Looking to start a small business-Advice Needed
Hello all I am looking to start a new business and have been looking at the different 3D software packages. I would want to get mostly into advertising stills and visualization projects. Lightfarm Studios is a decent example of the type of work I would like to take on http://www.lightfarmstudios.com/retouching.
I am currently stuck with which 3D software package would be right for a small group of one to three people. At first I was looking at Autodesk 3dsMax/Maya with Vray but the entry price for that software is pretty high. The Foundry's Creation Package is looking really appealing since I get not only Modo, but also Mari and Hieroplayer. Of course there is always Blender, but I don't have much experience with it and I dont know if I will be limited in certain ways. If anyone has input regarding this issue it would be much appreciated.
I am currently stuck with which 3D software package would be right for a small group of one to three people. At first I was looking at Autodesk 3dsMax/Maya with Vray but the entry price for that software is pretty high. The Foundry's Creation Package is looking really appealing since I get not only Modo, but also Mari and Hieroplayer. Of course there is always Blender, but I don't have much experience with it and I dont know if I will be limited in certain ways. If anyone has input regarding this issue it would be much appreciated.
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http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=244&Itemid=399
If you want future proof expandability (lets say you move more into character animation based projects and need to hire animators) then you really need Max or Maya. But for purely modelling, cheapest options are Blender(with V-ray standalone?) or Modo (with V-ray but also has a great renderer).
I think I am going for Modo since the Student Creation Collection is only a $545 commercial upgrade and I not only get Modo, but also Mari and Hieroplayer I did some research and the renderer and it should suit my needs for now, and Vray is currently in Beta if I need somthing with a little more umph in the future. I will be going from 3Ds Max to Modo so now its just a matter of saying bye to my modifer stack
You always will need full polygon editing capabilities. This is especially true if you are doing precise modelling of existing products. All the instancing/array controls and tools you will need. General scene management. It can be way more efficient to deal with scenes/rendering that don't rely on dense meshes (in other words you will want to use meshsmooth/turbosmooth.
Also I'm pretty sure that the bundled Zbrush Keyshot has a limited output resolution? What if a client wants to do a full page print advert, a poster, or even a billboard!
Saying all that it might be enough to get you started, it depends on what jobs you get!
That's good. Keyshot HD's resolution is limited and costs more!
And splines too right? Not wanting to turn this thread into a max vs modo one but I'm also looking at Modo with interest these days with the teasing of 901 that comes bundled with meshfusion.
The mod stack I can live without, but max spline modeling - this I don't think I can say goodbye to. I read many times that this is Modo's great weakness, I was wondering if it's still the case.
In any case, best of luck
Vray used to be the way to go, but it has some serious weaknesses with their new 3.0 pricing scheme.
The biggest reason to go with a heavy industry standard like Max (esp if you are going for visualization projects) is that there is literally a metric asston of pre-made models out there. You won't always have time to custom model all the props/furniture and being able to purchase a few collections is a great time saver.
Surely this isn't Max dependant? Most models you can purchase in .obj or .fbx format.
Max is also a must since most plugins used in the business are for max (plugins for wooden floor paterns for exemple).
You will have to be fast and competitive , it is not rare to get less then a week to finish a project and you will have to make iterations very quickly, you just cant spend your time fiding workarounds for stuff that already exists in max or vray.
A lot of the good models you find online are in .max format with vray texture setups.
If you try to save a few hundred bucks now you will pay for it in the long run.
Max and Vray provide almost everything you need out of the box (vray proxies and vray fur and the max tools are tailored for the kind of work you want to do)
You'll also need photoshop and illustrator I bet. Quixel is also great, it's speeds up work not only for game devs.
You have to have proper tools can't be cheap on that.
I've used my Maya for archviz and it was a pain in the ass, you can get good results too but it is so much easier/faster in max and the time I lost struggling in maya I could have spent on another project.