what is easier to learn 3dsmax or O2

[Woodstock21 10]

in all of yours opinion what would be easier, now conider i've never used any 3d software before would be easier to learn in 3dsmax or O2?

[max power 21]

They aren't really analogous. O2 is a tool with modeling capabilities, and Max is a modeling tool. You'll get farther faster with Max in terms of modeling, but even after all is said and done you *still* have to familiarize yourself with o2 to get addons in the game.

From a modeling perspective, I guess I can answer your question this way: Max is more difficult to master but more robust and versatile. I think you would find them about the same to just get into and start modeling. Max will be more rewarding for you a few months down the line.

[Woodstock21 10]

ya i figure that both would be a huge undertaking to fully get the grasps of things, i've tried a couple tutorials just on simply building a wall, and got confused after i think like step 2 in O2 so i was sure. if 3d was gonna be easier or not.

[[frl]myke 15]

Besides O2 and the expensive 3ds max there are also free alternatives around. Blender and Wings 3D are two i can name which are worth a closer look.

Myself, i do modelling in O2 although i must agree with Max Power that probably a lot of things can be done easier with more professional software. But i am at a point where i would probably lose more time by learning another software from scratch than by sticking with O2.

[[aps]gnat 28]

But i am at a point where i would probably lose more time by learning another software from scratch than by sticking with O2.

Ditto.

If I had another need to learn a 3d program outside of ArmA, I would, but as O2 does 95% of what I want to do (for this game), then its just O2 for me until things change.

From my breif plays with Blender and 3DMax, O2 is far simpler, but then again, O2 will never do 10% of what those other programs can do.

As MP said, in the end you still need to learn some of O2 to get your stuff into ArmA.

[STALKERGB 6]

I find that most of the time (as with Gnat and Myke) I only really need O2 for what I need to do, I do use 3DS MAX but alot of it still feels alien to me after using O2 for so long. For example, adding single points for me, seems harder in 3DS MAX than O2 (maybe I'm just useless).

If you know neither, then 3DS MAX could, in the long run be better, as it doesn't just limit you to ARMA for your work (if you ever moved on to Crysis or UNreal for example, it would be more easy to get your MAX Models working).

But yeah, you will need to know your way around O2 if you want to get your models in game, stuff like, defining selections for animations or how to change a texture.

[max power 21]

I find the opposite of the others here. I find O2 to be weird and Max (and Maya, and to a lesser extent XSI) comfortable. This is I think due to familiarity. So, OP, you have a burgeoning gateway before you. Since you're not yet familiar with O2, I would seriously consider taking Blender for a spin. It's powerful and rewarding, but I hear the interface is funky, making it harder for people who are used to more conventional retail software to migrate. Since you don't have that problem, I think that learning Blender will allow you to model quickly and easily and will give you more flexibility than learning O2 alone.

Edited May 12, 2010 by Max Power
I meant OP not OT

[Woodstock21 10]

thank you all for your suggestions and tips there, all very helpful i think im gonna give O2 another crack and see what happens, if its still a no go im gonna try out the blender, then maybe 3dmax, my buddy has a copy so i won't be droppping a ton of cash on it until i tried it out hehe. I guess im just used to creating levels in half-life the first one where your just draw a box and bam you got a box, instead of entering in all these numbers and stuff.

[scubaman3D 0]

The only advice I can offer is DO NOT BECOME DEPENDENT ON O2. :)

I was for over a year and there are very few in the community who can make real high quality models which are on-par with those made in 3D max or the like. Dasquade is a guy who can make incredible models using O2 but he still has to export them for UV mapping.

Even so, you're limited because you can't make truly high poly models for baking in O2 (or at least not easily).

[[frl]myke 15]

@Scubaman3D

Although i agree that with professional tools you surely get things done in a shorter time.

But i have to disagree that with O2 only it isn't possible to create high quality models. At the very end, a 3D model is a set of points and faces and a texture is a pic with XXX * YYY pixels.

O2 can handle points and faces, GIMP can handle pixels. There you go.

This is done with O2 and GIMP only and although it sounds selfish, i'm damn proud of it.

At the beginning of the year i had zero knowledge of modelling and in O2 i couldn't get a simple box textured.

So my advice is, try out all tools you can get and then decide which feels best for you and then stick with this. Even if it's O2. Never ever listen to people who say you can't do top-notch models with O2 (no offence, Scubaman3D). You are yourself your only limit.

[eddyd 0]

I use only O2 for modeling .

You need time do everything to learn and making addons .

3Dmax is good , but some models are to big or to many points and faces for using in arma .

Then you make a new model in O2 that can use for arma.

Im still learning , if i not forget something :)

cya

eddyD

[PuFu 4600]

I use only O2 for modeling .

You need time do everything to learn and making addons .

3Dmax is good , but some models are to big or to many points and faces for using in arma .

Then you make a new model in O2 that can use for arma.

Im still learning , if i not forget something :)

cya

eddyD

It all depends of how you are modelling. Please don't blame a software for the lack of know-how, skills etc

I find any other software easier than O2. Obviously i was used to max before touching o2, but then again, most software work the same, opposed to O2.

Max, Maya, Modo, XSi etc are complete boxes, and you can do a lot much more than with o2. Then again, you will need to understand how O2 works in order to get your models you created in 3rd party programs in the game.

My suggestion: learn what is more familiar to you, the one which you can find the most references for (o2 is not great here), and the software you can afford = no reason to buy max just for A2 modelling. Blender is free

[max power 21]

It also depends on what you want to do. If you want to be a serious artist, Max, Maya, and XSI have similar interfaces. O2s interface is not like anything else. If all you want to do is make models in O2, O2 should be okay. Though, even if you only use the basic modeling tools in one of those programs, making addons will be much quicker and easier in the long run.