Maya 2020 fundamentals - modelling the real world
Get halfway through a model and find it's an unworkable mess? Can't add edge loops where you need them? Can't subdivide a mesh properly? If any of this sounds familiar check this course out.
# 16 03-12-2002 , 01:37 AM
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i think Softimage(XSI) paid 3D world for posting that article!!! hey, comeon lets face it.. Maya is simply the best 3d software out there... well all softwares have pros and cons... but overall Maya stands out from the crowd.... when i first came into 3D.. i tried 3dmax.. next week, then i tried Maya.. the next week Maya gain.. the next month maya again..for 8 months maya again... Maya Rocks!!

# 17 03-12-2002 , 10:10 AM
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don't get me wrong, i really love maya but there are a lot of things i prefer in xsi

obviously the renderer, i think it's subd's are much better than mayas too

the built in compositor is really useful too, xsi has better poly tools than maya (especially the bevel tool) but Maya has MUCH better NURBs tools, plus maya has MUCH better scripting which really comes into play when using particles

# 18 03-12-2002 , 11:44 AM
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I don't think this article was one of the better articles in 3dworld... Every software has it's strenght... the renderer in Maya was allways a "little" problem -)
If mr for maya stays free than there's not even one thought to change to something else!!
Look what XSI costs. In version 2 you didn't even have particle in the cheapes version. I think that changed in version 3... but anyway, the price was high before AW changed the price and the price for XSI is still really high.
I don't think that the particles in XSI are really useable. I worked with an XSI artist to export particle simulation from Maya to XSI through the dotXSI converter. If Maya will support particle in MR than you don't even need to use the way over XSI.
Volumetric shading was allways an problem, or better they didn't implement anything that you can call that way. It's getting better in the default renderer and will hopefully end up with an MR shader that works...
Another thing is the stability of XSI. I know only one company here that uses XSI and they're integrating Maya right now... and what I heard from them, they complain a lot about XSI.
Another thing is the API. In Maya you can make hardly everything with the API, if you understand how it works. The XSI API, what I've heared from an programmer, is much easier to programm. But it's by far not that flexible and in-depth...
I don't think that you can compare XSI subD with Maya's and every bigger studio with Renderman can tell you a story about subDs and so-called-subDs...
Anyway, if it makes sense to use XSI, why not, if you can afford it. For an Maya artist it's pretty easy to change. I like Maya...


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# 19 03-12-2002 , 11:55 AM
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XSI doesn't have the hiearchical (sp?) mode to there subd's unlike Maya, but there are soooo much faster and easier to use

The price puts a lot of people off XSI and its particles aren't as good as Maya's, but then Maya's particles aren't as good as Houdini's

in my eyes, Maya is the best software when it is coupled with Renderman which is how most of the big studios use it, but that takes the cost up to XSI (roughly £4500 for Maya unlimited and £6500 for Renderman)

the only software with true subd's is renderman anyway, every other software still has to tesselate them into triangles which renderman doesn't

# 20 04-12-2002 , 12:46 AM
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Originally posted by Tolerate
XSI doesn't have the hiearchical (sp?) mode to there subd's unlike Maya, but there are soooo much faster and easier to use

The reason theyre so much faster is exactly because of that fact - theyre not heirachical. if you just use mayas sub's at level 0/1 then the speeds between the two apps are comparable .
the other thing that slows maya subd's down alot is that theres an awful lot of excess baggage nodes that seem to sit there an slow things down. make a habit of getting rid of the blind poly data nodes and history every so often and things stay pretty interactive user added image

# 21 04-12-2002 , 01:31 AM
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a simple meaning to all the posts here:
Maya is better than XSI!!!

# 22 04-12-2002 , 09:43 AM
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original post Kevin
'i cant afford to change over'

Kevin I am surprised at you! Changing over to XSI! I currently use Animation Master, Maya and Cinema4D. I am not about to friggin learn another program cos my littloe nut will go BANG-POP-KABOOM!!!

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# 23 04-12-2002 , 09:56 AM
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in maya you can go to level 3 on there subd's, but when u try to manipulate anything in proxy mode, like extrude an edge or merge and edge, it is incredibly slow. hell even the viewport is slow. but in xsi, you can manipulate an incredible complex model at level4 in absolute real-time with no slow down

which is something i really miss

# 24 04-12-2002 , 12:47 PM
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i have to get a real version of 1 of these programs i know how much maya is how much is something like XSI or lightwave ?


Thanks for wasting your time reading this line.
# 25 04-12-2002 , 01:01 PM
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Mumbo

Lightwave is quite cheap... £1059, as for XSI go here cos I cannot work it out... but you an get an experience CD for $4.99 bit like Maya PLE. There seems to be two flavours of Softimage the XSI which starts at arounfd £6,000 and goes upwards and then there is the older version SoftImage 3D which is cheaper and was used alot by Framestore to do 'Walking with Dinosaurs' and 'Walking with Beasts'.

Hope that helps!


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# 26 07-12-2002 , 03:42 AM
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thanks


Thanks for wasting your time reading this line.
# 27 07-12-2002 , 06:38 PM
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to me, xsi is one hell of a package, i have the demo cd for version 2 and its pretty good, the only reason im not using it more is cos my monitor is too small for it, but im gettin a new system soon user added imageuser added image

i think the main reason maya is chosen over XSI by many people is cos with maya, there are more tutorials and more forums to learn from (like this one) whereas XSI doesnt have many, and also because of the price, softimage products used to be quite expensive, and maya was pretty good when XSI first came out, but now, i dont thinks its a case of maya standards slipping, i think its more a case of XSI advancing so quickly, i mean, between versions 1.5 and 3, XSI has had integrated a compositor, nurbs and subd modelling has greatly improved, workflow is also much faster with improved interface and hotkeys. A|W dont release enough updates, or enough IN their updates to keep all maya users happy, whereas softimage xsi contains many improvements and new technologies in all their upgrades so far


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# 28 07-12-2002 , 06:41 PM
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Originally posted by Nem
whereas XSI doesnt have many

will do soon! check the domain simplyxsi.com ..it has gone, .... to me user added image

# 29 07-12-2002 , 06:46 PM
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hey kev man, you seriously mirgrating to xsi and starting an xsi site?


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# 30 07-12-2002 , 06:52 PM
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Originally posted by Nem
hey kev man, you seriously mirgrating to xsi and starting an xsi site?

no...not migrating, I have had these domains registered for some time.

simplymaya.com
simplylightwave.com
simplyxsi.com
simplymax.com

I want to have a whole "simply group"....this was my plan from the start.

Simplylightwave is already "well under way" and should be ready to go in about 2 weeks time. I have an expert lightwave user doing the tutorials right now.

simplyxsi will start after that. These 4 sites should cover the 4 main 3d programmes, so something for everyone I guess.

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