3D Studio Max R4 or Maya?

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1-800-TOASTER

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I´ve used Maya a little, and I think it´s slightly harder to master.
You have used MAX and I don´t think you will have any difficulties adapting to Maya, the tools are pretty much the same but with other fancy names.
I´m not sure if you get smoother viewportanimation in Maya, it´s more demanding when it comes to sys spec´s and therfore my logic tells me that the VP animation would be slower than MAX.
I don´t see why you would like to change to Maya (if thats the case), if you want "better" renderings I suggest you take a look at Mental ray which is a plugin to 3D Studio.
Or...a free program called Brazil (a radiosity program), I´ve tried it and must say that if you spend time and tweak it you can get very nice photorealistic results, downside is that it takes SO MUCH TIME!


I´m in the dark here...