Maya or Cinema 4D?

Which 3D tools is recommend with Unity3D? Maya or Cinema 4D?? thanks.

 

Whichever you want to use, so long as it can export to a usable format such as FBX. That's pretty much all of them on the market, including free software such as Blender

Out of those two, I would suggest Maya simply because Cinema 4d doesn't look like it has much of a focus on polygonal modeling. I find Maya to be a real dinosaur, personally, so just try out some trials of each and decide for yourself. They're not cheap, so don't let anybody else decide for you. My preference is Modo for polygon and subd modeling, Zbrush for sculpting, and Softimage/XSI for animation. Each of those was designed specifically for those tasks.

 

Thanks very much!

We will consider to buy Maya with Unity3D. I have tried Blender but the UI is not easy to control and not much support...

Thanks again.

Regards,
Simon

 

And about FBX this is developed by Autodesk, then you will have melscript commands to control or setup the FBX plugins without opening the FBX window.

 

You can try Maya for free, I'd recommend trying it for the 30 day trial period and see how you get on. I didn't like Maya when I was looking for a modeler on the mac and went back to windows and 3ds max. The benefit of a big package is that they do absolutely everything. Picking the right one for you comes down to personaly preference. Different artists are more comfortable with different tools and UI's and can be more productive in one over another even though both programs do essentially the same thing. Just like Acrylics v's Oil paints in traditional art.

 

Try Lightwave !!

 

I think if you start 3d, 3dsmax could be easier yes...
Maya is maybe a little bit more technical, I agree.

 

Lightwave support seems sketchy at best, I would recommend sticking with whatever has robust FBX support.

 

Modo

 

IF you start go for Cinema 4D. Getting into Max or Maya .... both are difficult to get into. Yes - Maya even more so. Yet of all the professional programs I've used Cinema4D was the easiest to comprehend.

I don't know whether the animations in the most recent version (still usin R11) import into unity. But other than that - for everything else it works very well.

 

Agreed 100%. I started using Blender few years ago and then switched (not completely I still use both) to C4D. The best choice of my 3D life

 

The good thing is - after having understood Cinema4D you can even apply all thos techniques to any other major package. Some terms are called differently but you'll understand what everything basically means and does.
And with Cinema 4D you can really get pretty far. So don't think it's just a stepstone to a "professional" package. Cinema is professional. It's just got it's advanteages and disadvantages like any software out there. The perfect software for most people simply does not exist.

 

3dmax the easiest, but least reliable, if not sorry for the time and nerves - something with him on it most of the initial lessons learned and all supports

Lightvawe3d a long time to learn hotkeys, and user interface is not complicated with complex animation

Softimage\XSI - super, but too weird crashes (often simply by opening the menu, right-click or use the facets, and other small...) a lot of hidden bugs and flaws, has not yet learned to properly display and render Normal maps, and rendering - the most difficult on the interface only supports square textures, a few good lessons

Cinema4d super package, but it still must grow, the complexity of bones - they are there just not all the animation is done on a different principle, a completely different principle of modeling, super powerful rendering (I renders 1-1.5 meters in 300 dpi with GI FG AA2x on a computer for 3 h) a lot of lessons the average level

Blender - like began to flourish, there are many lessons

Maya - a copy of xsi just a little bit different, something better something worse, but learned more particularly in the middle and professional levels, including the complex effects and animation

I'm used now - Maya PhotoshopCs3+NMnvidia filters ngo + UVLayout, its all. older C4d

Sorry my English, thanks google translate 8)

 

Being a longtime C4D user (14 years) I suggest to go with Maya at this point. Maxon doesn't seem to understand the importance of FBX or proper Modeling/UV Tools. To a game artist/animator these are very essential components that Maxon has neglected over the years. They obviously don't think it's important enough to keep these essential things updated and their development team is still too small to keep up with the demands of the user base.

Go with something that is reliable. Cinema 4D is not one of them. You never know in which direction Maxon is taking it.


Thomas P.

 

Thanks Thomas for your valuable suggestion...

 

Seriously - try it out for yourself. Download the demos and try it out for yourself.
That's the best thing you can do.

People can always try and tell you what they think is best and works best for them right now.
I've been using Cinema 4D for 6 years now and have gone through hating, loving, hating and loving it again.
I've tried to wrap my head around using blender for years and in the end it became my favorite modeler. Now they've changed the UI and I don't have the time to get to the speed I was used to.
I've tried to learn Maya .... more than once. To this day I never really did because you need time. You need really good teaching material and time because Maya has grown insanely complex. It will pretty sure still be one of the two leading software packs for games and movies for at least a few more years to come (right now there does not seem to be one really potential rival ahead). Max is the other. With those two you'll probably get the best compatibility.
Max is a little easier to get into. Still: both are software I'd suggest using if you have someone to tell you what to do if you're stuck or whom you can watch creating things and doing his tricks.

Cinema 4D still is the easiest. I can confirm Thomas' statement that Maxon often are a little "jumpy". They've now changed the whole system "under the hood". Cinema's modeling tools are on the slower side for me. You can definately get them to work and do what you want but there are others that showed that a more streamlined effort for the modeler can get you up and running waaay faster. It's all a matter of preference, though - and how much you are willing to learn shortcuts and how much youmlike the philosophy.

I've written lots of posts preaching how Cinema simply has a different approach that you either like or hate: mostly everything is created to be pretty visual so that you 'know' what you connect with another thing. It's a little difficult to explain. It's simply a lot of drag and drop. But you get used to it. On the other hand that makes it a little unflexible at times. Some 'deeper' tech isn't as accessible if it didn't fit in the "drag and drop" scheme. But mostly everything is there.
There might be problems with animation still - I don't know unfortunately. Some say they have problems with the animation system and getting that to export. I'm stuck on R11, for the time being. So I can't comment on anything more.

Yet all I'm trying to say is: look for yourself. You can get loads of positive or negative responses on forums. But search through other forums and you'll always read the same thing: Everybody will tell you that the program he/she is usin is the best because it fits into HIS/HER workflow.
Try it out.

 

Dear MotionBlur,

Agreed! So I have downloaded Maya for try it out... The UI of Maya seems easy to control and understand. I think one of the reason to learn Maya because I can found more course and book to learning this tools in our city..

Thanks!

 

Btw, it seems that the latest update to the C4D R12 has finally fixed the fbx export problems but I haven't been able to confirm that.

Check out this thread.

and it does seem to show on this updates list @ Maxon.

(I'm currently using C4D R11.5 and am having problems importing with textures into Unity - though I am a new-B)

 

Importing textures never was a problem with Cinema.
The main problems were 2 UVSets for external lightmapping and Joint/Animation export.

R11.5 fixed a lot of these problems apparently but I can't comment on it any more since I'm still on R11 unfortunately.

 

C4D is now solid. Complex objects such as a multi part skinned set of eight tentacles with 17k polys each with head, jaws texture maps and 8 x 17 joints took about ten seconds to process and come into Unity. C4D 12.028. Someone said poly tools are not up to snuff. I disagree. There has never been anything I could not build and I can rapidly prototype in it. The community is much like Unity in that there are many showing off their chops and giving away awesome plugins that they would charge out the wazoo for in Max or Maya. The animation rigging for characters may actually be more advanced than Maya with less..much less scripting involved. Some of Maxons beta testers are now into Unity and have been kicking HQ to fix things..hence 12.028 and its correct FBX export.


HTH
BTH

 

So but as I remember a lot of C4D features are useless for Unity, right? Something like animation build with Mocca/MoGraph? I wish I could use Cinema for Unity, because it's so easy and Maya is soo... big. But as I remember a lot of things couldn't be done in C4D (for Unity).

Please correct me, if it is working right now!

 

That's great news regarding C4D R12.

I love it. It gets better the further along I go.

I've decided to concentrate on learning C4D and give Unity a little break - as doing them both detracted from my focus.

Can't wait to get back into Unity with my new tools unleashed

 

Between Maya and Cinema 4D you should definitely pick Maya. C4D is nice but their focus is not on games whatsoever - it is simply not a "game-centric" software package. It may be easier to learn initially, but that is not what you need if you are going to create art for games. Game art is a painstaking process and you need software that allows you to have control at a very detailed level. C4D does have many unique and interesting features (like mograph for example) but most do not transfer to Unity.

There are good reasons why the *vast* majority of game studios rely on Max and Maya (and XSI to a lesser extent), while almost none choose C4D. This is not a shot at Maxon, games are just not their target market. I think they've made this pretty clear by the features they have added over the last few years - Renderman support, 2.5d matte painting, and revamped radiosity rendering - while they've added nothing that helps with game production.

And do you really want to throw in with a package that can barely muster the resources to do proper FBX exports? I mean, if that feature breaks (again), what will you do? Autodesk has a vested interest in FBX, so the chances of it breaking in their products are nil.

BTW, if you're on Windows, just get 3DS Max. It's got its issues (they all do) but it's the most complete all-around package there is for games.

Kevin

 

I am doing quite fine making games and building meshes in C4D and importing them, animation and all. I have precision control over any rig I build and can easily build rigs like a specialized IK KataRig using tags with full sets of User data sliders with limits for each control on the rig. I just set the User data sliders to the desired keyframe and bake and the whole shebang comes right into Unity in seconds. don't know where you are getting your information from but it not correct. One of their beta testers who specializes in animation and advanced rigging was over here and put a bug up Maxon along with PerAnders, one of their most brilliant and knowledgable programmers and a former community plugin writer as well has taken an interest in Unity.

The brush off on its rendering capabilities was hasty as well. You cannot think of a use for projection painting of backdrops for your games? The ability to easily mix scenery, choose a camera angle to project it and paint it right into the scene..multichannel rendered? I and Weta, ILM and I am sure EA and a few other use it in this capacity. Bodypaint 3D rocks for painting up your models. It is part of the core. Both Maya and Max pipelines tend to have Bodypaint and hence C4D in the pipe for texturing.

BTW.. I have yet to crash C4D R12.028.. I crashed C4D R11 about four times in a year with external plugins. I use this daily for eight plus hours for the most part. So they all do not necessarily "have issues".

Best Regards
BTH

 

Could someone tell me if C4D R12 animationworkflow works now fine with the new Unity-Plugin (beta), please?

Which animations I build in C4D I can export/transfer to Unity and which doesn't work?

 

No one can help?

 

BTH,

I have used and taught Cinema 4D for many years and am well versed in all of its capabilities. I even have videos up on CIneversity I completed many successful projects with it. You are right that C4D is stable, but for game creation that it about the only thing it has going over the other packages.

Please note that I did not say CInema4D was a bad piece of software, or that is was unusable for games. It is very good at some things (love the rendering!). What I said is that FOR GAMES it is a much weaker software package than Max or Maya. All my students were grumpy when I started switching them from Cinema to Max, but after 6 months of real game production work, not a one of them would go back to it for game art production. They still fire it up at times for rendering projects, though.

Where C4D really falls down are weak render-to-texture tools, weak UV tools, a poly reduction tool that does not maintain UVs, poly modeling tools that are nowhere near those of Max, inability to handle multiple UV maps, lack of stack/history, and unreliable FBX support. This is not even a complete list.

Sorry, I don't see the value of projection painting for games, but if you do a tutorial on how it would apply please send me a link. Bodypaint is OK but when was the last time they added any significant features? Same with poly modeling tools, which have been absolutely left to languish. These are features that are important to game artists, but Maxon is putting no effort into them *at all* because they obviously have other priorities. BTW, why does it matter that Weta and ILM are using it? I thought we were talking about game art.

I'm glad C4D works for you, but when it comes to game art it is simply not in the same league as Autodesk's products. As far as I know, not one major game developer has ever used it as their primary production tool on a major title. That, to me, says a lot.

Best,

Kevin

 

C4D support for unity is just incredible. Specially if you are doing low poly style game design. Model easily, add material, save C4D file ( No need of FBX ) , import c4d file into Unity, thats it, you can tweak model directly from Unity to C4D.

 

Fist of all - necro post from 6 (!!!) years ago, is that really neccesary?

Second:

Every 3D package supports the native format like that. All that Unity does is run the command line to convert to FBX in the background.
As soon as you give a .c4d file to someone who doesn't have Cinema installed they cannot load the model. Just like you cannot load a 3DS Max file if you haven't got Max installed.
It's a cool workflow if you are using it while bein in the concepting phase of your model but ultimately you need to convert to FBX or obj.

I think in the meantime C4D supports an FBX version late enough to export hard edges. That is important.
But I don't know if Cinema's normal format is still the same as Unity's after 5.x changed to MikkT Space.
Also it should export 2 UVs now.

Otherwise - yes. Cinema is suiatble for realtime modeling like any other software as well.