Maya is made by Autodesk, it is designed for different purposes than 3ds Max. Compared to 3ds Max, Maya offers more flexible input options such as motion capture, manual drawing input and 3D drawing. Maya is also better suited for modeling complex, organic moving environments such as those involving liquid or gases. To accomplish this, Maya requires a faster computer than 3ds Max but gives the user the option of running it on Windows, Macintosh or Linux.
Poser, by Smith Micro, is designed specifically for the creation and modeling of biped characters not whole environments like the Autodesk programs. It allows users to create faces from scanned copies of photographs, to modify characters easily and intuitively, as well as to animate characters by simply dragging behaviors into a time line. Of the three programs, Poser is the least expensive, can be run on the Windows or Mac platforms and is the least CPU intensive.
Autodesk's 3ds Max is industry-standard 3D animation software, primarily designed to be used to model large environments such as buildings, streets and complex outdoor settings that require the simulation of sunlight or moonlight. The tools in 3ds Max are more geared toward making extremely precise models. It is only available on Windows but is less expensive and less CPU intensive than the other standard program in 3D animation, Maya. 3Ds Max is our important software for 3d animation, like architectural animation, even architectural rendering and architectural animtaion.
