange.blender.org
5.) In my opinion it’s not a matter of which software is the best, it’s more to do with the artist, because people can make crap in Maya just as well as in Blender, but a real artist can create wonderful graphics in any program. Actually a lot of studios use proprietary 3D software anyway, and are willing to train a person on their software if they have the creativity that will enable them to succeed.