i know iknow the question is inside of us, because we all don't wanna start with one package and then switch to the other. what a waste of time

BUT

with the big production houses its film and animation maya. games max. but there are changes. xsi is pushing on the games sector. some firms change to maya due to ps3 releases. in the movie industrie they change what ever suits best to the task at the moment or whats cheap enough.

more and more are using blender. not because its that good/better. no, because its for free.
little math: 20 maya licenses * 7000$ = 140000$
20 blender licenses * 0$ = 0$
(please guys dont do "no one wozuld ever" and "i don't think so", cause i was just exaggerating)

its not always that easy but its like compositing software. who the hell needs after effects (besides motion graphics) if you could stick to shake, fusion or nuke. ok shake is rihgt now very cheap to get. but mostly its a question of money.

all the other things (the ups and downs) you can see over, cause the principles of modelling, lighting, texturing, rigging, .... are fundemental. you just have to learn to apply them. you can ride a bicycle on every bike you want. but some are better offroad, some in the city.

and yeah, i was sarcastic.

greetings



Badger