I tried a bunch, personally I would stick with Softimage until it's no longer an option if you can. I myself, switched to Blender. It's not perfect and I'm not going to try to sell you on it. I am not working full time in the industry either, I only do indy/game work. Because of my lax requirements, I can put up with it's headaches and still get by, but every week or so, I get rid of one of it's head-aches either by finding a new add-on or workflow, or by scripting my own solutions. Honestly it is getting close in terms of functionality/use-ability, but the level of UI refinement and perfection of Softimage, it's a long way off from (so is everything else).
Also, keep in mind, my rendering and shading is done in UE4. I only need a modeling/UV/sculpting/rigging/animation/export suite. So with that in mind, my requirements for 3D these days are no where near the requirements of probably the majority of people on this list. But, if that would meet your needs, then Blender is quite feasible and IMO, it's got the most going for it vs. the Industry Standard names. I like it better than Maya by a lot, for my limited needs, but not better than Softimage. The transition was (and still is in some cases) difficult. Before settling on Blender, I re-visited Maya for a month, I spend 3 weeks with MODO and I did two weeks with Houdini. Once I got through some initial hurdles, Blender made the most sense for me going forward. good luck On Wed, Nov 25, 2015 at 2:31 AM, Rob Wuijster <[email protected]> wrote: > Maya is the 'VHS of 3D'. > > It's not that it was the best application for the job, but the fact is was > just everywhere. > Than it became the 'standard'. > > After 3 weeks of doing a project in Maya, I'm ready (again) to throw > myself in front of a bus. > My last experiences were with Maya 7/8 and most, if not all annoyances, > gotchas and bugs are still there. > > Rendering is still a confusing mess, but luckily we don't have to touch MR. > Unless you have to use XGen, and you find out it needs to be installed for > XGen to work. Guess what? It's not in the default Maya installer anymore... > > etc. etc. etc. > > It will need at least 3-4 big updates to get it working more user > friendly, or to not blow up in your face. > We already had a ton of issues with reference files and non rendering > scenes. > And this wasn't even a complex project. > > Oh..... Always save the scene in .ma format. So at least you can open them > up to fix some issues. > > And.... there's always a script... somewhere.... > > Yup... long day... ;-) > > Rob > > \/-------------\/----------------\/ > > On 24-11-2015 11:26, Mirko Jankovic wrote: > > well taht was / IS strongest point of Softimage for me as well. > With Maya I felt always on glass legs waiting when whole thing will go > down crumbling and breaking. > With SI I sometimes even do dirty fast work get things done more then half > way then tweak and polish all the way back without much problems. > With low budget and low time at hand it is hard to get things properly so > going dirty fast way then polishing as much as time and budget allows works > perfectly. > > > > On Tue, Nov 24, 2015 at 11:19 AM, Gerbrand Nel <[email protected]> wrote: > >> +1 on what Matt said >> I spent a year in maya, and a year in houdini. >> For me it personally comes down to the following. >> Almost all things will initially happen quicker in maya,..... and then >> you start praying! >> You pray the client doesn't change anything! >> You pray you didn't forget anything in step 4 of your 15 step pipeline. >> AND ABOVE ALL YOU PRAY THE BASTARD DOESN'T BREAK. >> >> In Houdini on the other hand, I feel relaxed. I know I can probably >> change anything at any time without destroying anything, or re-doing too >> much work. >> This is the most important aspect of houdini most people overlook when >> they try it. >> I've seen a few people leave houdini after a few days, because they feel >> they can get the same thing done quicker in maya.. >> They then see me leave... every day... at 5pm, cause my client changes >> took 2 hours while theirs will take the whole night. >> I know you said you mostly do animation and gaming. Houdini is not famous >> for animation, but to be honest with you, this is probably because most >> people who use houdini overlook the awesomeness of chops. >> Just look at this for a quick intro >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiaNyYnzEQM >> >> G >> >> >> >> On 24/11/2015 02:14, Matt Lind wrote: >> >>> This really depends on how you fit into the game development side of the >>> equation. >>> >>> I've worked on games in most genres and formats. In my experience, game >>> assets are typically very iteration heavy because they must remain live at >>> all times (compare to Film/video assets which are mostly locked down once >>> images have been rendered because you can't continually re-render the >>> entire film). It takes people time to make those revisions, which is the >>> most valuable resource and also the most mismanaged. >>> >>> I steer towards iteration friendly workflows as iteration tends to be >>> the #1 time/money loss in game development art pipelines. >>> It's almost a guarantee any game asset will be revised, and revised many >>> times - especially if the engine and other underlying components of the >>> game are not settled. Iteration is often overlooked as a factor when >>> evaluating software and making schedules. Too often people focus on >>> trivial details such as number of mouse clicks or creating asset version 1, >>> when instead they should be focused on the 500+ revisions that come later. >>> If iteration is heavy in your pipeline, consider Houdini. What you give up >>> in playback speed or other things you take for granted, you can earn back >>> on the reduced iteration factor. >>> >>> Don't worry too much about who has plugins for getting stuff into an >>> engine as all the major players have that capability. And even so, many >>> studios opt to write their own exporters because they need support for >>> features not included in the plugins. Instead, focus on reliability over >>> the life of the product, not just the current version being demo'd by the >>> sales guy. Remember, you'll have to update your DCC at some point. If it >>> must rely on multiple service packs every release to get right (or merely >>> usable), what message does that send? Think about how that affects >>> production during crunch time. Also think about the opposite - do you have >>> the option of riding a particular version without being forced to update? >>> It would really suck to be forced to update into a regression of an >>> important feature. >>> >>> >>> Matt >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2015 13:31:20 +0100 >>> From: Daniel Kim <[email protected]> >>> Subject: Have a question an alternative tool >>> To: "[email protected]" >>> >>> Hey guys. >>> >>> I just like to ask if you guys found 3D software as alternative tool. >>> I am also looking for a software, but it is hard to decide one. What I am >>> doing is mostly animation and game works, not motion graphic or >>> simulation >>> stuff. >>> >>> So far MODO seems nice, but many colleagues suggest me Cinema4D. I also >>> like to know what you guys chose. If you guys also can put short comment >>> what is good about that software, that will be thankful. >>> >>> Cheers >>> Daniel >>> >>> . >>> >>> >> > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2015.0.6176 / Virus Database: 4460/11053 - Release Date: 11/23/15 > > >
