There are a lot of good 3D software out there, the question is what is
the best one that will suit your needs.
Today, we are going to talk about 5 of the most popular 3D software out there and try to help you know more about every one of them because each one of them is kind of unique in a certain way.
These are Maya,3DsMax, Cinema 4D, Houdini, and Blender.
Now, we are going to break down the differences between these 5 programs and show you what they do the best.
1_Modeling
3DsMax
It has a beginner’s friendly interface that allows for easy access to the most important modeling tools.
3DsMax has A robust modeling toolset with the availability of several modifiers that make the modeling process easier & faster.
Also, 3DsMax caters to its designer users by giving them the right tools to help them do a better job when it comes to architectural visualization and interior design.
3dsMax has a lot of plugins and scripts for modeling that you can download if you want to take your modeling to the next level or if you need some modeling features that these tools can offer.
Maya
After the entry of the Maya 2014 version, some very powerful modeling tools have been added to the software which gives its user a better workflow and more efficient modeling that will allow you to create complex models easily.
Maya and 3DsMax are equal when it comes to modeling, however, the workflow is different and Maya’s UI can be a little bit difficult.
If you want to be in game development, learning to model in Maya is
a good option because you will be using it if you work in the industry.
Blender
Blender has been developed a lot lately with a variety of new features especially with the new releases which make it competitive when it comes to 3D modeling.
Blender’s comprehensive array of modeling tools make creating, transforming, sculpting, and editing your models.
Also, what is interesting about modeling in Blender is the plugins and external scripts you can use to create cool and complicated mechanical pieces and detailed Models.
Cinema 4D
Cinema 4D provides the user with a factory of an exclusive library of preset objects, materials, and scenes. These libraries can be used to create concepts without spending money on buying models, sometimes modeling and designing complex models becomes difficult.
Houdini
Houdini is used for modeling or modifying a large number of models briskly and efficiently.
The modeling tools in Houdini make it easier to create a good surface topology for use in Film, TV, Games, and VR. And it can be used interactively in the viewport using a wide variety of polygon, NURBS, and Subdivision Surface modeling tools.
It also provides standard geometric modeling tools.
2_Rendering
Maya and 3DsMax
When it comes to rendering you can expect an equilibrium between Maya and 3DsMax because they both have the same default renderer which is Arnold for the time being.
Both programs use Arnold and it is included with a default installation of Maya and 3DsMax, supporting interactive rendering from the interface.
Arnold is a fast, memory-efficient, and scalable physically-based raytracer.
Its aim is to simplify the pipeline of VFX and animation companies with
a reduced set of user interface elements, and by promoting a single pass
approach removing all the associated storage and management costs.
Also, There are a lot of people using external Renderers that don’t come with Maya and 3DsMax, like Vray Redshift and Octane just to name a few.
These renderers can create amazing renders and they are coming with new features every year because the competition is fierce and the possibilities are limitless.
Blender
Blender works on the Cycles path tracing engine. Cycles is a strong rendering engine that enables full path tracing.
It is commonly compatible with OpenGL rendering.
Cinema 4D
Built-in render engine (AR) completely usable and a really good thanks to beginning learning concerning rendering and materials. However, there are several third-party render engines obtainable.
Houdini
It uses its powerful renderer called Mantra.
Mantra includes scanline, raytracing, and physically-based rendering. Mantra is deeply integrated into Houdini with a highly efficient rendering of geometry, instances, and volumes.
You can also choose from a wide variety of third-party renderers such as Pixar’s RenderMan,® V-Ray, Solid Angle’s Arnold, Redshift, and Otoy’s OctaneRender.
3_Animation
Maya
Maya stands out when it comes to animation because of the huge library of animation tools. Also, you really need to have a working knowledge of its scripting languages – Python and MEL – to customize this software.
Blender
Blender allows artists to turn their still characters into animations, whether it’s simple keyframing or complex walk-cycles.
Among blenders animation toolset is :
- Character animation pose editor
- Non-Linear Animation (NLA) for independent movements
- IK forward/inverse kinematics for fast poses
Blender also offers a good set of tools when it comes to rigging for character preparation for animation.
Houdini
The animation in Houdini supports keyframe animation and raw channel manipulations.
Houdini offers a complete solution for rigging and animating characters and creatures.
These tools include Auto-rigging, Muscle and Flesh, Pose Space Deformation, Cloth, Hair and Fur, and more.
Characters can be easily wrapped up into a pipeline-friendly Digital Asset node to be animated using invisible rigs, the character picker, and the pose library.
3DsMax
3DsMax is a good software when it comes to animation, actually, we can say that 3DsMax and Maya have almost the same basic principles and techniques but the difference is in the flow of the process, ease of use and the tools that are available only in Maya as we said before.
Cinema 4D
Cinema 4D is also a good software for character animation with a new control rig for fast and flexible character animation. It allows you to easily apply, adjust, add, mix mocap data, and have characters up and running.
Cinema 4D also has Field Force dynamics object you can use the power of fields to control dynamic forces in your animations.
It has commendable tools like Mograph which is a set of tools that speed and accelerate animation and motion graphics.
4_Visual Effects
Maya
Maya has a very strong presence in Visual effects because of a lot
of visual effects studios are using it, even though it seems like the tides are shifting as more and more people are using Houdini instead of 3DsMax and Maya for Vfx for reasons we will talk about later.
Maya can create amazing VFX shots using a bunch of powerful plugins and tools such as Krakatoa, Fume FX, Pheonix FD, Realflow and a lot more.
Houdini
When it comes to visual effects Houdini is probably the most powerful.
Its use of advanced dynamic simulation tools provide a platform to create
high-quality visual effects and filters.
It uses a node-based interflow that helps the users in exploring the error as they modify and refine their work.
With a node-based environment, this helps the user to function multiple projects in the same computer.
3DsMax
When it comes to VFX, 3DsMax has a good history that proves its importance in this field, and there are a lot of famous VFX artists and big studios that use it in their pipeline to create visual effects shots.
There are a lot of plugins that you can use in 3DsMax, like Thinking particles FumeFX, Krakatoa just to name a few.
3DsMax recently started integrating VFX tools with the release of 2020 and it seems like Autodesk is trying to strengthen 3DsMax in this aspect by developing its native tools.
Cinema 4D
Artists use Cinema 4D workflow for creating VFX and integrating them into a live-action shot.
Using Cinema 4D you can track and solve a shot using motion tracker, and a lot of other tools that aid you in the process.
Cinema 4D is popular for its use in motion graphics effects, and it’s also popular among VFX artists creating short films and VFX effects.
Blender
Blender comes with a fully-fledged built-in compositor. This allows you to post-produce your renders without leaving Blender.
Blender features a production-ready camera and object tracking, allowing you to import raw footage, track it, mask areas and reconstruct the camera movements live in your 3d scene. Eliminating the need to switch between programs.
In the end, I would say to summarize our main topic: Maya vs 3DsMax vs Cinema 4D vs Houdini vs Blender; It is actually up to you, your choice should be based on what you want and your purpose behind using the software in the first place. If you want to do some cool renders or work as a VFX artist you should probably go with Maya, Houdini, or 3DsMax Because this is what big studios Use.
For game development, Blender, Maya and 3DsMax, are a good choice.
If you want to do animation specifically I suggest you learn Maya because it has more possibilities, also Blender is good for animation.
If you want to do architectural visualization or interior designs specifically, 3dsMax is the best.
And if you want to create motion tracking VFX shots and motion graphics Cinema 4D will is a great choice.
I hope this was useful and help you know more about 3D packages and what works for you the best.
The following link will give you ability to download keyboards for Maya, C4D, After effects, Photoshop…:
