What I want to know is what is the difference between 3ds max and Blender…besides the fact that 3ds max cost a lot of money to use commercially.
Are there any differences in the way things turn out in your finished model that are noticeable? when I say this I mean whether your professional or a noob like me. I know a finished model can look good or bad depending on the person whos using the software.
I hear 3ds max is used in most of the game design industry. Is Blender also used?
I know all 3d software can be hard to use, but 3ds max vs blender, which one would ususally be considered the most difficult?
Any other major differences that I didnt ask please do tell me. Ive had thoughts about using blender for awhile, but I first started with 3ds max last year when I was 12…havnt really developed much skill at all since I took a break from 3d software and moved to programming and concept art instead, but I just want to know which one would be a better choice…people have tried to persuade me to use blender instead of 3ds max and stuff because they think its a lot better, but only state like one reason why, and the usually reason is because of money and being able to modify the software.
Just use blender. If you have to ask this question, then you aren’t even remotely close to the point where you would leverage any of max’s features to begin with. I know it sounds like I’m full of it, but I’m 100% correct.
In other cases you might prefer how max models, or how maya models - ie a personal preference. Don’t forget modo 601 and other alternatives.
Blender is perfectly fine for game development.
Try out sculptris (it’s free) to answer your Zbrush question.
Thanks this changed my mind, I will use blender:) , but can you still answer my question about the quality of a finished model in 3ds max vs blender…whats the difference ( not based on skill level just what 3ds max is capable of when it comes to graphics)? Also do you know were I could download the 3.42 unity version. I hear the 3.51 version has problems that need to be resolved.
Please take my response with a grain of salt. I had to make a choice two years ago between the two, so it may not reflect the current situation. I very much wanted to use Blender in my business plan, but after trying to learn the interface, I gave up and went with 3DS. I had several issues as noted below:
blender is developed as open source, so although there are some clear advantages, I believe there is higher risk the code will be broken more often. In fact, I tried several versions of Blender over a few months, and bugs (serious ones) would be fixed in the next version with new serious bugs added each time. I think this is more likely with an open architecture where a clear roadmap plan of development is not present with a smaller team of developers. You can potentially have some random person come in and impact a bunch of software or change an existing interface without regard for people already using the software.
Tutorials were always wrong. Because blender was changing so much, I had a terrible time finding tutorials online that were accurate. I didn’t bother buying a book either, because the software was fluctuating wildly (again, 2 years ago) at the time. With 3ds max, I have the 2011 Bible which the 2012 and 2013 versions are still backward compatible with, and I used online resources like lynda.com, other free tutorials, etc.
3DS Max is supported since you are a paying (a lot) customer. If there is an issue, you can submit a bug report, and they will respond to you. So far, honestly, I haven’t seen any really significant bugs, and I have the autodesk subscription, so I have used 2011, 2012, and 2013 versions of 3ds. Some things are quirky, yes, and some bugs exist obviously. My software will become unstable after putting the computer to sleep and waking a lot, like I can’t dolly the view right or when I try to rotate an object, it goes the wrong way (some transforms get out of sync). Blender was crashing on me at random points, and some features that were supposed to exist did not work at all.
I would recommend looking into Mudbox. I find that software to be the most powerful if you are looking to sculpt biological or amorphous type items. It is one of the most impressive programs I have seen.
I will say too, purchasing an expensive item like 3ds max will put the fire beneath you if you are on the edge of actually wanting to make money or wanting to have fun as a hobby. I have been making dumb games and game engines, working with graphics for over ten years, but really just hobbyish. Once I sunk some real money into the effort, I churned out a game that has sold several thousand copies, and I’m working on several others now. There’s something to be said for the motivation factor.
wow your post really made me think. What I want to know is when it says that unless you pay you cant release things comercially, does that mean you cant post pictures or youtube videos of your work? If that is the case then how can they tell that you used 3ds max if you do use your game commercially?
Also have you worked on anything that I may have played before?
There is no reason there would be any difference whatsoever in the final product as a result of using either Blender or 3DS. The difference is in the techniques and tools available to you during the creation process, and in many cases there’s not much difference in those. The primary difference between them (besides the price) is the interface. Try out several, such as Modo, 3DS Max, Maya and Blender for full packages, and Silo if you don’t need animation tools in your package.
If one allows you to be more productive because the interface fits you better, then use that one if you can afford it. Personally I prefer Blender’s interface over 3DS and Mayas. Silo and Modo 601 are pretty nice, but I still tend to be more productive in Blender due to being more familiar with it.
For sculpting software, it’s hard to beat ZBrush. It’s the industry standard for a reason, it’s amazingly powerful and since they’ve always given free upgrades it’s the best $600 I’ve ever spent. Sculptris and blender’s sculpting tools are nice for being free but they don’t compare to ZBrush.
3ds max graphite tools are pretty neat with dynamic insertion of loops and removal of loops, subobjects etc. I like that you can unwrap multiple objects on a single UV map whilst keeping them as seperate meshes, and it has a bunch of tools that generally make things easier than blender. Some of what is “easier” depends on whether the UI works in a way that clicks with you as an individual. Most modeling tools will get the same result, it’s the amount of time it takes to produce that result that is key.
Not so long ago 3ds max required a lot of plugins to be a feature rich package and a lot of people got frustrated with it. Today that’s not the case. The only addons I have are custom exporters for other engines like Ogre and shader FX for creating realtime shaders for that engine. I haven’t found any need for extras when using unity.
BTW 3ds max costs about $3500 plus aprox $1000 a year to update. So no where near $5000+ but definately expensive.
I’ve used blender on and off since the early/mid 90’s when they were first trying to make inroads in the fairly new world of 3d applications. They always had promise but couldn’t quite cut it with the high end apps. And that mostly holds true today. Having said that, the price is fantastic and it really can’t be beat if your budget is tight. Sure there are other apps that specialize in one particular thing and if you can be bothered to get a pipeline to get them to all play nice with one another then you can do better but it still ends up being quite expensive.
Was autodesk giving long term student licenses? I’ve had it and maya a lot longer than 30 days and it says I have 935 days remaining on the student license. I didn’t realize it was so expensive, crap. If I switch to blender can I import my fbx files and re-export them from blender to avoid the license with 3ds?
Mostly I’ve just made terrain meshes so far. I guess I could remake them, I haven’t used blender but 3ds was pretty easy to add points to an object and manipulate them. Really low poly too…
They still do. And there is even an option to get it for a home student, so basically everyone can get their free autodesk softwares for free, for a 3 years license. That is what I use. But I do not mind trying other options, since there will be a time when my licenses will expire, but 3 years to learn and create with the mostly used 3D softwares in the industry, that’s a good deal.
Yes, for learning purposes it might be a good deal. But you can’t use it commercially in any way.
At the end comes down what you actually want to do. If you looking for a job in the industry, forget Blender and Unity. Max, Maya CE und UE are the stuff you’ve to learn.
But if you intend to become a indie dev, or founding your own little studio, Blender is your best bet. There is barely anything that justifies the price difference of thousands of dollars between Blender and AD products, from a technical standpoint.
Why should i? I`m a happy Blender user. I do everything but modeling in Blender
It`s amazing what the open source community has finished with Blender. This is something to respect, and i love it. I´m still a regular bug reporter, so i add my little value to it too.
But Blender cannot really compete with Max. And i find it simply childish to even compare those two like they would be competitors. They are not. The one is the leading industry standard. The other is the leading hobby app. And between hobby and industry is a big gap. Blender is not bad. I get my things done. That`s the good news. But i get it much slower and more complicated done. With a lower quality. Texture baking with Vray is something different than with the stoneold Blender internal Renderer. Blender may be good enough for hobbyists like you and me. But not for professionals.
Modeling? Still years behind. Even with Bmesh. Complicated and slow workflow.
UV mapping was once an area where Blender had the nose in the air for a short moment. Thats already past again. Texturing? The Material Editor is a pain in the ass. And gots even worse with Cycles. UI? Still a bit too cluttered, still lacks of important menu entries. Separate anybody? Manual? Another pain in the ass. Like the already mentioned tutorials. Its a lottery to find a really completed manual page or a working tutorial for your current point version.
Rigging/Animation? The bones system needs an overhaul since years.
Rendering? The unfinished Cycles can still not compete with Vray or other industry renderers. And you cannot plug in the industry renderers neither. Vray plugin gots abandoned.
Industry File Formats? I still wait for FBX import. There was an attempt across assimp which gots abandoned from what i know.
Sculpting? Even Sculptris does a better job. And that one`s abandoned since years. Its developer works for the Zbrush folks now.
There is also a Video Editor onboard. Another very special chapter to go crazy at. Good meant is not good made …
So many roadworks. And the developers of the commercial apps doesn`t sleep neither. Means the gap will most probably never be closed.
Add to that all the industry standard plugins like Forest Pack or special particle systems. Or all the pipelines to the other industry packages like Nuke. And so on. Add to that that there are mainly hobbyists that uses Blender. No bad thing. But professional tips comes mainly from professionals. They earn their money with it.
I may be a happy Blender user, but i am not a blind Blender user
The reason why i dont use Max is that i simply cannot afford it. And thats the only valid reason to point towards Blender here. Money. This, and that it`s a complete app that covers all necessary steps. At least you get your job done.
