The Lightwave transition...

[JasonA]

I'm not sure about lightwave..... but I migrated from 3ds max 4. And I found it to be quite painful in all honesty. *most* of the tools exist in maya, but some that I used heavily in max aren't in maya which I found particularly hard to get over. Just understanding how maya works, and learning all the work-arounds unique to the program took awhile.

[trthing]

I came from a Max background as well and I second JasonA: it has been painfull...

[Shinova]

I'm a Lightwave -> Maya user. This site will help you:


http://www.digital-tutors.com/digital_tutors/maya/index.htm


Take a look at their Maya tutorials. Very helpful.

And personally, I've found Maya to be better than Lightwave. Maya has a steeper learning curve, but once you get over that, Maya's easier to use than LW.


Though I'm trying to get into 3DS Max, just to see how it's like. Do they have a demo of it or something?

[roger3d]

Hi Diablo1000000,

I know what you're talking about.
I was a LW user and I was recommended to learn Maya, too.
And I found out that lot of LW users learned/ are learning Maya.
The ones who did it and are fluent with Maya has a job now.
The others that refused to learn are having bad time looking for a job.
My advice is:
If you want to be a freelancer, you can use almost any software.
If you want to get a job in a well stablished house, be an expert in Maya.
There's a lot of resources for Maya, many books, many tutorials, videos and DVDs to help you out.
The bad thing about been a LW user is that it's very difficult to learn Maya. But when you start to learn it, you'll love it.

I recommend the free videos from digital tutors, 3dbuzz, books like Maya Foundamentals, Inside Maya 5, and the DVDs from Gnomon.

Good luck

[Diablo1000000]

Some great advice there, especially from Roger3D, thanks a lot!

I'll take a look at that tutorial and have a play with Maya.

To think that 4-5 years ago, Lightwave really was the 'buzz word' in the industry, but now while applying for jobs there's not even a mention of it.

Could I sue Newtek? *joke* :D

Thanks again people.

T x

[murtle]

Maya's workflow are different than others even in same flow ;]

[roger3d]

Here are some encouragement for those who are learning Maya and came from other 3d app.

I heard some LW users (me too...) complaining about Maya UI, after trying to learn it.

You know what? I remmenber when I was at highshcool and I said to my friend:
"I don't like this chapter of this math book."
And he said:
"The point is not that you don't like it. The point is that you don't know it."

I was really sad about that, but he was right.
After I learn that, I start to like the chapter of that book.

IMHO it's the same for those who are trying to learn Maya and came from other 3d app. The point is not that you may not like Maya. The point might be that you don't know it enough to be able to use the power of Maya.

It might be difficult in the beggining, but I'm sure you'll love it after you learn it.
By the way, after you'll be confotable with Maya it will be difficult to live without Marking Menus, Shelf and Hotbox.

Go for it!:thumbsup:

Roger

[rock]

When I first learn Maya, I keep asking why can't Maya do this or have that like LW. But after I got somewhat comfortable with Maya, I start asking why can't LW have this or do that like Maya.

I saw a live LW8 preview from Proton recently and even with the new features, it seems like LW is playing catchup.

One of the keys in learning Maya, especially when you think certain aspects of Maya is painful or difficult, is to see with your own eyes how the Maya experts use it so gracefully. Then you will eventually do it just as gracefully as they have been doing it.

[roger3d]

Totally agreed, rock.

And talking about Maya experts' workfow, I personally like the way Alex Alvarez (from Gnomon DVDs) uses Maya.

One more thing I need to add here:
Before you start to learn Maya, you need to know WHY you are learning it.
If the WHY is big enough, the challenges will not count.

(sorry, I'm not sure if my english grammar is correct.)

[graphiouz]

One more thing, even if a thing or two is easier or faster to do in Lightwave, you can make the workarounds in maya just as fast!

[chyer]

Maya can be very hard to learn initally but once you pass a certain stage all will become surprising easy and natural to you.

I find maya is extremely flexible and you can develop your own working styles and workflows........

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