MotionBuilder vs. Maya

[archer1684]

I am writing a report and presentation on Autodesk Motionbuilder, something I have never looked at before. After looking at some videos and Tutorials, some of them mentioned that they use characters made in Maya and then apply animation in Motionbuilder. Am I wrong in saying that? If so, then what is the difference between Maya and Motionbuilder? Do I need to install Maya in order to use Motionbuilder?

If anyone knows of any links on any good training material such as books, dvd's, videos, etc.. on Motionbuilder that would be so great!

[archer1684]

basically what I'm trying to ask is, can i use one without the other?

All I'm trained it in AutoCAD, Civil 3D, and a little Inventor... and I am to write a report on a software that I won't be learning about and Motionbuilder intrigues me. But I'm confused about the differences it has between Maya. I've been trying to look up tutorials but they dont really explain very well, and I'm wondering if I should be doing a report on Maya instead.

[BlackBox]

Sorry for the delayed response.....

To the best of my understanding, MotionBuilder is simply a (d@mn good) Animation Suite, which is specifically geared toward the utilization of Motion Capture data (i.e., human actors wearing sensors at joints, etc.). Whereas Maya is a full Animation Suite capable of Modeling, Texturing, Lighting, Character Rigging, Animating, Physics Engine, Rendering, etc.

Both MotionBuilder, and Maya can utilize motion capture data (I know because we animated models using motion capture when I went to college for computer animation), but MotionBuilder seems to be highly specialized for that kind of kinematics.

[sprachit80970121]

Having worked with both Maya and MoBu with and without Mocap data, I thing both are great choices for a game pipeline. Especially with some of the new Human IK features in MoBu/Maya 2012. So much easier to now drive a characterized rig with mocap data.

The biggest advantage for me working primarily with Mocap data is that MoBu has a strong tool set for working with animation data, in my opinion, easier than Maya. I enjoy working with the FCurve filters that motion builder has than working with the Graph editor in Maya. Mobu's Story tool is a great asset as well for editing animation that might be on a cycle or stringing motions together.