Big Thanks to Everyone!

[BuddyB309]

Originally Posted by Setsanto

Well, first of all, I downloaded Blender and was about to start getting annoyed about the UI, then finished reading your post. I do not agree at all with your post about pirating/bending licensing rules. Autodesk donates 5 copies of 3ds Max to 1500 teams. At $3500 for 10 lisences (whether you agree with the price or not) that is $2 625 000 they are donating to FIRST each year. I can understand where you are coming from, however, I do not agree with you at all.

An update: I talked to my shop teacher who is in charge of robotics, and who is pretty much animation's closes ally at my school. His answer, "Don't worry about it, they won't find out." Well, I am worrying about it. Any suggestions?

~Setsanto

Its $3500 for a commercial license for 3ds max, which your are good to make money off of it for the rest of your days. What autodesk gives FIRST is a student license and only good for a year. Which they sell for $145 for 14-month period.

You have to also think of it in economics terms from the company. Lets say you have two Kids.

Kid A is a small town highschool student that has a pirated copy of 3ds max and is using it for educational purposes. He makes small animations and puts them on the internet. He likes to surf the internet for tutorials so he can learn the program for next years competition. He works part time at a job so he has a little spending money.

Kid B also has a pirated copy of 3ds max, Kid B is getting calls from production companies contracting work out to him and is getting paid $1000 - $3000 each job. He is also making 3d animated shorts and posting them on his personal website that is gaining some popularity. He is now starting to sell T-shirts and is making a nice profit. He bought a new car with the money he has made off the copy of 3ds max.

If I was a company, I would be more interested in Kid B because if I take legal action against Kid B, I would be more likely to get the money to pay back the layers that I hired. The most I would do with Kid A would shoot him an email asking him if he would like to purchase a educational license of 3ds max 2008 for 50 cents a day so he could continue to pursue his educational goals.

I know we would all like to become Kid B someday, making animations and getting paid for it but I know most of you are not at that level. Most of you are Kid A's, Autodesk is not going to spend the time and money to prosecute all the millions of Kid A's running around. I don't even think it even crosses the minds of the employees. What they do care about are the Kid B's because kid B's are stealing $3500 from the company as oppose to $0.50 a day that the Kid A's are supposably taking.

I will repeat myself. When your pursuit is education, Let nothing stand in your way you will regret your choice in the future if you never take it.