Maya and 3Ds Max are free for students

General Forums Blender and CG Discussions
1

In the past, many chose Blender just because it was free, even though their goal was working with big studios in the future. The great news are that now, Autodesk is being nice by giving Max and Maya (and all the other software) for free (with a proper 3 year license) to all students who want to learn it. You just have to indicate your school. You can also indicate that you are home schooling. So ANYBODY can get the free education license.
If you want to be a professional 3D modeler or animator etc, just go and start with autodesk products right now. Don’t waste time with blender. Blender is great, BUT, no one uses it commercially as far as jobs are concerned.

That software you will get from AD is full. Not some demo. You can even produce final work with it. No watermarks. No other limitations. It is as full as the 3500$ version. Just free and you can’t sell your work made with it nor can you use it for other commercial purposes. But then, it is perfect for learning the software, and by the time you learn it, you will be able to go for a job, and later on buy your own license.

So, wonderful news for the 3D community (for the part of community that wants to work with 3D professionally with studios)

The fact is, at this point, ALL big studios use big applications.

2

Blender is the best 3D anim software I ever used. I don’t care if autodesk is free.

3

It sure is great and it might be the best, BUT, you can not get a job with it ATM. This means, that unless you are a hobbyist or a freelancer, you MUST learn Maya or Max or similar commercial software. Not because it is better. Just because it is way more popular ATM with studios.

4

i was going to install mudbox 2012 but the license didnt work… not sure why… anyhow…<br>
i dont really agree with how autodesk is allowed to search your hard drive for information it seems<br>
a little bit sketchy, read the license agreements , if you agree to it, you are agreeing to let autodesk basically profile the hell out of you all sorts of things, i dont trust all that information out in the wild… <br>
it says in there, phone numbers, credit card information, address, name etc… all that stuff they will be collecting… and keep collecting, <br>
so basically when you install “free Autodesk” you are installing a trojan virus/keylogger onto your computer… <p>

Im glad that mine didnt install correctly and i tried to remove all of it(i hope i got rid of all of it)

5

I think that the 3D-markets are changing. Doing things with Blender is not “time wasting”.

You can download autodesk products if you want to, but prepare yourself for buying add ons, if you need some special features. And all the endless program crashes. (its also max feature)

Autodesk and the other 3D software houses are forced to lower their prices, because they can see how powerful Blender is and how fast it is been developed.
If Gimp developers were that active as Blender developers, would Adobe be forced to do the same with the Photoshop, but this is not even close.

6

Well, holyenigma, you are a bit wrong about this. I don’t know if you are just trying to scare people away from autodesk, or you really believe in what you have said.

The fact of the matter is that if you are using windows OS, your HDD and info have been examined so many times already. Microsoft owns all your info, all the antivirus apps examine your info and files (not just for antivirus reasons, trust me). After all, Google knows everything about you anyways. Every little search you did, every website you have visited. Those who need the info, already have it.
Autodesk won’t change anything. You don’t have anything secret on your HDD anyways. Are you worried they will read your emails? They wont bother. And even if they did, who cares? It wont affect you anyway. So, stop being childish, and get realistic about this world and internet. There is nothing they can find on your computer that would harm you in any way. Unless, of course, you are a thief and steal and use pirated software. But in such case, you would not need the free ad version, because you alerady have all the stolen soft one would imagine. Oh, and all pirated soft has backdoors, keyloggers and other malware that can do actual harm, by staling your bank account numbers.

So, please stop scaring people by saying that AD scans your PC and takes your info. They don’t. All they do is check if you dont have pirated Autodesk software. Thats it. And they also log your name and address in their DB, but you give it to them during activation process. Are you scared of them knowing your name? Then just close yourself up in your room and don’t do anything. Why? Because everyone needs to know your name. Your job will ask for your name and details, your spouse will too. So will you bank, doctor, and companies whose products you use.

Just be realistic please.

7

I’ve known that I can get Autodesk software for free for a while now but I choose not to use it because Blender was my first 3d program and I want learn as much as I can, then if someday I feel curious and want to try Maya for example, most of the skills that I learned in blender will easily translate. Blender is capable of doing most things Maya or 3ds Max can and the list is constantly growing. Blender is not “a waste of time” There are people who use Blender commercially and the community is growing rapidly. “It is not about the pencil, it is about the artist. In the same way, it is not about the 3D application, it is about you. Your effort, your natural talent, your passion, and your dedication” -naitreid

8

what abour credit card #'s? social security #'s, etc… places get hacked into all the time, <br>
these people who have all my information in a file, how safe are their files? <br>
when i see websites and servers getting hacked all the time… your information isnt safe… <br>
the less places that you let collect this information the safer you are.

9

It is true that Autodesk soft crashes a bit more often then Blender does, but most of the times, it will crash because you are either have two Mayas or Maxes open at the same time (eg, rendering one thing, and working on another at the same time), or, because your confic is wrong. Blender crashes too. Not a big deal.

Now, about Blender gaining speed.
Yes, it is a wonderful and very powerful 3D creation suite, BUT for it to get adopted by studios that would offer blender jobs, will take a long time. Maybe 5 years. Maybe 10. Not 1, not 2, not 3. Why? Because big studios don’t give a hoot if they have to pay 4k usd or not. It is just a little price to pay. They pay 100 times more A MONTH for the developers, artists, DTs, and so on. So cost is not something that most care about. Now, Maya and 3Ds are very popular. The studio has learned to use it well. To switch from one pipeline to another, is a big task that costs money (training, time wasted while learning the software, etc). It is not an east process. So, if Maya and 3Ds does the job and does it well, companies have no reason to switch to Blender, unless it will be developed with more features, and better export capabilities (think of RenderMan). You get the idea.

In maybe 5 years, some studios will use it. In 10, many might use it, but still not as many as those that use Autodesk.
So, if you want to get a job, you don’t want to put risks on it. Just learn Maya or Max. Simple. Why risk if you can learn the sure thing.
I don’t think you need to be that smart to understand this.

Doing things with blender is not time wasting as the skills you learn can be transferred to other apps. However, why learn how to fix light tractors, if all you want to do is become a freight-liner mechanic? Why learn Blender, if you want to work as a 3D artist with studios that use Max or maya?

10

Are you serious? :smiley:
This makes me smile.

Do you know that your info stored at your workplace might get hacked too? Just because there is such a possibility, do you decide not to go to the job? If PIXAR wanted to hire you, and would buy you Maya, would you say “No, sorry guys, I can’t work for you because I am afraid that hackers will break into Autodesk and steal my name, surname, and address, sorry guys, I can’t work for you”???

11

Good, if you are not in hurry, feel free to use whatever you want. You have quoted my statements about “It is not about the pencil it is about… etc”, but that is a different conversation about a different subject. In this particular case, I am talking to someone, who wants to get a job in the industry asap, and needs as much skills and experience in Maya or Max as he can get, as the market is competitive.
Skills are transferable, but, that also takes time.

12

Yeah, all the programs crashes sometimes, but it is really annoying when it happens many times at a single day.

Now, about Blender gaining speed.
Yes, it is a wonderful and very powerful 3D creation suite, BUT for it to get adopted by studios that would offer blender jobs, will take a long time. Maybe 5 years. Maybe 10. Not 1, not 2, not 3. Why? Because big studios don’t give a hoot if they have to pay 4k usd or not. It is just a little price to pay. They pay 100 times more A MONTH for the developers, artists, DTs, and so on. So cost is not something that most care about. Now, Maya and 3Ds are very popular. The studio has learned to use it well. To switch from one pipeline to another, is a big task that costs money (training, time wasted while learning the software, etc). It is not an east process. So, if Maya and 3Ds does the job and does it well, companies have no reason to switch to Blender, unless it will be developed with more features, and better export capabilities (think of RenderMan). You get the idea.
If you start from the zero position for learning 3d software, do not even think that you are production ready animation user for some big studio in only few years.

And in the computer world are the things changing so fastly that we can not say how the things are in the year 2015. New technologies will come and old will be forgotten. Also new studios will come. Actually it is better to work in some small studio than in some big. (its just my opinion)
If you are good animator and you can make professional work with blender, then you should not worry. You will get your job from somewhere.

Doing things with blender is not time wasting as the skills you learn can be transferred to other apps. However, why learn how to fix light tractors, if all you want to do is become a freight-liner mechanic? Why learn Blender, if you want to work as a 3D artist with studios that use Max or maya?
I am sure that the time of the “giants” has come to their end. Everyone uses their favourite softwares. Witch is best for their workflow and you can always convert your models to the other format and open it in the other program for rigging or material editing, or animating or what ever you want to do in the other software.

13

Fair enough. I lose. You win.

14

pretty sure people are more interested in your talent than software knowledge. I know as far as animators go, they don’t care. they want to see that you can make things move well. I’m pretty sure character modeling people like to see that you know about topology and sculping workflow, etc. Companies teach software and hire talent.

If you download maya and learn it, big whoop, so you know where buttons are and what their functions are… no one cares. If you have a good reel, portfolio, etc. you will be much more likely to succeed regardless of software.

15

One of the best way to combat many of the things complained about in this thread and issues including the issues of copyright, the loss of privacy and control over hardware you bought to own, is the decision to use open source software for ethical reasons. The ticking time bomb of the US economy is showing obvious flaws of current capitalist (not free market as defined by Adam Smith) wealth creation system running the world’s economy. Five years from now Autodesk may no longer even be profitable enough to exist anymore and where’s your investment then. No proprietary software company will ever see any of my own hard earned money, ever agian! That said, I like free stuff, if there are no caveats.

If you intend to become a great 3D artist,(Da Vinci not Walt) then perhaps you should be concentrating on your education. Take art classes, learn to use a pencil properly, paint, sculpt, make prints, read great books, meet/work with/conspire with inspiring people and look at lots and lots of great art before even letting the mundane choice of your creative tools trouble you.

16

so you basically got here asking for tutorials and how to learn Blender, starting polls and trying to get attention and then suddenly Blender is not good and Autodesk is the best for everyone and we all should go to try Autodesk products because you put it in the forum?..

sorry… I don’t buy it… trolls are always trolls or kids looking for attention

17

Well, all you said guys is great.

I forgot to mention another great reason why studios might switch to blender: it is open source allowing them to fully customize it.

(btw, it would be nice if some good Max user would make a 3DS max preset for blender. There is already maya one, and Maya users LOVE it, but max users whine and whine about the interface and controls)

18

As a matter of fact, I am a kid indeed. I am 10 years old. But I read a lot, and just share my mind with everyone. If you don’t like what I say or don’t agree to what I say, please just don’t read my posts anymore.

19

Seems there are some features available in 3D Max that blender doesn’t have. I am sure that there many *.max models just waiting to be coverted in to *.obj for starters. In that regard, having a legit copy of Max may be benefical to say the least.

20

Nice for students, as more 3d modellers cannot really be a bad thing (Unless you make your living that way i guess?). However, Max, Maya, even Inventor are still huge programs. Blender is under 30mb while autodeks’ offerings are likely to be more than a 100 times that. It is a factor for many.