A goldfish rampage was created by Spontaneous Combustion for Pepperidge Farms by using 3D Studio MAX, After Effects, PhotoShop and inferno*. Courtesy of Spontaneous Combustion.

Spontaneous Combustion is a digital studio specializing in design, visual effects and animation for advertising, broadcast and film with clients such as AT&T, Audi, Estee Lauder and ESPN. Sam DeWitt, head of CGI, says, "Maya is probably the most widespread in the post industry at the moment, but Softimage seems to be finally gaining back some lost ground. In terms of learning 3D, 3D Studio Max could be conceived of as the easiest, and with such a wide and diverse user base the resources for it are amazing. Max does seem to be slowly gaining ground in both film and television work, and its tight integration with other discreet products makes it a good bet for the future."

In reality, all of these high-end packages can be used for projects in any of the three industry sectors. Phil Miller, senior director of Software Products at discreet, says that of the approximately 150,000 seats of 3D Studio Max worldwide he estimates that 50% of those are used in the game industry, 30% in film and post-production and 20% in design, Web, architectural and science applications. His prognosis for Max's future is good: "The number of seats of Max being sold to the commercial sector is increasing at a rate higher than all of the competition's combined, so while there's no doubt that Maya has swept the film industry — ousting Softimage — boutiques have switched over to Max."

Softimage is Quiet Man's tool of choice and was used in this Conseco Insurance ad where a monkey talks. Courtesy of Quiet Man.

Keep An Eye On The Market
So, which one is right for you? There are no neat answers to this question. Michael Wharton, animator at Quiet Man NYC, explains: "A student needs to be concerned with marketability; that is to say, can a company you hope to work for afford to bring in a person who doesn't know their particular software and train them? Or, do they need someone they can immediately drop into production? At Quiet Man we are heavily invested in Softimage, so for our own selfish reasons, we'd love to see this product take off and blow everything else away. However at this point in time, Maya is still the 3D stronghold, so much so that some clients have even used it in conversation as almost the...brand name of all 3D packages. As absurd as I think that may be, it seems to be the perception."

It would be terrific if every studio could run a training program to bring in the best animators, regardless of software knowledge. Unfortunately most smaller shops don't have that luxury. Constraints of time and money force them to hire animators who can jump right into the production pipeline. The bottom line is, for the majority of the positions out there, you will only get the job if your have the skills and you know the right software. The numbers suggest that it's not a bad time to be an adept Maya animator. However, Max, Softimage and LightWave are good bets, too — but don't forget, first and foremost, to hone those animation skills!

John Edgar Park is a 3D animator, instructor and writer based in Los Angeles. He received his B.A. in Drama from the University of Virginia.