Maya VS. Cinema 4D VS. Houdini?

Question

I am a Blender animator at the moment and have messed with Maya a bit. I have seen some good things come out of Cinema4D, Houdini, and Maya. I am a individual animator that wants to make short animations. I may do some motion tracking effects in the future and I don't care about about the price. I know Maya is like Blender because it is Python based and it is also used by Pixar animation. Cinema4D is used for a lot of visual effects and a few animations including the rendering of Serenity in the movie Serenity from the TV show Firefly. I also appears mostly on TV and most famously the NFL/ESPN. As for Houdini, that is used by Dreamworks and is used for major SFX. I have seen amazing things from all three. If you haven't go check out the galleries and demo reels on there sites first before telling me one is better.
Maya: http://www.autodesk.com/products/autodesk-maya/overview
Cinema4D: http://www.maxon.net/
Houdini: http://www.sidefx.com/
So putting my current skills aside, what do you (experienced animators) use and recommend. I want to be convinced that one is the best. Now note that I don't care about price either because I just want to work with the free versions for now until I feel I should buy them. I want this answer to be useful to new indie animators like me in the future. I don't care about your opinion on my ambition for professional software, I just want a solid comparison.

Obvious stuff: :P
If you only use one of these three pieces of software, tell me about why you like that one. If you don't know much about one, don't talk about it. If you can make a solid comparison, please do so. If you know other software that you like better then talk about that :)
Thanks :)
---
Blender: http://blender.org/

Answer 1

C4D is much easier to grasp but Maya is still a powerful industry standard. Houdini is usually used to complement animation created in Maya and not as an alternative.

Answer 2

Houdini Vs Maya

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.



RE:

Maya VS. Cinema 4D VS. Houdini?

I am a Blender animator at the moment and have messed with Maya a bit. I have seen some good things come out of Cinema4D, Houdini, and Maya. I am a individual animator that wants to make short animations. I may do some motion tracking effects in the future and I don't care about about the...

Answer 4

Since 1988-89, which made my first 3D animation, I have been working with with about 10 3D software. My first 3D software was Sculpt Animate 4D, and now, I am working with Houdini+Maya. I would like answer from different point of view. Working with a high end 3D software depends on your characteristic. For example, I like Houdini because it is node base, and every thing is mathematical. You can control every movement pixel by pixel. I like Maya because it is more popular and of course older than Houdini. If your characteristic is more like a Grafist, then Maya will be more interesting, but if you are good with nodes, digits and numbers then go for Houdini.Do not think about "which one is more powerful". In fact, "power" depends on your skill. For example, even though Realsoft was not a high level 3D software, I created something that was very attractive for my colleagues who were experts in 3D max! Start with whichever you want. Do not think about this software of that one. Concentrate, and try to become an expert in that software. For example, in 1985, I created a short 3D animation in a 2D software!

Answer 5

Ask yourself: Is Blender good enough?



Maya has better animation tools, but Blender has better modeling tools and a faster workflow.



Blender has a complete VFX pipeline in one single software package. Blender has tools for modeling, sculpting, rigging, animation, rotoscoping, chroma keying, matchmoving, smoke, fire, and fluid simulation, particles, destruction, physics, color grading, node compositing, and video editing.



In Blender you get a toolset similar to Maya (animation), 3ds Max (modifiers), ZBrush (sculpting), FumeFX (fire and smoke), RealFlow (fluids), RayFire (destruction), Mocha (planar tracking), Boujou (3D tracking), Arnold (rendering), After Effects (motion graphics), and Nuke (compositing).



All of these tools in Blender are far from being perfect, but they're getting better every day. Blender also has a release cycle of two months compared to Maya that releases a new version annually.



Maya costs $125/month, but you pay $0 for Blender. If Blender had a price, then Blender would probably cost between $2,500-$3,000; $95/month with Autodesk's current pricing.



Only you know, if Blender is good enough for your projects needs and requirements.



Blender Cycles Reel 2015

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wDRTjzLNK0g



Architectural Visualization by Andrew Price (made with Blender)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yJzA0IFR-78



Cardcaptor Sakura Opening (remake, made with Blender)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PiR7KYIQv9U

Answer 6

Professional 3D Design Animation : http://3dAnimationCartoons.com/?NUhe