7 ms·

Free Unity, Unreal, Maya, Renderman... Creators these days have it so good!

by msie 12y ago

wlesieutre 12y ago
Free Maya? Last I heard it was $20/month for LT, and that's the no-raytracer version for making game assets. Alternately, around $800 upfront for an already outdated copy of LT that's missing features like the Unreal Engine exporter. Because screw anybody who wants to buy software instead of renting it. EDIT: Maya LT costs $30/month and the "buy an outdated version" option is being terminated after this year. $20/month is the rate if you pay for a 1-year subscription upfront. The version with rendering is $185/month.
- codazoda 12y ago
  The buy page says it's $3,675. At first glance, free Renderman looks like it's going to cost a lot to actually use.
  - wlesieutre 12y ago
    Yup, and perpetual licenses are going away next January. Full version of Maya will be $185/month or $1470/year. Ouch.
  - berkut 12y ago
    Using Maya isn't the only way to use Renderman: * via Rib files (there used to be Blender exporters) * via the RI API * via Katana (not that that's free either, but...)
- tfinniga 12y ago
  I think student licenses of Maya are free. There used to be a PLE, but it looks like it's been discontinued.
  - wlesieutre 12y ago
    Correct, most everything Autodesk is free for noncommercial student use. Assuming it's like AutoCAD, any file modified in an edu version gets a "PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT" watermark, and if you so much as import one line from that file to another, the watermark infects that other file as well. But mostly it's the .edu email address requirement that makes it a no-go for me.
    - msie 12y ago
      'The student version does not have watermarks and there are no other feature restrictions.' http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/maya-general/student-version-of-maya-2015/td-p/5411819 http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/maya-general/student-version-o... Get your 3 year free license here: http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/maya http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/maya I believe you don't need an .edu address, it's on the honour system.
      - wlesieutre 12y ago
        Eligibility requirements do say that you need to be faculty/student/mentor, but no idea if it's enforced. I'll have to try signing up with bogus info sometime and see if it works. > To join the Education Community, you must be one of the following: > Faculty Member - An individual person who is an employee or independent contractor working for an educational institution which has been accredited by an authorized governmental agency within its applicable local, state, provincial, federal, or national government and has the primary purpose of teaching its enrolled students. > Student - An individual person enrolled as a student at an educational institution which has been accredited by an authorized governmental agency within its applicable local, state, provincial, federal, or national government and has the primary purpose of teaching its enrolled students. > Autodesk-sponsored competition mentor or competitor - An Autodesk-sponsored design competition mentor is an individual who provides guidance, advice, coaching, or instruction to competitors engaged in competing in an Autodesk-sponsored design competition. A competitor is a student or other individual who is registered and accepted or otherwise approved by a design competition organizer as a competition participant. A list of Autodesk-sponsored competitions can be found at Design Competitions & Events.
- geoka9 12y ago
  > Because screw anybody who wants to buy software instead of renting it. Actually, this seems to be the official position of Autodesk going forward: http://www.cgchannel.com/2014/10/autodesk-to-go-subscription-only-by-2016/ http://www.cgchannel.com/2014/10/autodesk-to-go-subscription...
- Arcanum-XIII 12y ago
  Autodesk is not a "nice" company to deal with - but well, The Foundry is not nicer with Modo/Mari for Indie, so well. Still, things seem to evolve at Autodesk's : Fusion 360 is a really nice industrial design modeler tool and it's free for... well, nearly everything that's not commercial, or starting startup. What I hope is that people will keep on realizing that in those space, the price is out of range for all amateurs - and that it cost them nothing to let them play with it. That's a luxury hardware tool maker envy us...
agumonkey 12y ago
Reminded me it's been a while since I've ... ah well, Houdini 14 has been released.
tomjen3 12y ago
Seriously though, what can Maya do that Blender can't?
- angersock 12y ago
  Have a decent user interface?
  - geoka9 12y ago
    Just curious, have you tried using blender at a more or less advanced level? It's like comparing Windows and a Unix system and saying that Unix doesn't have a decent user interface. I mean, once you start using blender extensively, you realize that blender makes your workflow faster than the mainstream CG packages.
    - angersock 12y ago
      Of the big CG packages, I've used both 3DS Max, Maya, and Blender--Max most of all. The gold standard for UI for me, though, is still Wings3D (based on Nendo). It has way better UV unwrapping support than anything else I've tried. It is as good as it is specifically because the functionality it aims at is quite limited. Sketchup gets an honorable mention for UI, but the scripting and geometry it makes is such garbage I can't recommend it.
  - dtf 12y ago
    Blender's a bit like a tiling window manager. If you don't get on with your keyboard you're not going to have much to say. It is however extremely efficient for those that do. What it's missing really is some of the universal, underlying data flow architecture that the likes of Maya and Houdini had from the start. But it's getting there.
    - geoka9 12y ago
      > some of the universal, underlying data flow architecture that the likes of Maya and Houdini had from the start Could you elaborate on that? I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "data flow" in the context of a CGI package.
bhouston 12y ago
Maya isn't free, but https://Clara.io https://Clara.io (which includes V-Ray cloud) is free. :)
- errantspark 12y ago
  Yeah but Maya is you know, production quality software. There's a reason people use $4000+ software suites. I'm sure Clara is lovely for people trying to whet their appetite for 3D modelling but it's unfair to present it as equivalent to a real 3D software suite. It makes me sad when people only ever have access to shitty tools and they don't realize what they could do with a bigger lever. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6725792 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6725792 <--- relevant comment
  - bhouston 12y ago
    What features did you feel were missing? We can likely add a couple of them in our new development cycle... Our teams previous software is widely used across the vfx industry and used on a likely majority of vfx heavy films released from Hollywood. But we are like google docs compared to microsoft word. Aiming to be good enough for most tasks but we will not replace Maya at the high end.
    - errantspark 12y ago
      I haven't actually used your software, I was only going off of the fact that you're in a browser, by virtue of which I could be reasonably confident in what I said in my post. I'd love to try a demo. I'm not calling into question your or your team's skill. I think that your browser based 3D package will likely serve as the entry point to 3D graphics for lots of people just like shitty shareware was for me in the 90's which is a really good thing. What does "good enough for most tasks" mean to you? I'm guessing by a hobbyist definition you're probably already there. I can't imagine an FX house or a game development studio using something like this for real work. I'd give you some useful input but I don't know how to bound the search space. I don't really understand what the point of the tool is from an optimization perspective. It doesn't look like you've got a business model in place? P.S. I see in your comment history that you wrote Krakatoa?? I thought that was Bobo Petrov?
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
ris 12y ago
"Free Unity, Unreal, Maya, Renderman..." All I hear is you listing a bunch of prisons.
fit2rule 12y ago
Creators have had it good with computers for a long time! Anyone remember Blue Moon Rendering Tools? BMRT was, at some point, better than Renderman .. prompting Pixar's lawyer brigade to go nuts and try to destroy it at some point .. so its kind of fun to see Pixar go full circle and come around to the free-for-artists way of things. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Moon_Rendering_Tools http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Moon_Rendering_Tools
- dvfjsdhgfv 12y ago
  Yeah, BMRT was great and it was really upsetting to see it destroyed by Pixar.
- dtf 12y ago
  Matt Pharr, a founding member of that Exluna/BMRT crew that Pixar sued, and also one of the authors of the seminal Physically Based Rendering book tweeted this about Pixar's announcement of the all new physically based Renderman: "First they try to sue you into oblivion, claiming it unimaginable that you wrote a renderer yourself without having stolen from theirs, and then 12 years later they write a new renderer with your ideas at the foundation. #theironyitburns" https://twitter.com/mattpharr/status/472392344646340608 https://twitter.com/mattpharr/status/472392344646340608 https://twitter.com/mattpharr/status/472392393342201856 https://twitter.com/mattpharr/status/472392393342201856

Free Unity, Unreal, Maya, Renderman... Creators these days have it so good!

by msie 12y ago

Free Unity, Unreal, Maya, Renderman... Creators these days have it so good!

Free Maya? Last I heard it was $20/month for LT, and that's the no-raytracer version for making game assets. Alternately, around $800 upfront for an already outdated copy of LT that's missing features like the Unreal Engine exporter. Because screw anybody who wants to buy software instead of renting it. EDIT: Maya LT costs $30/month and the "buy an outdated version" option is being terminated after this year. $20/month is the rate if you pay for a 1-year subscription upfront. The version with rendering is $185/month.

codazoda 12y ago
The buy page says it's $3,675. At first glance, free Renderman looks like it's going to cost a lot to actually use.
- wlesieutre 12y ago
  Yup, and perpetual licenses are going away next January. Full version of Maya will be $185/month or $1470/year. Ouch.
- berkut 12y ago
  Using Maya isn't the only way to use Renderman: * via Rib files (there used to be Blender exporters) * via the RI API * via Katana (not that that's free either, but...)
tfinniga 12y ago
I think student licenses of Maya are free. There used to be a PLE, but it looks like it's been discontinued.
- wlesieutre 12y ago
  Correct, most everything Autodesk is free for noncommercial student use. Assuming it's like AutoCAD, any file modified in an edu version gets a "PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT" watermark, and if you so much as import one line from that file to another, the watermark infects that other file as well. But mostly it's the .edu email address requirement that makes it a no-go for me.
  - msie 12y ago
    'The student version does not have watermarks and there are no other feature restrictions.' http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/maya-general/student-version-of-maya-2015/td-p/5411819 http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/maya-general/student-version-o... Get your 3 year free license here: http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/maya http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/maya I believe you don't need an .edu address, it's on the honour system.
    - wlesieutre 12y ago
      Eligibility requirements do say that you need to be faculty/student/mentor, but no idea if it's enforced. I'll have to try signing up with bogus info sometime and see if it works. > To join the Education Community, you must be one of the following: > Faculty Member - An individual person who is an employee or independent contractor working for an educational institution which has been accredited by an authorized governmental agency within its applicable local, state, provincial, federal, or national government and has the primary purpose of teaching its enrolled students. > Student - An individual person enrolled as a student at an educational institution which has been accredited by an authorized governmental agency within its applicable local, state, provincial, federal, or national government and has the primary purpose of teaching its enrolled students. > Autodesk-sponsored competition mentor or competitor - An Autodesk-sponsored design competition mentor is an individual who provides guidance, advice, coaching, or instruction to competitors engaged in competing in an Autodesk-sponsored design competition. A competitor is a student or other individual who is registered and accepted or otherwise approved by a design competition organizer as a competition participant. A list of Autodesk-sponsored competitions can be found at Design Competitions & Events.
geoka9 12y ago
> Because screw anybody who wants to buy software instead of renting it. Actually, this seems to be the official position of Autodesk going forward: http://www.cgchannel.com/2014/10/autodesk-to-go-subscription-only-by-2016/ http://www.cgchannel.com/2014/10/autodesk-to-go-subscription...
Arcanum-XIII 12y ago
Autodesk is not a "nice" company to deal with - but well, The Foundry is not nicer with Modo/Mari for Indie, so well. Still, things seem to evolve at Autodesk's : Fusion 360 is a really nice industrial design modeler tool and it's free for... well, nearly everything that's not commercial, or starting startup. What I hope is that people will keep on realizing that in those space, the price is out of range for all amateurs - and that it cost them nothing to let them play with it. That's a luxury hardware tool maker envy us...

agumonkey 12y ago

Reminded me it's been a while since I've ... ah well, Houdini 14 has been released.

tomjen3 12y ago

Seriously though, what can Maya do that Blender can't?

angersock 12y ago
Have a decent user interface?
- geoka9 12y ago
  Just curious, have you tried using blender at a more or less advanced level? It's like comparing Windows and a Unix system and saying that Unix doesn't have a decent user interface. I mean, once you start using blender extensively, you realize that blender makes your workflow faster than the mainstream CG packages.
  - angersock 12y ago
    Of the big CG packages, I've used both 3DS Max, Maya, and Blender--Max most of all. The gold standard for UI for me, though, is still Wings3D (based on Nendo). It has way better UV unwrapping support than anything else I've tried. It is as good as it is specifically because the functionality it aims at is quite limited. Sketchup gets an honorable mention for UI, but the scripting and geometry it makes is such garbage I can't recommend it.
- dtf 12y ago
  Blender's a bit like a tiling window manager. If you don't get on with your keyboard you're not going to have much to say. It is however extremely efficient for those that do. What it's missing really is some of the universal, underlying data flow architecture that the likes of Maya and Houdini had from the start. But it's getting there.
  - geoka9 12y ago
    > some of the universal, underlying data flow architecture that the likes of Maya and Houdini had from the start Could you elaborate on that? I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "data flow" in the context of a CGI package.

bhouston 12y ago

Maya isn't free, but https://Clara.io https://Clara.io (which includes V-Ray cloud) is free. :)

errantspark 12y ago
Yeah but Maya is you know, production quality software. There's a reason people use $4000+ software suites. I'm sure Clara is lovely for people trying to whet their appetite for 3D modelling but it's unfair to present it as equivalent to a real 3D software suite. It makes me sad when people only ever have access to shitty tools and they don't realize what they could do with a bigger lever. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6725792 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6725792 <--- relevant comment
- bhouston 12y ago
  What features did you feel were missing? We can likely add a couple of them in our new development cycle... Our teams previous software is widely used across the vfx industry and used on a likely majority of vfx heavy films released from Hollywood. But we are like google docs compared to microsoft word. Aiming to be good enough for most tasks but we will not replace Maya at the high end.
  - errantspark 12y ago
    I haven't actually used your software, I was only going off of the fact that you're in a browser, by virtue of which I could be reasonably confident in what I said in my post. I'd love to try a demo. I'm not calling into question your or your team's skill. I think that your browser based 3D package will likely serve as the entry point to 3D graphics for lots of people just like shitty shareware was for me in the 90's which is a really good thing. What does "good enough for most tasks" mean to you? I'm guessing by a hobbyist definition you're probably already there. I can't imagine an FX house or a game development studio using something like this for real work. I'd give you some useful input but I don't know how to bound the search space. I don't really understand what the point of the tool is from an optimization perspective. It doesn't look like you've got a business model in place? P.S. I see in your comment history that you wrote Krakatoa?? I thought that was Bobo Petrov?

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

ris 12y ago

"Free Unity, Unreal, Maya, Renderman..." All I hear is you listing a bunch of prisons.

fit2rule 12y ago

Creators have had it good with computers for a long time! Anyone remember Blue Moon Rendering Tools? BMRT was, at some point, better than Renderman .. prompting Pixar's lawyer brigade to go nuts and try to destroy it at some point .. so its kind of fun to see Pixar go full circle and come around to the free-for-artists way of things. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Moon_Rendering_Tools http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Moon_Rendering_Tools

dvfjsdhgfv 12y ago
Yeah, BMRT was great and it was really upsetting to see it destroyed by Pixar.
dtf 12y ago
Matt Pharr, a founding member of that Exluna/BMRT crew that Pixar sued, and also one of the authors of the seminal Physically Based Rendering book tweeted this about Pixar's announcement of the all new physically based Renderman: "First they try to sue you into oblivion, claiming it unimaginable that you wrote a renderer yourself without having stolen from theirs, and then 12 years later they write a new renderer with your ideas at the foundation. #theironyitburns" https://twitter.com/mattpharr/status/472392344646340608 https://twitter.com/mattpharr/status/472392344646340608 https://twitter.com/mattpharr/status/472392393342201856 https://twitter.com/mattpharr/status/472392393342201856