What software are the best for their purposes?

cjpeg · Jun 2018

Hello,

This may be sound stupid but ...
Currently I am learning Maya, but I don't really like the program because its heavy, crashes and a lot o times I hear that the program is not good. And at the same time I hear that the best modeling software is Modo, sculpting is Zbrush, Houdini has the best interface.
I picked Maya because on artstation I saw all jobs require Maya or Max.
But I am not sure about anything.
Could someone explain something about software?

And what about Blender? I heard that 2.8 version will be a bomb.

Thank you for your answer in advance.

Eric Chadwick · Jun 2018

What you've heard so far is what newbies say in forums to try to impress others with their new knowledge, or what fanboys say about the software they use most.

The Death of Curiosity

There are no quick answers.

musashidan · Jun 2018

To add to what Eric has said - which is a phenomenon as old as 3D programs themselves - the best thing you could do is to try them all and see which suits you best. Yes, Max/Maya are industry standard and entrenched in existing pipelines, but that may change over the next few years as new startup shops adopt Blender/Modo more as Adesk pricing may not suit their startup budgets.

All the DCCs do the same thing ultimately, albeit in their own native ways. It really is completely subjective and will depend on your own tastes. If you are considering Blender then now is a perfect time as the official beta realease of 2.8 approaches.

Alex_J · Jun 2018

In the beginning, any program is going to seem like its an old jalopy on it's last leg. But that's because you are new and doing everything in a screwy way. Whatever program you end up choosing, just stick with it through thick and thin for awhile. If you make a habit of quitting things whenever they seem difficult, you'll retard you ability to troubleshoot issues and find solutions.

Don't say, "this program sucks because it keeps crashing." Say, "I want to find out why this program keeps crashing." Most likely you'll find the answer to be user error, or maybe something like not having adequate hardware, etc. In any case, it takes some work to figure it out.

pior · Jun 2018

To the OP : the reason why big studios require modelers to be able to use Max or Maya has pretty much nothing to do with these programs being superior or inferior to others - it's just because that's what these teams developed a workflow around.

And one of the reasons why these studios pick these programs in the first place is because they get access to official support as paying customers. It doesn't magically protect them against crashes (far from it !) but it is an important thing that the IT department can leverage when a problem occurs.

Now all that said : indeed some programs *are* less stable than others when doing certain things, it's a fact - and the problem isn't always the user. If you notice that Maya doesn't quite fit your needs because it crashes too much for whatever reason, then you have two choices : you can either power through it and still get some stuff done with it - it will be painful, but you will have a certain advantage when applying for jobs, that's for sure. Or, you could find something more stable and fluid (*cough* Blender *cough*) that fits your needs better. You'll be more relaxed, and will have more time and brain space to dedicate to becoming a better artist ... which is precisely what gets you hired in the first place.

Now all that said : you absolutely cannot make any decision of that kind based on "what you hear people say". "I hear that the program is not good" is 100% meaningless and shouldn't influence your decision in the slightest. If you are smart enough to open a modeling program, create a cube, and edit it at the mesh level (extruding faces, modifying edges, and so on) then you are smart enough to run your own tests and make your own decisions.

That said these programs are incredibly complex to get into. You'll probably learn better by being relaxed about it and picking that up as a hobby, rather than worrying about what may or may not get you hired.

One last point regarding Blender "X version being bomb" is, too, 100% meaningless. X version won't bring much changes in regard to modeling compared to whatever the current version does, so if you are curious about it just stop listening to what fanboys say and just give it a try by yourself.

cjpeg · Jun 2018

Thank everyone for answering me.
But two things I heard a lot (I know it sounds stupid, but I saw how pros with good portfolio from artstation said something about):
1. Modo is very good for modeling for some reason. Who uses modo please explain why...
2. Blender is for hobbyist purposes only and not many people like it - why?
I started learning Maya because I wanted to find a job in CG industry and looked into jobs section in artstation.
Right now I am watching zbrush course (looks like it is an industrial standard and one of the most used software on artstation).
And is there a users of houdini? I heard something about the program, even installed it just in case. But...

musashidan · Jun 2018

1 - Modo is good for modeling.....but so is Max......so is Blender. This is down to the artist using the tools and how they have their workflow set up. It can take a LONG time to build your ideal custom modeling setup. It's something you develop over a long period and through experience.

2 - Might have been true a few years back. Certainly not today. More and more artists are making the transition from other programs like Max/Maya/Modo and moving to Blender. Artists that have been using these programs for 10 or 20 years are seeing the lure of Blender. I have experimented with Blender myself in recent months and is a top quality program with a crazy amount of addons. Blender is very powerful. Don't be fooled by the fact that it's free.

Zbrush certainly is industry standard, but not a full suite of production tools in the sense that the traditional DCC programs are. However, there are few serious 3D artists these days who don't use Zbrush in their workflow.

Houdini is unique in its approach from all the other DCCs. It is procedural at its very core by nature and is very powerful. It may not suit your workflow though as it specialises in some areas using a workflow that is not transferable to the other DCCs. If you're just starting out and want to learn to model then Houdini would not be the most suitable choice imo.

cjpeg · Jul 2018

Hm... Okay. Thank you very much. I'll stick to maya, blender, zbrush, marvelous designer then.
And if I'll become a CG professional one day - i'll learn Houdini.

RN · Jul 2018

You don't lose what you learn on one software. They have similar paradigms (loop cuts, extrudes, insets etc.). So there's nothing stopping you from having a working knowledge of the top popular packages.

Based on your impressions about Maya ("I don't really like the program, it's heavy" etc.), you should give 3ds max a try. Plenty of people swear by it for game art.

sacboi · Jul 2018

Also I'd advise investing in your self paced online education as well. From my experience reputable paid professionally authored workflows/tutorials are I believe a necessity for novices to begin with especially nowadays in the current highly competitive marketplace not to mention 3 - 5yrs down the track so really take my advice and get into the habit of leaveraging quality instruction....for example Gumroad, Digital Tutors, Gnomon Workshop, 3dMotive...plus other akin resources, essentially building an efficient and effective knowledge base.

EDIT:
Then once a level of competency is attained commence customising an intuitive 'why-'n-therefore' set of personalised techinques.

Alex_J · Jul 2018

If OP doesn't mind me extending the topic a bit further, what are some of you more experienced peoples opinion on this :

I've been learning 3d for about a year with Maya as my main DCC. I'm comfortable enough that I think I could start working an alternate program into my learning. In interest of giving myself maximum flexibility, would it make more sense to start learning Blender, or Max (or something else)?

musashidan · Jul 2018

It depends on your reasoning. If you've only been using Maya for a year then why not keep learning it? Unless you want to switch DCC altogether for personal reasons.

For augmentation purposes I would advise Zbrush. Are you already proficient in any other programs: Substance, UE4, etc?

Personally I'm a long-time Max user as my main DCC, but I've recently started messing about in Blender and it's a really fantastic program. It's very easy to pick up and has some amazing addons. Why not have a play yourself? It's obviously free and is just 100-odd megs to download. Plus you don't even have to install 2.8, you just run the .exe.

Alex_J · Jul 2018

Yeah, I use Zbrush, Painter, Unreal and Unity. Also MD. I've just gotten to the point with all of these programs that I only pick up new techniques on an as needed basis, and since I'm just focusing on learning right now and nothing else, I thought it might be worthwhile to get at least a little bit comfortable with some alternate main 3d app -- just something that might give me a range of convenient tools I don't already have in Maya.

I think I'll give Blender some attention, but probably within the next year I'll need to start getting serious about applying for jobs, so I was kind of leaning towards learning a little Max as that seems to be pretty standard for game companies.

And a side note, one program I think everybody uses but doesnt really ytalk about is Photoshop. Not being super versed in photoshop is probably the biggest thing keeping me from doing all the things I want to do, so I probably ought to really spend some time getting more familiar with that.

SergioSantos · Jun 2020

3DS MAX

is the fastest, more reliable, it's robust with the largest community, more plugins and scripts than anything else out there
and if you're looking into the game industry is the program that most game studios use
it's the best for modeling and many other tasks,
which program to use in 3D, it's the easiest questions to answer,
3DS MAX

poopipe · Jun 2020

I agree with the first part of that because its true
I don't agree that Max is the most widely used DCC in game studios because it isn't.

Anecdotal as it is, In the last decade and a bit I've never worked at, applied to or been approached by a studio that doesn't use Maya as their main DCC app. Prior to that I worked outside of the games industry and encountered max far more often.

guitarguy00 · Jun 2020

I use Max mostly and have dabbled in Maya and Blender. Sadly for me, there is no 'Ultimate' modeling software yet. Each one has features the the other lacks. Blender has a very intuitive camera snapping function(like in Zbrush and Painter) but has no "Edit Poly" style modifier so it is more destructive. 3DS has face-constraint options, built in set-flow, modifiers galore, pinch functionality for loops etc but doesn't have a properly functioning "Maya-Style" mouse control system(despite it being an official feature). You can see where I am going with this.

Best thing to do is to look at studios you would like to work for and see what programs they use. No point being a gun in Blender if all iD Software use is Max. I still predominantly use 3DS but am doing small personal projects in Blender to expand my range.

HAWK12HT · Jun 2020

Pretty much what Eric said!

Houdini is best of them all lol, ok joke aside so I stayed with 3ds max and based on my curiosity I went ahead and learned 3d Coat voxel sculpting just to do some relaxation concepts in between busy work life. Everyone was like Zbrush is for you well yes it is a must have tool as game artist but 3dcoat can pretty much do all the similar stuff from painting to baking.

Short version its not software its your core skillset or specialization, example if you wanna be vehicle artist or texture artist or vegetation expert or code wiz in houdini, pick any tool and try. It could be the most looked down tool in the industry but you never know you could be the next Vitaly using it

(he made a fortune using only C4d!!)

Cathodeus · Jun 2020

@HAWK12HT Well, Vitaly doesn’t use C4D ... He uses XSI for Polygonal modeling, and Moi3D for Nurbs.

To add my own experience :

-I use 3DSMAX In production for Polygonal modeling and in game models, UVS and non destructive workflow ! With KeyHydra and TyFlow.

-Sometime I use Moi3D too if complex Organic HardSurface are needed (BodyWork) or FastShape Conception.

-ZBrush for retopology and or sculpting.

-Rizom Uv for high control over Uvs.

-Houdini once or twice a year for technical R&D, but most of the time I can achieve better results in Max with some Script and Plugin Devs.

I really well know Maya But doesn’t use it anymore. (Used it at EA and VFXCompany, but we were allowed to Use 3DSMAX too).

To me 3DSMAX is and will stay the best software for Modeling. Especially with Tyflow and Upcoming Bifrost and Retopology tools. The new baking tool is awesome too with latest Arnold version.

Max do have an awesome Modifier System, best spline tools, best chamfer modifier, best FFD system. Mikkt support, WeightedNormals multithreaded modifier. Out of the box the experience is good and devs are on an excellent and promising way !

HAWK12HT · Jun 2020

@Cathodeus yeah my mistake, hope point was clear

gnoop · Jun 2020

Last time I used Maya was 15 year ago , as well XSI . So could compare only MAx and Blender. IMO in key tools important for everyday gamedev pipeline Blender had been ahead of Max during last 10 years already . And all cool new features in MAx during recent years are IMO a try to catch up with Blender. Like Mikkt support, weighted normals, even chamfer modifier to some extent .

Max did make few features slightly superior but still lacks in others. Like live projecting UV from main object to floating geometry or another object with data transfer. Max projection one is a joke in comparison. Or live arrays in Blender which can shift UV in arrays the way I can collapse it into a mesh without redundant UV splits. Or shrink wrap modifier and MAx conform counterpart being totally useless.

I first switched to Blender for only UV unwrap around 2008. it was a torture in MAx there . Even Z (focus on selection) didn't work properly once you added UV modifier. Than it was baker. Then live arrays. Than it was spline hooks I could waste forever to replicate in MAx . Then mesh modelling itself . Step by step through years I discovered that certain things are easier in Blender .

To much of my surprise some cool things I loved in Max had been gradually disappearing from it . Like Shader FX plugin for example. I loved it . Then it had been implemented and became totally convoluted and unusable. Much like Max creation graph. Was another point to switch for Blender where its shader nodes turned out to be most easy to use , forgiving and simple . 2.7 version even had an addon to export GLSL code. It became my main tool for realtime shader prototyping and to discuss what I want with a programmer.

And the last thing is "Filmic look transform " in Blender color management . So much simpler than all that ACES pain in a... with a same final result basically.

Cathodeus · Jun 2020

@gnoop Yeah it's a cycle. Blender have been catching up Max for more than 10 years. Now it could be the contrary. Back in 2008-2010 i wanted to quit 3DSMAX too because all remaining usefull things i did inside it was modeling.

But than came some really nice plugins that are now part of max like Textools, StateSets, Outliner, etc ... Instead of switching i decided to help Autodesk as beta tester and make my own tools if needed.

From what i know as a early beta tester and developer. Max will stay an excellent tool. And still the best in class to my needs. The cyle continue.

I have a beer in my hand and some popcorn in the other. CG as become super intresting, and what Blender guys and 3DSMAX guys are bringing on the table is excellent !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRWv8svww0Y

7bajwa · Jun 2020

I like this article. It is more toward games. Still very well rounded.
http://highpriority.com/which-software-to-use/
You can check out their other articles as well.

What software are the best for their purposes?

Replies