The reason I ask is that at home I use a gaming card. I know that gaming cards tend to be more focused on DirectX, so I wasn't sure if the fact that MAX could use DirectX for viewport rendering would translate to improved viewport performance.
I use both 3ds Max and Maya for different scenarios. Coming from a background of level design, max was a nightmare. However after some careful decisions, I find that max is more widely supported for games and the materials / rendering system is easier. It's pretty self explanatory, versus maya.
It boils down to preference.
Remember, a modeling package is only a medium as to which one can express art. I can't draw a human on paper, nor can I model a human in either program. I can, however, bake some nice textures out
On a home computer running Windows and a consumer non-pro Nvidia graphics card, will one perform better than the other? Will I get fewer viewport anomolies with MAX? Does using DirectX in MAX allow better performance and viewport accuracy than using OpenGL in either program?
in my experience max will perform better in such a case. i am pretty conservative with my graphics card choices and driver upgrades though. if you like to live on the cutting edge (SLI, games...?) then it might act up for all i know.
i find max's viewport speed/interactivity has increased loads in the last few years and is now quite pleasant where other apps seem to have stagnated or fallen behind. directx in max is far preferable for speed and features these days, open-gl i remember as the 'cleaner', less artifact-y display method though.
when i last had to use maya at work on a geforce a few months ago it showed loads of display bugs and generally misbehaved on a dual monitor setup despite fiddling. 2009 or 2010, can't remember now. it was a common problem for several coworkers as well i believe.
and unlike them i barely scratched the surface when using the program, too.
I feel max is the better modeling software then maya which is better then max in other aspects of game development.
it really boils down to what workflow you prefer and what works better for you. maya's whole destructive workflow is really what kills it for me. there is just no comparison for max's modifier stack.
I still don't get why no one mention Softimage. I thought it was some obsoleted artsy Lightwxve shit but after I tried it I found it's really a combination of Max and Maya. I mean, the stuffs I complained in Max and Maya all went away in XSI, and it really got all the good stuffs from both of them. I know, poly modeling all boil down to the same old stuffs but sometimes you really wonder how great it is to have all the good stuffs from two very best tools. And that's what I found in XSI. The smooth work flow and organic handling from maya and some good solid and nifty controlling from Max. Really, its a beautiful hybrid. NOBODY is feeling the same way?!
...it does have one big problem tho. Now its 2011 and I dont know how to get old realtime shaders to work(it does seem quite overly pro-oriented in this area), now if some awesome guys can make a XSI Xoliulshader or something for egghead like me then maybe I can ditch max and maya altogether..
The problem with XSI is that unless you work in Japan/Canada, theres hardly any studios that use it. I know of only 2 studios here in the UK that are using for game development. I too prefer XSI over Max and Maya, but their ain't much point in sticking with it when all the jobs are for studios with pipelines built around Max and Maya.
wut--why I always heard XSI was most popular in UK? heck, I'm betting the Japanese ppl are saying "well XSI is great but except ppl in UK/Canada nobody uses it" Lol...
seriously tho, if we're talking about game modeling, sadly I haven't got into the industry yet, so I wouldn't know how specifically the studios want you to handle particular software? I mean aren't game assets essentially OBJs and textures? sure maybe need to bake normals and export final meshes and stuffs from certain specific package(max/maya) but if you're really comfortable using other software to create all the assets for baking/exporting, won't the studios allow you to do so?
It's used here a bit in post-production houses for stuff like commercials, but theres not that many using it for game development, just Lionhead and Digi-Guys are the only two i know of using it.
Compare that to japan were they use it a heck of a lot, games like Resident Evil series, Lost Planet, Devil May Cry series, Ninja Gaiden, Bayonetta, MGS series, Final Fantasy series.
seriously tho, if we're talking about game modeling, sadly I haven't got into the industry yet, so I wouldn't know how specifically the studios want you to handle particular software? I mean aren't game assets essentially OBJs and textures? sure maybe need to bake normals and export final meshes and stuffs from certain specific package(max/maya) but if you're really comfortable using other software to create all the assets for baking/exporting, won't the studios allow you to do so?
I think this really depends on how you export your final assets, for something like UDK were theres a exporter for nearly every package and supports alot of file formats then your ok, but if you working with a proprietary engine then you may be locked to a certain package in your pipeline that imports directly to the game engine. If you used multiple 3D apps, then you'd need a lot more tools programmers to support them.
You said you modelled a nice dumpster already in max but couldn't figure out the uv's.
It seems like you have the most experience with max, so the best bet would be to learn the rest of the process inside the same application. TRUST ME, when your starting out just one full bodied application like max or maya on it's own can be extremely confusing, choose one and stick with it till you feel in control
You said you modelled a nice dumpster already in max but couldn't figure out the uv's.
It seems like you have the most experience with max, so the best bet would be to learn the rest of the process inside the same application. TRUST ME, when your starting out just one full bodied application like max or maya on it's own can be extremely confusing, choose one and stick with it till you feel in control
Microsoft and Crytek both use Softimage for game development. According to some of the Softimage devs sales have actually increased since Autodesk acquisition. I think that'll continue since it's under the same roof as Max and Maya now. I agree Softimage needs better real time viewport tools, but it's still a complete and viable package.
I would choose XSI as well for game development, I just think its has a much better workflow and often better tools (really miss different colored edges in UV editor, MAXs new uv color vs models color is useless imo). But as already said, its not that many places that uses it, though more place is seeing the light.
Replies
It boils down to preference.
Remember, a modeling package is only a medium as to which one can express art. I can't draw a human on paper, nor can I model a human in either program. I can, however, bake some nice textures out
I hear this is no longer the case with 2011 though.
in my experience max will perform better in such a case. i am pretty conservative with my graphics card choices and driver upgrades though. if you like to live on the cutting edge (SLI, games...?) then it might act up for all i know.
i find max's viewport speed/interactivity has increased loads in the last few years and is now quite pleasant where other apps seem to have stagnated or fallen behind. directx in max is far preferable for speed and features these days, open-gl i remember as the 'cleaner', less artifact-y display method though.
when i last had to use maya at work on a geforce a few months ago it showed loads of display bugs and generally misbehaved on a dual monitor setup despite fiddling. 2009 or 2010, can't remember now. it was a common problem for several coworkers as well i believe.
and unlike them i barely scratched the surface when using the program, too.
it really boils down to what workflow you prefer and what works better for you. maya's whole destructive workflow is really what kills it for me. there is just no comparison for max's modifier stack.
...it does have one big problem tho. Now its 2011 and I dont know how to get old realtime shaders to work(it does seem quite overly pro-oriented in this area), now if some awesome guys can make a XSI Xoliulshader or something for egghead like me then maybe I can ditch max and maya altogether..
seriously tho, if we're talking about game modeling, sadly I haven't got into the industry yet, so I wouldn't know how specifically the studios want you to handle particular software? I mean aren't game assets essentially OBJs and textures? sure maybe need to bake normals and export final meshes and stuffs from certain specific package(max/maya) but if you're really comfortable using other software to create all the assets for baking/exporting, won't the studios allow you to do so?
Compare that to japan were they use it a heck of a lot, games like Resident Evil series, Lost Planet, Devil May Cry series, Ninja Gaiden, Bayonetta, MGS series, Final Fantasy series.
I think this really depends on how you export your final assets, for something like UDK were theres a exporter for nearly every package and supports alot of file formats then your ok, but if you working with a proprietary engine then you may be locked to a certain package in your pipeline that imports directly to the game engine. If you used multiple 3D apps, then you'd need a lot more tools programmers to support them.
You said you modelled a nice dumpster already in max but couldn't figure out the uv's.
It seems like you have the most experience with max, so the best bet would be to learn the rest of the process inside the same application. TRUST ME, when your starting out just one full bodied application like max or maya on it's own can be extremely confusing, choose one and stick with it till you feel in control
QFT. never a wiser word.
Maya = Game Dev and Film industry <---- I choose this!