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Maya or Max?

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#21

Ok, I ran some tests.

ZBrush bugged out at about 6.8 million polys. More than I expected

Infinite’s limit for import of a single object, was just over 2.5 million. I was able to open one object at a time (after tweaking options for display) until I reached 9.87 million before the memory reached it’s limit and Vue shut down. Remember this is Vue 5 not the upcoming 6. I don’t know how the ecosystem works but I took it to 1.26 billion polys before the memory gave up. A combination of plants rocks and objects. At that level a tiny preview render takes about 10 minutes.

The lighting system is what impresses me the most. It’s so easy and intuitive to use. You can use any image for hdri. I make panorama renders of a scene and then load them as hdri lighting in the scene to add the realism. With Photoshop CS2 I can make a dozen or so exposure levels of an image to create hdr images to use.

I should post my work I guess. I had a bad experience with a stolen image I shared with a radio station for a splash screen. It ended up on a novel cover in another country and the (nationally syndicated) radio station of course never heard of me or the image I do this as a hobby but I do sell occasional works. In this case my work was far superior to the web guy who sells his on posters and he sold it and forgot I existed. Sorry for venting

#22

Hey All, Since I own, Maya, Max, Modo, Vue, And Lightwave.

I believe that all can be used to create realistic renders of your creature if you simply will put the time into learning them. Thats all there is to it, each will have its up and downs, but if you want the best and fastest Renderer Use… Zbrush. If you plan on animating and the like then bring in a 3rd party render app. Zbrush can handle rendering just fine though!

#23

Shandaman,

How we got to talking about Vue Infinite is it’s ease of use compared to others. Also for someone new they would have to buy Maya or Max and a rendering program. How many hobbyists can afford that? A lot of the most talented people are being kept away from CG due to the costs and complexity.

#24

unfortunetly yes, but these companys have to make money aswell.

#25

Why do you have to buy MAX, MAYA and a renderer? What’s the problem with the renderers of those programs?

#26

nothing, thats what im saying, any of them can be used.

#27

Alright, like someone suggested, Im giving Modo a try. Does anyone know a good place to download a tutorial / video on the basics of the interface & rendering? Im already liking the workspace and the ability to have multiple editable objects in the same scene.

#28

Tutorials and the manual can be downloaded from the same place as the demo. Just log back into Luxology.

A lot of the most talented people are being kept away from CG due to the costs and complexity.

If you don’t have cash, use Blender. It’s prefectly capable of producing quality images.

#29

Check out XSI 5.11 Foundation for less than 500$. Includes Mental Ray (Max and Maya are using it), does the best animation as admitted by Autodesk, and costs less then Modo while including one of the best modelers in an integrated package. Also includes an UV editor and other luxuries… I have Modo and XSI and am always ending up using XSI for various reasons. I’d sell my Modo but the license does not allow it. Sighhhh.
Cheers
Lemo

Look at that cool XSI render:

#30

Well any render I’ve tried to do with XSi so far looks like ****e, so I gave up on it. :frowning:

I recently bought a rendering video training DVD for XSi, so hopefully this will give my XSI skill a fighting chance.

#31

Lemo,
How many programs do you have :eek: You should start a consumer testing laboratory for CG software :smiley: Cool render and XSI is on my short list. I’m still paying for my last binge :o I’m trying to figure Lightwave 9 out now and some great renders are starting to be posted from it. I think I should join software anonymous.

#32

Wow! Page 3 of this thread and Blaine91555 is the first to promote LightWave. Is it hiding its genius under false modesty, is it just not getting reviewed on CG Talk, High End 3D, or what? LightWave has the granddaddy of quality renderers, and as of LW 9 its been rewritten and boosted out of all recognition. Maybe because its a value for money package people assume it can`t deliver. Truth is that it will produce lovely renders, quickly and with minimal understanding of the render settings.

OK: commercial break over! Back to Z-Brushing! :slight_smile:

R

#33

Rory,

I’m just now learning how to use Lightwave 9. I’ve noticed there is not a whole lot being posted on Lightwaves site either. It does seem very powerful but it is one of the most difficult to figure out interfaces I’ve tackled yet. For some reason simple step by step beginners tutorials are hard to find? The ones I’m finding all seem to be missing steps, are incomplete or apply to old versions. Where are the Lightwaver’s posting their stuff? The official forum is not very active?

#34

Blaine; regarding lightwave, might want to try Kurv for dvd

tutorials, they seem to have a large amount of Lightwave material
and there is always a sale. They carry a tutorial by Southern of Zbrush
also. Will try and find link.

www.kurvstudios.com

#35

BICC39 and I are leading the NYC Chapter…

:wink: Lemo

#36

Yeah… you’re a funny guy :slight_smile: :smiley: :smiley: lol

#37

THE PIPELINE ONCE AND FOR ALL.

color=blue PIXOLOGIC ZBRUSH 2.0/2.5.
color=blue AUTODESK 3DS MAX 8/3DS MAX 9
color=blue AVID SOFTIMAGE FOUNDATION -
ESSENTIAL - ADVANCE 5.0/5.11.
color=blue ARTVPS RenderDrive 6400 /PURE CARD. (5) HP MEDIA CENTER. MAC G5. TABLET.
DUAL MONITORS. NVIDIA / ATI SUPER
CARD OF YOUR CHOICE. LOTS OF
MEMORY 4G OR BETTER.

NOW STOP COMPLAINING.
SUCK IT UP.
GO BUY THE RIGHT PIPELINE AS SHOWN. TAKE CLASSES.
BUY THE DVD’S.
BUY THE BOOKS.
BUY THE TUTORIALS.
LEARN IT.
AND MAKE MONEY LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.

REMEMBER THOSE THAT COMPLAIN DO NOT TRY TO LEARN.
THEY JUST SPEND TIME DOWNLOADING JPEGS.

THOSE THAT DO NOT COMPLAIN MAKE MOVIES AND WORK FOR ILM, PIXAR, DISNEY , MILL , BLUR.

YEAH SO JUST DO.
YOU CAN LEARN THIS.
I KNOW FIRST HAND ON HOW HARD IT CAN BE.
BUT BELIEVE ME THIS NEW TECNOLOGY CAN PAY YOUR BILLS.
JUST LEARN ALL YOU CAN.

JESUS LOVES YOU ALL.

HAVE A BLESSED DAY.

#38

Good that I am wearing sun glasses or I would be blind…
Lemo :wink:

#39

It depends a lot.
Both maya and max use mental ray for rendering, but you can upgrade your render in max with brasil render, so it gets a little more powerfull.
I found max a little more user-friendly and has easier configuration fractal textures, but maya has some useful animation and modelling tools that max hasn´t. Now both are under autodesk´s control, so the tendence is for each one to work closer to the other.

As an example, I like very much 3dMax´s spinline tools for curve modelling, and maya has a very hard-to-use interface for curves, but you can import your vector works in adobe illustrator to maya and then work with them on 3d.

#40

It looks as if you are using cracked software, so other user’s comments regarding value of software become irrelevant (just don’t be using it for commercial use!).

It seems that Maya is BY FAR the most documented high-end 3D app out there. It does have a steep learning curve; it was harder for me to learn than Max, but, I now definitely prefer Maya to Max (much to the chagrin of my max-using company).

So, despite the fact you are probably not paying jack for your software, it makes sense to buy some training DVD’s from Gnomon and Digital Tutors. I have bought several from both companies and they are excellent resources. Gnomon’s are more project oriented, whereas Digital Tutors offers more of a feature by feature approach. They both have training kits for software other than Maya, but again, there is just much more out there for Maya. Trust me the DVD’s are totally worthwhile.

Also any books from the Alias Press on Maya are really good, and the 3ds Max Bible is pretty good, I have both. It just depends on your learning style whether to use books or DVD’s (books offer more info per dollar), or both, but for me, I tend to get much more out of the DVD’s.

Hope this helps! PS-Have patience!