3D modelling tools comparison
Hey guys, is there a big difference between Blender, Maya and Cinema 4D when it comes to modelling?
Also I wonder if there are any limits in polygons in these programs?
What other programs are also nice for modelling alone?
Thank you
Also I wonder if there are any limits in polygons in these programs?
What other programs are also nice for modelling alone?
Thank you
Replies
I switched to blender for my personal stuff bc of the money and other areas like animation and scripting
To me, all the same, diferente menus.
Maya on the other hand can be very fast as well maybe even faster than max but it can be tricky to match certain powerful workflows you take for granted in max. your basic modeling tools have been greatly refined in the last releases especially the interaction with them. The symmetry mode supports most of them, hotkeys for them are consistent, you have that super dupper Circularize tool (better latter than never), your swisss knife new Cut tool with a couple of neat features like the perpendicular cut and all the snaps easily activated during the cut process (also a step in the right direction by combining functionalities from multiple tools into one easily accessible with hotkeys), great Quad draw tool etc, decent visual indications helpers when you use the tools. For a straightforward modeling process I would say Maya wins hands down among all the others.
Cinema 4d has a snappy UI indeed but Im afraid modeling there was pretty much forgotten when comes to development. Now they carry only to their motion graphics crowd. Dev is bad for most of the apps but Cinema wasnt very robust at modeling in the first place to say at least. It had great potential, too bad.
I dont see anything special to Blender, besides a delusional enthuziasm around it. In fact ,out of the box same as Cinema 4d is limited at every corner. Some say its has the fastest workflow but IMO Maya has an ideal combination between its robust context menus and hotkeys (fewer keys to memorize also) as well as tools with multifunctionalty to rob even this Blender achievement. I see now they continue to add features (many of them are barely fixes and implementation of standard stuff), focusing more on quantity than quality. Ive heard this is intentional because they want to add as much as they can while the funding is still going and big and focus later on refinements. It doesnt really beat maya with its proceduralism either cause its modifier stack its just a gimmick of what Max stack is. There are certainly enough addons for it but what i dont like is that even those that have managed to be shipped with the program still depends on the third party author to be maintained, updated and developed. This is something that I dont like about this open source thing. They are all over the place and while developing can be great is still a mess.
ADDENDUM
When comes to Edit poly performance check this youtube review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VmTBCFZE6Q
Out of the bunch Blender (and Cinema 4d even it wasnt taken into consideration in the video) has the poorest performance. I dont know if they can improve it significantly. It seems rather daunting task.
When comes to handling objects and such I was surprised about Mayas performance when playing with the new awesome Motion graphics module MASH. I was able to playback stuff that in Cinema 4d you barely get a couple of fps. And its crazy because C4D is suppose to be the king of motion graphics but its performnce and viewport dont support such claims and ambitions. As a side note MASH in Maya is way more powerful than C4D mograph to begin with and the gap is exponentially widen if you consider other features and powerfull tools of Maya that works along the new MASH which was damn well integrated even it was bought rather than developed by Autodesk. Its definetely the most exciting , fresh, fun and easy to use thing that happen in Maya. It can be pretty succesfully put to use for some modeling tasks as well if thats more of your interest.
For retopolgy workflow out of the box Maya wins. Auto retopology is on the public road for both Max and Maya and this will enlarge the gap even more. The remesher sculpting stuff that is on blender builds was never intended for retopo anyway. I dont see anyhting robust and reliable happening in Blender in this aspect, they seem pretty content to let this matter to third party addons. So stick with Max and Maya.
Same as for the UV unwraping and editing. For a default UV editor and for a general 3D package, Maya new UV editor (updated several versions ago) is just a state of the art. Max one isnt very far but Maya one got more refined and attention within the last updates. In Cinema 4d and Blender UV editing is just bare bones. I dont see anyhting big happening these areas for these programs.
Regarding viewports and real time Eeevee make no mistake Mayas viewport will impose new standards very soon. It always been like that.
But one last question, Blender has real-time EEVEE does Maya have something like this?
Thanks a lot!
I beg to differ here that Blender its the only one that tries to make it simple. Cinema 4d did it and its doing that from the very beginning and maybe thats the reasons is the only software who can make such claims. And thats no surprise it was made for mograph designers coming from Adobe background who try to put some 3d in their work. Blender by no means doesnt have the same ammount of functionality stuff in there like the others so its far more easier to make its UI seem somehow streamlined. To be honest its just a return to some standards and common sense and its now very similar to the other apps. It can look simpler because there is a lot of less stuff in there compared to the others.
If Blender would have the same ammount of functionality like Maya for ex it would also get pretty much compartmented at UI and workflow level like Maya currently is. You have Xgen, MASH, Bifrost, etc. Plus you have all the special editors that are not necessarily a bad UI solution. Maya also has a lot more menu content than Blender and for this reason it conveniently separated them into sets by category.
I dont know other better solution other than this separation when you have all this level of functionality. I would also argue that this also facilitate the process of learning and consolidation of knowledge within the certain functionalities of the software and its also very convenient when one doesnt want to deal with all the parts of the software but only certain parts. You can even prevent them to Autoload when the software starts just like Blender addons. Stylistically at least Maya almost completely standardized the UI unlike Max. You have a flat modern design with professional looking and color coded icons. This is not something that happens everyday for such big and old softwares. To be honest for a software of the caliber and oldness of Maya with the refreshing work done at the UI style, its definitely the most modern looking out there. But thats definetely a superficial way to a valutate a software.
You should make it clear that this is your personal opinion. Which I - for example - do not share.
As for Maya I haven written a line of scripts in my life and you certainly dont have to so technical minded person to use it for most of its categories of functionalities where traditionally you are not supposed to have that mindset or skills. I even starting to do some motion graphics, particles, playing with the Xgen for hair and fur creation etc and I definitely havent felt like I need to have a degree in programming. In fact it was quite a fun experience. You might say that many of these where just bought instead of being developed, that they were already streamlined and production proven third party plugins and such but thats completely another argument and end user dont have to bother too much about it.
Blender definitely relies on addons more than any others so I dont know why you guys are so ready to bash Maya for this.
Maya only needs to have more easier control on its history but that only for a a particular the Hard surface modeling purposes and will be absolutely the supreme package if its not already.