CGTalk - 3ds Max --> Maya

FabioB

04-17-2002, 06:07 AM

Greetings,

My name is Fabio Bittar and you probably don't know me though I am a Maxforums member. Recently, I've decided to change my software package from MAX to Maya and, yes, I believe Maya is a great option and I am not going to regreat this decision.

The thing is I am not used to it, and the fact I came from MAX makes it even more difficult. People in Maxforums warned me about the 'large' differences but I think at least a few of you must have passed thru the same problems. So my question is: what tips can you give me to make my adaptation to Maya less painful? When you (if) changed packages, what was your most common mistake and what was your biggest problem in the beggining?

I hope you don't mind giving me some advice ;) !

Tad

04-17-2002, 07:51 AM

well i think the toughest part is the fact that your
really starting from scratch again.
dont try to just start creating things right off the bat.
you really need to thoroughly read whatever documentation youve got(manuals, or a good book).

and dont expect to be able to do everything in maya
that you could do in max, i mean, you can, but there
are diferent ways to do things.
so just cuz there isnt the exact same command, doesnt mean you cant do it!

anyways, good luck.

DrAdamDinosaur

04-17-2002, 05:46 PM

I've said it before and I'll say it again, hop on over to www.3dbuzz.com and sign up for the free training cds. There a great resourse. I got the first one thinking i wouldn't learn anything from it but they showed me. Check them out, there free.

ME3D

04-17-2002, 10:31 PM

I sort of agree with Tad in the area of reading to begin with.
It takes some time to rethink your process's of building, animating, and generally navigating through maya. But I would not recommend to "not start creating right off the bat" I say JUMP IN! No better way to learn than having to do it. And having things due just puts that much more pressure behind you to motivate you through.
(Tad, if I'm taking what you said wrong please say)
Good luck FabioB

robin

04-18-2002, 01:43 AM

i must say that i agree with everything that im reading here.

im from Max and been into Maya for about a year ... at first i didnt know what the hell was going on with Maya the tools and the Menu that they used was totally miles away from MAX ...

my only downfall is that i used Maya so Much and im so eased by the way it works, that i have to take steps to go back in Max and re-learning some of the Basic tools that i forgot ....

DominikSusmel

04-20-2002, 05:14 AM

Hm,

as I remember most frustrating thing for me was no modifier list. Well, not like in MAX that is ;) You have to get used to Inputs and Outputs. Also, Hypergraph is a whole new thing if you never used node behaviour before. But once oyu get used to it...
Environment is another thing, you set it up through camera attr. list and through render globals (if you use Maya renderer ofcourse).
For animation part, there's this cool breakdown keys you can get addicted too. Also, joint linking (parenting) and IK solvers are way better than in MAX.
Dynamics is a nono concept in MAX so you need to learn that from ground up in Maya.

Hope this helps somewhat.

ed_gross

04-21-2002, 12:16 AM

I have used Max very little, being brought up on A|W products, but I can say that the Modifier stack is a really neat procedural concept, and the folks that designed it made it really easy. That said, it's very rare once you get into animation to actually keep "history" (to use A|W terms), seeing that it will slow you down.

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