3ds max has been used by some well known names and in major projects:  Ubisoft Montreal: Assassins Creed and Assassin’s Creed II  Prime Focus  Capcom Co., ltd.  Ubisoft Far Cry 2  Brown Bag Films  AIVFX  The Orphanage – Superman returns, pirates of the Caribbean: dead mans chest, Harry Potter and the goblet of fire and Sin City  Microsoft – Simulator for Forza Motorsport  Monolith – Condemned and Fear  Blizzard – World of Warcraft  Bio-ware – Knights of the Old Republic  NOAA Research Facility  Marriott International, Inc.  Ferrari  Armstrong White  Electrical Art  Oneoffdesign  Constructive Media  Media Fusion Digital Media  Parsons Brinckerhoff: Presidio Parkway  Many more 3ds Max 3D is used by games developers, visual effects artists, and graphic designers working on games, film/ television content, architects, designers, civil engineers, and 3D visualization.

Autodesk Maya is used for 3D animation, modelling, simulation, visual effects, rendering and match moving. Along with 3Ds Max it is the most popular 3D studio on the market and is used in a wide range of films and games. The program was used with a lot of the 3ds Max Projects and companies and more including: Artificial Mind and Movement (A2M) – WET The Lab, Sydney: Televisions Drama Production Evergreen Films: 3D Stereoscopic Production/Post Starz animation – 9 NTROPIC – American idol music videos Image Engine – District 9 Big Animation (India) Chris Landreth – The Spine Sparx – Igor Industrial Light and Magic used Maya in scenes from - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Terminator Salvation, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull and Star Trek. DreamWorks Animation SKG – Monster vs. Aliens Insomniac Games – Resistance 2 Lucasfilm ltd. – Star wars: The Clone Wars Sony Pictures Imageworks – Beowulf Framestore CFC – The Golden Compass Sony Picture Imageworks - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe Many more

NewTek’s Lightwave 3D is know for allowing a user ‘to get things done’. The program allows the user to model and animate ‘quality work on time and on budget’. Lightwave can be used on Windows 32 or 64-bit and on Mac. The only problem is, rumour has it that the Mac version isn't very stable and Cinema 4D may be best for use on the Mac. Lightwave has two programs in the package; one is Modelling and the other is Animation. It is known for having powerful rendering with little faults.

Google Sketch-Up is good for modeling objects, buildings etc. with ease. It has a Clip-Art style rather than focusing on realistic graphics. This helps for users on less-powerful computers or users who want to create something fast. The program also allows you to share your models with other users and Google Earth. Any user can download free pre-made models to use in their 3D environment.

 Similar to 3Ds Max, Maxon’s Cinema 4D has the ability to use add-ons only 3Ds Max has more and of better quality.  Cinema 4D is available for both PC and Mac and is known for being one of the more stable Mac programs. Another strong point is having different layouts for modeling and animation.  A weak point for Cinema 4D is their low rendering quality.