How to use Maya as a 3DS Max User: Part 1 (Getting Comfortable)

Real tips and advice for learning Maya for the 3DSMax user. No BS, just straight how to do even the simplest things. *UPDATE* Parts 2, 3, 4, 5 are now up! Links below.

- How to navigate Maya's UI as 3DS Max user
- Critical Hotkeys for comfort
- Exporting .obj file from Maya
- Backface Culling Display

[arinarici]

thank you, as a 12 years of max user this helped lot

[ericssonsantos]

This video is absolutely the best any person can find on the internet. No BS at all, straight to the point. Dude, you are amazing for doing this. Thank you so much!

[kleinluka]

Long-time Max user, just had to switch to Maya for a new job (which I haven't used since 2008) and this has been a life saver. Thank you so much!

[Hatsune-Mecha]

yo i know this video is hella old, but it still holds up in 2021. i'm a recent game art grad that was taught on 3ds max but like. 90% of studios want maya experience. so i appreciate this greatly bro

[UnknownRealityMusic]

Thank god. So many of these beat around the bush like your a newbie to 3D, and it drags. Thanks so much!

[JamesMorford]

This video is a live-saver, couldn't find any other comparable tutorials to aid max users to transition to maya. Thanks!

[Cenelder]

LOL the mad dog mcree reference.
Thanks for making this man. I guess my days of modeling things super fast/efficiently/accurate in 3ds max are over. My new job uses Maya. I'm waiting for my wife to leave the room so i can cry.

[chhsia]

This is insanely useful, switching to maya burns me up at the first. Thank you.

[furiousdemon]

*Somebody could theoretically learn 3DS Max from this tutorial, good job, you legend :)*

[carlososa]

Hey man, this is exactly what I was looking for. Had to switch to Maya due to new job after good few years of using Max. I thought it is gonna be pain but after 5 weeks now I already feel like it is second nature. I am already showing people at work some neat tricks I took from Max. Maya feels smoother and more user friendly, there is a lot to say in this topic though. I gotta put all my shortcuts and scripts in one place and would like to share it as a way to say thank you! Cheers man

[FavTheMighty]

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge :) I used bits of Maya many years ago in university but could'nt warm up to it and stayed with 3ds Max. I'm changing to a job which requires Maya now, too. With those keybinds, the start is already much easier, thanks!

[DarkoSubotin]

The amount I swear while trying to do things that come naturally to me in Max is probably going to get me in hell. I just find it so frustrating to switch. It just feels like I have to make 10x more steps to get to the same result as in Max. I have been putting it off for years, but I must learn it as I am teaching at a university, and we have a policy to not enforce a certain software, so some students like working in Maya and it gets complicated sometimes. This was a great video to get me started.

[skoolsyou]

Ty Maniakra, this was a godsend. Much love.

[tkkstar]

It would be nice to see a video on using orthographic cameras and troubleshooting them. That is one of the things I always have trouble with being a Max guy myself. Great video by the way!

[EminorReal]

Hey man thanks for this, really useful. I recently updated to the latest 3ds max and I cannot express the state of it, I was on 2016 for the longest time and had no idea how buggy and broken the change was going to be. I'm then trying to get into Maya cos if I have to spend hours figuring out how to work around a bug or poor design choice I might as well learn another program/workflow and make good use of that time.
I thought I'd get into CInema4D or Blender, but ultimately it always comes down to 3ds max or Maya when looking for quality work, the rest is either limited or specialized. Also, I guess it's useful to have hands-on skills with both since they keep "ping-ponging" as the most used in the industry to and from gaming, architecture, movies, etc.

[Maxdesignd]

the alt+w help me a lot. i need something like this video, but based in animation.

[kimmysander]

I would suggest using F9 f10 and f11 to replace 1 2 and 3, those are the maya defaults.
F1 is very handy by default both in 3Ds max Maya for the help and documentation.

[ubernoob]

Been using Max since version 1 and wanted to start diving in to Maya after all these years.This was a great help! What tool do you use to edit the axis.This is something I use plugins for inside of max.

[TG-nnjq]

Hey there! Amazing video, it's been super helpful! One question for you: at 2:04 you create an object by clicking and dragging (like in 3DS), however, my install has the object being created at the center of the viewport with default size options. I did not see any documentation surrounding this, could you let me know how you switched this behavior? (If you mentioned this in a later video, I'm sorry, I am only about 1/2 way though your 2nd tutorial in this series.

[mae]

badass video.. question.. is there a max navigation inside maya.? I think max navigation is the most comfotable for me.. I have the max navigation in mostly other software...