Hello everyone!

I would like to know what are the main differences between Blender and 3D Max? I know of course that one is open source and the other is not, but what are the pros and cons of each one?

Thanks!

Mike

I know that 3DS Max has better primitives, e.g. you can set the number of 'steps'  much easier than you can in Blender. 3ds Max has a really nice all-around workflow, but Blender has been catching up with modifiers and other areas making it an increasingly strong alternative. One strong point of Blender is its scene hierarchy in the Outliner, which really isn't present in Max.

However, what you should really do is download the trial version and try both programs to see which is better. Since Blender is free, you might want both.

3DS MAX can open .MAX files and blender can't ? :biggrin:

Quote - 3DS MAX can open .MAX files and blender can't ? :biggrin:

Blender can open .blend files and 3DS Max can't.

Having moved from Max to Blender here are my views (based around Max 4 so it will have changed).

Some of the Max work flow feels better especially if spline or NURB work - the tools just feel a hint more capable it's easier to add points to a spline or just minor things like grabbing a vertex handle can be a little smoother. Max also has the inbuilt Biped object which is fantastic - so very easy to get a figure skinned and animated. Max physics also feels more natural on work flow.

Blenders node based mats are better then the max texture editor. Max booleans suck more then blender ones even though some in the blender community moan about them.

Blender is far better on cost :) a few thousand dollars/pounds is an awful lot of money for relatively subjective items, for me this was the deciding factor, do not underestimate blender it is a fantastic tool and it's features put it up there with the high cost tools. It's only work flow that can feel twitchy.

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2742897

At the end of my post I quote a link to a comparison table where the author compare various 3D suites against each other. Both 3d Max and Blender are there and Blender compare very well against all of them.

I have been using Blender for a while now and I have dabbled a bit with Max. I have also used most of the other programs out there and thus this opinion;

The main problem with Blender is a lack of easy to find documentation. Yes, there IS documentation out there but much of it is confusing and dated. The reason for this is that the program is changing constantly. Some sites, like this one here ar R'osity and very good and quite helpful. Many sites are full of very young kids who think that it is cool to be sarcastic. Many of the video tutorials on youtube are good if you can stand the nasal voices of the kids who did them. BLESS them for doing the tutes but the voices put my teeth on edge.

Blender has a world view of its own. It is close to Maya is some ways but its internal logic is unique and, for many, very frustrating. You have to REALLY work to learn Blender but I think it is worth the time involved.

There are some good books on Blender but they are expensive and are out dated pretty quiclky.

I fell that the developers should take some time to sit down and document the program and offer updates that non-propeller heads can understand when they change things.

All that aside Blender does a lot of things and it does it VERY well. I could mention a number of programs that don't do near as much and cost big $$. Put in the time to learn it, don't be afraid to ask questions and Blender can do almost anything you want.

Tony

i have the totally opposite opinion.  i have 3ds Max at my job.  not only did i find it absolutely impossible to learn, i didn't find many free tutorials. though i did find lots of costly training.

one of the tutorials i did find told me how to make a room and some furniture out of boxes.  the room alone took tons of steps.  i had to go through several steps just to get to windows to provide me with basic functions.  Blender not only had tons of documentation i found perfectly good and current, but it was all free.  and when i asked questions, people automatically shared their work with me.  and, i know it's uncommon, but for me, the 3ds Max interface was way worse than Blender's.  i couldn't stand it.  it actually had me yelling at the computer about the designer's choices.  it reminded me of a book called Archer's Goon, when the main character tries to do stuff on a space ship and all the controls are crazy because the designer had made it to show off.  my experience of the 3ds max interface was that it seemed designed to make very simple things complex and maintain a barrier between ordinary folk and high end professionals. 

maybe it's changed drastically since then.  but as a total newbie to everything but Poser, and after trying Max, Hexagon, Wings3d, Animator3d and others, i chose Blender purely on ease of use and support.  the free part was a bonus.  Hexagon had a much better interface, but there were particulars about the environment that i found problematic, and the included help was just plain out of date and wrong.  everyone pointed me at it, but it just was completely wrong when it came to describing the functionality of tools i wanted to use.  i haven't had that happen with Blender yet.

i'd say there's a lot of things that could be improved about the Blender interface.  a totally differnt way to interface with cameras and the view would help worlds.  default left click select that didn't kill your 3 button emulation keys would be good. i truly believe that having to mentally rewire your mouse usage for this one application and simultaneously memorize keystrokes just to pan and rotate your view causes 90% of interface complaints.   many are overwhelmed before they even begin. the layout of elements in panels could be much better, but i'm not sure if it's possible.

that said, the menu system is very clear, i haven't yet felt like i had to jump through hoops or make multiple selections to get anywhere, and i've found all the labels and terms have been very usable and intuitive.

edited to add: but i'm not a professional, i don't intend to be one, and it's not like i'm bang-up with Blender as is.  i don't know 3d well at all, so i could definitely see hitting a wall further down the line.