What is the difference Between Autodesk Inventor and 3ds Max?

[sfcaddesigner]

What is the difference between Autodesk Inventor Pro 2008 and 3ds Max 2008? Also, what is combustion 2008 for? Do I even need 3ds Max and Combustion if I have Autodesk Inventor Pro? If I do, what do I use each software for? I'm a newbie at all this stuff and this is our first year for our robotics team. I'm a freshmen in high school and have only been working with inventor for about a week, having all the basics like constraints, dimensions, extruding, holes, and sketches. No one in my school, including our coach, knows how to use any of these softwares, so I've been teaching myself. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[kjhobin]

Inventor is a 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design) Software good for modeling parts for your robot.

3D Studio Max (3DS MAX) is 3D Animation software, like what you would use to make a animated movie (Think Toy Story).

2008 is just what they used as the version number, like Microsoft Office 2007

You can get help and tutorials for both these programs at http://firstbase.autodesk.com

Don't forget to submit an entry for the awards related to these programs at FIRST base!

Good Luck!

[Theflexmaster]

Like kjhobin said 3ds max is a animation program while Inventor is a CAD program. Combustion is a post process program which is most similar to After Affects, but more tuned for 3ds max. It's very good for compositing and creating certain effects which can take less time when rendering.

[Molten]

If you have any question on any specific tools for Inventor, just PM or make a thread. I am always glad to teach Inventor. As for 3ds max, I would save that software for the summer. It won't be that useful for the robot itself. It is mainly there in case you want to compete in the animation competition.