Which 3D package?

[Djmorrsee]

hi there. I've been a blender user for a couple years, and while I'm no where near as good as a "professional" level, I've always wondered what the difference between blender and "professional" 3D packages, that cost about 3 grand, really is. I downloaded demos for a few different programs to see if I really can find a major difference.
but what do you all think? what's everybodies favorite, or preference of program and what makes it so?

[radiance]

I think blender is good for most purposes.
I think some people use 3ds max or maya, who need it for advanced animation or tighter integration with other tools like autocad.

But for general use, i think blender is fine.

Radiance

[Djmorrsee]

I agree, blender is fantastic. i've been able to get some pretty great results.
I just wanna see if the 3 grand is really worth it.

[[gk]]

Max has a crazy palet of 3rd party plugins to solve a range of complex tasks.

Krakatoa, Fumefx just to name 2.

Also it ships with mental ray for free, which isnt a bad thing at all.
Same thing goes for maya, which in addition has PRman hooks.

[Sam]

If I had to choose for Max or Maya id choose Max
I like the interface better, it mean a lot for userfriendly-ness
Also as GK said, there's so much plugins for Max its awesome
And so much tutorials also !

Maya is more for big studios, the interface is very minimal