Autodesk announced that it is making its software available for free to students, teachers and educational institutions around the world. According to the MaxStation blog and Autodesk’s Shaan Hurley, the company previously offered free access in some countries, but not others, and the software was available free to students, but in many cases not to the schools themselves. These restrictions have now been lifted. More on the MaxStation blog, Shaan Hurley’s blog and Autodesk’s website.
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It’s been free for ages for those groups, what are they talking about?
This is a try to deviate the attention from the change to the rental model only…
“and the software was available free to students, but in many cases not to the schools themselves. These restrictions have now been lifted.”
It is now free for schools. Previously, the school had to pay for lab copies of the software.
Getting professional apps into the hands of students without jumping through hoops or incurring costs is a great move.
ok, understood, anyways… with the recent news will you recommend to students Autodesk software?
I still have to know the details, but if it’s only renting I don’t see future on this 😛
Cheers.
This is great news and awesome to hear!
I wouldn’t recommend max at this point… Development still has no TANGIBLE signs that they really are going to do something with it, and the pricing/rental model is disappointing…. If anything I would tell them to learn something else rather than learning something that may be an insane combination of simultaneously overpriced and dead
It’s improving. What worries me is how are the plugins developers behave once the rental begins. Will they follow? Will it be some sort of middle ground for pricing?
The entry point for Max may be cheaper with rental, but Max without plugins is what? At least in Maya, even without plugins, you could still do some FX out-of-the-box.
People who might be aware of more that is going on have said that, but it’s still just words right now.
I think the plugin aspects of Max completely collapse when you go heavy into the rental. It’s stupid – – it’s like buying new floor mats and a new stereo for a RENTAL CAR. You’re paying to enhance something that is temporary.
Why would I buy into a software package where many of the critical elements – – some of the things that are the only thing keeping it alive in real studios – must be provided by other products, when the package itself is not mine?
The only way this might be slightly less stupid is if the 3rd parties also go rental – – NOT what I am wanting, I should clarify. But why would I pay for a $1000+ renderer for a package that I am renting for three months?
It just seems doubly stupid when you look at what Sidefx gives you for $200. (granted, you are limited in rendering, but you have all this functionality that Autodesk has just not even bothered to try putting into Max).
Agree with everything you said. The day Houdini gets a modeling more proper or similar to what XSI had and I doubt I’ll ever use Max again.
Jim, if I could be as proficient in Houdini as I am in Max, I would love that. I would definitely tell people starting now to focus on Houdini. But, I feel like Max is just more intuitive…but anyways…. Your rental car comparison.
I can see where you’re coming from 100%. But I think for facilities(especially VFX) that can/do sit empty for months on end, that is actually a godsend. They will own the plugin licenses, and can scale as needed. Clearly, for the hobbiest individual it may not be ideal.
I don’t know, I’m trying to stay optimistic. I keep bringing up Adobe, but I think it’s because at one point they were very much like Autodesk. They were horrible with their users/community. Now, they are almost begging for users to request things to implement and fix.
There are 2 things I have taken notice of regarding Max over the past year:
1. It wasn’t too long ago that they changed the developers(again), so it wasn’t going to be an overnight change. They have to start somewhere. For all any of us know, the code could have been held together by 100% hacks. I’m not saying it excuses years of stagnation, but realistically and logically what do you want? Do you want new features, or do you want Max to be overhauled from the ground up?
2. Autodesk is not the first or the last to go rental/subscription. I know it sucks to not have other options. But it’s the future. If done right too, it goes back to my #1. They can both refine and innovate at the same time. As a user I feel like the choice is to either buy a stagnant version of Max, or invest in Max rental and get a fluid superior tool…or if I don’t like either, I jump ship. 🙂
@Joker Martini
as much as I like to buy your scripts and plugins…you are in denial.
ADSK is too depressing..