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 vs 3Dsmax vs Cinema 4d vs Houdini vs Blender.
Now we are going to break down the differences between these 5 programs and show you what they do the best. so you can answer the very common question before choosing which one to use:
Maya vs 3Dsmax vs Cinema 4d vs Houdini vs Blender, which one is the better?
1-Modeling
3Ds Max
It has a beginner’s friendly interface that allows for easy access to the most important modeling tools.
3Ds Max has a robust modeling tool set with the availability of several
modifiers that make the modeling process easier & faster.
Also, 3Ds max 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.
3ds max 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 is equal to 3Ds Max 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 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 & 3Ds Max
When it comes to rendering you can expect an equilibrium between 3ds Max and Maya 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 3ds Max and Maya, 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 3ds Max or Maya 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 the 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.
3Ds Max
3ds max a good software when it comes to animation, actually it has
almost the same basic principles & techniques that Maya Has 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 new control rigs for fast and flexible character animation. It allows you to easily apply ,adjust ad 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 accelerates the animation and motion graphics.
4-Visual Effects
Mayatwitter
Maya has a very strong presence in Visual effects because 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 3ds Max 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.
3Ds Max
When it comes to VFX 3Ds max has a good history that proves its importance in this field and there is a lot of famous VFX artist 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 3ds max like Thinking particles FumeFX, Krakatoa just to name a few.
3ds max recently started integrating VFX tools with the release of 2020 and it seems like Autodesk is trying to strengthen 3ds max 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.
Cinema 4D is popular for its use in motion graphics effects, and its also popular among VFX artists creating short films and VFX effects.
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.
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 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 3Ds Max Because this is what big studios Use.
For game development, Maya, 3Ds Max, and Blender are good choices. 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 3ds Max 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 helped you clarify these packages: Maya vs 3Dsmax vs Cinema 4d vs Houdini vs Blender, so you can decide what works for you the best.
Maya , 3ds max , houdini , cinema 4d are software are good . We need skills for improve our work. You can use any software that you feel comfortable. I feel comfort in Maya. Skill are more important than software