Well, Veritas777, "easy to use" and "easy to learn" are two different things. I haven't come across a software package yet that had EVERYTHING I needed and was as easy to learn as, for instance, Poser. You have to understand that with more features, more options, comes a greater learning curve.

Max IS easy to use... once you learn it. I don't like Lightwave's interface with all the different modules it breaks down into (very much like Poser 5's "Rooms"), but once you learn it, it's also very easy to use.

Once you get a solid grasp on how to do things in any of these packages, the real power behind them (compared to most smaller, less expensive ones)is indeed WORKFLOW. Packages like Maya, Lightwave and 3dsMax are geared toward making professional production pipelines faster and more efficient than can be found in many of the lower-end solutions.

With 3dsMax in particular, there are at least 3 or 4 different ways you can tackle any single objective/problem. Some poeple get frustrated because it gives you TOO many choices to do certain tasks, but I like that about it myself.

PS: You DO know that there are customizable hotkeys for almost every task you can do in 3dsMax (which makes things as easy as one-click), and also a fully customizable UI that allows you to arrange menus and buttons to suit your workflow/style.

;-)

Message edited on: 07/15/2004 16:27

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Tools :  3dsmax 2015, Daz Studio 4.6, PoserPro 2012, Blender v2.74

System: Pentium QuadCore i7, under Win 8, GeForce GTX 780 / 2GB GPU.