I have an opportunity to buy an autodesk product at a very reduced price, need help.

redcap

I work a lot in Blender, and it has filled most of my needs, but it isn't universally used in the industry and that has hurt me. Well, as of late, I have been given the opportunity to buy either 3ds Max or Maya  for very cheap. I just need your professional opinions on whether or not I should, and maybe what product to choose (I have read a lot about that and it seems like it is mostly preference).

My fears
1)I will select the wrong product. 3ds max vs Maya
2)It will still cost me about $500 and I can do almost everything I need in Blender already, am I waisting my money?
3) As 3ds Max or Maya grow and evolve I will have an outdated version, and I really won't be able to upgrade to a new version because of price. Or do they give free updates like zBrush (I doubt it).

So are my fears well founded? What would you do if you were in my position? 

My situation is I am a math teacher that does freelance work in the summer and odd times throughout the school year. I focuse mostly on character art so I do sculpting and texturing in zBrush and substance Painter mostly.  Animations in Blender are easy enough, but exporting to the right file format can be problematic. 

Thanks.

RobeOmega

I know this may not be the answer you are looking for but you could Try MODO. MODO is being picked up by more and more artists in the games industry if what I see on Polycount is indicative of anything. It is also much cheaper than the full price of 3DS Max or Maya and has quite cheap upgrades that are actually substantial or useful on a regular basis (my personal opinion at least.) It has a 30 day trial so that you can see if you like it or alternatively you could use MODO Indie that has lower prices but a few features removed e.g. scripts and can be purchased for £230 or your regional equivalent or rented for a even smaller amount per month £11-7 or your regional equivilent in case you decide a few months later down the line that the software is not for you (which avoids investing several hundred pounds/dollars into full version of 3DS Max/Maya/MODO only not to use it a few months later.) I am not sure if this extends to MODO Indie but I know with MODO full version you can use your copy at work and at home as long as they are not on at the same time which will mean that your studio will not have to shell out more money for new employees wanting to use different software, although this depends on their pipeline requirements sometimes.

Again this is based on personal experiences and preferences and I am currently a Blender user looking to move to being a MODO user for the most part while learning and using Maya as this is a requirement for my University when September rolls around. I suppose at the end of the day you can to look at how much being a Blender user is hurting you even if you can do almost everything you need against how much it would cost in both time and money to move to a new piece of software. Again sorry if this is not the kind of answer you were looking for but I thought I would give my personal opinion on the matter for you this regard/disregard.

Eric Chadwick

The $500 will surely be a waste of your money, because you most likely won't get a legal product. AFAIK the only way to purchase Autodesk software is through an authorized reseller. If you buy directly from another owner, you won't be able to run it without registering online, and for that to work Autodesk has to have your name and license in their system, as the original purchaser. 

But anyhow, as an educator you can use Maya/Max for free. However if you want to use it for paid work, then you need a paid version.

redcap

Thanks for the replies. Always worried about the legal issues as well so if it is illegal it is a 100% no deal. 

oglu

if you get an autodesk product that cheap you still need a reseller go make the license deal with autodesk.
and most of the time you will get that lic only if you buy and subscription for the next years.