Max script vs MEL Which would be better for Environment TA?

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#1

I am so confused these days because of choosing the right scripting for Environment tool development. I heard the Maya pull ahead when it comes to working with animation stuff and so. Max for modeling. As an environment artist being only with max is a good idea?

#2

You’re really asking a few different questions here imho

  1. What software to use? Look into the studios you want to work for and what they’re using. Skills are transferable between the two programs. Maya is generally the most versatile of the two in terms of studios using an app.

  2. What language to learn? This depends on the answer to the first question, but regardless of application should almost always be Python today.

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#3

Python of course. :slight_smile:

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#4

I would learn a strong foundation of Object Oriented programming followed by investigations into Data Oriented programming. At that point you have all of the really important stuff, the language is just syntax.
Getting specific, Python makes the most sense to learn now because almost every DCC has support for it including Max (though any pipeline in Max that wasn’t written in the last couple of years will be firmly rooted in MaxScript).
Additionally, a lot of studios are using C# for their tools with interop between all of the DCC packages (and Unity tools are almost entirely in C#, so knowing that will help immensely if you ever need to develop for Unity).
Getting strong fundamentals and good architectural design for tools is really essential and learning Python or MaxScript isn’t going to teach you that. Unfortunately, most CS degrees won’t teach you that either. :stuck_out_tongue:
I’ve found the best way to learn is to write tools and pipelines for other people. It’s easy to write tools for yourself, you know all of the workarounds and you designed it with yourself in mind. Once you start writing tools and pipelines for other people, it becomes an entirely different ballgame and you will learn so much more.

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#5

Lol, Agreed with the term CS degree doesn’t make sense. Although mine is completed 3 years back. I am an Unreal Guy and learning C++ found a bit harder than Python. I am going ahead with python because learning multiple languages at the same time probably not a good idea I guess. Also, I am Leaning HLSL too XD

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#6

Python and HLSL is like the peanut butter and jelly of Tech Art. :smiley:
And I’m not bagging on CS degrees at all. I’ve just found that academic programming teaches some things that I don’t think are particularly useful for tools development.
There tends to be a lot of early abstraction and kitchen-sink thinking which isn’t necessarily helpful for building strong tools. A really good tool shouldn’t do everything (often poorly), it should do one or two things very well. Academic CS seems to focus on massive architectural projects, which makes sense to some degree. But I’ve seen a lot of overengineered tools that try to do way too much coming out of this kind of thinking. This is why I recommend building for other users as early as you can.
At any rate, it sounds like you’ve got a good plan moving forward.

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#7

Python and C# are the best ,mostly for TA

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