When you have two strong contenders in the market, the question always arises, which is the best and what makes it better? The same concept applies to almost any product, and the world of animation software is no different.
Therefore, we see that the two main software are 3DMax and Maya. There are good and bad points to everything, and after all, the two products are in competition with each other by their respective owners. The difference here is that both dynamic software packages are owned by the same company. Now, that doesn’t make any sense for a company to compete against itself, does it? The motive for the acquisition could be to buy the competitor and then drop the weaker of the two. However, this is not the case here, as Autodesk now owns both 3D Max and Maya and does not intend to take either of them off the market. It may not seem like it, but your concept is very workable.
As we said, both items have their strengths and weaknesses, but they are highly appreciated and used in the industry. Autodesk has simply decided to take the weaknesses of both and strengthen them with the attributes of their counterpart.
Your strengths.
3D Max is the favorite of architecture and visualization animators, while Maya is the choice of the TV and film industry. 3D Max has great tools for conceptual modeling, large-scale environment creation, and works well with other Autodesk product lines, to name a few of the main features. Maya, on the other hand, has incredible character manipulation, animation layers, and motion capture handling capabilities that surpass 3d Max.
Maya has great advantages over 3D Max when it comes to modeling Nurbs. This is because the software has taken a different approach in this area, which means that it is easier to use. Nurbs are complex surfaces, it would be the technique you would use to create a polygon for example. The effects that the animator can achieve in terms of fluidity are impressive with Maya. It will allow for very realistic simulations of the reaction of fluids and gases in the real world and the ocean shader you have implemented produces amazing quality for the animation of the water. Also, with Maya, you can draw freehand and use 3D painting effects that include some special effects as well as what are called Paint Effects.
Determining which one is best first depends on your budget as 3D Max is more affordable, but if your purpose is architectural and visualization then you won’t get a bargain because Maya is a better fit here. For special effects in animation, Maya is the choice. Ultimately, the decision will come down to what your computer can handle. Maya operates on Windows, Mac, and Linux and Max is restricted to Windows-based systems only. In any case, with either of these software packages you will have the best of both worlds.