Rant TIME!
Why do developers put out so much crap software? Every year it's the same old crap with the same old bugs. This isn't just in this field, in music production same thing - Sonar 8 this year, next year another version, year after that another version and so on and it's never a major improvement and always has the same old problems.
Why can't these guys STAY IN THE LAB a little longer and come out with something more solid? Look at the video game console market - they only put out a system once a year and they were all solid. Today we must wait longer cause they want to put out something mind blowing the next time instead of simply adding another hole to plug something in and expecting us to flock to the stores.
What I'm saying is people will continue to buy what's current if it's GOOD. Guess money hungry corporations have these guys putting out "3DS Max 2009, 3DS Max 2010, 3DS Max.." so on every year with little stability improvements and a few extra decals. What is this the car business?
It would just be much better if they stayed in front of the drawing board and came up with something worth putting out instead of small updates added to the same old hunk o junk.
Some of these software can't even handle their own features and crash if you click a button. They could take the time to make it more solid. Or is that all part of the marketing scheme? ("Maybe the latest version is better. I need to buy it ASAP!")
As soon as you start learning Turbo 3D Creator 3, Turbo 3D Creator 4 is out. And before you can pop the disc into your DVD RAM drive Turbo 3D Creator 5 hits the store shelves. Ah. Now you're becoming good! but before you can master anything they put out Turbo 3D Creator 2000-whatevr and what are you supposed to do? Throw away the old one? Unbelievable. W. T. F. WAIT A COUPLE YEARS AND LET THE CHILD ENJOY THE TOY
(oh don't bother searching for "turbo 3d creator" I totally made that up...)
Edit about the video game console market I meant to say they put out a system once every FIVE years not one.
Why can't these guys STAY IN THE LAB a little longer and come out with something more solid? Look at the video game console market - they only put out a system once a year and they were all solid. Today we must wait longer cause they want to put out something mind blowing the next time instead of simply adding another hole to plug something in and expecting us to flock to the stores.
What I'm saying is people will continue to buy what's current if it's GOOD. Guess money hungry corporations have these guys putting out "3DS Max 2009, 3DS Max 2010, 3DS Max.." so on every year with little stability improvements and a few extra decals. What is this the car business?
It would just be much better if they stayed in front of the drawing board and came up with something worth putting out instead of small updates added to the same old hunk o junk.
Some of these software can't even handle their own features and crash if you click a button. They could take the time to make it more solid. Or is that all part of the marketing scheme? ("Maybe the latest version is better. I need to buy it ASAP!")
As soon as you start learning Turbo 3D Creator 3, Turbo 3D Creator 4 is out. And before you can pop the disc into your DVD RAM drive Turbo 3D Creator 5 hits the store shelves. Ah. Now you're becoming good! but before you can master anything they put out Turbo 3D Creator 2000-whatevr and what are you supposed to do? Throw away the old one? Unbelievable. W. T. F. WAIT A COUPLE YEARS AND LET THE CHILD ENJOY THE TOY
(oh don't bother searching for "turbo 3d creator" I totally made that up...)
Edit about the video game console market I meant to say they put out a system once every FIVE years not one.
Replies
In the studios I've been working in they've had 1-2 versions of their 3d-modeling software during 3 years of production. It's usually hassle to update all their own tools and shaders etc etc.
You don't have to buy the new version unless there's something you need. For example, I don't plan on getting Windows 8 for my home machine because Windows 7 does everything I need it to.
If what you have does everything you need - why shake the jello?
EDIT : We typically let a few people use a new version of something for a little while and if they can work without issues, then it's rolled out to the rest of the company. It's the only safe way to do it if you're on a schedule, as pretty much everyone is.
Microsoft itself used to take their time - Windows 95, 98, then 2000. 95 and 98 were solid cause they were at the drawing boards for a while. Heck 95 was a revolution, but they started to misstep with annual quick releases (ME, Vista) but now they're doing good.
Just wish Autodesk would cut the crap
My advice is to not get the new versions if they do not interest you. The less people purchasing the the annual releases the less incentive to release the products so quickly. Supply and demand. Right now they are filling a market demand and will keep fulfilling it as long as the market will bear.
i only upgraded from photoshop cs2 to cs5 last year, and did the same with maya 2009 when i upgraded to 2012 last year, and the only reason why i upgraded maya was because i was getting into python scripting, and wanted a recent version so i can test on.
hell even in cases where i got a newer version installed i don't even use it, like i got maya 2013(student) installed beside my full 2012 license so i can test scripts, so it only ever gets fired up every few weeks while i use 2012 and 2009 daily.
just because autodesk, adobe, avid or what ever is trying to use this business model, dost mean you need to support them in it.
also to show you some extreams, iv done some work in music and post production for film, and most studios around here are still on pro tools 6 or cubase/nuendo 3sx, which are getting pretty dated now, but no one has seen a reason to move yet so they haven't, simple as that.
the only real downside comes with collaboration between multiple studios, or studios and freelancers that all use differing versions.
Like everyone is saying, if you don't NEED it, don't BUY it. I mean I still use an old iPhone 3GS(right before the 4 came out) and bought it super cheap and it stiill works fine. And I still use Maya 2011 too because 2012 and 13 are waaaaaayyyy too buggy and crash prone
Not to mention, you need to be subscribed and pay full sub-fee all year around, instead of Adobes more charitable 'plan', where you're not paying thousands at the end of the year.
On the other hand, I don't ever sees Cars, Phones, or anything else 'forcing' you pay to save money. If your phone of 5 years breaks, you get a new one, if your cars insurance goes up, and it becomes a cash-sink to keep it safe, you get a new one, the consumer has the choice in this case, it's their problem if they act like pillocks.
Unity is another example, if you upgrade to 4, there is a hefty price tag to pay all around, from the U4 itself to the plugins and such.
Lets face it, the game industry is kinda trying to actively screw it's consumers through it's own software. Other then Pilgway, Pixologic, Blender Found. in terms of big names, everyone else is trying to force you into a 'update now or pay more' scheme down the line. Maybe if more people spend time 'updating' their software like Pixo does for example, with an nice side-plate of Mac versions, always guaranteeing that they sell a copy, maybe they wouldn't be in this mess, buy hey, I guess discount forced upgrades is the best solution isn't it?