text: Maya. As a former 3DS Max person myself, I found the transition easy. I mean there are hot keys, icon placement, and all that to learn. But it's not really that tough if you have experience with another 3D program, especially Max. I would have to say for ease of use, Max is better. It just seems more user friendly. The biggest problem is that you need a lot of plugins to do all the cool stuff, at least I did. Maya has most of the cool stuff already in the program, but it is harder to work with. It's not really much harder, just a slightly steeper learning curve. In the end, I would say it is good to know both if you plan to have a job in the field of 3D modeling or animation. Makes your resume look a lot better.