Max or Maya? Companies: Let the Artist Decide!

In my career field as a game industry artist, we are constantly learning new software. This could be a very complicated 3D program, such as 3D Studio Max or Maya, 2D programs such as Photoshop and Illustrator, high-poly sculpting programs such as ZBrush, UV programs such as UV Layout, and a host of utilities such as TopoGun or 3D Coat and Crazybump. This doesn't even begin to cover all the learning needed to master a particular game engine, such as the Unreal Development Kit, Unity, iPhone development tools, etc.

Learning a 3D modeling software package takes years to master. Eventually, artists get fast enough where the 3D package is 'transparent' and they can create quickly and efficiently without having to 'think' about how to model, or where to click to make a box or delete a face. Time spent modeling in one package guarantees that artists build up a great hotkey list/mouse functions which they memorize and build muscle memory for, they develop, download or pay good money for custom scripts and plugins and hone their 3D tool to work ideally for their modeling style.

Then, some company says, 'Sorry, we don't use *your software*, we use *a different 3D modeling tool*' this basically flushes all that skill and expertise down the drain because of the idea that 'all 3D programs produce the same end result'.

This is like telling Pete Sampras, the tennis star, which racquet he can use even though he won his titles using his preferred racquets. It's like recruiting David Beckham, the soccer star, for your team and then trying to tell him how to kick. It's like hiring a skilled and experienced craftsperson with a great portfolio to build your custom furniture, and then telling him what tools to use. And finally, all cars go from point A to point B, and even though their interfaces are much simpler than a 3D modeling package, we often have strong preference for some cars over others.

With 3D programs, artists can spend years using a particular software tool and still not know all the functions. Switching 3D tools on one's own would be incredibly foolish, as there's no payoff for the investment assuming you can do what's needed in either package. Really, it's a matter of time investment and getting comfortable with the tools you've chosen.

The reality is, models don't care how they got made, and it's easy to deliver them in the correct way for a particular use or game engine using OBJ or FBX formats. So, an artist who is an expert in Modo, Lightwave, Max, Maya, Softimage, etc. can bang out a model using his preferred software and everything ends up the same, except you have a faster, more-skilled and happier artist using the tools he or she has developed expertise in with great time and expense invested.

Furthermore, there's little benefit to the artist to use what a company uses if the 3D tool is not his/her preferred tool, because he or she has already made his/her choice at home. The expertise gained at home can only efficiently benefit a company if the artist gets to choose his/her own tools. This also means that if every company can dictate the modeling package used, the artist is forever switching back and forth and unnecessarily diluting his expertise in one package. In my view, this is callously disrespectful toward the artist who is the one who has to keep switching, and for poor reasons.

The reason most companies choose one software over another has less to do with what is 'better' than reasons unrelated to creating the best art or hiring the best artists. Often the preference is due to the cost of software licenses, a preference of one person (the Art Director), or an engineer may know how to write needed plugins for Max or Maya, and then the artists get forced into one 3D package as a result. If financial objections will cause a company to choose one 3D package over another, how do they expect the individual artist looking for a job to maintain both Maya and Max simply because a company in the future may prefer it, when the artist will clearly have his/her own preference? It's trivial to convert models from Max to Maya or vice-versa, but switching modeling packages with every new company is non-trivial.

The solution is simple, really. Companies should buy a few floating network licenses for the modeling package that isn't the company preferred tool and allow the *experts* to model how they like. The artist bears the responsibility of getting his/her models into the correct format/spec for delivery, a task most would happily undertake to use their preferred 3D tool. Why would a company take a known quantity, X work quality with X workflow, and then ask the artist to change it to Y workflow? Again, the artist should pick the tools, and nobody else.

This practice would also effectively expand a candidate pool, because companies won't be advertising 'Max only' or 'Maya only' and warding off artists who prefer the tool they didn't choose. Smart companies will ask for either Max *or* Maya skill, and make licenses available for both.

Thankfully, more companies these days finally get it, and are asking for Max or Maya artists, something I figured out back in 2005 when I was forced to use Maya for modeling and hated it the more I used it. This motivated me to find a way to work in Max and figure out ways to convert Max models to Maya while preserving quad geometry (easy now, but not as obvious back then). There is a *reason* we artists choose our tools we use at home, and the more of an expert someone is, the more they've developed a specific and honed workflow which gets great results, and the less they want other people mucking around with it for poor reasons.

These software programs cost upwards of $3500 each, not including subscription, plugin or other costs. It would be extremely silly for legitimate owners of these software packages to buy both Max and Maya to learn both, just in case a company wants us to use whatever they prefer. As a legitimate Max user myself, I bought Max back in 1995 for $2000, spent thousands to maintain my subscription and learned Max before Maya was even available. When someone wants to try and force me to use Maya, I tend not to take it well anymore than they would want me to tell them what car to drive to work.

Perhaps it's best not to watch how sausage (or models) are being made. ;)

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