Hello.
I just wanted to hear what some experienced modelers are using and why.
I have acces to the student version of 3ds max and maya, but i dont know which to try 
I can also use blender. I am a beginner, so i just wanted to see which you are using and why 
Try them all. This subject has been discussed numerous times. Do a search of the forums and you’ll find many of the threads that have discussed this, including one just a few weeks ago.
if you plan to make money with modelling, you should use Blender, because you are not allowed to do commercial work with the student versions of Maya and Max.
Otherwise i prefer max for hard-surface modelling and blender for organic modelling and un-wrapping.
I actually use C4D and Blender, they’re both really good especially if you’re working with game models and you don’t really need at all the rendering engine 
Yes. I did a search after I posted the threads! Sorry for that, I’m still a padawan learner
I see the advantages in using Blender now, as the Autodesk products cost a fortune. I’m planning on making this a more of a hobby right now, and maybe working towards proffesional modeling later, as I have to do some time in the army before I can get on with my life.
Would it be a smart move to start with Blender instead, even though I have a 3 Year student license for 3DS max or Maya? I mean, the knowledge I gain with using one of thoose could be worth quite a bit when I’m done in the army. I dont really know the differences, but would it be hard to change from using one program to another? I suppose not all of them are alike, UI wise?
Thanks for your answers!
If you have the time, try each one for a week or two. Then stick with the one you like. The skills you develop are applicable from one tool to the next. The important thing is to develop skills and that’s often easiest by picking the one that feels “right” (which is entirely a personal thing).
like bigkahuna said, try all of them. watch many tutorials, doesn’t matter what modeling program because you can translate nearly everything from one program to another. It is like coding in Javascript and convert your code into C#. Sometimes a bit tricky, but most of the time easy.
And if you get better and get to know your tools you can easily swap between them.
I’d try all three and see which one suits you personally. Most 3D apps have a lot of tools in common it’s just the finding the one who’s UI and process you feel most comfortable.
I have used all three and always end up coming back to Max. When I started looking at the Mac as a serious alternative to the PC I tried Maya and Blender again and ended up going with Silo and eventually gave up on the Mac and returned to 3DS Max in windows.
Choosing a 3D app is like choosing between watercolours, acryllics, and oils. They can all be used in similar ways and in most cases produce similar results but usually one medium or app will click. In my opinion it’s important to find the one that feels right for you, nothing worse than fighting a piece of software and getting frustrated to the point that you get fed up just loading the 3d app and thinknig about having to make something with it. Find the one that is the most fun for you personally.
Whichever one it is, you can go a long way with any of the three you mention. Max and Maya have 30 day trials, blender is free, If your looking to do this professionally somewhere down the road I’d make use of your educational version and and learn an industry standard tool.
There is a large pool of talent already out there using primarily Max and Maya and most developers can’t afford to hire and trainor give them time to learn a new program from scratch and pay new artists $4000+ a month to get up to speed.
Have money? use max or maya if you ever become a professional artist a studio will only hire people who use 3ds max and zbrush or maya and zbrush. (mudbox is accepted at most studios I believe) But they don’t like it when you use anything else and probably won’t hire you. But blender and modeling programs in general all do the same things with nearly all the same tools so anything you learn in one carries over to the next with 100% certainty just need to learn the UI and find out where the same tools are.
I use 3ds max 2010 and I love it. The interface is easy to use and is quick to learn I also use Maya but I perfer max. Gmax is free.
If you choose to learn Maya, then switching to blender 2.5 is a breeze. It even has a Maya option in the preferences to switch the controls to a Maya like mode. (Things like navigating the viewport and selecting objects ) I also find the workflow in unity feels very " Maya like".
I can’t say whether it also feels Max like, because I never liked Max, it just never clicked for me.