Maya and 3DS are both distributed by Autodesk but they have extremely different prices. I was wondering, does 3DS Max has so many extra features for game modelers that the price is fit when compared to Maya? It seems like they have pretty much the same power, but Maya is best for character modeling and animation and 3DS for objects and environments? But can't I do with Maya the same I can with 3DS? I am also worried about game engines, most accept 3ds format, but I don't know about Maya. I guess what I am asking is if 3DS is worth its price when compared with Maya (for game modelers), because I really can't buy both.

i dont know about maya but i do know that 3ds max is good for games because of its approach to modelling. It is more of an extrude,bevel and modify approach which makes it suitable for low poly models. It is also ( in my opinion) very artist friendly.
From what i hear, maya has lots of features that do not appeal to game programmers rather to movie makers thus giving it its high price.

Both are equal in many respects. As i have told many artists in the past, go with which one you feel most comfortable with. Once you get modeling down in general it is then a lot easier to move between the two.
Download the trials and give them both a test run.

Go XSI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't learn Max. It stinks. And I say that as a Max technical and character artist. Learn Maya, or even better, XSI.

Quote: Original post by Professor420
Go XSI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't learn Max. It stinks. And I say that as a Max technical and character artist. Learn Maya, or even better, XSI.

And of course you'll have opinionated answers, for example, i rather prefer max over maya :-)

Quote: Original post by Jarrod1937
Both are equal in many respects. As i have told many artists in the past, go with which one you feel most comfortable with. Once you get modeling down in general it is then a lot easier to move between the two.
Download the trials and give them both a test run.

Yes.
I have used both and in the past they used to actually be quite different i.e. 3dmax missing mental ray renderer, only works on windows, no hotbox can do everything by right clicking if you want to like maya, limited scripting support and alot of missing functionality that is provided by plugins like biped.
In the current versions 3dmax now includes the mental ray renderer like maya and it looks alot more like maya nowadays so not that different anymore.
3dmax is still windows only probably due to the fact that it seems like it's a program where they just keep adding on stuff to it whereas maya was built from the ground up to be highly customizable due to it's use in motion picture industry and movies most likely is cross platform and always alot more stable in my opinion.
In maya everything is a node so once you get that down you should understand that everything else should follow.
Oh yeah when I started using both program there was only a handful of maya books not including the manuals it came with to learn from compared to the dozens for 3dmax. Now there is plenty of learning resources for Maya so that shouldn't be a problem.

Thank you all for your answers. I will try them both and then decide. Maybe I will even buy ZBrush instead, since its price is way more appealing ;)

Quote: Original post by boedromios
Thank you all for your answers. I will try them both and then decide. Maybe I will even buy ZBrush instead, since its price is way more appealing ;)

Zbrush is cool, but it is worth mentioning that it is not a replacement for other modelers like xsi, max, and maya. Its sort of a modeling program in its own category (along with mudbox and the like).

Well.. since we are talking about 3DS and Maya, I have a question..

Can you crossover between these 2 software, especially exporting from maya to 3dmax file? Since they are now under the same company?

Quote: Original post by wilzoon
Well.. since we are talking about 3DS and Maya, I have a question..

Can you crossover between these 2 software, especially exporting from maya to 3dmax file? Since they are now under the same company?

You used to have to use the .fbx format to move between the two programs, however they may have a better transition method now since the two are now owned by the same company as you say.