Buy 3DSMax 2016 or rent it?
interpolator
I live in Europe and 3DSMax is 5000 euro's here for the Perpetual Licence, that's even more in dollars. It does not seem possible to buy 3DSMax in the United States (That would cost me about 4000 euro including VAT). I will also have to pay 800 euro for the maintenance license, to be able to keep upgrading.
So in total it costs 6000,- euro's and 800 euro's a year after that. But Autodesk could also easily (slowly) raise the rate of the maintenance license or stop entirely. The advantage is that I could always keep using the old version and not update for 3-5 years. This seems to be the last year where you can buy a Perpetual Licence of 3DSMax.
The same is true for the subscription version; this costs almost 2000,- euros a year (but is temporary on offer for almost 1700,-). (three years for 5000) Autodesk could at any point raise rates, and you are forced to pay. I will then not have the ability to fall back on the older version.
3DSMax seems to be slowly phased out in favor of Maya. How far along is that process in game studios at the moment? There are less and less new important features. Do you think that I could work with 3dsmax 2016/2017 for 5 years? What about plugin support, Virtual reality support etc? I just would like some opinions please. What should I do?
So in total it costs 6000,- euro's and 800 euro's a year after that. But Autodesk could also easily (slowly) raise the rate of the maintenance license or stop entirely. The advantage is that I could always keep using the old version and not update for 3-5 years. This seems to be the last year where you can buy a Perpetual Licence of 3DSMax.
The same is true for the subscription version; this costs almost 2000,- euros a year (but is temporary on offer for almost 1700,-). (three years for 5000) Autodesk could at any point raise rates, and you are forced to pay. I will then not have the ability to fall back on the older version.
3DSMax seems to be slowly phased out in favor of Maya. How far along is that process in game studios at the moment? There are less and less new important features. Do you think that I could work with 3dsmax 2016/2017 for 5 years? What about plugin support, Virtual reality support etc? I just would like some opinions please. What should I do?
Replies
Having that cross software versatility means you never need worry, can't afford a license? hop on blender, new studio uses maya? time to jump into maya mode, and I sincerely think it benefits your understanding as a whole.
A great artist will make great art no matter if they use blender, modo, max, maya or whatever else comes along, the fundamentals don't change.
having a perpetual license for one version of the software is important i think. i would not want to be stuck with having to rent the tool in order to even access my workfiles. if you use it for paid work, those 4000-something euros (subtract the taxes) and perhaps one or two years on subscription to get any relevant updates/extensions for that version isn't all THAT much really - for your core tool you're using day in and out. but then i think the same about cintiq's or a decent set of monitors with proper colors and there seem to be lots of people who disagree.
i think nowadays it's perfectly possible to use a version for years and years, just look at plugin support for popular max plugins. plenty of them go all the way back to 2011, sometimes further. however support of newly conceived plugins may vary greatly. still, with 2016 you should be good for a few years. and no, there are likely no really big new feature additions anymore in this software's life-cycle that will truly matter for games work. at best it will be some plugin they buy and integrate and then take a few years to iron the bugs out.
one question remaining that i have no answer for is - is the 2016 version actually a keeper you'd want to work with? only once every few years in a full moon they seem to release one like that.
I am heavily invested in 3dsmax. 10 years experience, I do everything with hotkeys and I have a lot of script I have written myself. I mean a lot maybe 30.000+ Lines of code.
occultmonk:
seems you are mostly on the modelling-side? you could have a look at blender if you want to explore options. i have about 14 years of max experience and before that really got into it with nendo/mirai and find blender to be actually a better polymodeller than both with a nicer/more customizable workflow. less random stability issues, too here. very expandable as well. takes a while and some python to bend it to your needs though.
cool stuff on your flickr, btw!
I think if i was going to do a few years of contract work, then yes, buying it will save you money in the end.
If I were to do it over again, I would say I would use Blender. Free. Its getting pretty freakin close to 3dmax quality level and ease of modeling. That or Modo. Either way, how much are you going to make with the program vs how much your saving buy renting? Thats the bigger question.
Well I have been looking into Modo. I like the Meshfusion tools. For modeling it is ok, but not better than a highly customized version of 3DSMax. One main problem with modo is the lack of modifiers.
I have customized my 3DSMax to the point where I could not work with the unmodified version at all. I am not only talking about hotkeys, but all the scripts I have build to work around 3DSMax shortcomings. I would never do that again. But got more and more invested, and changing to an other program would be a waste for me. So I will probably keep using max as my core application and use Modo for newer functions like Meshfusion.
Why would you prefer blender over Modo? Modo is commercial and a lot better I think. I installed Blender once and did not really like it.
modo is commercial (is that a bonus?) but has been bought out not all that long ago by a company which itself was then up for sale recently if memory serves. given the fate of e.g. softimage or nothingreal, does that sound all that promising? also, rental might just catch on enough for them to also consider it within the next few years?
I've seen zillions of bullshit about "industry standard"... Blender is becoming an industry standard .. almost all my friends switched to Blender, and a lot of studious adopted it for many many reasons.