Q:
I know pricewise Animator studio and 3d max studio are at the different
end of the spectrum, but I was wondering does Animator Studio give you
anything that 3D Studio Max not give you or is it comparing apples and
oranges.
A:
It is more like comparing Toy Story and Lion King. Both have incredible
graphics, but the one is made using 3D animation, the other using
classical 2D animation. (Although they used 3D graphics for some
scenes...)
You see, Animator Studio (like the older Animator Pro) is designed for
2D (classical) animation - backgrounds, sprites moving over them,
Photoshop-like filters etc.
MAX is a 3D modeling and rendering package. You can use both since MAX
outputs animations as series of 2D images, and also inputs 2D graphics
for textures, background/rotoscoping etc.
If you compare to real life movies, MAX is the stage with the movie
camera, and Animator Studio is the cutroom.
Both are needed for a perfect movie...