Actually, he solves design issues before moving to Max. He spend a good time drawing in PS, and testing new shapes to see what really works with the character. When things are well stablished, then he moves to Max and blocks everything. After Max model it's pretty much done, he makes some renders, and turns back to PS, to…
i pretty much do it as 2d only, but every now and then i try to incorporate Max into workflow, without much success. Advantages of using 3d are obvious but somehow all my design creativity disappears as soon as i launch Max. that said yesterday i took some of my tilable SF textures and started randomly mapping them on old…
I like to use both 2d and 3d for concepting. It's a great way to mix it up. Also, photobashing can be other good 2d method if done correctly. As for when and why, I think it comes down more to what your goals are, how much time you have, etc. A skilled artist can probably knock out way more 2d silhouettes and sketches than…