[RANT]What I really REALLY hate about Blender as a 3ds Max user.
polycounter lvl 5
I've been a max user for about 6 years and recently started using Blender.
Though I like Blender a lot and don't want to go back to max any time soon for basic modelling, there are a couple of things I REALLY dislike about Blender.
Though I like Blender a lot and don't want to go back to max any time soon for basic modelling, there are a couple of things I REALLY dislike about Blender.
This is why I am making this post, as I have to blow off some steam. Mainly because I don't like it when simple tasks become busy work or "unlogical" in my eyes.
Maybe I don't yet know how Blender fully works, so if you know a good alternative workflow please tell me! 
Basic Object Creation, Modifiers and Non-Destructive Workflows;
Blender does not have this, like at all. When you create an object/mesh for example a cylinder and you click on that object or something else. You can't adjust the radius, height or subcount anymore.
For simple meshes this isn't much of a problem, but for example creating a sappling tree this is a big deal.
In 3ds max you work with modifier stacks in a non-destructive workflow. So i can subdivide and extrude a cylinder and still afterwards be able to change it's radius and height.
Simple Deform and other Modifiers REQUIRING EMPTIES!
In Blender modifiers don't use the AXIS of the mesh it's aplied to, so you have to use empties..... this is just busy work. Sure the feature can be usefull, but why by default does it not use the object's AXIS when no empty is selected?
Simply curving a subdivided cylinder 90degrees becomes busy work this way, stuff like that makes me want to go back to max...
Curves:
Curves to me here are just confusing compared to the splines in Max, but that's just a personal thing. I hate it that i can't say rather or not a vertices is cornered or bezierd, or adding a vertices on a specific point not being possible unless you subdivide....
I just had to get this off my chest.... I really like Blender and already boughts some addons on the marketplace. Only these things mentioned are a really pain in the ass, that sometimes makes me want to go back to Max.
I recognize that I just have to bite through that hard bullet....
Replies
I would also voice these concerns to Blender if possible as well.
But i disagree in your take on nondestructive workflow, blender is much weak on this but no other package do what max does, so much so that this might be the only reason max isn't dead already. kekekek
Also i wouldn't expect any improvments on this regard so soon, they want blender to have a robust nondestructive workflow but it will be nodebase like houdini and is like 2 years down the line.
To me, the worse part about Blender is the UV tools.
- The auto-uv's a good enough, but it always puts things in weird angles.
- The UV packing is terrible for efficient game uv layouts.
- There is no quick way visualize UVs on the 3d object. You have make a checker material manually.
- The grab/rotate/scale tools really need a "Preserve UVs" option like the slide edge tool has. There is no way to "relax" UVs outside of the relax brush. Why it is a brush and not an operator that works on selected uvs???.
I'll still use Blender, I just wish it were better in these areas.that there's no edge constraint option is just mind boggling.... now i have to straighten edges by HAND!
this is not what i am talking about at all.....
Chamfer/bevels are very complex. There are a lot of edge cases that pop up where they don't work as expected, that you have to take into account. I hope what we did is working well for those that are using it. If not, we actively fix things as we find them. If you do find a case where they aren't working as expected, you can let us know and we'd be happy to take a look.
EDITED: Sorry I misread the above post. You had to use a plugin before. Not that we purchased a plugin. Got it.
I tried blenders auto-uv's and some plugin, i do it all manually still - just asking if there maybe some solution that people find absolutely amazing compared to manually placing islands (that saves time), i also manually unwrap.
TBH i rather not fiddle with islands if there is a packer that does what needs to be done, even if it takes a reference, uv of say (character) or a couple and computes how others packed their uv's to be "optimal', and reconfigures my uvs to those references (idk how coders do it, seems like 1 script is floating around, they all end up looking very similar)
Big(bottom) to small packed islands(top), looks very automated. idk, feel like manual is the best option.
I've got 8+ years of experience with 3Ds Max and Zbrush, Also a few years with Maya and Mudbox and obviously constantly learning other software like Substance Painter, Designer, Cinema 4D, 3D Coat, World Creator, Unity, Unreal and so on... so I'm used to getting over that learning curve over and over again, and no software is perfect but wow, Blender is giving me a really hard time. I get it it's free, so i feel bad complaining, but it's by far the least intuitive piece of software I've used.
I feel like a lot of simple actions that normally can be done with a few clicks or button presses, in Blender I have to use weird workarounds that take ages and are very finicky and loose. I just don't get it why they just don't want to look at good software and copy whatever works and maybe improve upon it, they try to reinvent the wheel but make it square.
It just amazes me that in retrospect even Zbrush has a better UI
The above mentioned topics are all very relatable, i'd like to add: wtf is up with no backface culling, or rather always backface culling unless you use the wireframe view
Anyway, I tried loads of the plugins and tools, endured the rabid evangelism and atrocious tutorials on youtube and I got myself to a point where I'd rather use Blender than Maya for modelling
then
Max became available on subscription for a reasonable price so I gave Autodesk some money, deleted blender and have never looked back.
Blender is a great thing but the UX is fucking awful and the ecosystem (like most open source projects) is a mire of inconsistent and half-assed tools. I just don't have the time or will to deal with it when #30 a month gets me something I don't have to dick around with.
We're lucky to have this piece of software, and for free. Love it.
Been using and doing Blender instruction for companies for the last few years and I don't get the UX comments. I don't get the primitive initialization or non destructive modelling crits. It's my experience that GNU and commercial software are on the same high level quality wise these days.