3dMax or Maya for Environment?

Community Community & Industry Discussion
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Please please please, no overzealous comments :slight_smile:

Loving so much UE4 that want to perfect my modelling skills. Above all, level design is what I love most, so need to start making my own assets!

For the gaming industry, and more specifically, for maximum compatibility with UE4, should I learn Maya or 3dMax? Already have some knowledge of 3dMax, but I see everyone out there (on high-end professional level) using Maya, so I don’t mind switching, especially now that LT is out.

I know that none is better than the other, but JUST for environment modelling (low-mid polycount and importing into UE4), which one is more appropiate?

What do you guys think? Please elaborate!

Thanks!

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They are just as good, I know Epic does use Maya, not sure how much they use Max, though. 3ds Max seems to be slightly more popular in the USA games industry, Maya isn’t too far behind though. Just stick with what you know unless you feel like you need to switch. They are both just as fast, and require the same amounts of steps and work to get something into Unreal.

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There was a thread already about 3ds Max vs. Maya, you can check that if you want more arguments.

In my opinion, 3ds Max has better modeling tools for environments, Maya’s getting there but 3ds Max is still ahead in that area.

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2-0 for Max, thanks for your replies.

Used the search with “max” and “maya” keywords, haven’t found anything. Could you send me a link, please?

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Apparently what I got out of that thread is that people prefer Maya just because of the rigging system. Sticking with Max then.

Thanks for your help. Back to modelling!

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What I know is Epic has more tutorials based of Maya and they support that field more, but for myself I use 3dsMax because for me the work flow can be done faster and the interface for me is cleaner and more sufficient so I get things done quickly.

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Epic has 1 tool for Maya, and that’s because it’s missing something that 3ds Max already has. Many studios use Maya for animation and rigging, but many also use 3ds Max for modeling.

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As a Maya user I do recommend you to go with Max or Modo for environments. Never have I seen a thread commending Maya for its modelling tools… Animation and rigging on the other hand is a beast. :slight_smile: