quote:Original post by harleyrana
I thought the price was too good to be true, but on journeyed.com it says its full software, you just need to qualify, and for 3D apps you need to be doing CS or similar.
Prices are $899 for 3D max, which includes charecter studio,and recator.
$495 for Maya 4 Complete.

Im more of a programmer than an artist, and Maya''s API looks great,for example Polyphony intergrated it with there ps2 engine.

Also im not really looking for a job as a designer, i just want to make games.

Why is 3D max better than Maya?

Okay, from a programmers perspective, having worked with both in a professional environment, I think that Max is a much better choice. The Maya API has some gaping holes in it; MEL compensates for that somewhat but it has holes in it too. That''s not to say that the Max API and MaxSript don''t have holes, but they aren''t nearly as hindering. I''ve also found that the support for Max developers is world''s better than what''s available for Maya: their documentation is much more complete, the sample programs are more plentiful and useful, there are many more books and articles (both online and in print) covering Max. Also, there isn''t much in the way of game related 3rd party plugins for Maya, but there''s a lot out there for Max. Someone mentioned that Max needs plugins to do everything that Maya can; I don''t think that''s really true (I''m not an artist so I haven''t exhaustively compared the two when it comes to feature sets), but that''s not really the point. The Max architecture is designed around plugins. Pretty much everything in Max is implemented as a plugin *including* the features that ship with the program. The cool thing is that as a Max developer, you have the same toolset available to you that the people at discreet use.

Anyway, Maya isn''t bad, and for some applications, it''s probably better, but I just don''t think it''s as mature as Max when it comes to games.

I use
Rhino 3D
Bryce 4
Lightwave 6
Truespace 4
3D Studio max 4
Maya 4
Cinema 4D
and QME

out of all of those 3d Programs i preffer max over all, i use bryce 4 for quick landscapes, i use truespace for in game terrain, i use maya 4 for good effects in CG moviews, i use cinmea 4d to get rid of seams in my textures, i use qme when im desperate, i use rhino when i want to draw 3d stuff off of paper, and i use lightwave for good effects in CG movies also.


it all depends on what you want to use it for.