arch vis -- animation -- max or maya

[jmanganelli]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to max and maya but not to autodesk. I have been using AutoCAD since Release 10, ADT since 2004 and am now transitioning to Revit. I write for some guidance. Currently I use either SketchUp or Rhino for Conceptual Design, Vray for architectural visualization and then into Autodesk Architecture or Revit for project development. I am now back in graduate school working in a lab on developing interactive/responsive environments. The PI’s would like me to learn animation software so that we can mock up anticipated scenarios in order to:

 

1 - assess design decisions prior to committing to them

2 - for presentation purposes.

 

 

 

These animations will be more complex than simple walk-throughs. There will be multiple components interacting, such as a person or two + a surface or two + a light or two. I don’t think (at this time) that the animations/simulations will be more complex than this.

I have spent a couple days looking at:

- modo

- cinema 4d

- softimage

- lightwave

- maya

- 3dmax

Most especially, I’ve been looking through forums including area.autodesk, archinect and cgarchitect in order to see what people think of each. As of now, I’ve narrowed my choice to 3D Max Design or Maya Complete. I will be building some test models in each over the next month and animating them to make a final decision. In addition, given the intended usage described above, I am interested in any advice seasoned users of these products have to offer. Also, are the scripting capabilities of these softwares such that I can eventually move beyond simple representative animation into simulation in the sense that we load algorithms and explore how they react to stimuli?

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

[jmanganelli]

I should mention -- in narrowing my selection to just these two options, I've played with each of the softwares at least a little bit. And I've actually got a bit of experience, though it was several years ago, with Maya. I find Maya's interface intuitive, though I fully understand that there is a substantial amount to learn to utilize its power. I find 3dmax's interface a bit clunky but familiar, even though I have almost no experience with it, as a result of my experience with various CAD packages and rhino. I believe that both app's will work. My preference leans toward Maya. My reasoning suggests that 3dmax may be the more ubiquitous for arch vis and there are benefits to using it for this reason.

[Thablanch]

Software is about preferences..

Max strong points about archViz would be:

Biggest user base, a lot of tutorials, many plugins, many render engines, lots of ressources as pre-made models. So for learning, that could be the choice.

All the packages are getting quite good at anything theses day, so maya and other ones are a good choice as well.

 

http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/16006-2006-salary-survey.html

 

click lower in the page to download the .pdf file.

 

this survey contains, somewhere around the middle, info about what people use as a renderer, and as software.

 

In your choices, Sketchup was not included.. I think you should take it in consideration as well

 

Ciao!

[Nils Norgren]

I have used both software, although I have much more experience with Max, Here are a few considerations:

 

Scripting: Max uses Maxscript, Maya has Mel, but there is now support for Python in Maya which is very powerful, I assume that it is a matter of time before it is in max also, (Softimage is python also).

 

Rendering: Max's Mental Ray has strong support, I believe that Maya lags behind on it's mental ray implementation (I could be wrong on this, I don't keep up with MI, I use Vray)

 

Network Rendering: this is a big one for many studios, Maya has no built in Network Rendering solution, you can use some inexpensive options, but Backburner for Max is well documented and (usually) works right out of the box, (there is some setup that someone with some network skills can get through).

 

Installed user base: Depending on your needs, there are MANY max users in our industry, the Maya users are a little harder to find (although they are out there), it is the flip side of the FX industry, where everyone uses Maya, although there are a few Max users sprinkled throughout.

 

As others have said the best bet is to use what you find most intuitive/easiest. I will say that for your needs both software are up to the task, there is many types of parameter linking in Max, although Maya has had that for longer. Both software can drive animation based on complicated relationships and external input. None of these tasks are easy to jump into in either software, and will take some digging to get what you need.

 

I have never used it but there are many Arch-vis artists that swear by Cinema4D.

 

Hope some of this helps.

 

-Nils

[jmanganelli]

Thank you both for the thorough feedback and for the link.

 

I am moving more toward max than maya. It seems the best option for a number of reasons. I have tried to find the right alternative to max because of the cost and my feelings about the max UI. But as I play with softwares and read forums, no other option is so clearly compelling with respect to either issue that it is a definitively better choice. In addition, while other softwares are very capable, they also clearly have their own bugs and quirkiness. If I'm going to make accommodations for these sorts of things, it might as well be in the service of learning the most ubiquitous and (arguably) most full-featured package.

 

Lastly, any thoughts on the most essential plug-ins to optimize workflow? So far I am committed to vray and am looking at power solids and polyboost.

 

Thanks.