Best software for my projects?

[epoclaen]

I've been using 3DS Max v9 for a while now but I'm not overly impressed by the results. I'm looking to do animated short films and clips with anything from simple cartoony characters to fully textured characters with displacement and texture maps. For the record, I'm using:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ CPU
2x 512Mb RAM
WinXP 32bit
Nvidia GEforce 7600 GT GPU

Issues I don't like about 3DS Max:
1. No audio integration into animation
2. Hair is dreadfully sluggish.
3. Biped, skin, & Physique rigging and weighting of vertexes (even with vertex painting) is dreadfully slow and arduous.
4. Cloth and Reactor simulations are horribly resource-intensive and slow.
5. Numerous tools that do very similar things but discovering the tools and their differences is sometimes difficult and confusing.

Now I know most people will suggest trying out the various other 3D animation options (Maya, XSI, Lightwave, Blender3D, etc...) but to be honest, researching all of those (assuming a 1 month period for trial versions of each) could take 4 to 6 months of digging and research. So I'm looking for opinions on what to try before getting into the research and trial part.

I'd like:
1. Audio integration for animation. I've only seen a few lip-sync specific applications but I'd much rather have sound and lip-syncing bundled all in one package. Am I going about the workflow of animation all wrong here? Is this a post-production task rather than one that's typically handled during animation?
2. Faster applications of CPU-heavy processes. I hear that 3DS Max 2008 is faster in general but I'd like to look at other options before possibly trying the upgrade. I read that Maya's Cloth system is very dynamic and accurate but whether that will be the case on my system is questionable. Is it a matter of upgrading my hardware maybe?
3. Tools that don't force me to completely relearn 3D modeling terms and processes. Zbrush is great and I expect to be using it on occasion but the 2.5D pixel environment takes considerable learning to get used to. Last time I tried Maya I found it too hard to find the tools I needed but maybe this has changed since Autodesk bought them out. I don't mind learning a new system but if it's going to be a fight to figure stuff out then it severely hampers my use of the application.
4. A quicker, easier character rigging and controls system. Max has some great features but I found them really time-consuming to use. Rigging a skeleton to a mesh and weighting the vertices shouldn't be rocket science. I mean how hard is it to figure out that if you have a Biped skeleton and you skin it to a mesh that the joints should be weighted like so and bulge like so without the explicit need for Bulge Deformers and Joint Deformers and such? Painting weights in 3DS Max is sluggish and clumsy compared to Zbrush's texture painting and sculpting tools. I'd like something with Zbrush's speed for use in vertex weight painting.

[jlarini]

Hi there!

Did you try Maya ?

Its used by Pixar to do its great movies...

This link is for the Maya Personal Learning Edition 8.5 download.

Autodesk - Autodesk Maya - Autodesk Maya Personal Learning Edition Download

João Luiz

[epoclaen]

As was mentioned, I tried Maya before but found the tools too hard to find. As I recall, it seemed more like a Macintosh UI when I last tried it. This was some 3+ years ago not long before Autodesk bought them out. Has it changed much since then?

Why do you think Maya would be a better software solution for me? I know that their nCloth system is reputed to be faster and more responsive and that it's considered a better solution for digital film production whereas 3DS Max is more for the gaming industry but would it fit the requirements that I'm looking for it to fill?

[jlarini]

Epoclean,

Sorry, I wasn't note your observation about maya and the others...

I just suggested it because what you wrote at the beggining of your first post... I used Maya just a little, so I could not say you if its better than when you used it... I'm just a beginner in 3d projects, so, I was only with good intentions.

I could suggest you Daz Studio too, but I'm not sure it will be the right app, cos I didn't use it very much... (and I don't know if it is in your "etc...")... The great thing is this is FREE...

If you don't know it and if you want to give it a try, well, follow this link...
DAZ Productions - 3D Models, 3D Content, and 3D Software

[]s

Joгo Luiz

[epoclaen]

I appreciate the input, Joro.

Daz Studio is one I considered and tried briefly to work with and I know it's popular among certain circles of 3D artists but I found the lack of dynamic hair, the constant and unavoidable "poke-throughs" of clothing, and the generic look of the models to be too amateurish for my tastes.

Right now I'm looking at MotionBuilder as perhaps becoming my main animation tool and keeping 3DS Max as my modeling tool with support from Zbrush for detail work on displacement maps and still models. This would mean learning only one new application from scratch. The only drawback to this would be what I consider poor Hair and Cloth systems in 3DS Max.

[rasmax]

Hi Epoclaen!
I think that the problem that is not talking software...the problem is your compueter...
The slowness of the tools are caused by the computer...
Usea a Nvidia Quadro, 3GB Ram ...And as the process really is better.
3DsMax ia a Powerfull tool for 3d world....
I work with a maximum and I am very happy, but you know, we should have a good machine

[rasmax]

By the way .... if you can integrate audio

[the eye]

hey, you got a little BUG. i've created animation with sound since 3ds max 5 and now I'm using 3ds max 9and the option to do that is still there. here's a screenshot.....words are pointless.

And by the way, if you try doing animations with hair&cloth with an AMD proc, you would probabily go insane. Go for a dual core or a quad proc at least.