XSI Mod tool - closing on object selection

[luceric]

Right, the mod tool EULA makes it not for for-profit work. There was a "pro" version for Indy game makers.

[Draise]

Yeah.. I wish I had about 15,000 spare dollars for about 5 seats of SI 2015 sitting around happenstance before April next year... so I can squeeze that much more juice out of them.. oh and their free copies of Maya... seems everything to do with Softimage, from the beginning.. was hard to get a hold of..

Do you know where this Mod Tool Pro can be acquired legally?

[Manticor]

Maybe we should start a petition to get the pro version available to indie game makers....but then that would affect Maya LT sales so I doubt it would fly with Autodesk.
But it would also affect competitor sales ( i.e Modo ) so it might be a good idea...they dont even have to any modification to it just change the EULA to permit it to be used for the usual < $100,000 per annum stipulation like other indie offerings from other products (Unity /Houdini Indie etc...) charge the same price for it as mayaLT. For my personal stuff I would definately sign up for it.
And if someone starts earning more than 100k per year then a discounted upgrade path to either max or maya could be a good enticer.

[luceric]

draise, what were you using up to now? Are you a student?

[Draise]

The indie studio I work with a couple of partners of mine have a couple of avid licenses on these machines called the O2 from years back. They then upgraded to XSI. We did a TV series with it. La Pelota Loca, you can find it on youtube.

I started getting back to 3D With them after a few year hiatus. I learnt Softimage quickly, and at that time 2011 was out, so I played with what I could on the 30 day trials and water marks of rendererers, loving the newer versions.
We planned to buy new Softimage seats for our next big project, but being in Colombia, 2D animation and low investment plans are still a thing. We hit bankruptcy and now work on the next project in our free time. From there I do freelance work with trueSpace and Blender, knowing I have no issues legally there. Piracy in this country is absurd, and the only winner here is Blender. To buy 1 seat of Maya or Max it's about 3 months average wage of a professional if he has no expenses - due to inflation and currency differences - and renting via credit card is kinda crazy here (visa debit still hasn't caught on). You can see my struggle as I earn below average freelancing with expenses. I will be lucky to own 1 legal seat of 2015 before next year.

I love Softimage workflow. I couldn't get Machstudio Pro 2 to work with Blender. The animation in Softimage is superb. Maya crashed the first time learning it, max wasn't my thing (coming from trueSpace and Si) - blender being the road, I am not keen on Maya LT or Houdini Indie or theway too pricey cinema 4D.... blender it is but not quite my preference.

I have been doing research with Arnold and Redshift and other engines to find the right pipeline with lowest learning curve - Redshift trumping all. Machstudio Pro 2 being free and released publically by Studio Gpu is also perfectly adequate. Unreal may be my legal future, because linear content is free and it is very affordable .... but i want legal seats of Softimage for production in a few years time when my partners and I can get ahead with the projects and get out if the "bankruptcy" soon. Or find a way to legally use an older Softimage to keep working till we can upgrade in time and somehow stay with tech (gpu rendering). Maybe we stick with the older versions? But we need GPU rendering to stay competitive....and 15000 dollars within the year lol.

This deadline for SI eol is killing me, and the licensing here with what is in the States can be grey, but I do want to be legal and ENJOY my work. The pipeline of Softimage attributes to that - as much as I play with trueSpace (Eol but left free, as of Machstudio pro 2)

I wish there was an already bought Softimage seats reselling marketplace here on the forums?!!!!