Maya for Free

[Deozaan]

Autodesk is offering a free Personal Learning Edition of it's 2D & 3D modeling/animation/rendering program called Maya. Go here for details:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=6902573

This company also owns 3DS Max and AutoCAD, so they've some experience with these types of programs. I haven't used it myself, but I've always liked dabbling in art programs. Hopefully it comes with some good tutorials.

[nudone]

it's certainly a great program but i think you get a watermark over your rendered images. if you can live with that then it's a bargain.

[Deozaan]

Yes, you do get a watermark over your images.

It is for personal learning and the EULA or ToS or whatever specifically say you can't use it for anything commercially, so a watermark isn't so bad if you follow along with their original plan for this: Simply to learn how to use the program.

[allen]

Watermark is better than nothing. I think if you get to the point where you are good enough with it to warrant sharing renders and the matermark is a deterrent, you might as well pay for it -- you can probably make the money back

[f0dder]

Watermark isn't bad, you can get experience with the free version... and then decide whether investing in the full version is something for you.

Btw, it still does object/scene save, right? Without watermarks, right? Not a bad choice for content, creation for 3d engines, then

[Carol Haynes]

Have you seen the prices !!

I downloaded it to see what it was like (and it looks VERY complicated). To buy the beginners pack of books costs $150 + $51 shipping in the US (£105 inc shipping in the UK - hey for once we get it cheaper) but seriously who is going to spand that much on manuals with no intention of spending £1500 on the software?

OK I know you don't need to buy the manuals and there is interesting stuff on the website, but what is the point of learning a really expensive bit of kit if you are never going to be able to produce anything useful?

If you look at the info in the help file it explains that not only are all backgrounds watermarked (otherwise known as completely plastered) but also all textures are watermarked too.

[tinyvillager]

Yeah,anything to do with 3d software is expensive as hell.Every couple of months or so i venture out on
the internet to find if there is cheap animation software and most are created for big studio type work
and are at least in the range of a 1000 bucks with add-on packs that cost a couple hundred bucks
and not to mention a learning curve that requires bible thick manuals if not college classes.I guess the
learning curve thing goes with the territory on any craft and it is craft.But i'd love to see some cheap
animation software.

One thing i have been looking at ac3d,it's like 60 bucks and looks impressive.
http://www.ac3d.org/index.html

And yeah i know there is blender http://www.blender3d.org/ ,but good lord that interface is like an
airplane cockpit.

[mukestar]

The biggest problem with the different modeling tools is that there is a big learning curve from moving from one app to the next, in fact i cant think of any other "craft" that has such a big jump between apps.

Anyhow, if you want to get your toes wet into the 3d modeling world (and maya wont be getting your toes wet, its jumping in with a brick tied to your leg) i recommend some of Daz3d products to get you used to the concept of 3d modeling and animation http://www.daz3d.com  . There carrera basic is brilliant.

[JavaJones]

Carrara is really a steal right now. For the stuff most hobbyist users will need it is a tremendous value and essentially rivals Maya, etc. for capability *in that market*. In other words you take Carrara's ease of use and accessability, and feature list and it compares quite favorably against the obviously more capable but also harder to use Maya and other such high-end apps. A lot of the greater capabilities of those apps also come with a large learning curve. And amusingly Carrara even includes a few things Maya doesn't - like an effective instancing system.

- Oshyan