Need advice about ' Industry Standard' vs ''the rest..''

Vlad 28 · Dec 2018

hey guys(and girls of course) ..      I work as a 2d artist and finally after a big while I gathered some money and can study 3D (specially modeling and rendering.. ), with Zbrush I'm already learning it ..
   but now that I would have more free time ( I will stop taking commissions a lot of commissions)..
   so I started to look more deeply into 3d programs .. looking here and there what people say about them
   How programs evolved ,whats new, etc..etc..
   after reading a lot one word keep annoying/hunting me .. and its ''Industry Standard''
   I have to say that my experience in Maya and Modo were barely 3-4 days ..
   so I decided to ask you folks here what you think ..your opinions and advice's..

    What are the Cons if I pick up not a ''Industry Standard'' program like Modo or Blender for my work/career? I mean of course I could learn 3ds max or maya later but .. gosh they are so damn expensive!
      should I invest my bucks studying 3ds max or maya .. paying 2 or 4 years rent will that increase my chances of getting good jobs or getting a full time job in some studio? (why 2o 4 years plan? because thats the $$ I have and thats where they give a discount )

      but after that? what if I wont get enough $$ to keep paying the expensive fees ?
      and if I go to a school/institute.. I would be burning my bucks spending half of what I saved ..   for things I can learn online..   and after that what? I would still had to rent a program if I want to freelance.

     right now all its hypothetical coz I'm downloading trials of some of this programs ..
and the only one I've been learning is ZBrush (6 months now) ..

my brief experiences so far was a week with Maya (thanks to a friend ), and 3 days with Modo.*thanks to another friend who is a industry designer ..

what is bugging me a lot is the phrase ''industry standard'' ( its like a big heavy cloud over my head )
   its ,.. I feel like if I choose non industry standard I would be marked as an outsider or of some kind of elite Guild (sorry Im exaggerating I know )

and on the other hand .. what about ''choose whatever program you like, choose that program because you feel comfortable to work with! ? '' after all they are tools

and we are 3d ''artist''!

so theres that ..

what are the Cons learning Modo or Blender technically speaking (for instance.. I model in Modo or Blender ..

..and I need to send the file to a studio were they use Max or Maya.)

    Modo.. I heard it has some problems handling /work with laarge scenes ? or something like that ?
    and if they could be a barrier to ''eventually'' get a full time job in a Studio that don't use any of them.

ps: I see a lot of kickass talented artists using Modo such as TorFrick.. or Warren Marshall..
       so I guess there's always difficulty's but .. well I just want to hear your opinions and thoughts.

    many thanks in advance.

pior · Dec 2018

The good news is : you are way overthinking this.

You may run into studios who want users to use this or that software for a very specific technical reason, but this should be none of your worry at this time. And regardless, this kind of requirements is waaaaay secondary to the quality of one's art. A clever studio would not pass on a fantastic artist just because he/she uses Blender. BTW, as of today, Blender is running circles around Max and Maya in some areas.

Just go for Blender 2.79 for now, and 2.8 once it releases (around June next year). That's all you need, along with ToolBag3 (baking) and Photoshop for texturing. With these, you'll be able to make modern content for UE4 and Unity - and these are the industry standard. You could also spend a month or so in Max and Maya just to learn the very basics (import/export, basic model management, and so on).

Background : 10+ years of experience with so-called "industry standard" stuff.

TLDR : go for Blender. And if a studio asks you to send a file in Maya or Max format, you ask *them* to provide you with a temporary license of these programs.

pior · Dec 2018

For what it's worth here's what the Blender viewport looks like these days - basically on par with UE4, Unity and Toolbag3 :

https://i.imgur.com/03kcWxy.mp4

Anyways : take your time, relax and learn one thing at a time, and focus on quality and accuracy. Good luck.

Alex_J · Dec 2018

@pior .

you don't recommend zbrush? I guess OP didn't mention if it was character art or other, but I was under the impression zbrush is essential at least for the character artist.

And, briefly if you have the time, what areas is blender surpassing the autodesk programs in? I ask because I own maya lt, but all the time I have to use full Maya version anyway. So maybe it's worthwhile to drop the maya LT subscription and migrate to blender soon.

I don't mean to hijack here, I am thinking the answers to my questions may be helpful to the OP as well. Sorry if it's not.

pior · Dec 2018

The OP mentions he already has/is learning Zbrush.

That said, I am also a bit of an outlier in the sense that I personally think that an over-reliance on Zbrush does more harm than good, especially for character art - because its viewport is so completely off. If anything Blender has some very decent sculpting anyways. So overall it's a non-issue here since the OP has access to both.

As for comparing programs : I won't get into details since all it takes is trying them out. But indeed, there is imho no point in paying for a MayaLT subscription these days.

Vlad 28 · Dec 2018

Guys thanks a lot for your opinions and thoughts .! (Im about to get back home ..I will write a bit more later.) pior.. yup u are right .think I have too much stress xD mostly because I would be investing time to learning and not to work (freelancing ) ..

Pior about Blender : I will downloaded it tonight .. I was lurking already and saw for example the ´´greasy pencil´´ and Im amazed :O https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8puJClvNYE

I forgot to mention .. about modeling .. I want to do both hard surfaces and organic characters ..

and as much I love Z brush if I would have too much reliance on z brush ..ok could make me a z brush specialist .. but it lacks some features and for hard surfaces .. argh I simply .. how to say it .. I feel clumsy and insecure when it comes to hard surfaces..

I need view ports and precise tools .. maybe its my brain ,. ok its possible ... but I prefer a more traditional tool in that regard..

Brian "Panda" Choi · Dec 2018

#modomasterrace
I'm all on that train now bruh

Regarding hard surface, have you ever given thought to medium poly modeling, or subD modeling?

Vlad 28 · Dec 2018

Brian "Panda" Choi said:

#modomasterrace
I'm all on that train now bruh

Regarding hard surface, have you ever given thought to medium poly modeling, or subD modeling?

hi Brian .. yes I saw some vids about medium poly and subD modeling .. in modo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GnGWVjLorU

Maya hard surface sub d https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=554L6ycWPo8&t=182s

and 3ds max medium poly modeling .. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N56oGcm144

there are really lot of techniques and ways .. need to say that I barely know a few and only ''theory'' (by watching lot of vids..)

so I consider myself a total hobbit noob

as a funny thing .. I guess I started like many beginners trying to compare maya,max,modo,blender ,c4d which is best for ''x'' ..LOL

after eating so many vids makes me thought how fool I was xD .. of course I saw some differences .. but

in the end it was all about whit what program Im going to feel comfortable to work with, and what I want to be ..

but as I said before .. ..´´industry standard´´ was a phrase that bugged me a lot ..

one day O was watching a talk in some youtube channel related to 3d .. and after talking wonderful things about Modo and Blender ..

in the end if you want a real good job you have to learn Maya or Max. and my thoughts were .. why!! how unfair it is ..

when for example you google blender hard surface or Modo scifi you find soo many talented artists creating amazing mid blowing things.. but well .. meh . it is like it is .

sacboi · Dec 2018

Agree with @pior

So essentially I'd suggest saving your money for rent and bandwidth via self teaching yourself online rather than a conventional 'College' environment where most of the syllabus 'taught' can actually be learnt for free.

Background: worked with Blender for 13yrs as a hobbyist and semi-pro Hardsurface Modeller.

Brian "Panda" Choi · Dec 2018

You're supposed to also make said art while watching the video if you can. You should give that a try.

Vlad 28 · Dec 2018

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Brian "Panda" Choi said:

You're supposed to also make said art while watching the video if you can. You should give that a try.

Brian yes .. that's the idea .. painting a bit .. but watching tutorials and practicing 3d a lot . thing is that I don't want to leave aside Zbrush ..

I downloaded Blender yesterday. love it hotkeys ..

Modo will be the next but I want to give Blender a good try .

Vlad 28 · Dec 2018

sacboi said:

Agree with @pior
So essentially I'd suggest saving your money for rent and bandwidth via self teaching yourself online rather than a conventional 'College' environment where most of the syllabus 'taught' can actually be learnt for free.
Background: worked with Blender for 13yrs as a hobbyist and semi-pro Hardsurface Modeller.

Sacobi .. 13 years is a lot .. . ! yeah the only possible way I was considering to enter into some institute is because I will be learning Maya or Max.

in all years of your as a 3d artist .. did you felt the need to learning Max or Maya ?

Im not talking about the capability's of the program itself .. but maybe when seeing a job opportunity when they ask for maya or max .. ''

because that's where my fears lie. like spending time learning a program I feel comfortable but in order to progress you need to learn another one more expensive one ..

but well .. I guess my fears are just ghosts .. TorFrick can be a good example .

someone who using other not mainstream software could make in through . :I I guess.

Brian "Panda" Choi · Dec 2018

You don't have to leave Zbrush. I still use Zbrush in conjunction with Modo to do my hard surface sculpting and modeling. Especially for weird shapes.

3D packages are easy to learn. Stop worrying about it too much, and if you worry tthat much, just switch over and quell the fear. It's not like the theory you've learned in Blender wouldn't translate as well to Maya or Max.

sacboi · Dec 2018

@Vlad 28

Yes I'm also a competent 3ds Max user, though that's not to say a mandated choice by any means, made specifically for seizing a potential job/client opportunity when working freelance.

To be honest mainly for satisfying my own curiosity, so in essence pushing the bounds of my comfort zone as an artist.

Vlad 28 · Dec 2018

sorry for not reply earlier .. I started to mess around with Blender and I forget about all .

Guys .. I want to thank you all for your comments & thoughts .. maybe for you its nothing but for me .. it was just what I needed ( too much stupid stress on my head )

so again thanks you all .

Vlad 28 · Dec 2018

Brian "Panda" Choi said:

You don't have to leave Zbrush. I still use Zbrush in conjunction with Modo to do my hard surface sculpting and modeling. Especially for weird shapes.

3D packages are easy to learn. Stop worrying about it too much, and if you worry tthat much, just switch over and quell the fear. It's not like the theory you've learned in Blender wouldn't translate as well to Maya or Max.

Brian .. yes you are right .. I will try to have balance ,. don't want to forget what I learned with Z brush so far .

I really think that the root of my fear was the incredible amount of money I will have to put in autodesk . I think that was all and how I got hooked by the ''industry standard'' thing.. meh. :P

about z brush and hard surfaces .. Im trying that too .. I think its all in my head .(of course xD) .. in Modo or blender ,etc.. I can center the model in top view, left /right view front view ..

but in z brush or Im dumb or didn't discover it yet and there's a way to work around it .. or Im dumb xD lol .

Vlad 28 · Dec 2018

sacboi said:

@Vlad 28
Yes I'm also a competent 3ds Max user, though that's not to say a mandated choice by any means, made specifically for seizing a potential job/client opportunity when working freelance.
To be honest mainly for satisfying my own curiosity, so in essence pushing the bounds of my comfort zone as an artist.

Sacboi : thanks .. I will be working freelance too or thats the plan .. and if I have the chance would be learning max or maya later .. (if I have the chance )...

my main concern was .. 1 the software I should pick up is the one I will feel comfortable to work with .. *but what if if its Maya or max? and not blender or modo ?

then the fear and the stress because the huge amount of money I will have to invest ''eventually or hypothetically''

and after all if it worth it ant this moment and time (2018) .

but seems at leas for freelancing good portfolio is mor eimportant that what program you pick up.

Brian "Panda" Choi · Dec 2018

Use google.

Zbrush orthographic

Need advice about ' Industry Standard' vs ''the rest..''

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