First off, neither of those programs are Adobe products and, as you said, are Autodesk. Just making sure that you're clear so that you don't go searching with "Adobe" as a keyword.
Second, functionally, both programs are essentially the same. They do the same things, but in different ways. Choosing between them is really more a matter of personal preference and, more subtly, desired profession. Being the industry leader, Autodesk products are uses the world over. Regardless of which app you choose, 3ds or Maya, you'll find a job.
3ds tends to skew toward the game industry, but that's mostly because the it got into so many studios back in the DOS days. However, you WILL find game jobs if you choose Maya too. That has been steadily gaining ground in that industry for years too.
Maya is highly scriptable, more so that 3ds. Because of that, it tends to be highly used in the film industry. Technical Directors and VFX guys love Maya because you can customize the heck out of it and program it to create just about any effect.
From a user's perspective, some newbies tend to favor 3ds simply because it is far less technical and far more forgiving. The Graphite modeling tools make character creation a fairly simple process for the uninitiated. That's not to say that Maya is more difficult or that it's impossible to make characters. It's just that Maya's GUI is a little more daunting for first timers. There are so many options everywhere that new Maya users can get confused quickly.
If you're into character animation then Maya beats 3ds rather handily. 3ds makes it easy to get up and running with character animation, but Maya is (once again) far more customizable. You can build character rigs and controls in Maya that might otherwise be impossible or more difficult in 3ds.
Being a Maya animator, setting up a character (rigging) also means that you have to learn a fair amount of MEL, Maya's proprietary programming language. 3ds allows you to program via Maxscript, but the app itself holds your hand a little more.
Both apps connect to industry standard rendering engines such as MentalRay, Renderman, VRay, and so forth. As long as you put in the effort, you can get comparable results across the board.
In the long run, a big issue for some people is platform. Maya is available for Windows, Linux, and OSX. 3dsmax, unfortunately, is a Windows only app. So, if you choose 3ds, you'll surely be locked into the Windows platform.
Which to choose.... That's probably what's on your mind right now.
- Want to get a job? Either app will do. Job are plentiful for users of both apps.
- Want to animate characters? Both will get the job done, but Maya will do it better - if you want to go all the way down the rabbit hole.
- Not very technical? Maya may prove too confusing or scary if you're just concerned with getting in and out quickly. If you don't mind the challenge then Maya is for you.
- Want to model characters or scenes? Both will do the job just fine too. Tools can only take you so far. It ultimately all comes down to skill.
- Want to do architectural modeling? 3ds seems to be more of an archvis favorite. You can do it in Maya too though.
- Want to extend the program's functionality? 3ds probably has an edge on Maya when it comes to available plugins. However, there's nothing in Maya that can't be programmed or scripted. Both apps are extensible. HOW you extend them is what differs.
- How much will each set you back financially? Both apps cost about the same - just a bit under that $4k mark If you're a student, however, you likely qualify for a free license. You can't sell images or models you make using a student license, but you can learn and build a bada$ portfolio with it.
Try the apps. That's all I can tell you. It's really such a personal choice. If you're just a hobbyist then your choice really doesn't matter as much. You can even go for Maxon Cinema 4D, which is like a more streamlined and less cluttered version of Maya. C4D jobs are a bit harder to find, but it is also quite popular in the film and motion graphics industries. You might also be interested in LightWave, which has its fans in studios doing TV stuff. Autodesk also makes Softimage which, while less popular than Maya or 3ds, gets used quite a bit too. Explore your options.
Second, functionally, both programs are essentially the same. They do the same things, but in different ways. Choosing between them is really more a matter of personal preference and, more subtly, desired profession. Being the industry leader, Autodesk products are uses the world over. Regardless of which app you choose, 3ds or Maya, you'll find a job.
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| Autodesk Maya 2012 |
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| Autodesk 3ds Studio Max 2012 |
3ds tends to skew toward the game industry, but that's mostly because the it got into so many studios back in the DOS days. However, you WILL find game jobs if you choose Maya too. That has been steadily gaining ground in that industry for years too.
Maya is highly scriptable, more so that 3ds. Because of that, it tends to be highly used in the film industry. Technical Directors and VFX guys love Maya because you can customize the heck out of it and program it to create just about any effect.
From a user's perspective, some newbies tend to favor 3ds simply because it is far less technical and far more forgiving. The Graphite modeling tools make character creation a fairly simple process for the uninitiated. That's not to say that Maya is more difficult or that it's impossible to make characters. It's just that Maya's GUI is a little more daunting for first timers. There are so many options everywhere that new Maya users can get confused quickly.
If you're into character animation then Maya beats 3ds rather handily. 3ds makes it easy to get up and running with character animation, but Maya is (once again) far more customizable. You can build character rigs and controls in Maya that might otherwise be impossible or more difficult in 3ds.
Being a Maya animator, setting up a character (rigging) also means that you have to learn a fair amount of MEL, Maya's proprietary programming language. 3ds allows you to program via Maxscript, but the app itself holds your hand a little more.
Both apps connect to industry standard rendering engines such as MentalRay, Renderman, VRay, and so forth. As long as you put in the effort, you can get comparable results across the board.
In the long run, a big issue for some people is platform. Maya is available for Windows, Linux, and OSX. 3dsmax, unfortunately, is a Windows only app. So, if you choose 3ds, you'll surely be locked into the Windows platform.
Which to choose.... That's probably what's on your mind right now.
- Want to get a job? Either app will do. Job are plentiful for users of both apps.
- Want to animate characters? Both will get the job done, but Maya will do it better - if you want to go all the way down the rabbit hole.
- Not very technical? Maya may prove too confusing or scary if you're just concerned with getting in and out quickly. If you don't mind the challenge then Maya is for you.
- Want to model characters or scenes? Both will do the job just fine too. Tools can only take you so far. It ultimately all comes down to skill.
- Want to do architectural modeling? 3ds seems to be more of an archvis favorite. You can do it in Maya too though.
- Want to extend the program's functionality? 3ds probably has an edge on Maya when it comes to available plugins. However, there's nothing in Maya that can't be programmed or scripted. Both apps are extensible. HOW you extend them is what differs.
- How much will each set you back financially? Both apps cost about the same - just a bit under that $4k mark If you're a student, however, you likely qualify for a free license. You can't sell images or models you make using a student license, but you can learn and build a bada$ portfolio with it.
Try the apps. That's all I can tell you. It's really such a personal choice. If you're just a hobbyist then your choice really doesn't matter as much. You can even go for Maxon Cinema 4D, which is like a more streamlined and less cluttered version of Maya. C4D jobs are a bit harder to find, but it is also quite popular in the film and motion graphics industries. You might also be interested in LightWave, which has its fans in studios doing TV stuff. Autodesk also makes Softimage which, while less popular than Maya or 3ds, gets used quite a bit too. Explore your options.
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