Indie game dev looking to pirate Maya, need advice

>>534659
You won't make it.

use pirated until you can afford Maya LT, then move to that to publish.

>>534662

The Maya LT idea is fantastic. I'm ashamed not to have thought of it earlier. Thanks a lot!!

I'll grab the Maya LT monthly subscription for a few months around the time I publish the game. I'll check out if it's legal to use assets once the sub has been paused/discontinued ...

>>534663
>I'll check out if it's legal to use assets once the sub has been paused/discontinued ...

it is.

>>534659
There are quite a few indie developers that do this. Hell, even published games sometimes use pirated software. Autodesk knows people pirate their software but almost always to never go after people who don't make money off their software. They use a copyright company to take care of those who make money on their software (pirated), but you should be fine until it's time for release. By release I highly suggest buying a FULL version of Maya, perhaps through kickstarter or something along those lines. With Maya LT it is monthly subscription based and as such the company who works for Autodesk on copyrights could go after you and actually win. If you buy a full license though, I 100% guarantee you, you could never find yourself in that predicament.

This all being said Maya LT could work, but I am just pointing out that you might not be 100% guaranteed no chase. Do note though there are many who pirate Autodesk software and make money without buying a real copy. With a full permanent license all these might ifs will be avoided, and I only bring this issue up because people have been sued and lost the case against Autodesk (albeit the company that handles all of their legal). Wish you good luck anon, just food for thought.

>>534665

Thanks for your thoughts brother. If I understand you correctly, I could possibly get in trouble since the Maya LT and Full Maya licenses would differ correct?

I'm also wondering ... how DO these people get caught in the first place? Is there some metadata in the fbx files or in the game assets somewhere? Since I'm a one-man setup, I suppose it would be difficult to figure out which softwares I'm using ...

>>534667
Maybe not differ per say legally, but you're a pirate my friend. Either way Autodesk has a chance at proving you didn't make those assets legally, but a 100% legit copy before releasing would be 100% tribute to the companies product you used to make your game. Like I said, you have an okay chance of just not being caught, regardless if you buy a subscription or a legal copy. Some pirates just get away with it. But it has been known quite well that if you start making decent money using their products, Autodesk likes to chase those individuals (at least the company that supports them legally).

So to be clear, the licenses themselves do not really differ except time length. However, this is only legally. There are tons of other developers such as yourself that pirated to hell and back to create their products. Most of these individuals once they created a final product bought a real license to pay tribute, or bought the license afterwards they made money with their product. Not all, but most. It's obviously better to just have a legal license than sail the waves of the internet waving a skull and crossbones flag over you for the rest of your commercial career.

And there are several ways to track whether you are using a pirated version of a program, though I do not know what Autodesk has. I just know that they have paid specialists to help them with security. You won't face any problems before release, and there is a decent chance you wouldn't face problems after. But it is not 100% if you do not buy a full license. If your game is truly good it will sell decently, so is it not fair to just pay for a real copy after you make a nice sum of money to have a legal copy to pursue game development with?

Fair? Definitely fair to pay for a legit copy once I start earning. Autodesk has also taken a huge step in introducing a (sort of) reasonable substitute in Maya LT. It's a great move, and worth supporting.

The full subscription is beyond me, unless I have a successful game. I'll subscribe for one year of Maya LT to try and cover my ass ...

Here's the thing, if I earn a decent sum (let's be honest, I'm new to this and have a ton of obstacles, especially talent and visibility), I'll definitely pay for the full license as well.

I'm thinking, it would be good to pirate Maya LT for now. And pay its annual fees before I publish the game.

Thanks for helping me ...

>>534669
Before you go my friend, you would be a-okay pirating for the rest of your 3D career if you never make any decent money. You could release terrible game after terrible game making pennies and they wouldn't go after you. It's only after you make reasonable money that you become a target. If you plan on purchasing LT to cover your ass, instead just pirate the entirety of it and then pay it back through your decent sums. I'm talking less than 10,000 earned is when you buy a full license by the way. Otherwise let's say you quit the idea on making a game in the near future, and that only hurts your pocket, not theirs. It's not a huge deal as long as you buy the full license after relative success, and it seems you already made your mind up about doing that which I am glad to hear.

Have a nice day anon.

>>534670

That's good advice. You've been quite helpful ... have a good week.

I've learned much my friends

>>534659
better animation tools??? how are people this dumb to be so opinionated with zero experience.
asset pipeline??? Nigga you got zero experience the fuck you care about pipeline. everything supports .DAE .FBX .OBJ you dont pick a tool based on that shit.
pick wtv the fuck you want just know that you dont even know enough to have an opinion yet.
Ask for opinions dont give your own, its hurts my head.
And as a dev i urge you not to try to publish your first game. Learn by making fangames or adaptations. You wont even be able to design good gameplay on its own let alone do it while you learn EVERYTHING involving 3d. And if you are saying this with no coding experience just kys..
jk but really if you dont know how to code either you need to get the fuck out of these waste of time boards and do some actual fucking work, maya wont make you great even if it were great

pirate maya but process all of your assets through blender.

>pirating maya
Just sign up for the student edition.
It's a legitimately acquired full copy of maya. Just pick a community college near you or something when you're signing up.

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>>534692
>better animation tools??? how are people this dumb to be so opinionated with zero experience.

MAYA HAS BEEN INDUSTRY STANDARD FOR AT LEAST A DECADE. It is COMMON KNOWLEDGE that its animation tools are considered better than others. Why else would it be used at pixar, dreamworks etc, and even in VIDEO GAMES?

Even if he has NO EXPERIENCE at all in 3D, on it takes is a few google comparison searches about the animation tools to see how maya compares against the others.

>>534665
>If you buy a full license though
Isn't maya %100 monthly/subscription based now?

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>>534668
>better to just have a legal license than sail the waves of the internet waving a skull and crossbones flag over you for the rest of your commercial career.
PIRATES OF SILICON VALLEY.
Microsoft stole windows from Apple´s macintosh system, who had stole it from Xerox. When Apple tried to sue microsoft for 'stealing' their OS icon and mouse click features, Xerox tried to sue Apple and then they backed off.
Pirating is beautiful, is in our blood and is the legacy of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
Someone give me a lawsuit record were Autodesk sued a company for using pirated software and won, please. If´s a small company with no profit, even better.

>>534818
Good point, haven't upgraded my Maya in a while so I didn't realize they had only sub licenses for new versions now, same still applies though. LT costs what, 20-30$? A full license for one year costs like 1,500$ or something like that. Big difference.

>>534659
OP you're WAY counting your chickens before they hatch

Pirate Maya (full version), learn it, make your game (while you're at it, draw the rest of the fucking Owl), then buy Maya full

You can write off buying Maya as a business expense, meaning you can deduct it from your taxes, meaning it won't cost you (or more precisely the CORPORATION that you will FORM likely in DELAWARE via a process called INCORPORATION) anything