Blender and Maya are frequently compared and highly successful 3D modeling software. We compared these leading software of the design world. We have prepared a guideline article by evaluating the prominent features of both software.
What is Blender?
Blender is an open-source and free 3D modeling software frequently used by designers. The Blender Foundation develops it. It is often used in modeling, design, animation, simulation, and game design. It is also used in industries that require technical and realistic modeling. In this respect, architects and engineers can also use Blender.
Blender has Python support. You can edit Python scripts via Blender. Blender is community-driven software. For this reason, it is very easy to get support or access educational content on any issue related to Blender.
Blender is available on many platforms such as Windows, Linux, and Macintosh. For this reason, the content produced with Blender can be used on many platforms and is easy to access. Blender can be downloaded for free from Steam.
Blender System Requirements
The minimum system requirements of Blender, which can be used on many platforms, are as follows:
| Blender Windows System Requirements | Blender Linux System Requirements | Blender macOS System Requirements |
| Operating System: Windows 10 | Operating System: Ubuntu 16.04 | Operating System: OS X 10.13 |
| Processor: Intel Core i3 | Processor: Intel Core i3 | Processor: Intel Core i3 |
| Memory: 2GB of RAM | Memory: 2GB of RAM | Memory: 2GB of RAM |
| Video Card: 2GB RAM, OpenGL 4.3 | Video Card: 2GB RAM, OpenGL 4.3 | Graphics Card: 2GB RAM, OpenGL 3.3 |
| Storage: 500 MB available space | Storage: 500 MB available space | Storage: 500 MB available space |
Here are the recommended system requirements for Blender:
| Blender Windows System Requirements | Blender Linux System Requirements | Blender macOS System Requirements |
| Operating System: Windows 10 | Operating System: Ubuntu 19.04 | Operating System: OS X 10.13 |
| Processor: Intel Core i9 | Processor: Intel Core i9 | Processor: Intel Core i9 |
| Memory: 32GB RAM | Memory: 32GB RAM | Memory: 16GB RAM |
| Graphics Card: 8GB RAM | Graphics Card: 8GB RAM | Graphics Card: 8GB RAM |
| Storage: 500 MB available space | Storage: 500 MB available space | Storage: 500 MB available space |
Blender takes up about 500 MB of space on your computer. On the other hand, the size of your projects with Blender may vary. Therefore, 500 MB of storage space is only required for the program to run. You will need a larger storage area to store your projects as well.
Blender Advantages
With its community-driven structure, Blender aims to have all its users a part of the development process. This brings with it several advantages. We can list the prominent features and technical benefits of Blender as follows:
- Blender is completely free.
- Community-supported. In this way, you can find answers to your questions and get training quickly.
- It is open source. This gives you easy access to community-developed content and add-ons.
- Özellikle animasyon yapımı konusunda Blender çok başarılıdır.
- It can be used for multi-purpose.
- It is suitable for use by small companies and individual designers.
These advantages make Blender a highly preferable 3D modeling software. For ideas, you can watch this animation made with Blender:
What is Maya?
Maya is a 3D modeling software primarily serving professional purposes. Autodesk develops it. Maya is a paid 3D modeling software. It has professional-level content on animation, simulation, and modeling. Maya has lots of texture options, making it pretty useful for creating more realistic characters.
Maya uses MEL (Maya Embedded Language). In this way, you can make your customizations using Maya’s unique language. Maya, which is used in many areas, especially in the game industry, has also been used in world-famous productions such as the Game of Thrones series.
Maya is available on many platforms, just like Blender. Maya, which we can call more “professional” compared to Blender, has many uses. This professionalism comes at a price and is quite expensive compared to Blender.
How much is the Maya price?
Maya is a paid 3D modeling software. The price of Maya, which makes pricing according to countries and exchange rates, is as follows:
Maya Prices:
- Monthly membership: 215 USD
- Annual membership: 1,700 USD
- 3-year membership: $4,845 USD
Maya System Requirements
The system requirements of Maya, which can run on multiple platforms, are as follows:
| Maya Windows System Requirements | Maya Linux System Requirements | Maya macOS System Requirements |
| Operating System: Windows® 10 | Operating System: Red Hat® Enterprise 8.2, 7.6-7.9 WS – CentOS 8.2, 7.6-7.9 | Operating System: macOS® 11.x, 10.15.x, 10.14.x, 10.13.x |
| Processor: AMD or Intel processors with 64-bit architecture and SSE4.2 instruction set | Processor: AMD or Intel processors with 64-bit architecture and SSE4.2 instruction set | Processor: AMD or Intel processors with 64-bit architecture and SSE4.2 instruction set |
| Memory: | Memory: | Memory: |
| Graphics: Maya Certified HardwareList of supported graphics cards | Ekran Kartı: Maya Certified Hardware (Maya sertifikalı ekran kartları)Desteklenen grafik kartlarının listesi | Graphics: Maya Certified HardwareDesteklenen grafik kartlarının listesi |
| Storage: 6GB available space | Storage: 6GB available space | Storage: 6GB available space |
Maya takes up 6GB of space on your computer. As with any development/design program, the storage space specified here is only required for the software to run. Depending on the size of the projects you will develop, you will need more storage space.
Maya Advantages
Maya is truly professional 3D modeling software. This means that it has many technical advantages. In general, the prominent features and advantages of Maya are as follows:
- Maya is very good at creating realistic characters and textures.
- It allows you to customize your work with the MEL language.
- It has a simple and handy interface.
- Being an expert in Maya gives you an edge, as it’s used a lot professionally.
- It is very suitable for the use of significant budget and scale companies.
We said that Maya was even used in the production of Game of Thrones. To get a little more insight into Maya, you can watch this video:
Blender vs Maya
Let’s come to the main question of our article: Is Blender better or Maya? Based on what we have explained above, you may have an idea by now. Let’s try to answer the question by comparing a table with two 3D software:
| Blender | Maya | |
| Price: | It is free. | It is paid and the prices are high enough to be considered expensive. |
| Learning: | Learning is relatively easy, thanks to community support. | It is not much different from Blender in terms of learning difficulties. However, it is more difficult to reach the didactic content. |
| Support: | Community supported. | It is professionally supported. |
| Animation: | Blender is very successful in animation. Animators can prefer it. | It is pretty successful. However, it is not always an excellent alternative to Blender due to its high cost. |
| 3D Modeling: | It is quite successful. | Maya is professional software. For this reason, it is one of the software that has very few competitors in 3D modeling. |
| Interface: | Compared to Maya, it has a more complex interface. | It has a straightforward and useful interface. |
| Language and customization: | It uses Python3. | Uses MEL. |
| Aim: | It is very suitable for small businesses and individual designers. | It is very suitable for high-budget projects and large companies. |
| Usage area: | It can be used in many fields such as cinema, animation, games, architecture, and engineering. | It can be used in many fields such as cinema, animation, games, architecture, and engineering. It can give more successful results in high-budget projects. |
Is Blender better or Maya?
Blender would be a better choice for small businesses and individual designers. Maya is the best choice for big-budget projects and companies. The purpose we will use this software determines which one you choose. Due to its professionalism, Maya is one step ahead, but Blender is not far behind. Which one you choose is your choice, depending on your budget and goals.
On the other hand, if you are not going to develop your own project and work for a company, it would be a better choice to specialize in Maya. Because many of the big companies use Maya and people who specialize in Maya have a better chance of getting a job. On the other hand, Maya’s high wages may be a problem for designers.
