I was a Wings3D user for the longest time. I had tried Max a couple of times but found it very klunkly to begin with.

Wings is purely a Subdivision modeller, so its like having max on Editable Poly all the time, with no animation or rendering stuff.

Very streamlined for modelling.

It wasn't until +Jamies continual nagging got me to use it long enough to get a feel for it. Now I haven't used wings in months.

The things I like about max are:

* Modifier Stack - so cool to be able to edit parameters of previous operations
* Isolate Mode - in wings I had to manually turn off/on like 500 objects to isolate them
* vRay! - I loooove this renderer
* transform gizmo - it is handy to just be able to drag/drop stuff

Theres still a few tricks that I used to pull in Wings that I haven't discovered how to do in max yet, but I usually find a way around it.

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--Matt

I've never really used a program that would compare directly to max so I can't ad much. I've used many other 3d programs (z-brush, Vue, realflow etc) but they aren't really alternatives they're for specialised things max can't do.

The only change I would make to max would be to make it more stable. It's better than it used to be but it can still have random crashes doing the simplest tasks.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

I liked Vue, but the interface was really laggy... (could have just been the system I was using on though)

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--Matt

Vue? Z-Brush? Realflow? Okay then let's try this - tell me what program you prefer for the following:

Modelling:
Lighting:
Animation:
UI:
Stability:
Texturing/Materials:

--
Greg

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[Link to www.gkwinspired.com]
[Link to www.gkwdigitalmedia.com]

Max with Vray

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Vue - is landscape/environment generator/renderer
Z-Brush - is displacement modeller, more like sculpting clay than modelling
Realflow - is liquid simulator, you can set up gravity points and put objects in a scene and then fire water at them and it will simulate the water (rather well)

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Please support us and post a [Link to www.digitalartsfront.com] on your website.

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Ok, complicated answer coming up:


Modelling: Max usually but occasionally Z-brush when something needs to be pushed and molded rather than extruded and connected.

Lighting: Max, using Vray renderer for GI, reflections, refractions, caustics etc

Animation: Max - only one I've ever used really. Tried motion builder once which wasn't too bad but couldn't be bothered learning it.

UI: Max's is pretty good.

Stability: They're all unstable if you push them hard enough. Best: Later versions of Max. Worst: Realflow. Would have been good if it didn't crash 5 times a day. Maybe my system wasn't up to it though, fluid dynamics need a lot of processing power.

Texturing/Materials: Max, there are probably better programs, I've heard Maya has quite a good material editor but I've never used it so I wouldn't know.

Also,

Texture Painting: Photoshop. Good for creating textures from scratch or converting photos to textures.

Landscape Generation: Vue 6. More stable than Vue 5 better features, easy to use, results look good. Xstream is good for combining Max scenes with vue landscapes but can be buggy at times and you have to render with mentalray.

Compositing: Fusion. I actually prefer it to photoshop for doing a bit of post on my rendered images.



These are just my opinions though.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

I loved Vue 5 Esprit except for the fact that it crashed every couple of hours. And I have Vue 6 Xstreme but haven't installed it yet.

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--Matt

"I've heard Maya has quite a good material editor but I've never used it so I wouldn't know."

its very good, its a lot like compositing in fusion. you start of with a blinn or whatever and plug in other textures into it graphically. its not linear like max's texture editor, but honestly i've never really delved deep into it. texturing and rendering is not my thing but i can see its potential to be very powerful.

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and it's a story that might bore you, but you don't have to listen, because I always knew it was going to be like that.

I've heard its node based right?

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--Matt

yep, everything in maya is node based

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and it's a story that might bore you, but you don't have to listen, because I always knew it was going to be like that.

Ok -

I know that Maya and 3d Max are made by autodesk -

WHAT IS THE FREAKIN' DIFFERENCE!

"yep, everything in maya is node based"

So that you guys don't just say, " read the previous posts!" - explain what nodes are and the benefits and negativities of working with a mesh by its nodes.

--
Greg

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[Link to www.gkwinspired.com]
[Link to www.gkwdigitalmedia.com]

Well originally maya was made by alias, but autodesk bought them out. Basically, you can use maya just like max to model texture, light render and animate. It's just that maya goes about those things in a different way. Some people like it, some don't. You generally find maya used more in the vfx indstry and max more in the games industry but this is not a definate rule.

As for explaining nodes, you don't work with a mesh by it's nodes, it's more of a method of combining several different layers of things, like you would in the material editor. If you've ever had massive multi-layered materials in max you'll know that it can be frustrating digging deep into the material editor to find the bump or diffuse map you're after. A node based material editor has all your maps and materials out therre for you to see. Therefore it's a lot easier to find what you want, but it's also a lot easier to manipulate them.

If you want an example of a node based material editor for max, there's one here:

[Link to www.cgindia.org]

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

Thanks for the info - that question has always nagged at me.

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[Link to www.gkwinspired.com]
[Link to www.gkwdigitalmedia.com]

pretty much it but it doesn't matter, max and maya they're just tools

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and it's a story that might bore you, but you don't have to listen, because I always knew it was going to be like that.

Main difference I found was the interface. To me Maya looked very busy and distracting. I like the minimal amount of things on screen. Max was slightly better, but I still found it cluttered. Comes from using Wings3D so long I think.

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Please support us and post a [Link to www.digitalartsfront.com] on your website.

--Matt

i think max looks a lot simpler though other ones i have been on swift 3d and i just cant get to grips with it even though people have said its a lot easier to use.

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One life Live it
[Link to www.scotts-designs.co.uk]