How do you guys deal with this?

So, I’m currently studying Visual Effects & Motion Graphics at College and it’s fun. Last year we did 2D so animations on After Effects, Premiere and Illustrator and I used flash quite a bit. this year we are doing 3D with Maya and Mudbox, now there is only me and this other guy who actually have experience in 3D before we came to this college, and so to every one else it’s completely new way of creativity to them. i have used blender majorly and shown off some of my stuff in my interview. the other guy using source filmmaker and maya a bit. however the other class mates really dig in me because i use blender a lot and prefer it over maya. i have been using maya as well but defer instantly when i get home. they say stuff like, “hahaha bender” and “that free shit” and any other insult referring to the open source nature of blender and any other reason they can find to blender not being a professional software. some of them actually do like the look and ease of blender but then again others love to fan boy maya and patronise me because of it.
do you think these guys are just having a laugh for the purpose of blender or what? What do you guys think to their comments? how would and have you dealt with people like these ?

:RocknRoll: long post i know

I’m sort of in the same situation. Some of my profs say “that’s cool, now do it in blender”. Kidding me? They don’t even say my blender stuff is good, just want me to use maya. Other profs like what I’ve done though. I just shrug them off and keep on using blender because it’s what I know (even though my prof wants us to use maya in our assignments).

I’d say suck it up. I think the teachers, rightly or wrongly, want you to learn industry standard programs. College now is only to secure a job and not pure education. I would be happy to be proficient in both and probably those who laugh at blender can’t do what you can do with it. And that’s a good thing to have for you.

I agree with what Daniel said, suck it up. Blender is rarely used in the professional domain, that’s why they teach you on maya or 3Dsmax. However, believing that one program is better than an other is pure nonsense in CGI, sure Maya is more powerful, but all in all that’s not what matters the most, what does is your skills, your thinking and how you compose. Now you can hope that you’ll get a job that will let you use blender.

Most likely they would dig you even if you were using just maya. From what you said they are unexposed to the wonders of 3d creation before college? If so then Most likely they are just quoting whatever they read on this forum or that and you just happen to make a good target for it.
Just smile, Nod your head and focus on the work infront of you. You can not stop them from wasting their productive energy But you do not need to let them make you do the same.

The anvil is important, but not as important as the quality of blade you forge.

Learn on any anvil they are willing to teach you on.

The theory behind the skills is what you seek, then you can build your own skills.

Bide you’re time and make something in Blender that will make their games look like shi*t while they’re busy trying to mock you :stuck_out_tongue:

I took a games design course and I can tell you I once got into arguments with my teachers about using 3DS Max because I preferred Maya for modelling and it was at that point I started realising the whole course was a waste of time really, some people are just stupid.

I don’t know how it works with pure animation or programming courses but the people doing the games courses are running off what they ‘think’ is the industry standard when they don’t even seem to realise that doesn’t matter in the long run if you can get good results.

Think of this as training for what you will experience in the workplace. Don’t waste your time/energy defending it or promoting it too hard. If someone genuinely asks you what you prefer, feel free to tell them or not… your call. If/when they give you grief, just brush it off with a ‘to each their own’ type of response and get back to business.

Who cares what they say? Seriously, you will have to deal with the same petty nonsense and then some in the workplace whether it’s about software tools, your OS of choice, sports, corporate politics, etc. Whatever the topic and whatever position you take, there will always be someone willing to take the other side whether for ideological reasons or pure sport. Rather than go down these rat-holes, just disengage and get back to the job at hand. Right now your ‘job’ is the course(s) you are taking, not evangelizing Blender.

That is definitely “sage advice,” Phil14. Politics is a fundamental part of life and of work. You have to develop a certain talent for when (and whether) to bring a subject up, and how strongly (not?) to advance it. Someone will disagree with you, no matter what you (don’t) say, and I find that people who have the least-grounded points of view often have the strongest opinions and an insatiable desire to foist those opinions off upon you. However, whether or not to let them do it (don’t …) is entirely up to you. If it doesn’t matter to you or benefit you, then, as Dr. Richard Feynmann once famously quipped, “what do you care what other people think?”

The instructional designer for any college-level class is going to have to pick one tool suite to use and to teach, and that’s probably going to be solely dictated by industry demand. That’s probably Maya. So be it. Learn Maya. And, learn Blender. If you can snag an educational copy of 3DS, learn about that tool, too. Right now you have the opportunity to have someone else who supposedly knows what they’re talking about to teach you about a widely-used tool. Not to crusade either for or against it.

I listen. Sooner or later i know if it is worth debating, otherwise change the subject or move on.
Majority are just repetitors, yet we all have feelings & tend to our passion with affection.
Ego drives us. We all care what & how we talk. It makes us alive, well, happy & vice versa.

My advice, learn debating in a pleasant way. You will make your skill, your craft, your art… within a group.
This kind of interaction is a primitive way for an easier ‘natural selective domination’. As it is it always strives to balance itself.

Thanks guys for your advice, I just let it wiz past me now. I would of posted earlier but I’ve had assignments to complete.
HOWEVER, I’ve had two good outcomes recently. That is, I was contacted to do some 3D titles for a film trailer which was cool and apparently there is talk going round that they are wanting me to teach Blender.

Ofcourse i will continue with Blender, but while I can I’ll try and suck up Maya.