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What do big companies use blender or 3ds max?

M

Muha93

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Hello all, this is my first post and i hope it is not a stupid one. I am into taking a course in either blender or 3ds max not sure yet i am still looking through it.

I was wondering what big companies like flytampa, fsdreamteam, orbx and so on... use! blender or 3ds max? and why!

Thank you


Muhannad
 
caleb

caleb

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I don't necicarally know an answer to your question, but I'm interested to find out.
I would imagine though that the larger payware companies use 3ds max, because it is a payware program. Blender being free, i don't know how many big companies would use it.
 
hairyspin

hairyspin

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Payware vs freeware has nothing to do with it, or Audacity (freeware sound editor) would be unknown. "Big" companies might use much more modelling programs than just Max and Blender – they might pay their best modeller for mesh originally built in Rhino or any number of 3D modelling packages, then bring it into Max for compiling to FS. I suppose Max is popular in professional circles because support is not only available on YouTube, but from Autodesk themselves. Blender doesn't keep up with all the current developments in 3D methods, whereas Max is built by professionals to keep pace with them afaik. Max is also a player in much more than just FS modelling; like AutoCAD, it's something of an industry standard. That's not to downplay Blender, but Autodesk pay full-time developers to do that and freeware developers can't devote the time and resources a paid programmer can.

Although things may look very different with MSFS 2020 development in a couple of years, Max is going to be a preferred tool for "big" companies for now because Max is explicitly supported by the SDK. We freeware developers very much hope a freeware or low-cost modelling option will continue to be supported long-term.
 
ronh

ronh

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A lot of companies also support Blender financially via Blender's Development Fund, so hopefully Blender will be a viable option long into the future. A stable platform would be a good selling point for companies to put their faith in using Blender.
 
Heretic

Heretic

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hairyspin said:
That's not to downplay Blender, but Autodesk pay full-time developers to do that and freeware developers can't devote the time and resources a paid programmer can.
Click to expand...

Blender ist not just developed by a bunch of nerds in basements. In fact, there is an entire foundation behind it to fund core development by means of hired, paid professionals.

en.wikipedia.org

Blender Foundation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

Blender's huge advantage is that anybody can contribute to its source code, patch and compile it at any time for any platform. Improvements to 3ds Max are limited to the yearly release cycle and the odd service pack and is completely constrianed to Windows, excluding a lot of the creative industry that is using MacOS- or even Linux-based systems.

This might not play a role in an exclusive MSFS' ecosystem, but any addon developer considering targeting multiple platforms like MSFS, P3D and X-Plane is better off with Blender as the source file conversion step with the associated loss of information (mesh smoothing, UV maps, animations) can be avoided.

Although things may look very different with MSFS 2020 development in a couple of years, Max is going to be a preferred tool for "big" companies for now because Max is explicitly supported by the SDK. We freeware developers very much hope a freeware or low-cost modelling option will continue to be supported long-term.
Click to expand...

As long as FS20's file format specification is publically available, nothing can stop anybody from creating exporters for any modeling tool out there. This was the case for FSX and that's the reason why there is a Blender plugin for it.
 
Devinci

Devinci

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Blender is almost as good as 3Ds Max and better in some aspect. But I used 3Ds Max for over 10 years so I'm just more used to it.
 
C

Cédrice

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Muha93 said:
Hello all, this is my first post and i hope it is not a stupid one. I am into taking a course in either blender or 3ds max not sure yet i am still looking through it.

I was wondering what big companies like flytampa, fsdreamteam, orbx and so on... use! blender or 3ds max? and why!
Click to expand...
The thread is a little old but I want to give my opinion, In computer graphics companies there are many different sectors advertising, video games ... but I have never heard of Blender from professionals; have often heard 3DsMax, Maya, Cinema4D.
The reason must be after sales service and technical support
 
Vitus

Vitus

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Cédrice said:
but I have never heard of Blender from professionals; have often heard 3DsMax, Maya, Cinema4D.
The reason must be after sales service and technical support
Click to expand...
In that case you haven't been paying attention what went on with the release of Blender 2.8 last year. After Ubisoft become a partner to the Bledner Foundation, their animation studio started using Blender. Microsoft became a partner to develop open source VR solutions with it. The thing is that Blender is still perceived to be a hobbyist tool due to its long open-source history. But with the Blender Foundation that employs a team of developers, funded by a number of big companies, Blender became a professional tool. And imho not only an alternative, but a superior solution to 3dsmax.
 
Devinci

Devinci

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Vitus said:
In that case you haven't been paying attention what went on with the release of Blender 2.8 last year. After Ubisoft become a partner to the Bledner Foundation, their animation studio started using Blender. Microsoft became a partner to develop open source VR solutions with it. The thing is that Blender is still perceived to be a hobbyist tool due to its long open-source history. But with the Blender Foundation that employs a team of developers, funded by a number of big companies, Blender became a professional tool. And imho not only an alternative, but a superior solution to 3dsmax.
Click to expand...
I only started using it yesterday coming from 3ds Max and I'm already confident enough to make complex models. Maybe I need to learn more about spline modeling and UV unwrapping though. Those are a little different.
 
C

Cédrice

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I wish the best for Blender 3d :)
I was not aware that large companies are interested in Blender
Blender has indeed "suffered" from open source status (which is interpreted as not serious for companies)
 
Pyscen

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The Blender Foundation or Blender itself has the backing of the movie industry and has developed effects similar to Pixar (graphics engine). Microsoft and NVidia (Microsoft less than 3 mths ago and NVidia within the last 6 mths now) are both major contributors. Also, Blender has been used in multiple movies (within the past 8 yrs, maybe more). So, in terms of professional use of... well, most likely number in the 200's total. Doesn't even count the number professional freelancers out there.
 
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