Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Pricey Programs



Most 3d Animation software packages have a tradition of being outrageously expensive. Some of the priciest programs are: Maya, starting at $3,495.00; Softimage, a bit cheaper, only $2,995.00; Houdini takes the cake, starting at $2,595, annually, and that’s just for the base package! Student licenses however are very affordable; Autodesk (The developers of Maya, Softimage, and 3ds Max) offers a 13 month license for free!

What about the hobbyist that is not a student? Luckily, there are now some notable, free programs available: Blender 3d is the best out there, being both free and open source, providing tools that are in some cases better than the professional ones; Pixologic (The developers of Zbrush) offer a free sculpting program, Sculptris; Google provides a popular drafting tool for architecture called Sketchup. Although price might first scare the casual hobbyist, it is no longer a wall. 3d Animation is becoming widely available to anyone interested in the subject.

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