The biggest difference will likely notice now is that 3DMAX is windows only software whereas Maya is available for windows,linux and mac.
In the past the major differences were that Maya came with mental ray renderer but now 3dmax includes it also.
From a game programmers point of view 3dmax has been used alot more in making games(ms flight simulator plane models are all 3dmax models for instance) whereas Maya is geared more for movie making(Matrix,LOTR,etc).
Personally having used both programs 3dmax is easier to start using since interface is alot less cluttered and more intuitive but at a cost of stability(at least it used to crash on me at least once a day or more)and platform availability i.e. windows only not to mention tons of tutorial,models available online.
Maya takes alot more work to learn and get running but after a while it makes alot more sense and you can tell it was built logically from the ground up to work the way it does(everything is a node in maya and everything is based on idea of nodes) whereas 3dmax seems to be patched together and alot of 3rd party addons necessary to do stuff that Maya does naturally.

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Original post by Kwizatz In General (meaning non Version Specific issues) I find that the availability of tutorials and learning materials is lacking, what is out is sometimes too basic, or not very gamedev specific, I am not saying there is absolutely nothing, but when you browse places like The gnomon Workshop or just search amazon for a book with non software specific phases "character modeling", "modeling for games" and so, you will find yourself buried under Maya or 3DS Max books, with maybe one or two outdated non-game specific XSI books. Hopefully this will change, at least there are a couple of DVDs by Noesis Interactive.

You are right, the resources are extremely limited online or in books as a matter of fact, but like I've mentioned, people haven't regongnized XSI which is out there which has also been as old as Max. So if there isn't too many people who know about it, then not too many are willing to sacrifice time to share their knowledge with it. As for game related tutorials I have found decent tutorials before, the only problem is they were korean, they are out there, just hard to find. And as a final note, yes I agree that the full price to upgrade really sucks if you missed the pre-order sale, that is one thing I don't really like about it either.

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Original post by eloadrin Quote: Original post by Kwizatz In General (meaning non Version Specific issues) I find that the availability of tutorials and learning materials is lacking, what is out is sometimes too basic, or not very gamedev specific, I am not saying there is absolutely nothing, but when you browse places like The gnomon Workshop or just search amazon for a book with non software specific phases "character modeling", "modeling for games" and so, you will find yourself buried under Maya or 3DS Max books, with maybe one or two outdated non-game specific XSI books. Hopefully this will change, at least there are a couple of DVDs by Noesis Interactive. You are right, the resources are extremely limited online or in books as a matter of fact, but like I've mentioned, people haven't regongnized XSI which is out there which has also been as old as Max. So if there isn't too many people who know about it, then not too many are willing to sacrifice time to share their knowledge with it. As for game related tutorials I have found decent tutorials before, the only problem is they were korean, they are out there, just hard to find. And as a final note, yes I agree that the full price to upgrade really sucks if you missed the pre-order sale, that is one thing I don't really like about it either.

XSI FREE Video Training Modules
XSI General Forums
XSI Base<--- looks like a ton of tutorials here

here is the result of a poll taken from polycount.com, where a lot of the people there are actually in the game industry:
modeling program poll

i use max myself and prefer it over maya, however i also use other programs along with my modeling, mainly zbrush.
either way though i will say what i always say.... use what is easier for you! learn whatever program you feel most comfortable in. what a lot of people don't seem to understand is that after you have nearly mastered one modeling program it is a lot easier to move on to another. for example, if i spend my time learning 3ds max and then want to go to maya... it won't really be that hard to learn maya and may obnly take a month at the most to adapt to it. i have seen many people produce excellent art with their first time using 3ds max, at first this confused the hell out of me, then i contacted them and found that they had been using another modelign program for years and were simply switching to 3ds max, not learning it all over again. the whole 3ds max vs. maya debate is a waste of time, time which you could be using to learn how to model!

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Original post by eloadrin Wow, what really bugs me is that no one EVER mentions Softimage XSI. It is just as good as Maya and Max and is definately better for animation. It also has a pretty intuitive and simple UI. No one seems to ever give credit to XSI as it is also a pretty powerful tool. You can even use their XSI Modtool for free to test it out.

Softimage XSI is certainly a contendable package, but you're kinda coming across as fanboyish here. Making statements such as "is definately better for animation" makes it seem like you've forgotten that packages in general have evolved over the past, you know, decade.

Softimage XSI is certainly cool and does have a lot of great features and capabilities. The problem with the tool, however, is marketing. Max and Maya have very, very recognizable names. Max and Maya have penetrated a large amount of the development market and will continue to do so for quite some time because people stick with what they know. They also have incredibly third party backing as far as plug-in developers are concerned.

Why would somewhat want to use a package that admittedly has an impressive feature set, but as very little (relatively) market penetration and support? The reason there is so little information and useful tutorials out there is simple. Why would you spent your time developing training materials for a package that doesn't sell as well? People make training materials for Max and Maya because that is where the market demand is.

i believe to the 2 program as the same , and the must important , not who strong and who weak , the must importance subject is what you prefer more than
you can do the same model in the 2 program , and the same texture and the same animation , but finally .... you for wich program slope ?

To me personally , i prefer the 3Ds max , because i work on it before maya , and because he change my life for good thing .

thats not mean i dont like or prefer the maya too , its to mee the same .

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Original post by zer0wolf Quote: Original post by eloadrin Wow, what really bugs me is that no one EVER mentions Softimage XSI. It is just as good as Maya and Max and is definately better for animation. It also has a pretty intuitive and simple UI. No one seems to ever give credit to XSI as it is also a pretty powerful tool. You can even use their XSI Modtool for free to test it out. Softimage XSI is certainly a contendable package, but you're kinda coming across as fanboyish here. Making statements such as "is definately better for animation" makes it seem like you've forgotten that packages in general have evolved over the past, you know, decade. Softimage XSI is certainly cool and does have a lot of great features and capabilities. The problem with the tool, however, is marketing. Max and Maya have very, very recognizable names. Max and Maya have penetrated a large amount of the development market and will continue to do so for quite some time because people stick with what they know. They also have incredibly third party backing as far as plug-in developers are concerned. Why would somewhat want to use a package that admittedly has an impressive feature set, but as very little (relatively) market penetration and support? The reason there is so little information and useful tutorials out there is simple. Why would you spent your time developing training materials for a package that doesn't sell as well? People make training materials for Max and Maya because that is where the market demand is.

I have to admit, the "is best for animation" was a bit fanboyish. But the truth is that SoftImage XSI is the leading software in the industry. Most of it's license holders are from the industry and rarely just regular users such as you and I. On the otherhand, a lot of the license holders for Max are non-professionals. So this would have to do with the demand in support, but definately not market penetration. But like everyone keeps saying, it is true that it depends what you prefer, and which software puts you at ease. So in an ideal situation, it would be best to download demos of multiple modeling packages, and test them out. What ever suits your needs best and is in your price range, then that is the one you should go for.

Also, keep in mind that modeling packages usually have greater strengths in different areas. The reason why I said, it XSI was the "best at animation", is simply because it is geared more towards animation while max is more towards polygonal modeling. But anyways, the point is, try all of them, and pick which you like best. In the beginning, my point was really to make sure people don't forget about software like XSI, as it is clearly my package of preference :).

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Original post by zer0wolf Quote: Original post by eloadrin Wow, what really bugs me is that no one EVER mentions Softimage XSI. It is just as good as Maya and Max and is definately better for animation. It also has a pretty intuitive and simple UI. No one seems to ever give credit to XSI as it is also a pretty powerful tool. You can even use their XSI Modtool for free to test it out. Softimage XSI is certainly a contendable package, but you're kinda coming across as fanboyish here. Making statements such as "is definately better for animation" makes it seem like you've forgotten that packages in general have evolved over the past, you know, decade. Softimage XSI is certainly cool and does have a lot of great features and capabilities. The problem with the tool, however, is marketing. Max and Maya have very, very recognizable names. Max and Maya have penetrated a large amount of the development market and will continue to do so for quite some time because people stick with what they know. They also have incredibly third party backing as far as plug-in developers are concerned. Why would somewhat want to use a package that admittedly has an impressive feature set, but as very little (relatively) market penetration and support? The reason there is so little information and useful tutorials out there is simple. Why would you spent your time developing training materials for a package that doesn't sell as well? People make training materials for Max and Maya because that is where the market demand is.

I have to admit, the "is best for animation" was a bit fanboyish. But the truth is that SoftImage XSI is the leading software in the industry. Most of it's license holders are from the industry and rarely just regular users such as you and I. On the otherhand, a lot of the license holders for Max are non-professionals. So this would have to do with the demand in support, but definately not market penetration. But like everyone keeps saying, it is true that it depends what you prefer, and which software puts you at ease. So in an ideal situation, it would be best to download demos of multiple modeling packages, and test them out. What ever suits your needs best and is in your price range, then that is the one you should go for.

Also, keep in mind that modeling packages usually have greater strengths in different areas. The reason why I said, it XSI was the "best at animation", is simply because it is geared more towards animation while max is more towards polygonal modeling. But anyways, the point is, try all of them, and pick which you like best. In the beginning, my point was really to make sure people don't forget about software like XSI, as it is clearly my package of preference :).