Donated software?

[Mahalis]

I know it's generally frowned-upon to use software other than 3ds in making the AVA entry, since teams with fancier software may have an advantage over others - but is that a problem if our team received the software as a donation rather than, say, buying it for ourselves? Specifically, Maxon gave us a few licenses of Cinema 4D with all the fixin's, most of the animation team is a lot more familiar with that than with 3ds, and since Autodesk hasn't gotten around to banning other stuff (besides Maya) yet, we'd really like to use C4D if at all possible. :D

[Mike Schroeder]

9.6.3.2.3 Technical Execution (Maximum: 30 points)
Distinction in the application of Autodesk software.
Measured in terms of:
how skillfully your team uses 3ds max and other Autodesk products to create a technically impressive
animation.
Some examples of technical applications are modeling, materials application, lighting,
camera motion and angles, sound effects, texture mapping, color, special FX, character animation, editing
technique. In addition to using the features of 3ds max, judges will review how well you have incorporated
elements such as voice-over, music, photography, or live video into the animation.


I would ask the Q&A but judging by this i would say no

[Nimmy]

9.6.3.1 says "must have been created using 3ds max software, any version"

it says Maya isn't allowed specifically probably due to prior years of teams using it
if you do use a diffrent program my guess is you MIGHT (probably not) get away with it but the next year they'll just make a list of all softwares, or in other words, longer PDF's=more for us to read (weepee!)

[Kevin Thorp]

Probably the reason Autodesk specifically mentioned Maya was because they bought Alias, the creators of Maya.

Some teams might (incorrectly) assume that because it's now owned by the same company Maya was okay to use for AVA entries.