3dsMax INDIE version - [ limited to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK and US ]

I hope you read about building pipeline tools and "the long game" further down in my post because that was my main point about the "first year savings voucher".

 

Just to let everyone know. I decided to get Max Indie.

Well, aside from researching if it's a dumbed down version or not I decided to get it and of course use it but aside from that I wanted to let you all know - it is without a doubt - the full version.

 

What do you plan on doing after the first year discount is over?

 

I skipped over tons of tutorials because they were in 3dsmax when I was (still am) learning 3d. They also mention Maya at the top of the page. Does anyone know if there is full Maya Indie version other than LT. Maya LT sucked because you can not do python addons and all the cool tutorials use those addons.

 

https://area.autodesk.com/maya-indie/

 

Someone at the company must have agreed with me as the notice is now very prominently displayed above the button with the same font as the other information. Screenshot below just in case they rearrange the page again.

Spoiler: Current screenshot

By that point Autodesk will have hopefully come to a decision as to whether to continue the discount and he can continue paying that amount.

 

In that case I think for game dev then maya over 3ds Max would be the way to go especially if one is doing any animation. On the unreal side I think all their rigging tools are still Maya only.

 

I agree completely. If Maya, 3ds Max and Blender were all the same price under the same terms, it's Maya FTW.

 

It's not a first year discount. Why would the Indie version a year later cost the same price as regular?
The Indie version is exactly that - an indie version. This 1 year thing is only dealing with essentially a 'trial' to see how well it sells, so it's not an indefinite long staying product. If sales don't show, they simply terminate the product and we're right back to where we were before.

Otherwise if it sells good, then the pricing should stay the same. It was just pushed out quickly (it's pretty obvious). Hence why they say in big print to turn off auto-renew. So it's probably simply a discounted pro version to see how well it sells to make a final determination on what route to take later in determining if it should be an actual licensing product or to entirely remove the type of license.

 

Don't forget, if you want to do this professionally, practically all jobs require knowledge of maya / 3ds max.

Blender is still way down even now.

 

Not just knowledge. You may need to integrate with a workflow based on one of those tools.

 

Yes, I hope you realize in case they decide to terminate the indie product next year, you won't be able to open your 3dsmax files unless you pay the full price.

 

Which I'm okay with. It was only $249.98.

 

@N1warhead Ah, I get it. While this program may or may not succeed, there's a good chance it will if enough people buy in. So even if it didn't succeed, you had 3ds max for 250 for a year, for some more experience. So, it's a gamble, but it's a good gamble, worth it for $250.

 

It's not about the $250,-. It's about loosing access to your 3dsmax files in case ADSK decides to cancel the indie product next year (unless you pay full price). Your work is worth more than $250,- not?

 

It's called export to FBX and open in something else. I mean sure not everything may change over, but at least I can still keep my models and if need be - rig characters in something else later if it really comes down to that.

Exactly. I'm quite sure it's here to stay though, I'm sure when people start complaining about licenses with the 1 seat restriction per organization they'll probably go slack on that a bit. I'm entirely fine with seating limits per organizations, but make it something like 5, not 1 lol. They are missing out on a massive amount of money with that 1 seat restriction, but that entirely depends if people will actually abide by that restriction, most probably won't care and will simply use it anyways lol.

 

Yepp, I bought it too. Hope the indie pricing is here to stay.

 

Just kind of sad it took this long to happen. And I'm quite certain it only ever happened because of Ubisoft and that reason only. They've known for YEARS how big the indie community is whether that be games or film, it is quite massive. But they never gave a darn until someone forced their hand and took a good chunk of money away from them.

 

Well, all companies do the same, I have no doubt. Until we allow them to be super-capitalists, until they have rights which only should be allowed to people you really can't change anything.

 

I suppose so.

 

Yes, I'm in a bit nihilist/defeatist mood today.

 

Just learn blender.

https://www.blender.org/press/ubisoft-joins-blender-development-fund/

 

Traitor! learn 3Ds Max! lol. naw jk.

Naw I'll probably give it a shot soon, just wanted max because I wanted it lol. But I'm not a fanboy to what tool I use. If Blender really is that much better than it used to be then I have to try it and give it a real shot.

 

@N1warhead @hippocoder I tend to forget that game developers are at different points in their journey. Perhaps you are an aspiring artist trying to break into the industry. Especially for companies that use either Max or Maya. In which case, this is a boon for them.

I just readily assumed that a lot of us are still part of the indiepocalypse, trying to release their own personal vision on Steam. In this case, Blender is the more cost effective choice for those that are treating their projects as a business, and more so with the high value of this recent Blender release.

But if I were just a hobbyist, hungry for the very best tools that the professionals use, I would take the advice of the more experienced and stick with something that doesn't cost anything and will last for a lifetime, especially when those tools are just as good as the professional tools.

 

Oh I've been using max over the years off and on when I can afford it, i'm in no way new to max at all. For me personally - I'm just extremely comfortable with 3Ds max. I can save money and use blender, or I can spend a little bit of money and get work done 10 times faster because I'm just that comfortable with Max and know the ins and outs of it for the most part.

 

I don't rent software. These convictions will doom me to a future life devoid of all software options as all companies seem to be jumping on the subscription paddywagon. Future looks bleak.

 

It's going slowly, but I feel consumer pushback is approaching levels where this dystopia can still be prevented.
I even see more and more people abandon Adobe CC and switch to the various non-sub alternatives.

 

Why pick one?

Putting the cost aside, it's good to have a variety of tools under your belt, particularly if you're looking for work. If you're starting out as a 3D artist then sticking to one until you're solid with the fundamentals is a good idea. After that, branching out to be familiar with all of the industry standard tools is probably a good idea. When applying for jobs you're much more likely to be familiar with the tools in use, and if you're not then you've already got a bunch of practice adapting your art skills to new tools, which will also help.

I agree with using Blender for your own stuff if it's cost effective and can do everything you need it to do. Why spend money where you don't have to? If you're hunting for work, however, then just keep in mind that the same reasons which have allowed Autodesk to maintain such high price points (ie: the tools are very entrenched in much of the industry) are likely to also impact your job searching.

Maybe... my first thought was that with the $100k restriction it wouldn't make much difference. Who can afford multiple artists while making less than $100k?

However, for startups it will make a difference, as games don't generally make any money until they're finished. So startups could buy indie licenses, make a game, then if it's successful they need to pay full price for licenses... which is a win for everyone, really.

 

@angrypenguin : exactly. Startups fill a big gap in the market (I would assume at least) with the amount of indiedevs I see all over social media. But at the same time I'm quite certain a lot of them are single devs so it might not matter for all so much. But still there's quite a few that do have more than 1 dev in them that simply haven't made a dollar yet.

Hence why I think they will still work together with multiple copies regardless. Definitely with a lot of these jobs being remote, there's really no way to prove anything otherwise. And what about contractors who do freelance work? If they use the indie version to do a job for an organization, is that against the context of 'organization'? I guess it depends on their definition of what entails an organization lol.

 

If ubisoft are using Blender, you can be pretty sure it's not missing anything fundamental for game development. Not to mention that game development uses about 2% of the capabilities of a modelling software anyway.

If I was going to be a professional artist, I'd definitely get it. If Blender was profoundly worse to use, I'd get it. But since that's not the case, and I would have to spend a lot of time re-training my instincts for a software that might not be around after a year, I'll just stick to blender.

And, although I generally think the best way to make a product good and keep it good is to make it profitable for the company who makes it, something that actually succeeds on merit while surviving on donations is a sight for sore eyes.

 

I will only purchase it for the maximum price of a cheeseburgers.

 

Are we limiting where the cheeseburger can come from?

https://firstwefeast.com/eat/2014/03/the-most-expensive-burgers-in-america