Table of Contents
- Autodesk Maya Review – The Best 3D modeling Software
- Features of Maya
- Benefits of Maya
- Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Maya
- Price
- User Interface
- Tools
- Rendering Engines
- Support
- What Do the Customers Think?
- Best 3D Modeling Software
- Blender Review – Best 3D computer Graphic Software
- Features of Blender
- Benefits of Blender
- Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Blender
- Price
- Interface
- Tools
- Rendering Engines
- Support
- What Do the Customers Think?
- Best 3D computer Graphic Software
- Maya vs Blender – Buyers’ Guide
- Price
- User Environment
- Tools
- Rendering Engines
- Support
- Final Verdict
With the increased popularity of animation-based learning, we highly recommend you incorporate illustrations and other visual aids to improve the quality of your online course.
Maya and Blender are our top two picks. They offer a variety of software tools to help you create visual effects, motion graphics, and more.
However, it may be confusing to choose the best software due to their similar tools and functions.
Therefore, our team has compiled an in-depth comparison of Maya and Blender to help you decide which animation software is the most suitable for you.
| Features | Maya | Blender |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Maya retails at $215/month. However, you also have the option to pay $1700 annually. | Blender is open-source software, free for commercial and non-commercial use. |
| Interface | Steep learning curve | User-friendly |
| Tools | Includes more tools for rendering, rigging, animation, exporting, etc | Blender has revamped its 3D toolset but is still not up to par with Maya |
| Rendering engines | Arnold Renderer | Cycles and Eevee |
| Support | Excellent community support | Blender is one of the most accessible animation software in terms of customer support |
If you want to learn about Maya and Blender, look no further. This guide will give you a complete breakdown of the two software, features, pros, and cons.
Autodesk Maya Review – The Best 3D modeling Software
Maya is the industry standard in 3D animation, video editing, and real-time modeling. It was developed by Alias Systems Corporation and is under the supervision of the Auto Desk.
If you want to include digital art and visual effects in your online lectures, you might want to consider Maya. This will help with better engagement in your online course.
Features of Maya
- Offers stimulation tools to create realistic animations
- Cached playback to work with heavy-duty graphics
- Motion-capture handling
- Fast playback time and graph editor
- Pipeline integration
- Polygon modeling
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Advanced rendering • Complete 3D package • Free-form approach • Can add plug-ins and add ons • Ready to use samples | • Expensive • Compatibility issues |
Benefits of Maya
Maya provides a comprehensive suite of animation tools to help you create visuals for your online course.
You can use it to create 3D models for your lectures as well as animate them for better engagement.
For a more interactive experience for your audience, you can add realistic dynamic effects to your online course. We found that it is extremely easy to simulate collisions and other types of object interactions through Maya.
For example, the nCloth tool allows you to work with deformable materials. Additionally, there were also options to simulate liquids.
Not only this, but it also allows you to create animated films through special effects features.
If you want to animate something that involves text or create logos, the 3D type tool can easily do the job.
If your online course includes interior design and architectural visualization, you can use Maya to model your designs. It contains a comprehensive library to help you create detailed poly meshes.
Moreover, we found Maya to have an accelerated modeling workflow and scene assembly built into it. It can be used to maximize productivity and help streamline your design experience.
Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Maya
Price
Maya is quite expensive. It costs $215 per month or $1700 annually. You also have the option to pay $4590 every three years.
If you are a student or an educator you can use Maya for free if you create an AutoDesk account.
On the downside, you cannot use this free software option in commercial contexts.
You can also opt for a one-month free trial if you are unsure if this is the right program for you.
User Interface
If you are new to 3D animations, you might find Maya to be overwhelming due to its complex animation tools.
When we tested out the application, Maya provided a steep learning curve. Most menus consisted of submenus that were difficult for us to understand as beginners.
However, it does provide a variety of online tutorials and courses to help you get familiar with the app.
Tools
Autodesk Maya has a robust selection of tools. It has recently updated its toolkit for modeling, exporting, rigging, development, and animation.
We compiled a list of the most worthy modeling tools:
- Transform tool
- Move tool
- Rotate tool
- Insert Edge Loop tool
- Quad draw
- Sculpting tool
- Create polygon tool
Moreover, if you decide to go for Maya, you can purchase additional extensions and add ons.
For example, Zbrush, Ziva plugin, and Bitforst are great to add details to your designs. This will also help you to create detailed simulations for your online lectures.
You can get some of these extensions free of charge.
Rendering Engines
If you want to create photorealistic images from 3D and 2D models, Arnold is one of the most popular rendering engines. It was built by an organization called Solid Angle and later purchased by AutoDesk.
Maya also supports other renders including V-Ray and Octane render.
When it came to rendering animation, Maya proved to be dull and time-consuming.
We ran into many glitches and had to constantly make sure everything was set up or the scene would render incorrectly.
However, it did allow for easy color management. This is important as it will help you to create realistic animations to incorporate into your online course.
Support
Maya has excellent community support. They offer online tutorials, references, troubleshooting articles, and training videos for your ease.
If you are unsure about the product, you can contact their experts and get free advice on whether Maya is the right fit for you.
They also hold regular webinars to address your problems.
What Do the Customers Think?
During our research, we found that customers were extremely pleased with the tools provided by Maya. It has a collective 4.5 out of 5-star rating on www.g2.com
They were most satisfied by its modeling toolkit that contains tools suitable to create everything from feature films to game development. Many animators raved about its easy-to-use features like constraints, motion trails, and attribute editors.
They were also impressed by its rendering software integrations that allowed them to work in one program by adopting their workflow into the render solution of their client.
Best 3D Modeling Software
The best 3D modeling software is Maya because it allows you to model, rig, animate, and simulate all in one program. Furthermore, it has features like auto-rigging and the hypershade tool to speed up the creation process.
Blender Review – Best 3D computer Graphic Software
If you want to create visual effects, 3D models, and animated films Blender is just the thing you need.
It is a 3D creation suite that supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline. It includes modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, composition, and motion tracking.
Blender was released in 2002 by a non-profit group called the Blender Foundation.
Initially, it had a rocky start. But due to its recent updates, Blender now includes industry-standard tools for video editing, animation, and 3D modeling.
Features of Blender
- Spreadsheet editor for geometric nodes
- High-quality renders
- Digital sculpting tools
- Customizable shortcuts
- Face sets to control visibility
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| • Open-source software • Allows you to edit in multiple frames at the same time • Accepts formats such as TGA, JPG, etc • Live preview • Unified pipeline • Add ons | • Slow AMD processor • Doesn’t provide control media exportation |
Benefits of Blender
It has a built-in path tracer engine that will allow you to achieve ultra-realistic rendering. You can use this feature to incorporate photorealistic and non-photorealistic images into your online course.
When we tested out the software we also found that Blender offers a Python API. It can be used to customize the colors, fonts, and layouts of the application to make it more user-friendly.
You can use Blender to create animated video lectures for your course. It can import raw footage, track the footage, and view 3D camera movements.
Moreover, it has a built-in video sequence editor. You can use it for basic actions like video cuts and splicing, as well as color grading and masking for animated videos.
Its audio mixing feature is useful to improve the sound quality of your video lectures through waveform visualization and syncing.
One of the most notable features we found about Blender is its Edit mode. You can turn it on by using the mode selector on the top left corner of the screen.
The great thing about edit mode is that it keeps the geometry of a chosen object the only thing selectable. This saves the frustration of accidentally selecting the lines and vertices of other objects in your design. It is useful when you work on complex projects.
In addition to this, it requires very little memory to operate. Blender is available for many operating systems including Linux, Windows, and Mac Os.
Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Blender
Price
Since Blender is open-source software under the GNU general public license.
It has no price tag.
Therefore, we strongly recommend that you give Blender a try if you want a pocket-friendly option for 3D animation.
Interface
We found Blender to have a more intuitive interface. It was built cleaner and the interface was consistent across various platforms.
The division of the two core areas of the status bar and top bar made it extremely easy to operate.
Moreover, the keyboard shortcuts sped up our 3D modeling process.
Tools
When we compare Blender vs Maya, Blender falls behind in this category. But, it has recently updated its 3D designing tools.
For example, the Grease Pencil tool.
It is valuable to artists as it allows you to draw traditional 2D animation and motion graphics. This feature is absent in Maya.
Rendering Engines
Blender has built-in renders called Cycles and Eevee. It has multi-GPU support suited for NVIDIA CUDA and AMD OpenCL rendering.
When we used this feature, Blender was much simpler. The render setting menu was easy to navigate and we were able to create Hollywood-level graphics, effects, and films.
Support
Blender has extremely strong community support.
It has an active YouTube channel, free tutorials, and live Q&A sessions.
You can download demo files from their website to get experience. In addition to this, Blender has its own social network, chat rooms, active communities on Reddit, and much more.
Blender wins this over Maya since it provides more support and valuable documents at the cost of zero dollars.
What Do the Customers Think?
After we read through customer reviews, we found no shortage of praises for Blender. Many people prefer Blender due to its unlimited functions when it comes to animation, game design, and development.
Customers were extremely satisfied by its toolkit for 3D modeling, UV texturing, and sculpting. They also appreciated its extra features like video editing.
Another fan favorite was Blender’s user interface. Customers found it to be extremely convenient, lightweight, and fast.
It also has minimum hardware requirements, which was a big plus for many independent graphic designers.
Best 3D computer Graphic Software
The best 3D computer graphic software is Blender. It is open-source software that comes with a complete and advanced toolkit for animation, modeling, and design. It supports plug-ins, extensions, and other post-production tools under one roof. Moreover, Blender’s constant updates keep it up to par with other software.
Graphics can be a powerful tool in your online course. When used appropriately they not only add aesthetic appeal to your course but also enhance your written content.
We urge you to consider Procreate, Adobe Photoshop, and Affinity Designer to add illustrations to your online course.
Maya vs Blender – Buyers’ Guide
Price
If you want to buy 3D graphics software, the first thing you should consider is the price.
If you are an online course creator who is new to 3D modeling and visual effects, we realize you won’t have a big enough budget.
That’s why we recommend you choose a graphic designer app that is completely free or under $90.
User Environment
A user-friendly interface is crucial when you work with 3D applications. This allows you to easily navigate tools and work without interference.
Therefore, it’s a good idea to do your research and choose software that is easy to understand without clunky features.
Tools
When it comes to app design, you must choose the one with a wide array of tools.
This way you will be able to satisfy all your creativity needs within one app.
Rendering Engines
You can add photorealistic images to your online course for better engagement.
That’s why it’s a good idea to choose an application with rendering engines that are not tedious or time-consuming.
The engines should have menus that are easy to navigate with lots of keyboard shortcuts so you can work without any complications.
Support
It’s important to choose a program with a strong support community so all your problems are quickly addressed.
To identify software with an active support community, you need to look out for several criteria:
- Are there customers in the chat rooms and forums?
- Do the discussions revolve around real projects?
- How relevant are the discussions?
- Is the community involved in productive actions?
- How many tutorials are available and how many people are searching for those tutorials every month?
- Does the community care about the values of the organization?
While creating and selling online courses can be very profitable, it’s not easy. Take a look at our guide to help you go through each step.
Final Verdict
The debate between Maya vs Blender is never-ending. Maya is an industry standard in animation and rigging while Blender takes the cake in modeling, texturing, and rendering.
They are equally capable of creating high-quality animation and 3D models.
However, the right program for you will depend on your needs, your experience with 3D modeling, your target group, and your budget.
We would recommend Blender if you are a novice and cannot afford an option like Maya. It is practical and intuitive with equally competitive features.
However, if you want to work in a big studio with a larger production, Maya may be a more suitable option for you.