I've been adding different programs to the wikis tools page and would like to know if their's anything you think it's missing? I want to only list apps that can be run stand alone (no plugins unless they can run independent of the main app), and that people actually use. Their are a LOT of 3d apps out their, far more then I've listed so far, but their's no point in listing things no one uses.
Go here to see whats been added so far:
http://wiki.polycount.com/Tools
Also let me know if I got any info wrong or if youd rather see the apps sorted differently. And fyi the tool info at the bottom is just temp till the apps get their own pages.
Replies
Maya is generally viewed as better than 3ds Max for animation.
3ds Max is generally viewed as better then Maya for modeling.
This might be true, but its far too subjective to be held in the wiki, IMO.
I'd add a student price column after the website bit.
I've heard industries are split up like this between max/maya
architectural and visualization industries 80/20
games and TV/Broadcast industry 50/50
Film industry 20/80
edit: Actually, maybe it'd be better if they were just reworded? Something like "Max is revered for the power and complexity its modifier stack allows while modeling." "Maya is know for the speed of its marking menus while modeling and ease of animation due to the versatility of attributes"
I've also made it so the app-specific section has a "best known for" headline, just to give a single sentence overview of what makes the app interesting and/or useful.
Its pretty lame to poll people based on their opinion, perceptions and hearsay.
We don't have the strict editing standards that Wikipedia has (thank god!) but we could learn a thing or two about how they detest non-attributed statements and generalities.
My basic rule is "if someone can take the opposing viewpoint very easily, then this statement shouldn't be in the wiki, take it to the forums instead" (kill 'em all, let God sort em out)
Sales, package deals, things changing from free to pay and vice versa.
When I'm looking at the page, I know that column is going to be wrong.
Maybe range the price or rate it in "figures".
2 figures is $10 - 99
3 figures is $100 - 999
4 figures is $1,000 -9,999
Or maybe just levels or stars?
Something other than fixed USD amounts.
For prices, they don't really change all that much, its not like Max is going to become a free app tomorrow or anything. The price list is just to give people an overview so they have an idea how their money will stretch without having to do hours of research. I'll add a "prices last updated on:" line somewhere.
If you notice not all of the prices are in USD, I've listed them exactly as they are listed on the companies websites for the cheapeast commercial license available.If their in $, yen, euros, whatever, that's what they're listed as, I didn't do any conversions. Maybe because my IP is US based more of them were listed as USD, or maybe its because that's the most common form of recognized currency, I don't know.
* prices as of this date ****/**/**