Software shopping list?

JZtheDragon

I did a little modeling in some college courses but now my Maya/Max licenses have lapsed. The sticker prices are quite high to pick up for personal use... is there a cost effective way of getting back into 3D? I want to model, animate and ship with Unity. What would a minimum cost solution look like for that?

JedTheKrampus

http://www.blender.org/

JZtheDragon

Oh hell yeah; didn't know there's free software that had what I needed. Liking the looks of blender. Thanks!

EmAr

Yeah, Blender is great. If you end up not using it, you can also try Modo indie and Maya LT.

JZtheDragon

EmAr wrote: »

Yeah, Blender is great. If you end up not using it, you can also try Modo indie and Maya LT.

Also good to know; I'm already accustomed to Maya.

JZtheDragon

So I found from cgcookie's tuts that I can just imitate Maya's interface. Really cool feature. Ironically enough, blender's default is kind of growing on me now that I sit and learn it. Also cool that Maya LT is 30/mo, more than reasonable. That'll be my backup plan.

Equanim

If nothing else, Blender is great to have as a glue program to make up for features that others lack. I use Maya LT because I know the software really well, it's what the industry uses, and I wont have issues porting assets into a game engine. However, if I want to make something that isn't game related, like a motion graphics piece or still render that doesn't need to be real time, Blender's my next stop. (Or Marmoset Toolbag 2)

Blender also tends to be more widely supported by modding communities.

[Deleted User]

If you are brave enough, you can go with Houdini Indie (200$ for year) https://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=244&Itemid=399 which contains plugin for Unity https://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2739&Itemid=381 that allows to create tools that you can use directly in Unity.

JZtheDragon

mantragora wrote: »

If you are brave enough, you can go with Houdini Indie (200$ for year) https://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=244&Itemid=399 which contains plugin for Unity https://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2739&Itemid=381 that allows to create tools that you can use directly in Unity.

Cheaper than Maya LT's 30/mo. Not that bad, really.