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[Triple-x]

Use Maya for Game Development ... ?

Why Maya?

"But why Maya?" I hear you ask. "Surely 3D Studio Max is the more dominant 3D application in the games industry." There was a time when this was true, but Maya is fast becoming the industry standard.

In 2002 Maya was used to create six of the top ten best-selling PlayStation 2 titles. Characters in the Tomb Raider series, Jak and Daxter, Legend of Zelda, and Halo 2 have all been lovingly crafted using Maya's extensive toolset. A recent Alias Systems press release states that in an independent survey performed by Acacia Research, 46 percent of North American games development studios said they used Maya. Within the top eight studios in Japan, 50 percent of their 3D software licenses are now Maya licenses.

All over the world, games development studios are turning to Maya. In North America, Infinity Ward, Ion Storm, Sony Computer Entertainment, Polyphony, Nintendo, Namco, and Square-Enix, to name but a few, have made the transition. In Europe, Digital Illusions, Blitz Games, Bizarre Creations, Lionhead Studios, and Electronic Arts all utilize Maya as the main tool for creating artwork for their games.

As you can see, more and more companies are switching to Maya, and this is mainly due to its continued focus on the games development market. This focus shows resultswith each new release of Maya comes more features geared toward games development.

Good reason to be Maya :attn:

[alienscience]

Oh, so true. The animating and dynamics dont hurt either.

[mtmckinley]

Hear, hear! I concur!

*coughcough*book link in sig *coughcough*

[dannyngan]

There goes Mike pimping his book again.

[mtmckinley]

Mwa ha ha!

[noanswer42]

Can somebody tell me anything they know about SoftImage XSI?. I was just looking at it and wondering if anyone here has used it before, or whether it could be a reasonable substitution for Maya (just trying to keep my options open). I think they might have used it to work on Half-Life 2.

[gohan1842]

Ummm, question. What made you put this thread in the noobs section for asking questions? It sounds more like a general statement.

[noanswer42]

I don't know.

Edit: There was no reason for me to say that...hmmm...

[darijo203]

Never used Softimage but I know it was the king of animation before Maya showed up.
Jurassic Park used Softimage, so ILM have been using Softimage in 90's.

Yes its good to stay open,but you cant go wrong with Maya!
Tools are simmilar in every package.

[linx02]

nows the time pople get good at maya , join a company , get rich , live the life of dreams , listen to music , drink , get a nice house , cool bird , my life :bow:

[Shadeblade]

Originally posted by linx02
nows the time pople get good at maya , join a company , get rich , live the life of dreams , listen to music , drink , get a nice house , cool bird , my life :bow:

Oh, but if only a 3d modeller/animator's salary allowed...
:hug:

[publicFunction]

Originally posted by noanswer42
Can somebody tell me anything they know about SoftImage XSI?. I was just looking at it and wondering if anyone here has used it before, or whether it could be a reasonable substitution for Maya (just trying to keep my options open). I think they might have used it to work on Half-Life 2.

Hi pal,

I was an XSI 4 user and found some of its features very good, but in the end I turned to Maya. XSI is easier to learn and has a simple GUI to learn. Maya is tougher to use and learn, but worth the effort in the long run..

XSI is a great tool, but does not share all the features of the Industry Giant and King of the Hill, Maya. XSI has easy binding for skinning and subsequent animation, but is clumsy. I would evaluate what your wanting to do. Model, Texture, Aminate, Rig or build scenes or deal with lighting. XSI has no NURBS and only deals with Polys. It ability to render in the GUI and not use another window is very handy, but these dont compare to the in built tools available for Maya. XSI has very few tutorials available and even fewer free ones. Maya has a large community (not as big as 3DS Max). If you were looking for an alternative I would dump for 3DS. But be warned I did not like its GUI and found it wierd to use and ditched it after only 2 months. I used XSI to learn basic Poly modelling and after 6 months made the switch to Maya.

Remember tho XSI was used to create the best 1st person shooter of all time - Half Life 2.

3DS Max is the tool used by Rockstar North for GTA 3 Series.

So its up to you and what you want to do.

I would still say Maya is the best. I mean Pixar use it... :bow:

'nough said....

All hail Alias... :attn:

[matt4068]

hl2 wasnt the best of all time.... hl was.

[linx02]

true ture

[Phopojijo]

Halo 2, UT2004 (I believe), and others were actually built using a steady blend of Maya and Max. Its funny looking at jobs for various companies

Modeller of a company> "Must be proficient (sp?) in 3d studio max"
Animator of the same company (on the same project)> "Must be proficient in Maya and MELscript"

All I got to say, is Okino is living the high-life :p