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Alias Releases Maya PLE 6
Renderhead writes "Alias has released the free Personal Learning Edition of their Academy Award winning Maya software. This limited version of Maya Complete allows students, hobbyists, and professionals to learn and evaluate the $2,000(US) tool absolutely free. The catch: all rendered output will be imprinted with a 'Maya Personal Learning Edition' watermark. Although Maya version 6 has been out for some time now, the Personal Learning Edition was only available for version 5 until now."
Available for Maya 6 on the Windows® 2000/XP Professional and Mac® OS X operating systems.
When last I contacted them they refused to believe you might want to learn their product on Linux and thus if you want Maya on Linux be prepared to shell out the $$...
*BIG*No No No`s.
from the site: "Available for Maya 6 on the Windows® 2000/XP Professional and Mac® OS X operating systems."
and here's some onfirmation too...
Then Blender has to do, for 'US' ... I guess ....
I don't claim I know more than I know, and if you know you know more than I know, then by all means, let me know.
ye`... coz we lik' lootin', ay' Captin'?
I don't claim I know more than I know, and if you know you know more than I know, then by all means, let me know.
Is that clear?
"download 3D Studio Max and get the keygen from astalivista.box.sk (search for 3D Studio Max). Done and done, with full character studio too."
That's kind of like learning Java so you can be a C programmer. There's some overlap, but if it's a career you're aiming for, it's not the most direct route.
Just as a side note, if ya go about it that way and join some of the common art forums like CGTalk, don't bring up piracy. They are overy sensitive to the topic despite the fact that nearly every 3D artist out there has a cracker to thank. Bringing up keygens in those places is like saying something nice about Microsoft here.
"Derp de derp."
"Then Blender has to do, for 'US' ... I guess ...."
Blender != Maya. If you're just interested in tinkering with it, then that's a fine solution. If you're actually interested in developing a career, then you're far better off just dual booting into Windows and running Maya PLE. Frankly, the OS doesn't matter a whole hell of a lot when doing this stuff for a living. It's the wrong place to cross your arms and say "It's Linux or nothin!"
"Derp de derp."
As a Maya user since version 3.5, the latest 6.0 release is dissappointing, mainly because it seems to be more of a PR release than a real finished release. If you are unaware, SGI recently sold AliasWavefront to a holding company who'll likely sell it to another company sometime in the future. Shortly after this holding company aquired AW, they released Maya 6.0 (previous version was 5.01) breaking their tradition of using the .5 release (in this case 5.5) for bug fixes & general feature additions.
Maya right now is in the position to either solidify their market hold (which is pretty good) or lose it to its competitors, 3D Studio Max and SoftImage XSI. As of right now there are many low level issues (not quite bugs) such as the export/import skin weighting being broken, a debatable method of storing vertice information which makes it difficult to correct these issues yourself, built in IK-FK blending is broken, and so on. In addition they changed the documentation around (like they do w/ every new release), only this time they altered it to the way it was catagorized during v4.0/4.5 which IMO (and to most people I've talked to) is inferior to the interface in 5.
This doesn't mean Maya is bad but youd think that the company would fix these issues which have existed since (in many cases) since the first version. While I think the ocean generator is awesome, the new hardware rendering tools very useful, as well as the inclusion of the built-in Mental Ray render engine, and so on, a higher priority should be attached to these baseline issues which affect Maya often on the lowest level. I hope Maya 6.5 offers some solutions to these issues and we don't get another PR release. If AW does this again for a v7 release, I think they can expect to start losing users as these are the most basic of issues.
"What can a thoughtful man hope for mankind on Earth, given the experience of the past million years? Nothing." -Bokonon
Neither did you click "Post Anonymously".
why hide behind my opinion? I had no claim of downloading said software, only offered an alternative. :P
No I didnt spell check this post...
I can't stand to use Maya PLE because that watermark also appears in the smooth-shaded window as well! Annoying as hell to work with.
If the watermark was just on rendered output then I'd be fine with it but having it right in the perspective window? Hate it. Won't use it.
For those of us that can't afford to buy Maya (and no time to try), what does Maya do that Blender doesn't?
Does this mean that a graphics/animation shop can run this for free on all their development machines, then just have a single server dedicated to the final rendering?
I wonder if this is why the watermark is in some of the work windows, it make it too annoying to do this?
Arguably, it depends on *what* you want to learn.
If you're new to 3D, then Maya PLE is actually a horrible choice. Nothing will turn you off faster than not being able to produce something you can use. You need the rewards of getting your first render and showing it off, using it for wallpaper, etc. when learning.
Maya PLE is really for *learning Maya* - not learning 3D. Once you know that 3D is for you, and you know what modeling/rendering are and the different types - then PLE is good for learning how things are done specifically in Maya so that you can have skills on the software you'll likely use in your career.
--
However if someone hasn't ever done 3D and wants to learn it from the ground up, then starting with Blender isn't a bad thing as they're not out a bundle of cash if things don't work out, and while they learn, they can actually use the product to produce things.
(I find it's often easiest to learn when I have to actually produce output I need)
i never got that.
why cant the industry just realize the only reason 3D artists exist is due to piracy.
go talk honestly with any of the animators from EVERY studio
they will all admit it, from disney to ILM.
they hang out in 3dwarez channels and pirate the shit out of everything. They use legit copies at work, but they are learning to make themselves good.
Hmm yeah I see what you're saying. You got some strong points I needta chew on.
Wish I had something more insightful to say, but I figured it's worth a karma hit to let you know I'm listening to what you said.
"Derp de derp."
Odd that this is in the "developers" section? You can't actually develop anything for Alias PLE, because it doesn't have the OpenMaya API.
sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
Parent is a moron. Things like Maya PLE and Houdini Apprentice are designed SPECIFICALLY so you can learn 3d without shelling out assloads of cash. Sorry dude, learning Blender isn't going to help when it comes time to play with the big boys. You know how programmers say that BASIC does more harm than good for teaching programming? Blender is the exact same. Open Source or not, it sucks balls compared to REAL high-end 3d programs. I like Blender, I want it to succeed, but if you have aspirations of being a CG artist, it is the worst possible place to start... okay, it's better than trueSpace at least.
'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
They're sick of hearing about it, that's why. You used to have thirty fucking posts a day from dipshits too fucking stupid to use Google looking for warez. It gets old, FAST. Nobody, even those within the industry, gives a shit about people using warez. No matter how much discreet and Alias might talk about piracy, it's all bullshit. They both sell a product that starts in the mid four-digit category. They know that people who buy their software will buy it, whatever the cost. One reason Gmax and PLE were created to defray some of the piracy, and they've been successful at that to some extent.
'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
filed under "M"
However for doing professional CG, Blender will not help you, because nobody uses it (I mean studios, not enthusiasts), there is very little 3rd-party market for plugins, no export/import tools for industry standard files (which are Max and Maya ones), no support for commercial content production pipelines (CG production *does not* start and end with Maya or Max work! There is plenty of stuff involved around) etc.
Maya PLE is nice, if you want to learn Maya, but for nothing else. You cannot use the expertise with another software, because it works differently. The program is crippled, so you cannot really use it for anything except learning how to use the interface and how to use the modeling tools. As a personal training tool for designers aspiring for job at a studio using Maya it could be useful, but not for anything else.
Actually, if you are a student or a school, Alias has a special licensing program, where you can get a full Maya for free, if you are eligible. It is restricted by a special annually renewed license, for which you have to submit some projects you do with it/did with it + some paperwork, however it beats the crap out of the PLE edition. And it is available for Linux as well, unlike the PLE, which is only for Mac and Windows. However installing the thing on Linux is not fun - I tried to do it and it is really hair-pulling, head-banging experience - undocumented, buggy as hell, basically 1:1 converted IRIX installation to Linux. Forget about some rpms or such. Uses FlexLM from GlobeTrotter for license management, so it is a lot of fun.
However, what it lacks in raw features can be made up for with patience, and a little bit of manual work, for a LOT lower cost to provide the same results. It might take some actual talent on your part, as the 'main-stream' tools do a lot more of the grunt work for you, but it can do the job.
While I do agree we have a ways to go before we can be considered 'mainstream professional', it is useful today for many professional tasks.. its not just for the hobbyist anymore.
Since you asked, there are scripts/plug-in for import/export, hair, skinning, production quality farm rendering, etc...
I suggest you take a more objective look at the current blender before you toss out a high and mighty ' its not in the same league so its crap' sort of judgment...
---- Booth was a patriot ----
That is such total bullshit. I've seen excellent work from amateurs using animation master, blender, truespace and countless other packages that you would not regard as being "REAL". Talented people can be trained to use high-end 3d apps, the converse does not hold, learning a high end 3D app doesn't make someone talented.
I can't stand all the bullshit about blender thrown by the average slashdoter. Blender is NOT maya. Blender is NOT aimed to the movie business. Blender is not BLOATED with all PR features maya does.
Enough ranting. I'm using Maya for the past 4 years. I'm using Blender for the past month. I guess I'll switch completely to Blender since it does *ALL* the average modeller will need.
I'm really interested in knowing, do all these people ranting with pro-maya messages ever used Maya? Or maybe have they used both Programs? The modelling features of maya are ALL the average modeller will need. I can't undestand why some people say things like that even to people that are about to learn how to program simple models for their 3d games. Not only blender is enough for that, but its capabilities with meshes are far superior from other programs (maybe because it bases lots of its wotk on meshes not on features others have). Animation is really something on maya that is done better of course.
what a load of crap. maya is to create shrek, blender is to create stupid little games. the only common part is modelling! And yes, blender is doing perfectly, in a 2mbyte binary, and in GPL.
Why would you use maya to just model?!
However installing the thing on Linux is not fun - I tried to do it and it is really hair-pulling, head-banging experience - undocumented, buggy as hell, basically 1:1 converted IRIX installation to Linux. Forget about some rpms or such. Uses FlexLM from GlobeTrotter for license management, so it is a lot of fun.
This is not true anymore. Alias has been providing RPMs for Maya and the licensing tools since at least Maya 4.5 (may have been seeded beta stuff, but still). Maya 6 is one of the easiest software installs I've ever done. They have hardware and software recommendations as well, and if you abide by these, it's very much a no-brainer "this works on Linux just like it works on Windows" setup. I run an old IRIX FlexLM server for licensing and around 70 Linux clients.
Maya 5 did indeed have some bugs running under unsupported operating systems (anything later than Red Hat 8) but that's to be expected. I got an almost completely usable software package that ran much faster than the old O2s by tweaking my Red Hat 9 system a bit. That's what I get paid to do - making software work for our users.
Maya 6 fixes all of the issues that I (or any of the users) saw with the old version. If you're running Maya 5 on Linux and can afford to upgrade, do so immediately - the stability improvements and the fact that you don't have to tweak your system at all are worth it.
In Windows, is would be much easier to bury things in the registry and in general make it tougher for the statistically less-adept user to unlock.
As a parallel example, how easy would it be to re-create the C-DILLA auth crap (and actually make it stick) for 3DS Max, on a Linux box?
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?