9 ms·

I use Unreal+Blender just fine. What do you mean?

by soulofmischief 7y ago

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
kristofferR 7y ago
I think he tried to imply that most pros use 3DS Max or Maya instead of Blender for a reason.
- Kiro 7y ago
  So what is the argument exactly?
  - cabaalis 7y ago
    Reduce the price of the prevailing high-cost options by increasing the capabilities of other options. Cause them to compete to drive prices down, thereby reducing your supplier costs.
VMG 7y ago
You're probably not representative
johnrbent 7y ago
I used to work with Unity and Blender professionally. Not sure what this guy is talking about.
chongli 7y ago
That's the whole point. If you're a carmaker, you want gasoline to be a cheap, widely available commodity. Gasoline complements cars. 3D modelling software has had a long history of expensive, esoteric, difficult-to-use applications. Epic, hoping to make money from large numbers of Unreal Engine licenses, would like to see that situation change. Ideally (for them), 3D modelling software would be free and easy to use for everyone, thereby lowering the barrier to entry for those who might make 3D games using UE. By donating to Blender, Epic hopes to achieve two things: 1. Blender becomes better and easier to use, allowing more developers to enter the market and buy UE licenses. 2. Increased competition puts downward price pressure on commercial 3D packages such as Maya, thus making it more affordable for small-to-medium sized game studios, potentially freeing up budget for more UE licenses.
- soulofmischief 7y ago
  My question is about OP's assertment: > Unreal Engine, like Unity, right now has to be used with Autodesk products like 3DS Max or Maya I am asking why they think this is the case. Not the circular reasoning of "most professionals use it" but I am interested in what they feel the Blender is missing.
  - soup10 7y ago
    Blender supports FBX exports so you can bring models from there to unreal, but Maya is the much more popular program with artists for modelling and rigging, there's a whole lot going on with these programs so I doubt its any one thing, if it were close i'm sure a lot of people would be happy to not pay for Maya considering how expensive it is.
    - soulofmischief 7y ago
      > Maya is the much more popular program with artists for modelling and rigging This is the circular reasoning I'm trying to avoid. I'm not looking for any one thing either, I'm looking for any shortcomings OP can think of. I've used Blender+Unreal for a number of years and Blender itself for over fifteen years so I could rattle off issues I've dealt with in integrating Blender into the pipeline, but many have been dealt with so I'm curious about OP's particular pain points.
      - Tossrock 7y ago
        Not the OP, but I've used Blender and UE (though Unity more), and I would say the main problem with Blender is how undiscoverable the core actions in the interface are. I'm sure for you, as a 15 year user, the shortcuts are all perfectly ingrained, and you can crank out work very efficiently. However, if you don't already know all those shortcuts, it's very difficult to learn them, or even to learn what functionality is available. Some examples: If you already know that `Tab` switches between object mode and edit mode, then it's quick and easy. If you don't, then you have to click the drop down mode selection menu, which is one of the dozens of widgets on screen with highly variable levels of usefulness (seriously, what the hell is 'Grease Pencil'?). And if you hover for a tooltip, it doesn't even tell you that tab is the shortcut! Or when in the UV workspace, there's literally nothing in the interface window except the vertices/edges. How do I select all vertices? How do I select multiple via box? How do I do numeric input? None of this is obvious. The defaults are also terrible - eg click to set 3D cursor, instead of select. Overall, Blender seems to suffer from a classic case of open-source programmer driven development. If you already know how to use it, it's very powerful and customizable - the python scripting is great! But because no one really cares about making it into a product, the UI/UX suffers. I haven't used Maya/3DSMax, but I have used Fusion 360 (another Autodesk 3D modelling package, but focused on CAD/CAM) extensively, and it is much, much more user friendly. There are easily navigable menus which surface key functionality and respond contextually to the workload - ie if you're modeling, creating components and performing extrusions/rotations is front and center. If you're sketching, applying constraints (and the various types available) is all right there. Of course, none of this means you CAN'T use Blender with UE, you totally can. And if you're a Blender expert, then none of this probably bothers you, because you don't care about discoverability of functionality since you already know it all. But if you're fresh out of Digipen or whatever, and you have to learn a single software package, then the refined products from Autodesk are going to win. edit: In fairness, I hear that 2.80 is going to fix a lot of this, and I'm looking forward to trying it.
chaostheory 7y ago
Read binthere's comment for some details.
vincentpants 7y ago
As an Unreal+Blender user, I would be absolutely interested in anything that can take a step off my toolchain.
- BubRoss 7y ago
  What kind of steps slow you down?

I use Unreal+Blender just fine. What do you mean?

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

kristofferR 7y ago

I think he tried to imply that most pros use 3DS Max or Maya instead of Blender for a reason.

Kiro 7y ago
So what is the argument exactly?
- cabaalis 7y ago
  Reduce the price of the prevailing high-cost options by increasing the capabilities of other options. Cause them to compete to drive prices down, thereby reducing your supplier costs.

VMG 7y ago

You're probably not representative

johnrbent 7y ago

I used to work with Unity and Blender professionally. Not sure what this guy is talking about.

chongli 7y ago

That's the whole point. If you're a carmaker, you want gasoline to be a cheap, widely available commodity. Gasoline complements cars. 3D modelling software has had a long history of expensive, esoteric, difficult-to-use applications. Epic, hoping to make money from large numbers of Unreal Engine licenses, would like to see that situation change. Ideally (for them), 3D modelling software would be free and easy to use for everyone, thereby lowering the barrier to entry for those who might make 3D games using UE. By donating to Blender, Epic hopes to achieve two things: 1. Blender becomes better and easier to use, allowing more developers to enter the market and buy UE licenses. 2. Increased competition puts downward price pressure on commercial 3D packages such as Maya, thus making it more affordable for small-to-medium sized game studios, potentially freeing up budget for more UE licenses.

soulofmischief 7y ago
My question is about OP's assertment: > Unreal Engine, like Unity, right now has to be used with Autodesk products like 3DS Max or Maya I am asking why they think this is the case. Not the circular reasoning of "most professionals use it" but I am interested in what they feel the Blender is missing.
- soup10 7y ago
  Blender supports FBX exports so you can bring models from there to unreal, but Maya is the much more popular program with artists for modelling and rigging, there's a whole lot going on with these programs so I doubt its any one thing, if it were close i'm sure a lot of people would be happy to not pay for Maya considering how expensive it is.
  - soulofmischief 7y ago
    > Maya is the much more popular program with artists for modelling and rigging This is the circular reasoning I'm trying to avoid. I'm not looking for any one thing either, I'm looking for any shortcomings OP can think of. I've used Blender+Unreal for a number of years and Blender itself for over fifteen years so I could rattle off issues I've dealt with in integrating Blender into the pipeline, but many have been dealt with so I'm curious about OP's particular pain points.
    - Tossrock 7y ago
      Not the OP, but I've used Blender and UE (though Unity more), and I would say the main problem with Blender is how undiscoverable the core actions in the interface are. I'm sure for you, as a 15 year user, the shortcuts are all perfectly ingrained, and you can crank out work very efficiently. However, if you don't already know all those shortcuts, it's very difficult to learn them, or even to learn what functionality is available. Some examples: If you already know that `Tab` switches between object mode and edit mode, then it's quick and easy. If you don't, then you have to click the drop down mode selection menu, which is one of the dozens of widgets on screen with highly variable levels of usefulness (seriously, what the hell is 'Grease Pencil'?). And if you hover for a tooltip, it doesn't even tell you that tab is the shortcut! Or when in the UV workspace, there's literally nothing in the interface window except the vertices/edges. How do I select all vertices? How do I select multiple via box? How do I do numeric input? None of this is obvious. The defaults are also terrible - eg click to set 3D cursor, instead of select. Overall, Blender seems to suffer from a classic case of open-source programmer driven development. If you already know how to use it, it's very powerful and customizable - the python scripting is great! But because no one really cares about making it into a product, the UI/UX suffers. I haven't used Maya/3DSMax, but I have used Fusion 360 (another Autodesk 3D modelling package, but focused on CAD/CAM) extensively, and it is much, much more user friendly. There are easily navigable menus which surface key functionality and respond contextually to the workload - ie if you're modeling, creating components and performing extrusions/rotations is front and center. If you're sketching, applying constraints (and the various types available) is all right there. Of course, none of this means you CAN'T use Blender with UE, you totally can. And if you're a Blender expert, then none of this probably bothers you, because you don't care about discoverability of functionality since you already know it all. But if you're fresh out of Digipen or whatever, and you have to learn a single software package, then the refined products from Autodesk are going to win. edit: In fairness, I hear that 2.80 is going to fix a lot of this, and I'm looking forward to trying it.

chaostheory 7y ago

Read binthere's comment for some details.

vincentpants 7y ago

As an Unreal+Blender user, I would be absolutely interested in anything that can take a step off my toolchain.

BubRoss 7y ago
What kind of steps slow you down?