What is the BEST 3D Software? Maya vs 3dsMax vs Cinema 4D vs Houdini vs Blender 

Hey everyone! This is a forum for discussing, not flinging poo at each other. I kindly ask that you are respectful in your communications with each other. I hold (and will use) the power to remove your comments (or hide your user from the channel) if I think you're just adding brown stuff to the conversation 😉

I use cinema 4D to design 3D motion graphics on my 2D screen using my 1D brain

PowerPoint

I used 3ds max for 14 years for 3D modeling, photo renderings and sometimes animations. But in the last years Blender was like a magnet for me for so many reasons. 3 months ago I decided to spend some time and learn Blender. In 2 weeks I made the complete transition. For my projects and workflow Blender is so much better than Max. My vote is for Blender 100%.

Cinema4D is truly the easiest, really user friendly and easy to get into if youre new Great comparison btw

I'm new here, I'm going to try out blender.

The only thing I'll add is that Blender is not only for hobbyists. People should stop talking about free noobish software, it far from that now and with 2.8 it'll be yet another story.

C4D + Houdini = Everything a VFX/Motion Graphic artist would ever need!

Blender is much more light weight then any other animation software Blender is around 300-350 MB. Actually it saves all the Disk Space in my PC and it also easy to work with blender environment I Love Blender !!!

Lets just say *MUCH LOVE FOR BLENDER

Autodesk bought also softimage xsi, best animation software at the time in my opinion. And then kill it ! After that I started using blender and I have to say that I am today very happy. Blender is fastly growing up and becoming more powerful version after version.

This video is exactly what I was looking for to get a direct, comparative overview of the different types of 3D software. Thank you so much!!!

One thing that needs to be pointed out is that once you've learned one 3D application it is much easier to learn the competitors. They all have, for example, a way to add edge loops, extrude etc. The important thing is to get the core concepts (Houdini is the exception and not for the faint of heart)

subbed cause he went straight to the fvcking point

This was a FANTASTIC explanation of the pros and cons of everything. Cleared up a lot thank you.

Thank you so much for making this video!!!!

And i remember your first blender tutorial video when you said, : " If you mix MAYA , 3D Max, and Cinema 4D , ...don't be afraid....you get Blender!" lol, completely agree with you.

3DS Max - Architecture, product design, it used to be used heavily for games in the past Maya - Animation and Video games Cinema4D - Motion graphics, advertisement and TV industry Blender - Indy development, personal use Houdini - Visual FXs Industry, it can be used for anything that requires extensive simulations like fluid, fire, explosions, smoke, grass, crowds etc. Modo - Excellent tools for hard surface modeling, can be used for any type of 3D design/concepts. It's really fast but tends to create poor topology, not a problem for hard surface but bad for animation. 3DCoat - Jack of all trades/master of none, it's used mainly for texture painting and retopology but it has tools for sculpting, UV Unwrap and other things. Zbrush - Sculpting and Concept art, used for high levels o detail. Models need to be retopologized but they can be used to bake normal maps.

This is definitely one of the best 3D software comparison.. well explained and unbiased.. coming from someone who is switching from Maya to Blender

What an articulate no nonsense guy you are! Awesome!

Blender is great for concept artist since it’s more an external part of production, and it’s already becoming real time :)

I went to school for Maya and used it for a couple of years while working in post-production studios. But once I became a freelancer I began to use Cinema 4D. I haven't used Maya again since. Maya is designed for big studios with lots of people in which each person does a very particular task. Cinema 4D is easier and better for a one-man or small studio. This would be the path I recommend. As for Blender, I tried it for like 30 minutes and the interface was way too complicated. Also, you can get away with pretty good VFX by just using Cinema 4D and After Effects.

Nok Nok who's is it Blender 2.8

You just won a subscriber, thank you for providing subtitles in Portuguese!!

It is never a question "what" you can do with a software, but "how fast and efficient" can you do it. Learn all 3d applications to really understand their strength and weaknesses. You'll be using a variety of tools anyway if you want to work in the professional world. Never stop learning.

I have used C4D for a long time and I know some important details about Houdini and 3dsMax. If you are new to the 3D scene so to speak and not sure what path you should go I would honestly say Houdini, the possibilities and flexibility I have seen with it are amazing, you can do a lot more but I think it also demands a bigger learning curve. Smoke, fire, water, explosions, etc, if this is what you are going to focus on, particle driven animations, go for 3dsMax. Cinema 4D has a clean and somewhat logic layout with good bits from all different perspectives and it shines at text, logos, commercial work as well as interiors, cloning systems and it also has good character system, animation system, a built-in motion tracker for live footage to use 3D objects with. It has now with R19 a really good fracture tool where you can break apart your models and control the breaking in various ways. Cinema has as I said a little of everything but it does not come close to anything you can do with the other 2 programs I mentioned when it comes to particle control, maybe not even with X-Particles, still, C4D is far from a bad choice because a lot of studios and websites/companies use it/demands it if you want to get paid for your work. What I'm trying to say is that to get some really excellent stuff out of C4D you really need to THINK outside the box because you are somewhat kinda limited to its tools and unable to go around them. I would go for Houdini if I had to suggest something. Just look at different animations or still images made with different programs. I prefer still images for now because I dont have the best computer.

谢谢你，有你的这篇详尽分析，我知道哪款适合我了！

Thanks!!! What an energy and good vibes, love it!

I love my Blender 2.8! Funny thing though is everyone has pretty much forgotten about Lightwave. I really enjoyed it with my trial version.

Blender all the way.

Thanks man, this video really helped me clear my confusion around all this softwares... my vision ahead is now more clearer... 😇😇

You literally covered everything I needed to know. Thank you.

Lets divide industry in 4 Layers The leaders - Disney, Pixar, Blizzard, Imageworks Here people make their own software, render engines, production tools etc and use them in the mix with leading packages such as Maya, Houdini. Top Tier - Studios handling daily special fx and movie production work - These are the ones exchanging heavy data across multiples production houses and have to stick to common product pipeline. Mid Tier - Design and Animation Studios making mid-scale production such as Game Trailers, TV Ads, Music Videos etc. at this scale, you will see studio doing 2D Animation, 3D Animation, Cutout Animation, Stop Motion and other misc mediums etc and are very flexible about tools. Indie and Small Teams - Here basically anything works. I have seen blender making its way up, Its definitely used a lot by Indie and Small Teams, Because its one for all software and can easily give all solutions within itself. Mid Tier Studios are also using the Blender as its easy to exchange formats at this level. Top Tier and Leaders - no question only sticking to packages which have been running for years and it's going to take sometime before Blender reaches there. Now I have seen studios using 3DS Max for heavy cinematics, Maya for Motion Graphics, and Cinema4D for character animation as well, all of these are capable of handling much more than what their marketing team projects them as. To sum it up - There is no one software to rule all. There is no one software for one particular industry. There is no certainty how long the leading packages will last ( RIP softimage XSI and get well soon 3DS Max ) Now to make it more easier for you - Modeing - Is not completely handeled in one software ( nerds do ) but industry uses it in combination such as zbrush+maya -Texturing- Substance , Mari , 3D Coat etc - Animation - Fundamentals are same ( xyz, curve editor , motion capture workflow etc) - Rendering- All the render engines work exactly same across all packages. - Lighting - Is more of a theory thing you need to clear, and less of a software thing. - Fx- Realflow, Thinking Particles, Crowd simulation softwares etc are external plugins and these if required you can easily learn . Now i doubt if one person should be actually doing all of it. Pick one or two specializations. I understand the idea of your favorite package not being used in industry is nightmare, but you cannot be sure of any package that way. Now those who came here for blender - Its a superb software, Imagine i had to use it in production because team was using blender and i felt handicapped for almost 3 months ( coming from max and maya ). But guess what - after i used it, i just cannot go back. Its like a magic wand - You will be doing much more than what you came in for - in blender : ) My index finger hurts, as i type with one finger, Apologies to grammer nazis as i am not english person. www.crossmind.com/tbt/

I love Cinema 4D, I'm doing everything in there vfx, motion graphics etc..

Yes, you answer all my questions dude! Thanks for the video!!

Thanks for being so precise and on-point.

A few CLARIFICATIONS and ADDITIONAL INFO - also thanks to the feedback from so many friendly people!! 1) I apologise if I came across as 'dismissive' towards Blender - that was not at all my intention. I personally love Blender. It's what I use for all my 3D work. That, and a bit of Houdini. It can be (and has been) used for many professional projects and will gain a ton more power with the upcoming release of version 2.8 :) However, as of right now, it is not as widespread in the industry as Maya or Houdini. Hence why I am - at this point - recommending Maya over Blender if you want to get a job in one of the big studios. 2) Houdini has been around for a long time actually. However, only comparatively recently has it exploded as THE tool to use in the VFX industry for destruction, fluids, energy effects and the like. So calling it a 'new player' might not have been the best choice of words, but I feel it's steep rise to stardom has been fairly recent :) 3) Blender has a LOT of support. Bugs are more likely to be fixed much quicker than in the big players like Maya, C4D or 3dsMax. However, there is no *legal* liability for the Blender foundation (or the open source devs) to provide this support. And it's the lack of this *legal* support that is one of (many) facets that adds to Blender being taken up rather slowly in established studios. Let me know your thoughts and I will update this comment as required to provide the clearest information I can :)

I've been using blender for years now but lately made the switch to Autodesk programs because of the projects that I was working on at that time. Blender hasn't been getting enough love in the "professional" community. That's at least my experience.

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us. I was so unclear about the 3d software. This video helped me a lot.

I love your videos! Keep up the great work!

C4D and Houdini is my favorite soft!

I’m trying to learn Maya on my own, I’m an independent animator that traditionally uses 2D animation software (Dragonframe).

Thank you so much! That's very helpful.🙏🏼🙏🏼

Thanks man for help... I really needed exact this thing... Now i know what to do .. no confusions

BLENDAAAR MASTER RACE !

The most professional softwares I've learnt, in order: 1. Blender 2. Paint 3D 3. PowerPoint

Thanks! Enjoyed your clear and direct communication.

Really illustrative and helpful video. Thanks for share your knowledge about the topic!

Learn Blender because it's free, so you don't need to bother with licenses. Which software you will learn first is irrelevant: the most important thing is to learn fundamentals like understanding topology, UV mapping, texturing, the type of maps... All these things you can learn in any of these softwares. And start as environment artist because this is where demand is. Later on you can try with animation, effects, 'specialization'... Learning fundamentals is what most important is. Learning new software is a minor thing. Once you learn one software and grasp fundamentals you will see how easy really is to learn a new software. So don't bother too much with which software is the best (it's like bothering which car is the best. It's irrelevant! The most important is to learn to drive: once you learn to drive a car you can swich the brands easily), just pick a Blender and you will be just fine.

I'm in the industry since 1994, started with 3D Studio R3, loved the first release of 3D Studio Max but soon learned to know Alias Power Animator and a bit of Softimage. The step from Alias (Power Animator) to Maya wasn't that big, so arround the year 1998 Maya became my weapon of choice. Today i mostly use cinema 4D because my focus shifted to Motion Design and for that, in my opinion, Maxons Software is the best you can get. All of the mentioned softwares have a speciallity, so it depends on your needs, what is the best 3D Software for You!

Brilliant and so helpful! Thank you! Short and to the point, no waffle. :) Right, decision time...

the best explanation so far on the internet. started learning cinema4d ... great video

From personal experience, I use Cinema 4D above Blender; I've tried both, Blender took me LONG time to learn, but yet Cinema 4D few weeks and I'm feeling home.

Amazingly informative video. Thank you so much.

You have earned yourself a subscriber!! What a wonderful video, Crystal clear :D

thisss , just what i was looking for, what a nice guy

2020, wanna make a flim? Blender + Unreal + quixel. And you're good to go

Just what I wanted :)

Excellent video. clarified my doubts. Thank you very much!

Thanks for sharing! Really helpful!

Wow the blender community really has grown. I remember I chose to learn Maya because it was “industry standard “ & at the time the blender show reels looked corny but honestly I think I will transition to Blender.

Blender is a good place to learn the basics of modeling and animation, though once you have the basics you should move onto learning some industry standard software.

Excellent video, thank you so much!

The video was very helpful and well made with good arguments, examples and contexts. Extra Kudos for using the video description in a very useful way!

In my opinion, every software serves different purposes , and every software is AWESOME!👍❤️ annnnd , AWESOME VIDEO TOO!🎉👍

I'm pretty sure if you wanted to use Blender in a big movie production, you could get a deal on developer support with the Blender devs.

Great stuff thank s for the knowledge

thx! you helped me out a lot :)

I use Houdini and I think its the best 3D software because you can do everything so detailed. And there are so many features. And its also good for motiongraphics. And I like the procedual workflow.

Blender has a license option for studios that would like technical support, it's about the same or maybe cheaper than Maya's monthly subscription so there is that

Very very helpful video, thank you for sharing!!

thank you, awesome. Helped a lot indeed! Very entertaining! Coming from a graphic design branding & packaging design background, getting now more into 3D Art. As i said, this one helped!

who started learning blender 2019 2020: who else stoped learning learning blender :D

I learned 3dsMax in school and I like it for everything. I even do animation and some rigging in it. of course I use zbrush also for my high poly. Ill try some other programs at some point when Im comfortable enough with 3dsmax

I chose cinema 4D because I like the dynamic link with after effect, interface is user friendly, main tasks i'm gonna learn are environnement creation, camera tracking, and compositing, my purpose is to target music video clips on green screen, architecture, commercial product showreel, so this software fits with what I'm looking for.

I will start CINEMA 4D! Thanks for your help! :)

I think Blender, from version 2.8, is becoming more and more of programs like Cinema 4D. Many tools and design changes on the interface of Blender show how Blender wants to approach the competition. I think that when 2.8 is done, more companies will be able to switch to Blender more easily. Sorry for my bad english ^^

I use after effects but, I keep running into road blocks. So I decided to go with Blender as my second tool. Combine both After Effects and Blender I think it's good enough for what I need.

Thank you, Tobias. :) great insights. I felt that you worked hard to explain all the options clearly in this video.

Awesome video and awesome comment by chillinator. Great help. Thanx!

I just wanted to hear ( it's the easiest ) thank you ... it's cinema 4D

Simpal one by one learn everything 🔥😃

This was really helpful! Thanks you!

Thank you! Helped a lot

I Use C4D To Make My Mc Intro And... The Quaility Is Godly Good!!!!

My 3D software that I will use in the future in my life : - Blender - Maya - Cinema 4D

Man your video is great and straight into the point!

This video is amazing :) For sure subscribed.

hands down C4d everything is there. in one program or you have plugins for it. you dont have to leave the software except for post production in Photoshp or After Effects. Ive been using it for many years tried the rest , this program has the quickest learning curve.

I think blender is great free 3d software

very crystal clear definition, thanks

Very helpful. Thanks for this.

Coming from15 years of working with almost all of the professional 3D DCC tools (3ds Max is my Core), seeing how Blender is growing is very exciting. It's the 80/20 rule which is universal and can be seen in many fields. Once the Blender can achieve 80% of the work that professional DCC can do (which is almost there), since it's free it'll surpass all of these traditional 3D tools. If you say studios don't use it, that is because their work pipelines have been developed at a time when Blender wasn't there. I'm not saying 3Ds Max, Maya or C4D will die and Blender will takeover. I'm saying a lot of new studios are using Blender and once they grow, you'll see more job ads asking for Blender Artists. I worked with blender 2.8 a few weeks ago and the shift from 2.7 to 2.8 is so amazing. Houdini is a different story, there is nothing capable of what it's doing in the market. So if you invest learning it, you'll have a safe desk in VFX industry. Regarding the 3D renders, I'd like to point out to the rise of real-time render engines (game engines). This is totally new area and right now it is dominated by UE4 and Unity. If you are new to 3D and would like to work on 3d render for Visualization, I'd encourage you to learn UE4 and possibly a little bit of coding. All of these offline render engines don't have to offer more than image+video and that is where game engines start shining, giving you the opportunity to create interactive apps on different platform (desktop, touch devices, VR headsets etc etc..)

How do people even afford Maya?

thank you for your introduction. it is really useful

The very best and honest opinion after a long time. GOOD WORK! :)

NYC video....thank you

Really awesome explanation. I loved this video tobias really! This is exactly what most people need to see :) From 3D programs I have tried out all of this and I choose Cinema 4D Because its the easiest 3D program (More easier then blender) and its professional too. I was learning it over 2 years. 3ds Max doesn't fit on me. Maya was too hard to understand. Later I started blender and I really liked it! I love when I see people created awesome arts with blender! Blender is totally worth it to learn it. Its really amazing 3D program with its main awesome photorealistic render engine. And really finally in the end I have found Houdini. The program which fits on me 100%. This is and will always be a 3D program that I want. I love making vfx the most so houdini is definitely super beast for that. Maya is very awesome too for vfx but mostly its beast for animation. So I would say these two are one of the most used 3D programs in Filmmaking/Animation/VFX. You are right about everything you said in this video! Its about which program fits on you. Its about what you want to do. I want to do vfx mostly for film so I choose houdini. While houdini is for creating highest quality vfx! I found that it can also be used perfectly for other things too like modeling. animation. etc. It has everything that I need! What makes me so much happy is that it doesn't need any plugins and it doesn't even have any plugins. It has absolutely everything that you need to create highest quality vfx and so on. I m learning houdini since 8 months now and I hope I will have more great skills! ( Since it needs many years to have awesome knowledge). Anyway. Really amazing video. Again I loved this video so much! Its totally worth it to watch! There is another video on youtube which uses almost the same name as this video 'What's the Best 3D Software?' By FlippedNormals. Which has more in depth explanation. So with that said! I Liked this video and plus added to favorites :) Cheers Tobias!

Great tutorial. Thank you!

Thank you so much bro. It was very useful info for me