[Archived - Darkideas] Returning to meshing/IMVU: Blender vs 3dS Max?

Posted by “Darkideas” on September 12, 2022.

Thanks, everyone, most appreciated.

DI

Posted by “LestatDeLioncourt” on September 11, 2022.

Sounds all like a good plan and great input from all. I has assumed you were on newer Max. Yes the cost and compatibility would not be worth the sacrifices.

Posted by “Darkideas” on September 11, 2022.

I was leaning towards this and you've helped me make up my mind. Many thanks for the response. I have a number of meshes in Max 2012 unfinished which I might move across and experiment with.

Many Thanks

DI

Posted by “jazzKat” on September 11, 2022.

2012 is too long in the tooth these days especially as Creators need to be moving across to IMVU Studio and FBX files - IIRC 2017 is the last properly supported version. So yes, unless you need Max for some other work it might be better to switch to Blender.

Posted by “Darkideas” on September 11, 2022.

Hi @jazzKat​ 

Many thanks for your answer.

I still own a 2012 3DS Max from when I was deving, a legal version, still activated and working. I don't plan to buy a newer version.

I haven't been meshing since probably 2014 so I am pretty rusty and I worked with Blender a few weeks (helping my daughter) ago which kicked all this off. I found it a powerful program and I see the IMVU Blender plugin is good.

I'm thinking about the future, will IMVU continue to support Max 2012 or would it be better to bite the bullet now and swap to Blender?

Watching IMVU Tutorial atm, it's come back.

Cheers

DI

Posted by “jazzKat” on September 11, 2022.

If you already own 3DS Max, depending on the version, you're best sticking to that with the below caveats;

• You can't dispense with the 'cost' equation without implying tacitly people pirate so the only viable solution to those not already paying for Max is to use Blender.
• Notwithstanding proprietary issues, the toolkit team is working hard to make sure it functions almost exactly the same way in supported software - same menus, same buttons (as much as possible) same functionality.
• see answer '1' above.

Blender can work with MoCap, the biggest issue being to make sure to set the correct 'root' bone of the incoming file because they don't always have an IMVU compatible reference, which breaks the sequence.

Posted by “Darkideas” on September 11, 2022.

Hi @LestatDeLioncourt​ 

This is really helpful and I'm pretty rusty with Max though I'm sure it wouldn't take long to get back to it. I see how active the Blender community is which is good.

I think the main questions for me are:

• If you were a new mesher which would you go for (cost aside)?
• Which toolkit offers more options/control?
• If you were planning on working on character animation which offers the best options?

Any advice and thoughts would be much appreciated.

DI

Posted by “LestatDeLioncourt” on September 10, 2022.

This link from the Creator Education Center may help, too.

https://create.imvu.com/articles/studio/using-imvu-studio-toolkit-for-3ds-max/

Posted by “LestatDeLioncourt” on September 10, 2022.

Hey @Darkideas​ Welcome back!

There is much more support for Blender for new meshers. Since you are already familiar with 3ds, I would go forward with the Max. There are new tools available for 3ds Max and some tutorials on how to use them.

I do know when someone gets "stuck" using 3ds Max, it may take longer for someone to respond BUT, I think you have the skill and intelligence to go forward with familiar ground :)

Just my opinion...