Current member status:

[THX1138]

I have been browsing alot of CGI cites just recently and I really don't see very many people using Maya. I see more people using 3DS and 3DS Max more than any thing else. I also see quite a few use Light Wave and Rhino, all with stunning results.

For those who have worked with these other CGI programs, are they easier to use then Maya is? The more I get into maya, the harder it gets. Im seeing some really amazing stuff with these other programs ( very life like ) but don't get me wrong, I see amazing stuff with maya aswell, and from the very talented people here at this website. It's just that I seeing more cool stuff from the competition as opposed to Maya. I see more Medicore stuff from Maya than anything else.

The single most dissipointment from maya so far ( that I have noticed ) is the lack of sci-fi modeling being displayed "anywhere". Hardly any Starwars models or Star trek models. No Blade Runner models, no Alien or Aliens models. Most everything I see in Maya is common everyday stuff, with the exception of dragons and LOTR models. I do know that Maya is the most expensive package around, and not very many people can acquire it, but as a member of this website, and as a Maya user, I would very much like to see more dedicated movie/sci-fi models displayed on this site. I think perhaps that would generate more traffic to this site and more members that may or may not have Maya at this time.

well I think that it may take a while for maya to catch on after its price drop, but it will soon take over 3d max.

It is by far superior (IMO)

give it time...things will change

[aldudeau]

I think that Maya is the best too. I mean why do big time stuios choose it? And also has any other program won an oscar?

Don't get me wrong. I know Max is a great games package but Maya can do that also and som much more. Plus I think that it is much more friendlier.

Just my thoughts.

Alex

[train_ucl]

Hello!

I used Max and Rhino and must say:

I started to hate max, they never rebuilded it from zero, what i mean is, the menu´s are in no order, the whole program has no structure ...

rhino is quite good - but hasn´t got polygons, only nurbs (it is rather for CAD - users anyway)

maya - great! When i first came to maya - it was amazing - from the first secound on i felt familiar with the menu´s the structure and the whole program ... maya is like a sailing boat (if you have ever been to one) ... it all makes scence

but anyway, everybody has to find his own 3D-Proggie, and in no Studio maya looks like mine or your maya, my maya looks (and is) different because of my personal scripts, settings and interfaces ...

so everybody needs to find and build his own WorkingArea

[dragonfx]

lol i too noticed the lack of sci fi...asked about it to my "professional working in molinare" professor and he looked me like "youre young, grasshopper, and that saved your life..." i think that has to do with the lack of hi quality sci-fi... at least he cant get rid of metal logos... *muahahahahaaa* he has to try to get the moving but ending on "exactly the same on the paper" airbrushed reflections for a crazy creative every then and now

[mtmckinley]

one of the reasons for lack of Star Wars -like models is, that it was waaaay overdone and now, for people looking for jobs, it's a general rule to NOT have any space ship looking things in a portfolio.

[THX1138]

Wow, I never actually thought this thread would catch on. fantastic replies to all of you. I wonder why people would actually preffer a CGI program that doesn't have a very well designed user structure. I now beileve it's better for me to use maya instead of the others.

Mike, you really have valid point about not having any spaceship looking things in a portfolio, and it makes sence, but since this site is for all Maya users ( and soon to be ) to get together and show off their work, how about some sci-fi models for fun. One doesn't have to include them in a portfolio, just do some for the love of it. I personally get tired of seeing common everday things being modeled and displayed most of the time. I think it would liven up things from a certain perspective to see more really cool stuff . The A.M.Y robot dog ( I think that was it's name ) from the movie "Red Planet" that was submitted on this site in the gallery was very refreshing to see.

[mtmckinley]

Sure, no problem with doing stuff for fun. These kinds of things take a lot of time, though, and usually, if something is done really well, the artist normally would want to add it to their personal gallery, and usually, such galleries are for employment purposes.

[doodle]

Originally posted by THX1138
I see more people using 3DS and 3DS Max more than any thing else.

There the same software.

[dragonfx]

hey i can remember a time when there was no maya but alias power animator and 3ds was just that, no 3dsmax... not that i actually used 3ds but at the time i knew what it was...(what was that 8/9 years ago?)

[fredriksson]

Many people seem to think that you need a super expensive program to do great work, it's just a tool. Stick with what you like, do great stuff with it, if youre hired you will have to use whatever they use. I've seen amazing things done in all of the major 3d packages.

dragonfx: the joy of 3D Studio R4 for DOS

[THX1138]

z1mmnd14, it seems like 3DS and 3DSMax are different from each other. When I browse sites that are CGI based that quote 3DS and 3DSMax, it makes you think that they are different packages.

fredriksson, you are correct. I see amazing stuff from the other packages. Thats what had lead me to believe that those programs ( far less expensive than Maya ) were easier to use, and yet yeilded the same results that maya offers. Thats was my only concern about maya vs. the others. I have researched maya quite a bit, and yes many of industry pros do preffer maya because of the flexibility and power. I heard one guy quote that with Maya, if some one had to correct a mistake, all he had to do was pop the hood and fix it. Does the competition offer this kind of flexability?

[Witchy]

They are the same, people just use different terms when talking about them.

In terms of packages it depends what you find the easiest to use, but none of them are 'easy' as such. I've seen great stuff done with free programmes and rubbish done with Maya. The cost of the package isn't related to the art it can produce - that's in your hands. Conversely you see things in Maya that knock your socks off and things in free packages that even I can do - it's the user that makes the art, not the package.

Maya has a great toolset, loads of features and I think it is is great, but it is, like most things, easy to open, bloody hard to master. The more features something gives you the worse it can be to figure them all out. But having tried quite a few 3d packages I'd say nothing works in quite such a jolly intuitive way - I think it suits people with a certain way of working. But I don't think there are short cuts to brilliant work with any package, be it free or £6k.

[THX1138]

"Easy to open, Bloody hard to master" You couldn't have said that any better Witchy! Yeah, the more into Maya I get, the more difficult it becomes, but practice makes perfect I think.

[Darkware]

I think one of the main reasons you see more 3DS Max work instead of Maya work is because Maya costs a lot more. Individuals who want a 3D program usually don't want to spend big bucks, so the main consumers for Alias are companies like Squaresoft, LucasArts, and Rare Ltd. Most big companies do use Maya. This is because they can afford it.

Maya is, in my opinion, better than any other software because of its flexibility and workflow style.